IT'S HERE.

This may LOOK like an ordinary lorry, but no...it carries the most anxiously-awaited cargo since the latest Harry Potter installment. It's carrying approximately 315 boxes of books for PHA, donated by Books for Africa in St. Paul. Here it comes....


Oh, did I ever mention it also contains OUR STUFF?! The stuff I once said wasn't important, the stuff I once said all of you should get rid of (well, that's not true--I said pare it down), the stuff that has been stuck in customs since mid-March...has finally arrived. Did I remember what was on it? You bet I did--you don't pack and inventory 60 boxes without knowing what's in each one! Is there anything I've looked at and thought, "Now why did I pack that?" No way! From dishes to spatulas to cough drops (we're all hacking away right now) to my down comforter to family photos to legos, everything is absolutely perfect! What were we most pleased to see? Well, Cameron has his books, Noah has his cars and action figures, and Ava has her dressup clothes. I've got a down comforter, and Mark...well, he's usually happiest when we're all happy! Oh, our mattress! Actually he was gone all day so he hasn't really had a chance to absorb everything, but he has been itching to do some camping and we're set now with our tent and sleeping bags!

This view of the container looks a bit empty, doesn't it? Actually, most of our stuff is at the front (under Noah and Ava). Behind the wooden frame are the books for the school library and resource center. At the time we were packing, it seemed like such a lot and we were worried we would run out of space, but since we didn't pack the actual container we were surprised that there was extra room. Which is probably for the best. Trying to find places to store things is a bit difficult. We have a pantry behind our kitchen which we'll organize more efficiently, but the rest of the house is pretty inefficient storage-wise. Each bedroom has 3 big cupboards--two with shelves and one with a rod and shelves. The shelves are very deep and with not a lot of space between them. Above them (7-10 ft. off the floor) are big cupboards--great for sleeping bags, etc. but not so great for things you might actually use often. And Arusha just hasn't gotten around to opening an IKEA here (although we have met a lot of Swedes). We also have to keep an eye to the new house at the school site which will have even less storage than this one, so really here less is more! The good thing is that there's very little here to acquire so what we have shouldn't grow too much in the next few years!

So tonight feels like Christmas--which is good because it's technically winter and actual Christmas won't look or feel at all traditional (but I did pack some decorations!) and we feel blessed again with so many comforts and reminders of home.