The long awaited arrival to our island home has finally happened! It was a long journey...5 hours in a van, 4 hours on a boat, overnight in town at Sing and Swing (karaoke bar), and then another 1/2 hour boat ride to "our beach". The boat ride was beautiful ...on a pom boat. For the last 1/2 hour ride we were able to get all of our boxes and supplies loaded on the pom boat to be delivered to the beach. If we had not hired the pom boat captain, we would have had to make many trips to town to get all of our supplies. From the pictures we look as though we were washed up on the beach!
It took us most of the day in the hot sun to unload our supplies, ferry them from boat to boat, and haul them to our house. Needless to say we were rather tired and sunburned by the afternoon. But ...we had a wedding to attend...so we dug in our boxes for a change of clothes, showered in our new bathroom, and made our way in the dark to the local wedding. It was certainly a fun event and a great cultural experience! We ate rice and pancit with our fingers (but only our right hand) out of a banana leaf. Ann Marie and Adams danced with the young people. It was a great introduction to living here!
We spent the first several days unpacking our boxes and attempting to get settled in our new house. So many new things to get used to with many "firsts" for this Alaskan family!
Our first time...to sleep under a mosquito net, but it sure does make you feel quite secure with so many bugs and lizards all around! ...to eat in our new house at a new table (pancakes or eggs and rice, anyone?!) ...to wake to roosters crowing right outside our window (the only problem is they start crowing at 3am!) ...to sleep with so many night time noises (the jungle is a busy, noisy place at night)! ...to celebrate Adams 8th birthday in our new home. We celebrated with Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jeanie and enjoyed delicious pizza and mango pie! Adams had a great super-hero birthday! ...but he also had a first time of cutting his thumb deeply with his new knife! ...to use jungle first-aid! Ethan sliced his knee cap with his new machete. It wasn't that big of a cut, but because of where it was located we decided it needed stitches. Dennis brought over his suture kit and closed up Ethan's wound with three stitches...front porch ER! ...to meet our new neighbors. Jeanie has been taking us house to house to meet everyone, so now we can smile and wave when we pass and send an American greeting of "Hello"! ...for the kids to make friends with kids they can't really talk to! They have all sure had a lot of fun playing games, singing songs, and learning language from each other! ...to bake bread, granola, and cookies in a clay oven! We are learning so much and yet have so much to learn in the many days, weeks, and months ahead!
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| Unloading all our stuff from pom boat |
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| Veldstra family washed up on the beach! |
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| Runsii dance at wedding |
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| Traditional wedding |
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| Adams dancing and all smiles! |
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| Our first meal in our new home! |
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The long awaited arrival to our island home has finally happened! It was a long journey...5 hours in a van, 4 hours on a boat, overnight in town at Sing and Swing (karaoke bar), and then another 1/2 hour boat ride to "our beach". The boat ride was beautiful ...on a pom boat. For the last 1/2 hour ride we were able to get all of our boxes and supplies loaded on the pom boat to be delivered to the beach. If we had not hired the pom boat captain, we would have had to make many trips to town to get all of our supplies. From the pictures we look as though we were washed up on the beach!
It took us most of the day in the hot sun to unload our supplies, ferry them from boat to boat, and haul them to our house. Needless to say we were rather tired and sunburned by the afternoon. But ...we had a wedding to attend...so we dug in our boxes for a change of clothes, showered in our new bathroom, and made our way in the dark to the local wedding. It was certainly a fun event and a great cultural experience! We ate rice and pancit with our fingers (but only our right hand) out of a banana leaf. Ann Marie and Adams danced with the young people. It was a great introduction to living here!
Our first time...to sleep under a mosquito net, but it sure does make you feel quite secure with so many bugs and lizards all around! ...to eat in our new house at a new table (pancakes or eggs and rice, anyone?!) ...to wake to roosters crowing right outside our window (the only problem is they start crowing at 3am!) ...to sleep with so many night time noises (the jungle is a busy, noisy place at night)! ...to celebrate Adams 8th birthday in our new home. We celebrated with Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jeanie and enjoyed delicious pizza and mango pie! Adams had a great super-hero birthday! ...but he also had a first time of cutting his thumb deeply with his new knife! ...to use jungle first-aid! Ethan sliced his knee cap with his new machete. It wasn't that big of a cut, but because of where it was located we decided it needed stitches. Dennis brought over his suture kit and closed up Ethan's wound with three stitches...front porch ER! ...to meet our new neighbors. Jeanie has been taking us house to house to meet everyone, so now we can smile and wave when we pass and send an American greeting of "Hello"! ...for the kids to make friends with kids they can't really talk to! They have all sure had a lot of fun playing games, singing songs, and learning language from each other! ...to bake bread, granola, and cookies in a clay oven! We are learning so much and yet have so much to learn in the many days, weeks, and months ahead!
