A "normal" day

 So many people ask us what a "normal" day looks like.  There is no normal day for us!  But I thought that I would just chronicle today and how our family spent today in Honiara.

 

At seven o'clock this morning, we heard Ezekiel clearing his throat (the Solomon way of knocking) on our front porch.  He was feeling very sick and hadn't slept well the night before, so he was coming to ask Aaron for a ride to the clinic.  Aaron agreed to drive him down and said he would call the clinic to find out when the doctor arrived.  At 8:30, the doctor still wasn't in the office, but Aaron decided to go ahead and drive Ezekiel to the doctor.  It was no surprise that Ezekiel said three other guys from the workshop also needed to go to the doctor, so Aaron ended up driving the "ambulance" while the kids and I worked on school.

 

 

Aaron and the guys returned home late morning, and he was able to get a little bit of work done before we ate a lunch of leftovers and headed out the door to get our Solomon Island driver's licenses.  We love their business hours:  8:30 to 11:00 and 1:30 to 3:00. 

 

We were greeted by the ubiquitous betel nut's red splatter on the ground as we waited in line.  The very nice people behind the counter filled out the paperwork (we just love the people here!),

 

and licenses in hand, we were able to get Aaron back up to SITAG just in time for a three o'clock staff meeting.  The kids and I finished getting everything ready for Aaron to stick in the oven for supper, and then the five of us went to swim with another SITAG family and a family who is leaving the Solomon Islands tomorrow to take another job in Vanuatu. 

 

 

We enjoyed the informal farewell party with thirteen kids ages fifteen and under.  The kids swam, the moms visited.  It was a win-win situation!  Finally, we pulled ourselves away from the fun and drove home through "rush-hour" traffic.  Honiara has one main thoroughfare, and it took us half an hour to drive he five kilometers back up to SITAG.  At least we only pay for the kilometers we drive and not the time we have "checked out" the vehicle.  I was so thankful we had borrowed a vehicle with air conditioning!  My awesome husband had everything ready for supper when we arrived, and after eating and bathing, we were all ready to crash into our beds.

 

I love the slower and more relaxed pace of the Solomon Islands, and it feels so good to be back "home"!