Update 9--Home

One bag of tea spilled, sprinkling black grains all over the suitcase contents. Lots of soapstone rhinos lost a leg or two. The pottery survived intact. So did Ben's chess board and set. All the wooden lions are fine.

And so are we. We came home to daffodil shoots pushing out of the flower beds and supper from Grandma steaming in crock pots on the counter next to plates of Bonnie's awesome cookies and sour cream twists and a bouquet of flowers. I'm afraid the supper wasn't fully appreciated because we were all kind of in a daze, so we ate and put the food away and went to bed.

Paul and I slept til almost 4 a.m., and got up and ate a sour cream twist each which were fully appreciated this time, especially with a cup of fresh Kenyan tea. Now our clocks are only two hours off. Pretty good for less than a day at home.

Flying home was only slightly eventful. In Warsaw, the guy at the KLM counter asked how many bags we have, and his eyebrows shot halfway up his forehead when we said "ten." [Those Europeans, they take one small bag for a week-long safari.] Paul informed him firmly that we were assured of two bags each the whole trip since we had gone to Africa, but he still had to make phone calls and type a lot while we nervously watched the clock.

Steven's backpack got held up in security, of course, even though Paul had sifted through it beforehand and removed two nail clippers. I have a feeling they stuck a microchip in the pocket during that awful episode in Amsterdam and it's going to set off the alarms for the rest of its natural life.

In Amsterdam we parted ways with Amy and Emily who didn't seem nearly sad enough about parting from their wonderful family after two weeks in close quarters with them. The girls flew to Washington/Dulles, and they plan to get Emily's car and possessions in Virginia and leave them at my sister's in Pennsylvania, visiting old friends at SMBI in between before they fly home.

As I was telling my SIL Laura in Poland, I didn't realize how much I process things by writing about them, mostly on blog posts, until this trip, when I had limited internet access and only brief snatches of computer time.

Of course, said Laura wisely, there's always writing it down by hand. True, but there wasn't much time for that either.

So like a Jersey cow I'm sure I'll be ruminating for a long time and if you want to read about it, keep coming back. Otherwise, wait a few weeks.

Many thanks to everyone who followed our journey and prayed us through hippo encounters and bacteria on lettuce and all the perils of land and sea and air.