At times, it feels like our time in PNG never happened. In all the busyness and excitement, it is easy to get caught up in the now....and forget those last two weeks. I don't want to do that....
I.miss.PNG. I miss it more than words can describe. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to be "home", but being there was an experience that will be hard to get close to ever again.
Before we left, we were able to spend some real quality time with our friends. My mom "took a backseat" and watched as I had "final" playdates. I tried to explain to Ben that we were leaving (and probably not coming back any time soon, if at all), but he didn't understand. He couldn't understand. We walked around and on many occasions, I found myself stopping for a moment longer to take a picture in my mind.
The Wednesday before we left, our friends Ben and Mandy had us over for dinner. Remember, in PNG, there is no where to go out to eat close by....and the restaurants in town are nothing like you are used to here in the States. I promise...nothing like an out to eat experience here. So, Ben and Mandy invited us over for a double-date. Our kids were with my mom; their kids were in bed. They decorated their "haus win" (a gazebo of sorts made of PNG bush material) with lights and candles and a table and chairs and a fire. We enjoyed a meal of Raclette (if you don't know what it is, it looks something like this):
This is a Swiss German style of cooking. We had a feast with baked potatoes. :) You put the potato on that little shovel looking thing, then you top it with all sorts of things like cheese, seasoning, meat, veggies, and more. You stick it under the grill part. The top is a grill, so you can cook your meat and veggies on there if you like and then transfer them to your potato later. Needless to say, it was a fun, different dining experience.
Ben prayed for the meal before we ate....and I cried like a baby.
I remember thinking, "I forgot my camera, but that is OK. I will never forget this night....as long as I live."
It was the perfect combination of some of our best friends in PNG, good food, laughter, tears, ambiance, a fire and no kids. It felt like camping without the inconvenience. And, I am so thankful that we were able to have this last memory there.
Then, on Thursday night, we went to Bible Study. You could see in our friends' eyes that something was planned and it was going to be extremely embarrassing for them....and maybe us. :)
The girls came out (with Jeff) all dressed up in clothes they found from the High School prop room. They had a lip sync number to "Say a Little Prayer for You"....which involved moves from my favorite You Tube video. I was a sobbing mess. Caleb just laughed. I have it all on video, but I won't post it....yet.
Then, that night was a prayer night....and I have never felt more loved by a collective group of people than that night.
When we left, Caleb looked at me and said, "You know, there is only one other time that I have ever felt that loved by a group of people".....and that other time was when our Raleigh small group threw us a surprise last dinner right before we left for PNG.
Friday morning, we moved out of the house we had lived for the last year. We moved into the WA Center. And, if you have been following my blog, then you would know that one of my favorite places on center is the WA Center. This is where I threw all my parties. It was so fitting to have our last night in Ukarumpa there.
I spent the evening going around giving away various things of mine to friends. I sat with Jessie....who is my "wantok"....the person who really just "got me". We hugged and said our good-byes....not really ever knowing if or when we might see each other again.
When I returned to the WA Center, there was a group of people there waiting to say Good Bye to us. It was really nice. Benji and Esther, Ben and Mandy, Chris and Deb were there. We just sat around....prolonging the night and the fact that we were all still in the same country for as long as possible. Then, the night ended.....our time in PNG ended....from that point forward, even if I was in PNG, I was already gone.
The next morning, we drove a rented vehicle from Ukarumpa to Lae to catch our plane. Jeff and Kristen and Paul and Kelly (some of our other closest friends) went with us.
Ben fell asleep on the drive to the airport.....and the rest was a blur/dream for me.
We arrived in Port Moresby as scheduled. Mel did scream the entire flight (45 minutes). The next morning, a little tooth popped out, so we all sighed big sighs of relief. All night, I was worried she was going to be like that on every flight. But, she ended up being an angel on the next flights.....all the way to San Francisco.
I have posted a lot on Facebook about the flights back. But, we could not have asked for better children. They either slept or sat happily the entire time. Our flight from LAX to SFO was delayed about 3 hours, but we all got a nap in during that time and were good to go once we reached San Francisco.
More on that to come....
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