Homesick

This 10-day waiting period feels like a year. We are counting everything: how many more internat visits until we can leave, how many more miles we have to walk, how many more bowls of soup we have to eat and how many more times we have to squat in the bathtub to take a shower. The temperature has gone up again and we are shedding clothes, but the caretakers continue to send Aaron out dressed for a January snowstorm. In 80+ degree weather with strong sun, he wears an undershirt, a long-sleeved flannel shirt, a wool sweater, tights that cover him from his waist to his toes, long pants and shoes. He loves to kick his ball around, but he gets hot so fast that he doesn’t last long at it.


We would find the wait so much more enjoyable if Ben and Elijah were with us. As each day passes, our longing to go home and be with them increases. They have about reached their limit. There is little we can do except pray that after we get through our 10-day wait next Monday, we can move swiftly through the birth certificate, passport, medical and visa paperwork so we can return quickly.

Please don’t stop making comments on the blog or on Facebook. Those comments make us feel like we are not quite so alone in our village. It is so rare to receive a kind word from the natives here that we soak up whatever kind words we can get from back home.

Aaron has fallen on his face three times on our watch during the last few visits. He’s getting a little better at it-- he is able to thrust his chest out to catch himself, but he usually hits the ground with at least his chin. His poor little arms are no help at all in slowing his fall. Once he managed to fall on his backside, which is terrific. It is gut-wrenching to see him falling face first onto hard, uneven concrete, but it’s just not possible to stop him if we’re going to let him have fun. When we get home, we’re definitely going to find him a light helmet with a padded chinstrap.

The nurses cover his wounds with green medication, which makes odd make-up for his pictures. When this is combined with his non-stop runny nose, it makes for a bit of a mess, although you wouldn’t know it by his laughter. His new favorite activity is to have Rob carry him at a jog, brushing his little bald head all along the hedge. He can’t get enough of it.