Some of the everyday hard stuff

Living in a village can be quite a challenge for someone raised in a sterile, clean, organized, convenience and comfort-oriented country like the US or Australia.  Here are some of the everyday hard things that can cause annoyance and stress. 

Sometimes this much dirt/ash falls just overnight or in a few hours.

Mold grows on the countertops, walls, dishes, silverware...

Sometimes our cargo gets a dunking in the ocean before we get it.  Argh!

And sometimes our cargo leaks all over multiple boxes!

Or our boxes are busted open.

 Kaiden and I went through multiple rounds of pink eye this year, as well as getting weird eye infections turning us in to temporary aliens.  Fortunately they always clear within a few days of taking meds!

Gwen had several rounds of small boils on her face, one of which got dangerously close to her eye and just wouldn't heal up.  Huge armpit boils seem to be common too!

 

Rats are fortunately now mostly only a problem when we are in the capital city to resupply (and for the week or so after we return), thanks to our killer cat.  He makes a big mess when he's chasing/playing with them, but typically always finishes them off in the shower, so it's easy to clean up!  He also goes after any geckos, lizards, skinks, spiders, moths, beetles, and crabs that come in as well.  Or sometimes he brings them in...the other day there was a big green lizard in my pillow case where he lost it after an extended play session.  Fortunately I knew it was lost somewhere in my room so it wasn't too much of a shock when I felt it under my head!

Rats made a huge nest under my bathroom vanity out of pieces of mat, toilet paper, and other scavenged items.  Gwen kindly helped me clean out as much as we could get to!

They destroy our tupperware.

Sliding and bashing around on the terrible rods.

Lack of Western medical care for our friends.

It is difficult to be unable to help friends who could get great medical care in the US, like Douglas, in the center, above, who was sent home with cancer because the hospital in the capital city couldn't do anything for him.  Or Lising from our village who died last month at barely 50 of something not even diagnosed that the local clinic gave her Tylenol for.  Or baby Atel we helicoptered to Vila for treatment for pnemonia who died in the hospital a few days later.  These are hard things to see our friends and neighbors facing.

Sometimes it is just hard to live here, and regular stressors get under our skin.  Please pray for us for faithfulness when the little things add up some days!