Home Safely

Well, we are safely back home in Malawi and getting back into the swing of things! We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the States and had a great time with family and friends but are also glad to be back! Our trip back was pretty much uneventful and smooth. We had much better service on the flight and had an extra seat so Karis had some space to sit! We were also very pleased to discover that Delta had just changed their planes and we had individual t.v. screens!! Huge blessing! Of course, karis was not interested in any of the shows so wore out the battery on my laptop and her portable DVD player but that is what we brought it for! John and I watched several hours of tv each and it was great! Johannesburg airort is notorious for things being stolen out of your luggage and unfortunately we were victims this time! Our five bags that were in the baggage compartment all night were fine but when we checked in for our flight in the morning they made us check John's carry on that had all the electronics in it (specifically so they would not be accessible to anyone as that is the type of thing that is usually stolen). We anticipated this happening but thought they would take it at the gate but instead they took it at check in! In retrospect we should have rearranged things at that point but we just didn't think through it all as it was happening! We are thankful because it could have been much worse and of all the electronics in that bag it was the one we use the least but it is still maddening!! We also knew we were back in Malawi when we arrived with no one to pick us up! Our friend, Beth, had planned to do it but had something come up so made arrangments with John's office to send a driver but somehow it didn't happen! It was minor as we called and they sent someone immediately but was still a good reminder that things don't function on the same schedule here!
On the plus side, there were no problems on the compound while we were gone and the rains have started early so things are already green! We really are glad to be back!

Karis's First week In the U.S.

Karis has thoroughly enjoyed her first week back in the States and it has included a lot of "firsts":

• Her first chance to play with cousins (well, at least since she was 2.5 months old). She got to spend the week with Diya (10) and Devan (3). Diya was wonderful with both younger kids and a great help while the younger two liked each other - most of the time! They were so cute together
• Her "first" haircut - consistent with Telegu culture her maternal uncle took the first three snips. I think technically this should have been my brother, Beau, but since Chintan is married to Mercy he is considered a maternal uncle so he performed the task! Then we took her to a salon and had a complete trim. She sat perfectly still in my lap the whole time! If we had known she would cooperate John could have done the whole thing himself
  
• Her first trip to the zoo. She loved feeding the baby goats but the playground was definately her favorite!
• Her first shopping trips! She slept through the mall excursion but enjoyed her playtime at Old Navy and Target... and the shoes and clothes her aunt bought her! We bought her some shoes to grow into but she keeps pulling them out of the boxes and putting them on.

Safe trip

After much fear and trepidation, our trip to the States went really well! Unfortunately, the customer service on our 18 hour Delta flight was virtually nonexistant but every other aspect of the trip went really well and Karis did great! She was not fussy at all and slept quite a lot on the long flight. Although it was a really, really long flight it actually did not seem as long as it could have and I (Sara) was less tired than usual upon arrival. Karis took a nap Friday afternoon in the airport in Lilongwe, slept in about 2 long stretches on the flight and then took a nap as we were landing in Atlanta about 7am U.S. time. Other than that she only slept for about 10 minutes in the car on the way home from the airport but was able to stay awak and pretty happy until 6:45 when she went to bed and then slept through the night as usual so she adjusted well! Our bags did not arrive in Atlanta with us but did arrive with all contents accounted for on Sunday so we were relieved! (one never knows what is going to happen to your belongings when they are "lost" in Johannesburg!!!) We will wait till after our return trip to pass final judgment on Delta and one long flight versus a layover in Europe!

We leave on Friday!

We are busily getting ready for our trip to the U.S. on Friday and can't wait! In the meantime we are rushing around trying to get everything taken care of for Sunday school (or relief teacher seems to be AWOL) the compound (complicated by almost losing our housekeeper this week and a potential conflict between the "day staff" and night guards) John's work and packing.
My general sense of panic at the thought of our 18 hour, 50 minute flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta with a stop in Dakar, Senegal and without an assigned seat for Karis has slightly abated. This is the result of wonderful prayer from our Cell group and my Bible study as well as dvds she really enjoys (loaned from a friend) and a few new toys I have been holding back!! (also from friends! Thanks!) The nice thing about having one long flight is that it does make for the quickest trip possible. We leave Lilongwe at 1:30pm on Friday and arrive in Little Rock at about noon on Saturday. with short connections from Lilongwe to Jo'burg and Atlanta to LR. We are very, very excited about our trip and can't wait to see friends and family! All prayers for smooth travel are appreciated!

Karis and her friends

We go to play group most Wednesday mornings and Karis is interacting more and more with the other kids. Here she is with her friend,Joe. Her more constant companion is her Eeyore.

John got it for her in South Africa and especially in the last few weeks she has gotten quite attached to him. She even asks for him by name and says "Eeyore" very clearly! She thought he needed a bath on Saturday (which he actually does) so took him swimming in the water fountain while we were fixing breakfast!

Meanwhile on Safari...

While John was having the week he described below I was "suffering" on safari. South Luangwa is a great game park only about 4-5 hours away in Zambia. Our friend, Donna, was visiting from Temple and part of her whirlwird tour was to go on safari. We had a great time and had some definate game viewling highlights: 2 lionesses with cubs, a leopard with cubs and a recent kill right at the side of the road, and elephants coming right up to our dining room! We also saw lots of zebra, elephants, hippo and giraffe. We closed the experience with seeing 2 lionesses hunting!! Unfortunately they started chasing a cape buffalo and ended with him chasing them! Our guide said, "they have failed". This experience was made slightly more exciting by the fact that our vehicle was not running well and the guide could not turn it off! The vehicle ran well the first day but the first night it was having battery issues and we actually had to be pushed at one point (they use these spotlights to veiw animals at night and it was draining the battery)! All well and good when there is nothing around but not something you can repeat when you are 20 feet from hungry lions (literally!) I was having visions of a) lions jumping into the back of our open vehicle or b) the engine dying and us having to sit there for hours before it was safe to get out and push!
So those were the game viewing highlights. Mind you, we spent about 16 hours over 2 days in a land cruiser to see all that! Great, but Donna and I were in agreement that one day would have been adequate for us! Thankfully we were sitting on the back row of the truck so when everyone else was still enthralled with the birds and crocodiles we just talked!
This was the first time I had left Karis for more than a day so I was concerned about her and the death of Loveness was a huge unexpected stressor but I had no qualms in John's (and Mathilda's) abilities to take care of her so I just prayed for them and enjoyed the hours of uniterrupted sleep and naps at every possible opportunity! It was great!

Difficult Week

Written Sept 10

This past week was a challenge in many ways. It was the first time I was left in charge of Karis for over 1 day. Sara and Donna (a good friend from Texas) went on safari to South Luangwa, Zambia for 4 days leaving me and Mathilda entertaining Karis.

Day 1: The first day was business as usual, because Karis is used to being left a home during the day. I went to work and came back home to find Karis fed, bathed and ready to play. I really was a little disappointed that I was not doing those things, because I could handle taking care of my own child (but in some ways I was so thankful that Mathilda took care of the major things). Karis usually goes to sleep between 6:30 to 7:30 but I let her play and kept her entertained by watching her 1 set of DVDs. She finally went to sleep at 8:30 and that set the tone for the rest of the nights (sleeping between 8:30 to 9:00). Her sleep pattern was shot the first night! What could I have done, she knew her mother was missing and she needed the DVDs to settle her prior to going to sleep. Sara also had worked at getting her to sleep in her own crib and that also was shot. I needed to keep her close so I could wake up if she woke up in the middle of the night and so from the first night on, she wouldn’t even take day naps in her crib the whole time. We had to place her on our bed in order to get her to take a nap.

The first day was not the worst as the week progressed. Day 2: Tuesday started as a nice day. I took Karis into work for 30 minutes to get some paper work done to admit our guard’s wife, Loveness, to the hospital and returned home to spend time with Karis. I thought that the next day after Sara was gone would be the most difficult for Karis and so decided to stay home from work the majority of the day. One of my friends, Lisa, came over to lend me some additional children’s DVDs and we spent time talking while Karis played with her son Lenny. Lisa and Lenny left and things were going well until I got a call from the pastor taking Loveness to the hospital for admission as I had instructed him to do. He also told me that she was bleeding from a place on her leg, (this was not surprising as that was the reason for the admission) and that they were going to the emergency department first. I agreed with the logic and told him to keep me informed. I got a call 40 minutes later to be told that she had passed away. This on the other hand was a huge shock and surprise! This changed the whole next few days. I left Karis at home with Matilda at that point and left to go assist our guard. I came home tired and emotionally exhausted and let Karis dictate the events of the evening before retiring for the night. She wanted to watch the new DVDs and these new DVDs were a relief from the ones that we have been watching for over 5 months now.

Day 3 without Sara. This day began early with having to go to work for a portion of the day and the funeral the rest of the day. The details of this tragic story will be another blog. Poor Mathilda was left taking care of Karis for the majority of the day and I only relieved her around 6:30 in the evening. Again, because Mahtilda must think that men are not supposed to do child rearing activities, Karis was fed, bathed and dressed for bed by the time I got home. The moment Karis would see me, she was ready to play. We stayed up another night playing and watching the new DVDs that are from Australia. The videos are “Play School” and consist of nursery rhymes in an Aussie accent. I think Karis is going to end up with an Aussie accent after watching these videos!

Day 4: Sara is coming home! I was able to spend some time at home with Karis. I put up a swing in the front yard and entertained her by pushing her in the swing. She enjoyed the swing and wanted to spend most of the time there. I also took her on errands around town like to the National Health Science Research Council to submit a research proposal. People here love seeing children and don’t object to having a child being brought. Finally, I went to work with Sara on the way home from her Safari and to resume mommy duties. Sara was missed during this time, but Karis and I did bond though our delinquent behaviors…eating whatever she wanted, sleeping whenever and where-ever she wanted and doing whatever she wanted. I think the only saving grace was that she still spent more time at home with Mathilda than me and that probably kept Karis semi-civilized.

Difficult weekLessons: As a dad you just try to survive these trials by getting rid of all rules that you thought were easy to enforce. Stay at home moms and dads are truly super-hero’s. The energy, the creativeness, the discipline that is required 24 hours a day to keep these little ones going is exhausting. I am so thankful for Mathilda.

*Pictures taken previously but this is basically what happened (watch DVDs and eat whatever you want- chocolate cake, etc)