Saturday, June 7

Saturday morning always means market!  This morning, we were happy to find plenty of havu, that lovely nut that is ripe this time of year. 
Market meets immediately after morning prayer, usually around 7:30, and after we came back up the hill to the house, we began harvesting cassava from the small plot next to our house. 
I asked Skita if she would come over this afternoon to help us make maki, a mixture of cooked cassava and roasted havu smashed together in a big kolkol and nago (mortar and pestle), so we had to get all of the ingredients ready.
I also needed to plant some cassava to expand and garden and ensure that we would have plenty of cassava for later in the year, so we grabbed the very heavy pickax and the rake and begin to dig heaps of dirt pull weeds, and rake up the rubbish.

Gayly joined in the fun, too, and all the girls worked hard in the garden while Aaron and Benjamin joined our friend, Dawa, to cut down a coconut tree.
We've been trying for a while to make underneath our house look more acceptable in the eyes of our neighbors, and finally today we were able to get together with Dawa (and his huge chainsaw) to cut down an old coconut tree in our front yard and a couple of coconut trees near the soccer field to line the edges of the area under the house.  Benjamin climbed nimbly up the tree to secure the guiding rope  and it didn't take long before the first tree came crashing down.


The guys moved on to the soccer field and hauled log after log to a new home under our house.  
While they worked, the ladies switched from the garden to peeling cassava on the porch, and Gayly learned the fine art of peeling those muddy roots.  It was a messy job, but we really enjoyed chatting and singing as we worked. 
Coconut leaves are so useful!  When the tree fell, I asked a couple of girls to make some baskets for me to collect leaves and yard waste.  They were quick workers, and soon I had two new baskets to help me keep my yard clean  We laughed and worked in the yard into the early afternoon, and neighbors kept stopping by.  Nancy stopped by with the newest addition to their family, baby Annie.  Annie is Katherine's favorite baby, so they enjoyed some special time together.

Often, little ones are afraid of our family, because, honestly, there aren't a lot of non-Solomon Islandsers in the Russell Islands.  Annie isn't afraid, though, and readily comes to any of us!  

Even Gayly got some snuggles from Annie. I wonder what God has planned for this precious little girl? 

Dawa showed us where to find yet another edible part of the coconut tree, the very heart of the tree where it is soft and sweet.  And my wonderful, goofy husband had Dawa's family, our family, and anybody who walked by laughing out loud with his antics imitating a rabbit.  

The guys finished up under the house, and the girls had all of the food prepared, so I went to find Skita to tell her that we were ready to make maki.  Skita brought along her sister and niece, so our kids had another baby to play with while Gayly, Skita, and I smashed cassava.

We smashed, and smashed, and smashed some more. And the kids played more with baby Muna.

Ezekiel and Janet paddled over from Karumulun and walked up to our house.  Ezekiel and Aaron had a quick business meeting at the bottom of the steps while Janet helped us put the finishing touches on the maki with her experienced hand.  

Gayly and I especially liked the way she grasped the kolkol with her feet, like she had been doing this for sixty years (which she probably had).  

Gayly brought lots of reading glasses with her, donated by her Ladies' Bible Study, and Janet needed a pair, so we had an impromptu (and very inadequate, I'm sure) glasses fitting with the Lavukaleve prayer book to discern which pair was the right strength for Janet.  

She sent me to get some leaves to smooth the top of the maki, I refused to climb a tree, so I cut down a banana leaf as Janet and Ezekiel called down directions from the porch.  We just think they are the best thing ever! 

When the maki was finished, we cut it and put some on a paper plate for Ezekiel and Janet and on another plate for Skita.  It was delicious!  Then, we put some on another plate, Gayly and I walked down to Margaret Rasol's house to deliver some to her.  We found her shelling havu , so we sat down to offer our very meager assistance. 

I hit my fingers more often than I hit the nut, and Gayly got a chance to try her skills, too.  

We stayed for a while and visited with her and some of her nieces, then walked back up to the house for another paper plate of maki.  We delivered this plate to the other Margaret, the one who had just lost her son.  

Several relatives were still around, and I had the opportunity to share Gayly's family pictures again.  One of my favorite things about this trip out to the village is that my friends are finally willing to correct my Lavukaleve!  I tried to say “sanGine”, and Margaret quickly corrected me that it wasn't a hard G, but a soft “ng” made in the back of the throat.  It was good to just check in with her again as we are still learning the appropriate things to do and say when somebody dies. 

Coming back from Margaret's house, we saw a huge stick of bananas leaning in a kitchen doorway.  It was so pretty, and I'm glad that Gayly thought so, too, and captured the image with her camera. 

Just before we reached the house, we met Kate who was also making Maki.  Havu are only ripe for two months out of the year, so their will be lots of maki around during June and July.  

I am pretty much wiped out!  But it's been such a good day.  A day to get lots of physical work done, to sit and visit with friends, laugh, cook, a packed-to-the-gills kind of day, full of God's gifts.

To hear about Gayly’s trip from her perspective, be sure to click here to visit her blog!