Making positive progress

The Masons were out of town for two weeks and the home was so quite and lonely, now that the Masons are back my life is really active. Each day I go into Byron with them and help them in the office. I like being there because all day people come in and out. People are always so full of joy and life that it is a really healthy environment to be in. Sometimes there is no work so I lay on the cushions and read a good book. I just finished The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. Simon has a continual book list for me and I have like six books waiting on the docket right now. I just started one called Affluenza about when too much is never enough.

I went in the Indian ocean yesterday before church. The two younger Masons Toby and Phoebe and I packed the surf board and boogie board into the back of the wagon and set off to enjoy the sunny, hot day. The beach was crowded with buff bodies decked in skimpy bikinis and tans. I have to admit I felt like a old prude woman in my one piece Nike race suit. I really had to build up my courage to get into the water because with each person that walks by there are fifty pairs of hungry eyes following them. I don't like this and I almost didn't go in. I'm not ashamed of my body but I just felt pressure to be hip by wearing a bikini which I've never liked. However, I did go in and I even spent some time on a board! It felt great to be out there in the waves and float so carelessly on the board. I've not done this since I was very young. I am looking forward to learning and expect to become fluid eventually. One of the girls I'm going to be living with is a surf instructor. She was talking about getting a group together on Sunday mornings.

I'm currently living in the Masons garage. I love my private space here and have gotten to dig into my chest and bust out all of my belongings. It is wonderful that everything I own can fit into one small room. But, I'll only be here for two more weeks because on Saturday my friend Christy picked me up and we caravaned with another car to a nearby neighborhood. Me and the four other girls were going to check a rental house that just became available and because of Christy's connections we got the inside scoop before it went onto the market. The owners showed us around the three story mansion ducking us in and out of rooms. Some of the great features of this house is it comes complete with a beautiful pool extending from the side of the second story. I'm excited to use this to work out in. The opposite side of that story has a veggie garden freshly manured! After a while of touring we decided that we would love to rent it and told them we were committed. Since it was through friends we don't have to apply or have the normal 100 point system that it takes to get a place here. The location is close to the main part of Byron and I can easily ride my bike there on the convenient bike trails. It is also only a couple of minutes away from the beach. You can't see the beach but we can hear it.

Also on Saturday night we celebrated my birthday with the family. We picked up Simon, Pete and his girlfriend Phoebe. Bev who is like part of the family came as well. There was a delicious banquet of Thai complete with Pad Thai and Lamb with Peanut sauce. I was really touched by their card that wholehearted welcome me into the family and encouraged me that I was a true gem suiting my name.

Simon worked today at the bookstore. It isn't a very nice book store aesthetically but I guess the owner is really helpful and he has been relying on Simon for a lot of wisdom is what books to order and stock. I think that Simon could easily become manager of this job since he is so well read. He will start Uni around August when the new term begins. He is looking forward to this and will most likely continue to work while he does. Here he actually gets paid to go to school. He will get 200 dollars every two weeks. Crazy, but cool for us!

I called a person about a nanny job today that was advertised in the newspaper. All I know is that it is for a 4 1/2 year old and it will start in Mid May and end in July which will be good for now. She is going to call me tomorrow morning but I have such good qualifications that it is very rare that it won't work out.

We are thinking about flying down to Sydney to buy a car. There are just no reasonable cars here. Byron truly is in the country. Did you know they don't even have stop lights? I didn't realize that until yesterday. It is very country and I love it. But, this means if you want to shop for anything reasonable you need to travel like 45 minutes away. There is a VW van we have our eyes on and I actually need to get Simon to call them since it is long distance.

Kiss someone we both love hello for me.

Love you heaps!
Meag

Every day's an adventure!

I've started to pick up on a slight Australian accent and would be greeting you with the question "How is it doing?" They ask that instead of "How's it going?" and also ending a lot of sentences with the word hey and looping the end so everything is said in a manner that seems to be hanging in the air dancing above our heads, unsettled. There are tons of little differences like that. For instance on the stove top the dial for heat is opposite. The high is to the left instead of the to right and they have all sort of different names for things. Here a comforter or blanket is called a duna. Right now I can't think of any others but they attack me sporatically all day long.

Today was the first day without rain since we arrived a little over a week ago. The Mason family jokes that it is because this huge Blues Festival is over and finished, now the sun can come back out. I guess it has rained for 88 years straight during Easter here. That is always when they have the Blues Fest and it leaves hundreds devoted groupies caked in mud and looking as happy as a soaking wet cat.

Sometimes I really look forward to rainy days because I feel that it gives me permission to kick up my feet, dig into the couch cushions and dive into the dream world of a good book. When it is sunny I feel beckoned to come and play and engage in the welcoming weather.

I'm just about to finish my busiest day yet. I helped the Mason clan get ready for their departure to Tasmania by hanging up laundry, donating a random suitcase, and in general staying away from the mad bustle of a rush. Simon and I walked the five minutes into Banglow downtown to meet up with some of his old college mates, twins actually, who were in town because of the Blues Festival. It was a brief catchup before we had to return home for lunch with a married couple called Liz and Hans. They brought over sandwich makings and to end our time together we played two rounds of this fantastically fun game called Killer Bunnies. Then they took Simon off to his new temporary home of a friends garage while he continues the search for a more permanent home. I didn't have enough time to get too sad before Bev came home to make dinner of buttered chicken, which is like a curry sauce and totally inappropriately unsuited for the name. We had a wonderful conversation while balancing our chopsticks. It was quite a change after having a flamboyant dinner table where the conversation is juggled and bouncing unpredictably to one where the conversation is direct and uninterrupted. It is nice to not have had to move to another house but to be able to stay here while the Masons are away, but it is a little stretching having to get used to a new persons habits and rituals while I was just adjusting to the Masons. I will be glad when Simon and I settle down for a more routine life.

Today something exciting yet devastating happened. I have been using my electronic toothbrush and it needed to be recharged. I plugged it into my adapter and saw the little green light blinking informing me it was getting power. After breakfast of bao and dumplings that Phoebe brings home from work I went to check my email and noticed something wasn't quite right with the toothbrush. I went to turn it around to see what was happening and it popped and sparked making me scream. The whole family came running to see what was wrong. Then the charger began to smoke like crazy and sizzle menacing. Someone unplugged it and it began to fill the room with a metallic stench and smoke. It definitely had met its end. We opened wide the widow, blasted the fan and shut the door to let the smoke escape. The reason this happened was that I had forgotten there was a difference in voltage. While I had used my adapter I forgot to use the converter! So, goodbye Sonicare. I'm very sad about this because it has keep me faithfully cavity free. There is always some drama here.

At first I was feeling really welcomed by the people here and then I began to get really overwhelmed with it all. There are a lot of adjustments big and small that I've had to do. One is being part of a big family. Everyone is demanding attention here and it makes me want to shrink back and become one with the wall paper. Everyone is really looking forward to getting to know me better and I'm excited to have some one on ones with people because I tend to be overwhelmed with small group functions where the only person I know is Simon and I want to cling to him like glad wrap to a bowl. One thing I'm finding is that Maria and Phil are so busy, often all three of the kids here will be trying to talk to them at the same time and figure out their mini dramas. It makes a flexible attitude and outlook absolutely key to survival.

We made another big decision. We were looking at possibilities for me to live. Simon thought it would be good for me to get into one of the girls homes since no official opening in a home has developed. I want to spend time with the girls in the church and get to know them but I'm not too keen on spending time on a random couch in a house full of strangers. Nice strangers, but still strangers. I feel it is really important for me to have my own space where I can retreat to if needed. Maria agreed and so we set it up for me to stay here in their home while they are on vacation and further extended if I need to. This was a relief to me at the moment. Si moved into Brads garage today. I am looking forward to the separation but I was really sad saying goodbye to him. I cried as we parted. Since we have spent 5 and half months together every day with only a 2 and a half week break in the beginning this will be an adjustment for me.

Here are some more pictures from our engagement party. Tommy my step father sent these to us. I think they turned out really well. I hope you enjoy! Well. . . unfortunately Simon isn't the most photogenic. I love him heaps anyways. And I get to look at the real deal not some captured moment.

Pemba is a stunning place. These pictures are taken from the local beach located right outside the Iris gates. Since didn't often have running water and had to collect it from the lower well I often would take my daily dip into the Indian Ocean for a cleaning off and refreshing cool down.

My house shared a compound with over 100 orphans. Each of these children have an amazing story of being saved and redeemed by Heidi Baker. Many were dying in the dumps of Maputu and were taken to live with the Bakers where they could get three meals a day and all of the love they needed for a healthy life. Many of the children where really rough when they first came. They would bite, kick, and run way from the home. Numerous times Heidi got scabies from holding these children who would hit her in return. She would just run and chase them and love on them until they were healed.

This is the women preparing either lunch or dinner. We would have a meal called matapa and it was like a spinach. They would sit stool that were close to the ground and would shave tons of coconut skin to flavor it. It was served on a heaping pile of rice. After breakfast was served immediately the preparation for lunch began. We would be eating breakfast to the thumping of millet. They worked very hard to feed the 130 students, the 100 pastors, and the 100 orphans. Needless to say this job was all consuming.

This is Alberto. He was one of my favorite children at the children's home. I was drawn to his quiet personality. Our joke was calling each other pastors. I'm not actually sure why he thought this was so funny but it made him laugh which in turn made me laugh. I called him my professor since he taught me some Portuguese and this is how we first became friends. In this picture he has a car that he had made with left over rubbish. There were multitudes of other things he had made as well. As gifts I would give him empty vitamin bottles as building material. He would come and sit by me during teaching and my favorite times where when he would fall asleep leaning on my lap. I didn't even mind the drool that would cover my skirts afterwards because of the trust he was putting in me.

Good day Mate!

The plane began to descend. It was our last couple of minutes of our 25 hours of transit. My eyes were filled with images of towering leafy trees, rolling meadow sides, and white crashing waves upon a welcoming shore. I was enjoying the view when a startling realization hit me. This was my life!

I had been sharing my story of meeting my future husband at a mission school in Mozambique Africa and how we had made plans to move to his home of Byron Bay. The story was a great romance and captured the heart of the listeners. It had beautiful tiny details of adventures traveling through foreign countries and falling in love with the backdrop of swaying palm trees and opportunities to love the dirty, rugged orphan. The only problem was I was telling it as a narrator to someone elses life.

The startling realization struck me as I was the one in the airplane descending into new community who spoke with a funky accent. This was a permanent move and I was going to be living with my new family of blond haired and blue eyes beauty.
Hold on here. . . I'm not the narrator, I'm the main character in this novel.

I began to cry and all of the grieving of leaving my parents, of not living a block away from Abby and Tim, of having a different local market than Metropolitan market became a fierce reality.

I began to recall the confirmation of peace that ruled my heart concerning this decision. This helped. I began to remember all the prayer from many people that went into the making of this decision. This helped. I began to remember that I was moving to Africa anyways and had decided to leave the lush Northwest for good. This helped.

By the time we had landed I was back in control and had the mindset of an adventurer who had exited one season of being a single in her mid twenties living in Tacoma and equipping the Sparkle Diamonds for a life time of learning. And the adventurer who was entering into another season of being a hippy engaged to a bookoholic living in Byron Bay and equipping the New agers for a life time of Jesus.

I'm really excited to be here and have already been learning so much about myself and trying to tape into what God is doing in the deep down places of my heart.
I'll keep you updated on where this adventurer embarks next.