I never get bored here. When we first arrived in the Solomon Islands and were getting ready for our first trip out to the village, many of our colleagues told us that we would be bored and suggested we take plenty of books and games. However, I have a tall pile of books just waiting for me to have a spare moment to read. Saturday always begins with an early morning market just after morning prayer. I'm usually down by the shore buying food by 6:30 a.m.
Saturday also means making cassava pudding, a task which often takes our family most of the morning. But it is worth the time and effort to be a part of the community and to be able to share our "famous" pudding with our neighbors. Aaron has earned a great name as the squeezer of the best coconut cream this side of the Russell Islands!
Today, we decided to go all out and motu (cook with the hot stones in our outside kitchen) twice, once for lunch and once in the evening for cassava pudding. We had the great umalau that Isabella had given us yesterday and some pumpkin greens I bought this morning, so we fired up the outside kitchen to make one of my favorite meals: potatoes and greens baked in thick coconut cream. I also found some cooked fish at market this morning, and that completed our meal. We had enough potatoes and greens left over to take some as a thank you to Nancy who brought us the leaves we needed to motu again that evening.
In between cooking sessions, we began our annual Messiah sing-along. Really, it's only a few movements since our family is still young, but we enjoy every minute! The kids had also been working on some piano and voice pieces with Edi, and they performed those as well. We had to hustle a little bit because the guys were going fishing with Chief Leonard around 4:00.
Chief Leonard showed up on our porch a little before 4:00, so we cut the recital short. The guys headed out with a hand of bananas, some water, a container of local nuts, and lots of fishing "equipment". No fancy rod and reel, just a length of fishing line wound around a plastic bottle.
They started to leave, then realized that Aaron hadn't brought down any petrol for their trip. So, Aaron ran back up to the house to get the fuel while Edi and I played with one of the twins that was sitting on the shore with his mom.
The guys finally took off, and Edi and I headed back to get the lelenga (cassava pudding) on the fire. I'm looking forward to finding out all about their adventures when they return late tonight!
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