Inshallah

We made it back! We had a bit of an adventure getting home but three days ago we not only walked in our front gate but did so with all our government paperwork in hand (if you only knew what a miracle that is!) Our trip back started with a late night car ride through the bush to a town several hours away from the southern capitol. We shared the rented car with three students headed home for the weekend who had also missed the last bus out of town. About twenty minutes down the road the kid sitting next to me pulled out a shiny black pistol and casually began loading it. When he saw Bryan and I exchange glances he laughed. “Don’t worry.” He said, “This is just in case someone decides to give us trouble.” I couldn’t imagine what situation could be improved by an eighteen year old with a gun, but thankfully my imagination wasn’t stretched and we made it in late that night, in time to catch a plane heading out at 6:30 the next morning.
Our place feels a little more like home every day. We have some furniture now in our tent bedroom and we are working on installing a beautiful porcelain toilet in our latrine (praise the Lord!). Our “yard” is still a wreck though as we get ready to start building our kitchen and guestroom. With all the piles of grass, stones and cinder blocks lying around it looks like the Big Bad Wolf was last week’s dinner guest.
Several friends have stopped by to say hello since we’ve been back which has made us happy. Today the women who work next door came over to chat, first with me, and then with each other when my Arabic ran out. At one point they poked their heads into our canvas bedroom door and eyed our home approvingly. When they saw our big bed in the corner though they asked me why we only have one bed. Before I could even begin to think of how to answer they continued, “Libby, if you have only one bed, why don’t you have a baby yet?” Sometimes language deficiency is a blessing. All I had to offer in response was a shrug a blush and one word “Inshallah.”