40 Days: Here and Gone

40 days have come and gone. We’ve seen much and learned more. We are busy packing and it’s always hard to say goodbye to a place, even that you’ve only known for six weeks, that you’ve begun to call home. We’ve enjoyed the friendships we’ve made and the memorable moments we’ve lived. I’ll miss the walks along the dirt path to the dental clinic to peek in and say hello to Kai everyday. I’ll miss the beautiful, rich smiles of the local people and shouting out, “Mahna Ohna Tup Ko!” every time we meet. I’ll miss chatting with the other missionary couples that have become good friends in our brief stay here. The city noises and smells that once were not so familiar will even be missed.

As all things, this chapter must close for us to move on to the next one: graduation and life after. But we will not forget our time here or the experiences lived. I know once we get back to our “regular” home, we’ll look back at pictures and miss it, remembering the great times in Madagascar. But for now we’re torn between the excitement of getting back home again and the sadness of leaving. I still have a few more posts that I didn’t manage to get up before we left, so the travel side of the blog is not quite over yet.

I wrote this yesterday, but didn’t have time (or a good internet connection to post it) so I am posting this from the Paris airport. We have a 6 hour layover here because our original flight was from Madagascar to Paris, Paris to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to London. Because of the lovely volcano that has been sharing it’s ash with most of Europe, our flight from Amsterdam to London was cancelled. They re-booked us from Paris directly to London. We weren’t too sad about that. It ended up taking off an hour of travel time and a lot less headache from all the connections. As I write, we’re in the Sky Lounge enjoying cushy seats, great food, free internet, and a little sleep. Kai and Kasen are out! Leaving at 1 a.m. and flying 11 hours can do that to you. So for the moment, I have a few cherished quiet moments. These are rare, so I’m seizing the moment and I’ll write more later :-)