September 21

Whenever we are leaving the village, I try to get around and say goodbye to as many people as I can.  And today, I made sure to say goodbye to baby Samuel.  He still isn't thriving, fat and healthy like I think he should, but he is doing okay and seems to be meeting developmental milestones.  He wasn't very happy that I interrupted his breakfast to snap a picture!

I returned to the house to find the kids building their traditional snowman as they defrosted the freezer.  I love how my kids find ways to celebrate even in the hard times of chaos and transition.

Our colleagues in Honiara called the Kosco's office, relayed the message to colleagues in a village who have a cell phone signal, and they relayed the message to us over the radio:  Kosco should arrive early in the afternoon and expects to be in Honiara between 10 and 11 tonight.

Okay.  With that in mind, we decided to have an early lunch and opened a soup mix that we keep for days like today.  I had just ladled the soup into the bowl when we heard, "Koscooooo, Koscooooo!"

We scarfed our soup, washed the bowls, made one last trip to the bathroom, and raced down the hill to the shore.  Benjamin was first, so he and the cargo went ahead of the rest of us.

Those rungs on the ladder seem to get farther apart every time I climb them, and I foolishly tried to ascend wearing wet flip flops this time.  Monster ice chests full of fish to sell in Honiara were stacked two and three high right up to the edge of the ship where the rail paused for people to get on and off.

 



I was extra thankful for helping hands of friends and my husband as we loaded people and cargo.  Kosco wasn't dilly-dallying today, and we left Marulaon a few minutes after noon.

Our ride went smoothly.  It's not a cruise ship, for sure.  But we are so thankful for the dependable transportation to get us back and forth.  Aaron worked on advisor checking Jonah.  A little ironic, I thought.  At least we had a sunny day and calm seas.

We watched the sun set behind Guadalcanal and gratefully pulled into the wharf in Honiara at 8:30.  We found colleagues waiting to help us get our boxes through the crowded ship (sometimes by tossing them over the side of the ship to people waiting down below), up the wharf, to the truck, and up to SITAG by 10:00.

 

Some of our amazing SITAG family had smiles and supper waiting.  Thank you for the prayers as we traveled back to Honiara!