Current Events

This week was quieter in terms of the number of activities or unique events that I got to be a part of. The high school graduation (29 seniors) was Tuesday night, so I went there to see Scott graduate, though by that time I also knew almost half of the other seniors too. It was a good ceremony, with some time spent in looking back and looking forward, personalized to each graduate. I guess that's the best word to use: it was personal.

Now that graduation is past, though, almost all of the seniors and their families are going back to their home states/countries for furloughs or to get settled into colleges. June is apparently the month known for this "mass exodus" each year, but this year is a little crazier than normal with the visa situation that I've mentioned previously. The families leaving this week are all taken care of, but I don't think any of next week's departures have their visas yet. Continue to pray for that situation.

This morning we had some rain, but then it cleared up a bit when I was heading out for work. Here's a shot of the finance office where I've been spending so much of my time, and after that are a few pictures of the flowers outside the Bandy's this morning as they were still beaded with raindrops. The gardener at the finance/director's office was so proud that I took some pictures of the flowers in his garden too! He's a nice guy. We can't really communicate that much, but he knows a little English, and I know a little Pisin, so we get by.

I've been asked to include another picture of the kittens here at the Bandys, and, well, this is about as good of a shot as you're going to get with five kittens to try to keep in the frame! It's fun to watch them, they're certainly a lot more active than they were before. They've also started to purr for the first time, as well as playfight with each other from time to time. One of them was even trying to lick his paws today. I'd better stop describing what they do, or else I'm going to have a few requests to bring them home!

One other cool thing that hasn't happened yet, but will be happening this weekend is that I'm going to Madang, which is on the coast. It's considered one of the most beautiful places not only in PNG, but in the Pacific. I'm pretty excited about that! I'll definitely write more about it on Tuesday or Wednesday when I get back.