Catching Up and Settling In

 We weren’t really gone that long. As we drove into town from the airport, things looked basically the same— a few new signs or paint jobs, but no major changes.  Most of our plants are still alive! We have someone who is supposed to water them, but given long enough the plants usually don’t make it.

Our plants on the porch are still alive!

But what does it look like to arrive back home after a few months?  Here’s a taste:  Over two months is long enough for a healthy layer of dust to cover every surface. So almost as soon as we got into the house, we were looking for the broom and dust cloths. I was unlocking our bedroom and wiping down furniture. Tom was sweeping the dusty floor. I started unpacking while Tom immediately dug out the replacement hinge for the fridge and started to work on fixing the fridge (knowing that we wouldn’t be able to start buying food until our fridge was functional).  In the afternoon we made our way to some shops to restock the fridge.That’s typical.  The first few days after getting back are a lot of cleaning and a lot of going around town, shopping to restock our food supplies and learning which shops have what at the moment. 

We were gone long enough that as we walked around town, even people that we don’t really know would ask: “Did you travel?” We’d confirm and they’d ask how the travel went. We’d say fine and continue on our way. It was long enough for people to notice our absence, but not long enough for them to make a big deal about it.  By island standards it wasn’t that long. We left at the end of the island school year and returned to see kids just heading back to school this week, so we were only gone for the summer break. 

At the same time, by island standards, we missed some important months. And the very day we arrived visitors started to arrive (good friends are sure to stop by as soon as possible).  Summer break is a time when people get married (we missed the entire wedding season including the wedding of a good friend), students pass or fail their big entrance exams (we missed both the exams and the announcements of exam results, which is a big deal), people die (we just missed a funeral the day we arrived, and already have another this week).  So there is a lot of catching up to do. It’s a lot of listening time. People will ask about our kids and our families back home, but they basically just want to hear that everyone is well and move on. Then we listen. 

Tom fixing fridge door on arrival

We heard about specific weddings and the new wedding fashions (silkier fabrics are now in and worn almost exclusively to weddings). We congratulated proud parents whose kids passed exams (one good friend had all three of her sons pass their exams and another neighbor girl passed well after having failed the previous year). We learned about the things that haven’t changed— people still suffering with high prices and inconsistent pay, projects that sat with no progress as money went to weddings instead (our landlord was apologetic that our buckled, broken tiles on our porch didn’t get fixed as was promised). We’ve heard about new controversies, scandals and accidents (a disagreement among the island sisters, a bride who left her new husband only a week after the wedding and ran away to the French island, a young child hit by a car). All of this takes time and we know that our first few days will be filled by numerous visits.

There may be other places, other cultures when you can hit the ground running, act as if you never left, and jump right back into routines.  Or places where everyone would leave you alone right after you return from a trip.  It doesn’t work that way on the islands.  It is important to take this relationship time, to get up to date on people’s lives and what is important to them. It also gives time for our minds to resettle into island life.  Catching up with people and hearing their updates surrounds us in the language, the culture, and the local attitudes.  It helps us settle in.  

Routines and busyness will come soon enough, but for now it’s important to just be present— catching up and settling in. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Tom got his new passport and got to spend one afternoon with the boys at their boarding school before we left for the islands. We made it back to Clove Island safely. We didn’t get as much time on the big island as we had hoped (because of cancelled flights), but we are thankful for the chance we had to reconnect with some of our colleagues there. Our youngest son had a much better second week and his dorm mom thinks he has turned the corner— this was an encouragement to hear. We are thankful that we got to overlap with our teammate for couple days before she left for vacation. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We have colleagues visiting from the small island this week— pray that we could host well and that we would all be blessed by our interactions.  One of Hashiri’s brothers died and we will be attending the funeral with her this week— pray that we can speak words of truth and comfort. We are diving back into regular studies with Mtsa, Muki and Hashiri. Pray that we would know what to study and how to encourage their growth.  Pray for Megan as she talks to sisters about some recent disunity, that she could be a mediator and help move them towards understanding, reconciliation and forgiveness. Pray for us as a couple as we talk and decide how our rhythms and habits should change when all our kids are away. Continue to pray for our oldest and youngest in their continued transition to college/boarding school— pray for good friends and for academics not to overwhelm them (this is our daughter’s first full week of classes after over a week of orientation).