Home in Hagen

With all three of our suitcases packed to the absolute maximum in terms of weight and space, we were excited for the journey back to PNG; at the same time, I was really not excited for the journey. After all, who could really be excited to travel halfway around the globe with a two year old and a two month old? Despite my trepidation about how a 15 hour flight (and then four more hours of flying the next day) and multiple treks across airports with more luggage than four hands could hold would go, we reached Mount Hagen safely with both kids and all of our luggage still intact. The kids did much better than we could have ever expected, as per usual! Both of them slept for about 11 hours on the long haul flight, and aside from being a bit cranky while waiting in long lines, they were travelling superstars. 

As we drove the short drive from the airport to what has been our home for the past year, we were met with an overwhelming sense of familiarity. I never expected the erratic driving, bumpy roads, and other things that once shocked us to seem so normal -- I guess it is amazing what we get used to with a little bit of time. We stepped into our house and felt like we were home, and started to settle in again quickly. The compound welcomed us with a lovely bungkai (literally, food meeting), where it was good to reconnect with our neighbours again. Nova remembered the place and the people, and after a little bit of time to overcome her shyness she was back to following the compound gardener around with her little plastic shovel, picking strawberries from the neighbour's garden, and playing with her compound friends. Ezra has been a happy little boy after adjusting to the time change, and everyone is over the moon to see a baby in town (babysitting offers are not hard to find)!

Compound bungkai in the "haus win" (wind house)

Even though it has been good to be back in Mount Hagen, we are trying to keep ourselves from settling too much. 97% of our belongings are packed into plastic totes, cardboard boxes, and suitcases, and we are hoping to keep it that way for the next week. We've done a lot of shopping -- which has also been packed into cardboard boxes -- and are living like we're camping in our own home. We are hoping to start settling and unpacking again next Friday, since it is the day we've been waiting for since we arrived in PNG: Moving to Balimo Day!