Friday, January 15, 2010

Bits and Bites....

It has been a while since my last post. There's just not nearly as much excitement in our lives here in Canada as there is in Papua. Maybe that's a good thing...

Good news from Papua. Our long-awaited Kodiak landed safely the other day after a long flight across the ocean:


This is very exciting for our program. This aircraft can carry more people than the Cessna 206 but use a lot of the shorter strips that the Cessna Caravan can't use and it uses jet-fuel instead of the hard to get a hold of and super expensive avgas.
Things I'm enjoying about Canada: (In no particular order)
not havng to make bread/buns
buying pork that's nicely cut into chops and all packaged up and sometimes even already seasoned! I could never bring myself to buy a pig leg (skin, fat and all) from the guys that would come to my door with one in a wheel barrow haphazardly covered with banana leaves in a futile attempt to keep the flies off.
Milk!
Shopping... as my credit card bill will confirm... there is so incredibly much available here!!!
Big pails of ice cream...
Caramilk bars...
Wednesday morning Bible study with the ladies
Hamburgers! Being able to borrow a bbq has been such a lovely blessing!
Things I am missing: (in no particular order...)
pineapple
feely truly warm to the very core
friends
being outside in the sun
playing hockey
yellow rice with chicken (nasi kuning bungkus) wrapped up in paper-yummy!
Things I am not missing:
meeting drunk guys on the road
the noise
Buying chicken at the market
rotten eggs
dealing with people asking for money
Things the kids have commented on or noticed/observed:
Brynnie to me: `Why does it always rain here
Yesterday the older kids saw the aftermath of a serious accident and the subsequent arrival of emergency vehicles - ambulance and firetruck.... the only time I ever saw a firetruck not parked at the fire department in Sentani, was when they were using the firetruck to water the flowers in the median on the main road... As we drive quite slowly in Sentani, there are rarely major car accidents.
** MAF has been working in Haiti for a long time. The houses and walls around the base sustained damage in the quake making personal safety a real concern. The women and children were to be evacuated and 4 pilots were going to remain behind to help out with the relief efforts. Please continue to remember the people of Haiti and those helping them in your prayers.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

You'll have to come over and sit by our wood-burning fireplace. Last night I did, and I closed my eyes and pretended I was back on the beach in Rarotonga, and pretended the radiating heat from the fire was the sun. Not quite the same, but it DID warm me to the core!! :)