From January 26

This morning, after Aaron whacked the bell, I waited about 45 minutes and then went look for the ladies from the creation story group. Everybody here knows that when the bell rings, you can finish whatever it is you are doing before you mosey on over to wherever it is you are supposed to be. Good ol' Solomon Time! I went to find some of my cultural friends to help me know whether I should just sit in the church and wait or whether I should go look for the ladies. My friends said that I should go get the ladies and drag them to the church, or I could just leave disgusted since they didn't bother showing up. I finally found three of the original five ladies (one of them from Karumulun had taken her child to Honiara for school), and they all said they would be at the church shortly.  

Soon after I came back to the church, two of the ladies arrived. I showed them the Saber, and they were delighted. We chatted for a little bit before they finally divulged that the lady who had been upset with me last time for changing some of her work had decided not to help anymore. Unfortunately, she is also the leader of the group. She had also just told me that she was coming. I told the other two women that I was willing to put the whole project on hold just to make sure that all relationships were good. They told me they would rather print a story that was wrong than go against this other woman who had a reputation for always getting her own way and being angry at anyone who tried to correct her. I was silently praying for wisdom the whole time, and the three of us began to edit the story of creation without the other woman. After a while, she showed up. Her four year old was happy to help us eat the popcorn while we worked! Thankfully, her heart seemed to be a little bit softer. I apologized for making changes without consulting the original group (even though we had discussed from the beginning that a totally different group of people would be making the back translation and also making some changes). She seemed pleased with some of the changes made in Honiara by a man from another village, and we all continued to tweak until we were satisfied that the story was accurate and natural. Whew! This group decided that they didn't want to be involved any more in the Bible story project so other women could have a chance to learn and help out. So, it looks like I'll be making an all-call for another group of women to help craft another Bible story sometime in February.

Tomorrow is a big celebration and blessing of the cement on a grave. After a person has been dead for a year, the priest comes and blesses the cement and the family holds a big feast. This family bought a pig last year and has been fattening it in preparation for tomorrow's festivities. I went to the garden about 2:30 (as soon as I finished checking the last math problem) with Eta to see if I had any umalau/sweet potatoes left. I wanted to make kora, which is like scalloped potatoes – umalau sliced thinly and layered with thick coconut cream, all cooked in banana leaves on hot stones. Yum! On the way to the garden, I noticed that the thick stems of the hefty coconut branches were placed along the path at regular intervals. I asked Eta about it, and she said that somebody had recently made a new canoe out in the bush. To make the path into the village smoother, they place the ends of the branches along the path. I wish I'd brought the camera. Eta and I searched the mounds, and found enough for a small tray of Kora. When we came back to the house, we planted the seedlings I bought in Honiara and built a new fence around the yard to keep feet from trampling my faluk/slippery cabbage and newly transplanted flowers.

 

After Eta left, I got busy finishing up the kora. The kids had finished peeling the potatoes I had started, and Sarah had left a little bit of peel on to spell “I heart U”.   I love my kids! I was still working after supper when the bell for church rang, so the others went without me. I finally got the kora on the fire in time to kiss the kids good night, take a much needed shower and glance at the thermometer. Eighty five degrees in the house at 8:30 p.m. I'm so thankful for a full day of sun to charge the batteries that run those delightful twelve volt fans at night! The stars were so bright, and the thin crescent moon was just sinking behind the trees when I collapsed into bed.

From January 25

Our alarm clock had just gone off at five when we heard the chugga-chugga-chugga of the Kosko come around the corner of our island. The ship turned on its lights and blared its music so nobody would miss catching the ship. It stayed about forty-five minutes loading and unloading, then it headed off toward Yandina. My friends had already told me that the ship came early in the morning last week. If it keeps this schedule until April, we may be taking the Bikoi back to Honiara!

After I finished morning chores, I sent Aaron to whack the community bell once to signal the beginning of my meeting with five ladies from Marulaon and one lady from Karumalun. These ladies are so great! They are willing to give me their time and their energy to learn their language and their way of thinking. We spent of couple of hours eating popcorn and editing the story of Jesus' birth, and I showed them the Saber. They seem to be really excited about using the Saber. I asked them about crafting another story soon, and they asked for a small break before resuming again in February. The next few weeks will be really busy around here with lots of visitors.

This is the first day of full sun we've had in a while, and our batteries are much happier now that they have a full charge. The batteries were low enough last night that we tried not to use any electricity after it got dark.

From January 24

A normal rainy school day today. I love “normal” days! Aaron studied Lavukaleve, while the kids and I studied in the front of the house. I'm reading the manual for the Saber so I can introduce the device to the ladies tomorrow.

From January 23

When we woke up, the stars were unusually bright. The last several days it has rained in the hours preceding dawn and into the morning. With the clear day, I decided to wash a couple of sets of sheets, which meant some extra buckets needed to be hauled up to the house from the rain tank. Shortly after breakfast, we had a couple of visitors asking for banana cake for a relative of theirs. Their brother, Oliver, wanted to send his kids off to school with a nice meal, so he requested lots of banana cake. We had no bananas, so he sent some over, and the cooking began amongst the morning chores.

I hung the first load of laundry while Olivia read to me about Alexander the Great and a couple of girls from Marulaon listened in.

One of the girls wanted a band-aid, so when I went back up to the house to grab the second load, I also grabbed our band-aid bag. I came down to hang the second load of laundry and found the two Margarets at the bottom of our stairs. They wanted to talk about the Bible story meetings this week and they wanted some sugar, too. I gave one of them a plant I bought in Honiara, as well. We visited for a few minutes longer, then I finished hanging out that load of clothes. The sun lasted long enough to dry the third load, and I was able to bring in the clothes after lunch. 

Aaron spent most of the day going back and forth to the Point helping some friends with a new computer and sharing some of our rain tank hardware. Because of our slow start with visitors, school took a little bit longer, but all of the kids were out by 3 o'clock. I decided that today would be my cocoon day, I try to give myself one day a week where I don't go out to visit and practice Lavukaleve. After a busy weekend, and knowing that the next few days will be busy, I needed some still and quiet time.

Celebrating Easter Sunday

Crown Him with many crowns,

The Lamb upon His throne;

Hark! how the heav'nly anthem drowns

All music but its own;

Awake, my soul, and sing

Of Him who died for thee,

And hail Him as thy matchless King

Thro' all eternity.

Sunday morning service on the beach

Crown Him the Lord of life,

Who triumphed o'er the grave

And rose victorious in the strife

For those He came to save;

His glories now we sing

Who died, and rose on high,

Who died eternal life to bring,

And lives that death may die.

Benjamin reading the Easter story from the Bible

Crown Him the Lord of peace,

Whose pow'r a scepter sways

From pole to pole, that wars may cease,

and all be pray'r and praise;

His reign shall know no end,

And round His pierced feet

Fair flow'rs of paradise extend

Their fragrance ever sweet.

Brunch afterward at Rain Tree Cafe

Crown Him the Lord of love;

Behold His hands and side,

Those wounds, yet visible above,

In beauty glorified:

No angel in the sky

Can fully bear that sight,

But downward bends His wondering eye

 At mysteries so bright.

The beautiful view of the ocean from our table

Crown Him the Lord of heaven;

One with the Father know,

One with the Spirit through Him given

From yonder glorious throne. 

All hail, Redeemer, hail!

For Thou hast died for me:

Thy praise and glory shall not fail

Thro'out eternity.

Sarah really enjoyed her pancakes with ice cream & bananas on top

For January 22

After church this morning, a community meeting was announced. When the announcements were over, Benjamin hurried to change clothes and go to the kitchen to take out the lelenga. Our big tray made enough to share with six other families and still have plenty for us. We started working on the pizza (our traditional Sunday afternoon meal) to get the dough rising and the peppers chopped, then we enjoyed playing a few rounds of hearts before Aaron left for the meeting. He came back a couple of hours later with Hiva, and the two of them sat on the porch drinking coffee and working out the schedule for the translation project for the next couple of months.

After lunch was cleaned up, the kids went to swim, Aaron headed out to find transportation so he could pick up a package from the Kosko, and I went to look for Kiko to visit for a little bit. I found her with her sisters and mom sitting in the hammock and visiting. Rain began to fall, sprinkling at first, then coming down in torrents, so they handed me an umbrella and shuttled me off to Kiko's house. She told me some more about her cousin's recent death, and according to her, he was killed by sorcery. Kiko is a strong Christian, she loves to read her Bible and knows it well. But she also knows that sorcery is alive in the Solomons and can be very strong.

While we were talking, we heard a big SPLASH and saw kids running to the beach just behind us. I hopped up to see what was causing the commotion and found that a coconut tree had fallen over into the ocean.

The kids were scrambling for the green coconuts that came down with the tree, and our kids each came home with one. (Sarah later told me that Benjamin rescued three geckos from the leaves of the tree that were just barely sticking up over the water.) Kiko shook her head and expressed concern about the eroding beach that caused the tree to tumble. Her house sits just a few yards from the fallen tree.

The four o'clock bell rang, the bell to “go swim” letting everybody know to get clean for church. Kiko's sister, Daisy, had asked me to come and doctor her foot. She stepped on coals last week, so when the bell rang, I hustled up to the house to get the “band-aid bag” and made a quick trip to her house to tend to her foot. Soon, everybody was home, and I had a big pot of hot chocolate waiting on the stove since it was raining and we were pretending it was cold. Aaron spent the afternoon waiting in the rain for the Kosko, which finally came around 4:30 to bring us some meds we forgot to buy in Honiara before we came. We are so thankful for our SITAG colleagues who help us out and put things on ships headed for Marulaon.

For January 21

The day started with rain again. It's been so nice not to have to measure the water in the rain tank! We slipped down the hill for market this morning, and I asked Naris to pass a message on to her little sister, Foamela, to wait for the rain to stop before she came to help me in the yard. For this first time, I found that some of the prices at market were higher than I anticipated, but since you don't bargain here in the Solomons, I wasn't sure what to do. After market, we did morning chores, and I finished the laundry just as the sun came out. As I was hanging out clothes, I noticed a pretty little spider's web catching the sunlight.

My little point and shoot camera couldn't capture how pretty that small web built in between the red hibiscus flowers was, but the spider and its home made me smile and pause to thank the Lord for His creation.

Since the rain stopped, Benjamin and I headed out to my garden to dig out uvikola/cassava. Ofain had already told me that she didn't harvest any of the produce from my garden while we were in Honiara. This particular batch of uvikola/cassava was very over ripe and only fit for making lelenga/cassava pudding. On the way, I stopped by Ofain's house to talk to Foamela and tell her we were going to the garden. She was asleep, so I told her to come whenever she felt like it. Benjamin and I found a huge mass of vines and overgrown uvikola and bushes in my jungle of a garden. But, oh, was he happy! With a bush knife in one hand, he began swinging and cutting and clearing away the brush. The ground was nice and soft from the rain. Benjamin is great at pulling out the fruit, even better than I am. We had worked for over an hour when Benjamin cut his finger and headed home with a bag of uvikola on his head for Ofain's family. I asked him to send Daddy and Fomela to replace him and kept on working.

Eventually, Aaron showed up and helped me finish getting the oldest uvikola harvested. He said that Foamela had been at the house cleaning up the yard. So, we headed home with four bags of uvikola and one huge mass of fruit that we saved to show Ofain. When we arrived at the house, Foamela wasn't there, so I popped down to Naris' to ask where I could find her little sister. Naris said that Foamela hadn't realized I had a long list of things I wanted to do with her, so when she finished raking the yard, she went home. I also asked Naris what she thought about the high prices at market and how I should handle the situation. She told me that she was also surprised at the high prices and suggested that I just not buy the item if I thought it was too expensive. I expressed concern about shaming my friends at market, since the market is very small (only about ten women bring food - but I'm so thankful for those women!). She didn't think it would be a problem if I just skipped that particular item.

 

So, I went back up to the house to grab a late bite of lunch, and Naris went to find her sisters to make sure they knew we left uvikola/cassava at the house for them to make lelenga/cassava pudding.

We finally sent the kids on to play while Aaron and I finished the scraping and squeezing. I got the fire going to heat the stones about the time the kids came in. Thank goodness for leftovers! 

Smelling like smoke, I finally got the big tray of lelenga on the fire just before Evening Prayer finished up. We should have plenty to share tomorrow.

Holy Saturday

We are grateful to be back in Honiara and to celebrate the end of Holy Week here.  This morning I rode into town to go to market with a SITAG colleague and Susan Larsen.  Susan and her husband Marty have come to the Solomons for a few weeks of spiritual emphasis and encouragement with SITAG.  Susan and Marty had never eaten pumpkin leaves, so when we returned from market we had fun showing them how to cook (and eat!) the leaves.

The kids really enjoyed dying eggs with some of their SITAG friends early this afternoon.  I was extra thankful since I had given away all of my food coloring in the village so Eta could make some more play dough for the kindy.

After the egg dying party, we all went over to hear Marty share from Joshua chapter 3.  He enlisted some of the SITAG boys to help him "carry the ark across the Jordan River". 

When supper was over, we made Resurrection Cookies, a family tradition no matter where we live.  The hardest part for me is when we beat the nuts to represent the soldiers beating Jesus' body. 

Then let us sit beneath his cross,

And gladly catch the healing stream,

All things for him account but loss,

And give up all our hearts to him...

~Charles Wesley

From January 20

We are having fun with Katherine and her “Winter” unit. She has no idea what is in store for her when we return to the States. Changing seasons is one of the things I miss the most. She and Sarah painted with ice cubes today and we've all enjoyed reading books about snow and winter with her.

Here in Marulaon, we have the cutest little yellow birds. Shortly after we arrived in Marulaon almost three years ago, Chief Leonard told us a custom story about the birds, and Aaron recorded it. We've had several playing the molokita/orange tree beside our house lately. They offer a great break from doing math!

After school, Sarah and I worked together to make a small book for Ofain's family. Earlier this week, I had asked her to tell me about her day, and I also asked her granddaughters, Soima and Bernadine.

Today, I combined their stories. I wrote the text on top of a small piece of paper, and Sarah illustrated them.

Then, Aaron and I used contact paper to “laminate” them, and I fastened them together with a brad in the corner. It was my thank you gift to Ofain's family. They are sweet with their time and energy to help us with language learning and to keep our yard looking nice while we are gone.

From January 19

I had forgotten how busy homeschooling makes me! After more than a month off, today was a shock to our systems. We had to make new playdough, did you know that playdough molds here after a couple of months?

The kids did great with the routine again, but I was pooped by the time we finished about 2 o'clock. While I was reading history to the kids, two little girls, Naomi & Agara, brought pineapples for us to buy – yum!

When school was out, I walked over to my friend Margaret's house to visit. I learned that the ladies had been talking about me while we were in Honiara. They are so excited about the Bible story project we started during our last stay in Marulaon and ready to get back to work. I'm hoping to meet with the ladies next week, and the Sabers should be in Honiara soon, too. While I was visiting with Margaret, I asked her about the tiny shells that Olivia had enjoyed eating with her friends near Margaret's house yesterday.

 

The shells are called silat, and they are teeny tiny snacks. The kids collect loads and boil them up. The shells open when cooked and Margaret said you just pick up the meat with your fingers and pop it straight into your mouth!

Aaron continues to work on his pushup challenge. I'm so proud of him. It's hard work to live here in Marulaon, and he is making the effort to be a good steward of his body.

Today was also National Popcorn Day, and because of a care package containing marshmallows, we were able to make our traditional popcorn cake to celebrate.

From January 18

Oh, we had fun at the farewell party last night! Kiko came to the house after church and we fixed up some of the TVP with onions and bell peppers and lots of salt and curry. Then, I gave her half of the TVP and a kilo of rice, and we all headed out the door. We were the first ones at the party, no surprise. I brought the camera, but with only a couple of lights powered by a generator, it was too dark to take pictures without a flash. (I was very reluctant to blind everybody with the flash.) After everyone arrived, Aaron was asked to say the blessing, and we all sang a song together. Then we all waited while the young ladies served us huge platefuls of food. Our family was served first, and I'm still not used to being honored guests. My plate had loads of rice with a little bit of noodles and canned meat on top, lelenga/cassava pudding, half of a fish, and motued breadfruit. Soima, Naris's daughter, sat with us, and I sat next to Julie so I could ask questions. In the Solomons, you don't drink with your meal, you wait until after you are finished eating. We were almost finished eating when Janet brought us a water bottle and three cups.

When we were finished eating, one of the girls brought us a bowl full of water to rinse our hands, and the singing and dancing began. We all joined in and sang and danced our way single file up to where the two students sat behind a table. We each shook hands and dropped some money into the bowl on the table. Singing, dancing, shaking hands, all with Katherine on my hip required a little more coordination than I possess!

Then we heard the speeches. Janet surprised Aaron by asking him to speak on the spur of the moment after a much admired uncle. Aaron did a great job of encouraging the boys to put God first in their lives. About ten o'clock, everything finished up and we sleepily trudged back up the hill to the house.

 
 

 

This morning, I anticipated a market. Since Marulaon doesn't hold a market unless we are here (I'm always amazed by this!), I was a little concerned that they might be slow in getting the market up and running again. I shouldn't have worried! My friends brought faluk/slippery cabbage,  kino/cutnut, a couple of small pineapples, lots of eggplant, of course, some green beans, sugar cane, and loads of papaya. I'm so thankful for these ladies and their willingness to share their food so we can stay healthy.

We tackled the school bookshelves and the rest of the windows after breakfast was cleaned up. Took us all morning and into the afternoon to finish the cleaning and unpacking and cooking lunch and banana cake, but it's finished now! The kids are outside playing, Aaron is working on details for his next workshop in a couple of weeks, and I'm enjoying sitting down for a little bit and catching up on everything that's been going on.

Last night's New Testament text for Evening Prayer was I Corinthians 1:18-31, and tonight's is the whole of chapter two. I needed to be reminded that it's okay to be weak and that my faith should rest on God's power and not on my own wisdom. I am so very weak, and living in Marulaon removes every little thing that I try to use to cover up my weakness. Living here stretches me, and although it hurts to be stretched, it's good for me!

From January 17

Last night, we heard lots of singing and dancing nearby, and many people walked by our house quite loudly throughout the night. This morning, we discovered that a young lady graduated in December from Fly Harbor School at the other end of our island, and now she is getting ready to move to Honiara to continue her education. The party was to celebrate her finishing 6th grade and moving on to secondary school. Sixth grade is as far as most people get in the Solomons. School fees rise dramatically past the 6th grade, and most people don't need to keep going to school if they plan to continue living in the village, growing food in the garden, and gathering from the amazing variety of fish and shellfish found around here.

 

Janet, the chief's wife, came by this morning to invite us to a farewell party for two of her sons who are also going back for school. One of her sons in entering Form 5, or what we in North America would call 11th grade, and the other one beginning 8th grade. The school year on this side of the world runs from the end of January to the beginning of December. Janet spoke to Aaron all in Lavukaleve, and he understood what she was telling him! I'm so proud of my hubby. We're really honored that she would invite us to come celebrate her boys.

 

  Today, we tackled cleaning the books in our bedrooms. We'll save the school books for tomorrow. Because of the bugs and the dust, we wipe down and flip through our books in Marulaon every time we return to the village, and ever time we get ready to leave.

Even though books fall apart really quickly here in the Solomons, and they acquire a distinctive (or should I say “dis-stink-tive”?) smell, we love our books, and we want them to last as long as possible here. Sometimes, you just have to pause and take a break in the midst of the chaos, though!

Aaron took our screen door off its hinges and put new screen on it.  The old one was pretty beat up. Who knew this would be part of his job description?

While he worked on the door, I walked off to the point to get specifics about tonight's party. Janet said the party would begin around 7:30 “Solomon Time”. That meant more like 8:00 or 8:30. I also learned that a monetary gift would be appropriate to bring in addition to food. I was bold and asked her how much, since we've never done anything like this before. She said, “Oh, twenty or thirty dollars”, which is roughly equivalent to three or four American dollars. On the way back from Janet's house, I stopped and talked to the three sisters – Kiko, Grace Delight, and Daisy. We visited for a little bit, then I asked Kiko how to fix the “dry mince” (also known as texturized vegetable protein – TVP) that she made for a translation workshop in Marulaon. She tried to explain it to me, and finally I just asked her to come to the house after Evening Prayer to show me. I would make a double batch and share it with her.

Mid-afternoon, the kids and I decided to go reconnect with some more friends. It's hard to find adults at home this time of day because it's prime work time. Most mornings, everybody is still around the house, but after lunch, it's time to go to the garden, go fishing, or go copra. North of our house, none of my friends were home, but just south of our house I finally found Sylvester peeking out her window. We visited for a while as she watched her youngest play in the ocean and float around in a small canoe. Susie is one of Katherine's friends, and Katherine really wanted to go swimming with her buddies, so she and I took off for the water. She had the best time playing and swimming!  As I watched her play, I visited with Atkin and Julie. Atkin recently dislocated his ankle, so they asked if we had any medicine to help with the pain. When I took Katherine back up to the house for a bath, I grabbed some meds and returned down the hill to Atkin.

So, now it's just after radio sked with SITAG, and we are eating cheese and crackers to tide us over until the big party tonight at Chief Leonard and Janet's house. I just took a look at the thermometer, and it's about 90 degrees in the house at just before six o'clock in the evening.  I'm so thankful for fans!

From January 16

We have full rain tanks! Even without the big rain and wind that blew through Marulaon last night, our big rain tank is full – that makes cleaning the house and washing clothes so much easier. Without any mountain behind which to hide, the sun peeks into our window a lot earlier here in Marulaon. A little bit after five we had full sun shining in our eyes. But the bell for church didn't ring until after six, so it was nice to stay in bed a little bit longer.

I think we all woke up stiff and cranky this morning. Some of the friends who came to the wharf to see us off yesterday will leave for furlough before we return to Honiara. So the kids are really missing their friends. It will be about eighteen months before we get to see them again. Setting up house in Marulaon is hard work (like washing every dish in the house and hauling buckets of water), but necessary, but we all needed a gentle reminder that it doesn't have to be complaining, grumpy work.

 

I found a pumpkin growing just under my clothesline,

and we still have seven pineapples that aren't ripe yet. Whoohoo!

I got to show Olivia the difference between a girl pumpkin flower

and a boy pumpkin flower.

Hoping we have lots of girl flowers 'cause I like to eat pumpkin. We hand pollinate our pumpkin, so early every morning one of us will go down to check for flowers. My clothesline gets full sun by 7 a.m. Now, which means some of the pumpkin flowers behind the house also get full sun by then, and they begin to close. Two of our papaya trees are really bearing lots of fruit. They are a hybrid type of papaya that grow the fruit close to the ground, which makes it much easier to harvest.

Aaron discovered that the hose connecting the water pump to the small tank on top of the house had disconnected, so he climbed up on the roof to fix the plumbing.  The rest of hauled buckets, unpacked boxes, washed the dishes that were covered in dust and spider webs, move the motu stones outside to the kitchen, etc.

The steady stream of women coming to the rain tanks in front of the house gave me lots of chances to say good morning.  Everybody worked really hard until two, then we sent the kids out to swim. It's good to take a break and go reconnect with our Marulaon neighbors.