Sounds like home…

I woke up to the sounds of our village this morning, and it was great. I’ve never been so happy to hear Ellen crying for an hour on end. My dear little Monkey…
We were greeted at the airstrip by a bunch of Lopit boys… not Steve, strangely. But that’s OK, our welcome was warm enough—the boys were so excited to see us and happy to gawk at my bulky sling until Steve came. Pattie was in tow, which was the most wonderful part. It’s so nice to be home with Pattie. (Today, I’m reluctant to let her out of my sight. She probably finds me a bit peculiar.)
Some of the village boys heard we were coming and ran down the mountain path to greet us and take our bags. It was nice, too, because soon enough I had boys in front of and behind me who were anxious to tell everyone my story and answer all the passerby’s questions. It’s a bit overwhelming to have everyone jump on you at once, so I felt a little like a running back with good tackles all around.
When little Thomaso’s grinning face peeked around the corner of our fence, I was in heaven. It was funny, to have Abuba and Laudina and Mary all tsking me and lu-lu-luing at the sight of my bandage and lumpy shoulder. They couldn’t tell me enough how much they thought of and prayed for me. I couldn’t tell them enough I really was fine.
Then I got a German/English song from the teachers, our visitors, Craigers and Tobias. “We wish you a gute Besserung!” Haha. And Craig and Tobi were more than ready to help with anything possible. (On a related note, Tobi seems to be Mr. Personable in the village these days and even speaks a little Lopit—impressive!)
Anyway, it’s good to be home. I’ve already thought of a bunch of ways I can incorporate the village kids in my physical therapy, and I’m working on making a new “Lopit life plan” for myself. (Ironically, Kim and I were on our second day of our newest new life plans when I biffed it.)
We’ll see how things go!