Don't get me wrong, we love the opportunity to talk, and have even been able to use Skype on occasion to view each other.. We really look forward to those opportunities... but, my favorite is still chatting. We get the chance to talk for hours sometimes, making jokes, updating each other on news and happenings in our lives, and just enjoying the opportunity to visit. Plus, we talk about things we would never talk about otherwise. We solve world problems, exchange recipes, send links to cool websites, and fill our chats with lots of emoticons.
Even this blog gives me in particular, the chance to keep a personal journal in a very public way... more public than I had anticipated actually. We are getting visitors and readers and comments from all over the world. I am amazed actually, and want to welcome you all. I am excited to see new dots show up on the Maploco app at the bottom of the blog and even recognize who some of the dots represent. I have a pretty good idea who it is that is checking us out from Africa, and from Pakistan, and from the Marshall Islands, and from Victoria BC, and Calgary, and from our hometown, and Montreal and Iceland. I recognize the visits from our daughter in Virginia, and our son in Washington State. I see hits from many of our fellow senior missionaries serving in other parts of the world, some of our former students from Taiwan, Beijing, Korea, and Japan. I know who you are and want to thank all of you for your visits.
There are hundreds of visitors from other areas of the world that I am fascinated by. From Moscow, and Germany, and Italy, and New Guinea. The South American visitors have me baffled, and France, and Saudi Arabia, and Burundi. Its all very exciting, and suddenly I realize that I have a responsibility to make your visits worthwhile. I guess this is what happens when your blog gets to the first page on Google. (if you happen to have searched for "Yap Days"). Please... leave a comment, introduce yourself, say hi!
Winona and I have now been here for 16 months. We have become accustomed to the ebb and flow of life on the Islands of Yap. The food items on our shelves come from two main sources. The first is from the local stores who are totally dependent upon deliveries from supply ships. Our shelves are generally well stocked with items so that we have eggs, and butter, and milk, and rice, and flour to make it through until the next supply ship comes in. We have learned actually, that when something runs out in one store, it runs out in ALL stores. If EMI is out of butter, generally so is YCA, and Pic 'n Save, and Ace's Mart... and we would simply have to adapt to not using butter for awhile.. except that we have learned what to stock up on.
In many ways, shopping here reminds us of shopping in Costco. If you see something you want, you buy it, because you may never see it again!
Our second source of items on our shelves is from "Care Packages" from our kids!! We LOVE our care packages... full of stuff we just can't get here. Nuts, and candies, and chocolate (although, it all melts by the time it gets to us!) and Adams Crunchy style Peanut Butter!! Oh, we can get peanut butter here... Skippy, and Best Yet, and Springfield, and Smuckers, and Goobers... but, I am sorry... nothing compares with Adam's Crunchy Style. (Even "Adams Smooth" isn't what it used to be since Smuckers bought them!)
We have survived without eggs for weeks, without milk, or butter, or flour... but now we have begun to suffer our worst drought... our peanut butter is gone... We got out the rubber spatula, used our fingers, whatever we could think of to get the last bits out of the jar, but alas.. the above is our last and final peanut butter sandwich.
haha. if this isn't a subtle hint, i don't know what is. :) looks like i know what else to add into the package i'm going to send when i send mom's face wash.
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