The radio hasn't been working well since we arrived in Marulaon.  We can hear Honiara just fine, and we can talk back and forth with our colleagues on Malaita, but Honiara can't hear us.  That's kind of important.  In addition, our new batteries haven't been holding a charge and Aaron thinks there may be something wrong with our regulator.  SITAG's translation coordinator has asked us to practice our emergency evacuation procedures and come back into Honiara to correct the problems.  So, we'll be hopping into a motor canoe tomorrow for a quick trip into Honiara, and we plan to return on the Kosco Wednesday night.  The timing is totally a God thing, because the Kosco has begun a new schedule and only comes out to our area about every three weeks.

 

 

So, we won't get to go to graduation next Tuesday, and I won't get to hold the Bible story workshop next Thursday.  As our family's contribution to the graduation Form 3 students, we would have taken parcels of cassava pudding.  Instead, our whole family went out to the garden to harvest cassava and give it to each of the families that we knew had a graduating student.

 

We filled four bags with cassava and still have plenty left to make cassava pudding for weeks ahead.  We also have twenty-one pineapples ripening!

Lots of insects were out and about.  Including huge mosquitoes that really liked my ankles.  I uncovered this grasshopper while weeding around the pineapples.

 



 

We walked back through beautiful coconut groves.  Can you see Benjamin at the bottom of the picture?  These trees are so tall!  And, yes, we do watch out for falling coconuts.

 

 

So, tomorrow morning, we'll be down at the beach at 5:30, ready to bounce our way back to Honiara.  The adventure continues...