12,000 Miles From Familiar: More Packing, A Garage Sale, and Goodbyes

Here it is, the eve of our last night in Indonesia...how's that for a confusing way to put it! It's Thursday night and I want to quick share a bit about packing in the last week, our crazy garage sale/giveaway yesterday, and our perpisahan or going away party with the MAF Western and Indonesian staff that happened earlier tonight. I'm going to mostly show pictures and not write too much because honestly, I am worn out! I want to post before we move on to the next phase of travel and then on to the States (in less than 48 hours, wow).

First packing..

We started packing up our house last Tuesday I think, and after much sweating, a few tears, and a whole lot of newspapers (used to wrap breakables), our first crate was full and sealed by Friday afternoon, and the second one was all set this past Monday afternoon. Here are some pictures of the process...

Sitting on top of our biggest crate updating our inventory list

Chris and I taking the wheels off his tool box to get it ready to pack

Chris's poor toe, a piece of plywood caught under his toenail and pulled it mostly off. He went to the hospital where they removed the nail and treated his toe. It's healing slowly (I will spare you a shot of it uncovered because it's pretty gross), and Chris has been taking care of it diligently to keep it clean and prevent infection.

I took a few other pictures of the crates being built, but they were deleted by mistake, and I didn't take any shots of the house as I was packing it, or me, which was just as well since I was looking less than cute and not really in the mood to smile!

We had a big give-away with a few things for sale yesterday. I set everything out organized like a store...

The sale was supposed to start at 1:00pm and go until 4:00pm. At 12:50pm motorcycles started arriving and wives of the MAF Indonesian staff, MAF Western ladies, and even some of the Indonesian guys from the MAF hangar came pouring in. It was like a party! People buying things and collecting the free stuff in bags, asking questions, especially about the uses of some of the more unusual spices I was giving away...and I was trying to answer them in Indonesian, but how can I really explain what mustard seeds and turmeric are used for? I did the best I could! The most priceless moment by far came when one of the more gregarious Indonesian ladies picked up a bag of tampons I was giving away and asked what they were and how to use them. I should explain that tampons are not available in Tarakan and aren't commonly used in Indonesia, so these ladies had never seen them before. A hilarious conversation followed in which myself and 2 of the other Western MAF ladies tried to explain tampons in Indonesian...one of the Indonesian ladies actually unwrapped a tampon so we could show how it came out of the applicator, it was really funny. To add more to the amusement factor this whole conversation took place in front of Chris and several other Indonesian men, Chris was quite embarrassed, but still laughing!

By 2:00pm everyone was gone and this was all that was left...

Pretty wiped out, huh?! A few other MAF Western staff came by and took a few of the remaining things later in the afternoon. All in all it was a very successful event and a lot of the Indonesian staff got some serious loot!

Tonight was our going away party with the Western and Indonesian staff. One of the Western staff families hosted it at their home and it was catered by a local restaurant. We ate together and then watched a slide show of pictures from our time in Tarakan put together by one of our good friends, and then people told stories and memories they had of working with Chris. I only took a couple pictures and they aren't very good pictures, but it was a really special night. The tables were decorated beautifully, the food was good, and both Western and Indonesian staff told great stories about working with Chris...it meant so much to both of us. Here are a few pictures from the night...

Eating together...luckily we were under a covered patio because it started pouring during dinner!

Chris listening to our friend Karl share memories...and what is that in front of Chris you ask...

It's his "award"!

About a month ago Chris blew a tire in the Caravan during landing at the airport in Tarakan. It was a Saturday, so Chris had to call guys in to help him change the tire and get the plane off the runway so other planes could take-off and land. The guys saved part of the tire and mounted it for Chris as a memory of flying in Kalimantan, so funny!

At the end of the party one of the more senior MAF Indonesian staff prayed for us, and it hit me that even though this has been a difficult 2 years for me in many ways, it has been such an amazing experience and a privilege to be a little part of the big work God is doing through MAF here in Tarakan.

One more day tomorrow and packing our suitcases so we can actually close them is definitely top priority! This is what my bag looks like right now...