The flight over the Atlantic Ocean was very bumpy. Usually that scares me a lot, but this time it didn't. It just felt like the Makwasa road, the road we have to drive when we want to go to the nearest city an hour and a half away. Truth be told, it was gentler than the road, because even though there were sudden movements, there was no jarring impact such as the potholes give a person.
The children did great on the airplane. No vomiting this time. When Abigail fell asleep, I immediately noticed that her pants legs were pulled up. Tensing, I reached over to pull them down, but then stopped and relaxed. "There are no mosquitoes on the airplane to bite her," I reassured myself. That happened twice. It has become reflexive to always think of protecting the children from mosquitoes and malaria.
On the 16 hour flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta, usually the flight attendants become noticeably irritable with the passengers. This time they were all courteous the entire time. At the end of the flight, they took donations for breast cancer research. As we touched down into Atlanta. I started crying. I was trying to hold back, but I felt like having a good bawl session. This confused me. I stood up and stupidly went to tell the flight attendants that I appreciated how courteous they were during the long flight, and this is what happened. "I just want to thank you...sniff sniff...for how kind you all were...sniff, sniff, wipe tears...during that long flight. That was the first time...sniff, sniff, boo hoo..." A stewardess interrupted me, "Are you okay?" "Well, I'm feeling emotional," I wailed as she nodded and walked away.
There were no car seats on the Super Shuttle, but the roads are so much more orderly here, and the shuttle so big... .
When we arrived home, the same home in which my children first lived, Abigail said, "I like this home better than the Malawi home. It's cleaner. And if I hit my head on this wood floor, it won't hurt me like the floor in Malawi does." This is the same little girl who, upon arrival in this home last year, said, "Dis not my home! My home Mawawi!"
Jedidah wanted to take a walk at 1:00 a.m. and I tensed before I remembered that I don't have to spray him first or say no. There are almost no mosquitoes here and definitely no malaria. Relaxing, I replied, "That sounds fun!"
A calorie conscious friend (that I love dearly) came over, and I don't know if any of you missionaries can relate to this, but I just wanted to give myself three or four days to eat freely, whatever I want! There is so much tasty food, so easily available, that is so much easier to prepare. I bought prewashed salad and carrots! I didn't have to haggle about the price of my avocados! My children begged for Taco Bell, and one day I bought it, but my friend was here when we arrived home so we didn't get to eat it. Then she and her children ate it!
They ate my Taco Bell!
They ate my watermelon!
We have waited all year for good watermelon! Her children eat it nearly daily because they live in Southern California. I told her that we daydream all year for good watermelon, and that it was the only one we have purchased and just chilled, but it fell on deaf ears. That was hard for me, but good for me. We can buy more watermelon, and it is good to share even when we were not planning to...but I must say that a missionary salary is not extravagant! And when we come from a land of many limits to the land of freedom and plenty, there are a lot of expectations and many things we look forward to:
Like wearing pants!
Like dressing my children in white!
Like being able to throw away my ziplock bags!
Like having a real garbage can and garbage bags!
Like having a dryer to shrink our clothes back into shape!
Like having a shower!
Like the convenience of driving a few minutes on a good road with a car the works properly to a clean store that accepts credit cards when I need or want something today!
Like having no cockroaches in the house!
Like not having the stress of revolving the house cleaning around keeping cockroaches and mold out of the house!
Like being in my house without being asked for something 20-50 times a day!
Like having a chance to play crafts with my children!
Like crisp, sweet, juicy watermelon!!!
Today I enjoyed the deliciousness of just staying at home. No one has interrupted me once. The house and laundry are so easy to keep clean, food is so simple to prepare. The electricity and water work every time I need to cook or wash dishes or bathe children. I made crafts with my little ones for two hours and peacefully cuddled them when they fell asleep. And now I've had an hour to write about it!
Life seems so simple here.
I hope you appreciate what you have. It's not that way everywhere.
And maybe tomorrow we'll buy a Taco Bell bean burrito fresco again, and see who else we can share it with.
