A Double Life

Although it's not exactly like an exciting episode of Alias, nevertheless, stepping back into our life in Angola after a six week absence can feel like leading the life of a double agent. Our weather, friends, resources, routines, and time zones are all so different that it takes a while to readjust----sometimes with shocking reality. My time in Bakersfield with the grandkids and then our time in Port Townsend was such a wonderful break that I was reticent to step back into our assignment here, particularly knowing it would be six months before we would see family again. We celebrated "Thanksmas" with all our children, so we really felt our Christmas had already happened. Surprising that everywhere we went people were still singing and playing Christmas carols. Especially when we left Washington with the first of the snow and a beautiful blanket of white on our property to come back to the stiffling heat of summer in Angola. And then they were singing carols here as well! Although we don't doubt that God has called us to this job and this place, coming back after experiencing the comforts of home can be difficult---even though we admittedly enjoy more comfort than most all the population of Angola. The adjustments hit us immediately. We had left our key to the house here back in Washington, so we needed to wait for security to send a key over so we could get into our house. We then sent our driver out to buy some fruits and vegetables while I took a nap, with the instructions to just put the groceries in the air conditioned garage on top of the freezer. Funny how much difference a little prepostion makes. When I went out there at six o'clock and didn't see my groceries, I hesitantly looked IN the freezer to find my lettuce stff and translucent, not to mention worrying about the bananas, eggs, and avocados next to it. (Need I mention that while we were gone the power went out on our freezer and we lost over 100 lbs. of meat and fish! Our poor empregada [maid] who discovered it and had to clean it out! The stench still lingers.) It hit me again as I took fifty dollars into the little market to buy more produce and found out I didn't have nearly enough for the few purchases I had made. It hit again as I found out our gardener didn't show up for work because he was attending the funeral for a niece who had just died of malaria. And then again when I couldn't get internet service for the first day and a half. But it pleasantly hit me when we walked into church on Sunday morning and our African friends broke into huge smiles and gave hugs and greetings with, "We're so glad you're back! You were gone too long!" Those are the moments we can treasure, assuring ourselves that this is where we need to be.