Saturday, November 9

I don’t know what we would do without our SITAG and Marulaon families! Around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon, our SITAG family began showing up and hauling our red plastic-clad boxes into the truck and trailer. Soon, we were on our way down to the wharf: three men, four kids, and I.

We found the Nutoli sandwiched in between wharves with two ships on one side and one ship on the other. We chose to cross over one ship instead of two. Several other trucks were also transferring their cargo onto the ships that were leaving that evening, and we saw lots of bags of rice and boxes of noodles.

First we unloaded the truck and lined up all of our cargo on the wharf, then when it was our turn, we made a chain and moved all of our boxes, window louvers, rakes, and the water tank onto our boat where the crew would later pile it into the hold.

They have a great system of where everything in the hold goes so they can unload efficiently as they go from village to village around the Russell Islands (I’m laughing as I type this because nothing here would be viewed as “efficient” through Western eyes!). We also unrolled our mats to hopefully claim a small space where we could stretch out on top of the hold.

Quickly, we headed back to SITAG to wash off the heat and humidity, load the frozen food into the ice chest, and grab the last few things that we wanted to keep within reach – like the seventy precious eggs we will carefully eke out during our stay. By 7:00 p.m. a SITAG caravan was rolling down the road, with a quick stop at the roadside “barbecue” for supper. Chicken quarters and cassava cooked over a fire on a grill or hot plate count as barbecue here, and we had invited anyone who wanted to join us at the wharf to BYOB (Bring Your Own Barbecue).

Our spot on the hold was still there when we returned with our colleagues. We ate supper and visited for a while, but by 9:00 our friends needed to get home and get kids in bed. Olivia and Katherine expressed how lonely and deserted they felt at that point, especially making this trip for the first time without Sarah and Benjamin.

We were quickly distracted when the crew needed to remove all of the boards that were covering the hold because they had some large items to load. Board by board, the space on top of the small hold disappeared. The whole boat wasn’t more than twenty feet wide, and it definitely wasn’t made to haul passengers around. As soon as the boards were replaced, there was a mad scramble for everyone to claim a spot for the evening. Personal space is not a value here the same way it is in America. By the time we left at midnight, I had become the body pillow for a young girl about the same age as Katherine, and Aaron laid down on the floor.

When the sun began to rise, we saw the beautiful edge of the Russell Islands. We broke out the hard boiled eggs and banana bread and stretched our aching bodies. The rest of the day alternated between snacking and trying to doze as the ship stopped at every little place where somebody wanted to unload.

Sometimes we stayed for quite a while, like at Yandina where much cargo needed to come off the boat and where one of the crew members disappeared for a while. By the time we reached Marulaon it was 4:30 on Friday afternoon, and we were very ready.

The crew carefully unloaded all of the boxes over the side of the Nutoli, then we climbed down into the canoe. Smiling faces and helping hands met us on shore, faces I hadn’t seen in two and half years. All of the cargo was quickly brought up to the house – many hands really do make light work.

We’re out of practice, and we forgot to make a “first things” box this time. Things like clean sheets and towels. So as I heated up water for a soup mix for supper, we began to hunt through the forty-seven red plastic covered boxes for the linens. We finally found the last sheet in the next to last box!

Even as we pushed through our fatigue, I was reminded of just how privileged we are. We have a small fridge and stove powered by propane, I didn’t have to build a fire. We have a solar shower bag, soap, and privacy to bathe that help us get as clean as possible for good skin health. We have foam mattresses and clean sheets for a good night’s sleep. My neighbors don’t have any of these things, yet they aren’t discontent or in need of pity. In my relative abundance, I have a lot to learn from the sweet people that live around me.