A ferry, a taxi, a subway, 4 flights, and 5 countries later, I'm back in North America.  It was quite a long and sleepless ordeal getting this far.  But more on that later.  First let me wrap up my time in Indonesia.

Last time I wrote, Brittany and I were bored and lonely at the base in Pontianak.  On Friday (June 27) there was a gorgeous rainstorm that we stood and got soaked in while the staff and kids thought we were crazy.  It had been so hot and humid that it felt really good, and after a while we actually felt cold so we went inside to change to nice dry clothes.  Then Vecky picked us up to take us into the city to go to the mall for a while.  While we were there we decided to pamper ourselves a little bit by going to a salon.  There we both got a "cream-bath" - deep conditioning to help heal our dried and damaged hair.  Brittany also got hers dried and straightened, but I decided that I'd be doing that myself once I got home so I didn't bother.  Instead I got a pedicure, which felt awesome after 3 months of flipflops and barefeet.  Being at a mall and pampering helped prepare me in a sense for the transition back to America.

That night two guys from the Gold Coast team came back early from the villages because one of them was really sick. They stayed at the base with us so finally we had some more people to talk with and do things with.  Saturday morning Vecky picked us all up and took us back into the city where we ended up, once again, at the mall.  We took the guys to the salon so one could get a haircut, and while waiting I ended up getting my hair straightened afterall.  I could already feel the transition taking effect.  Then Vecky dropped off me & Brittany at his house / the orphanage where the local DTS and staff were staying so we could hang out with them for a while.  That evening I had a little going away party with them.  I bought martabak, an amazing Indonesian dessert, to share. We ate, sang some songs, then people got to say things about/to me and I gave a mini-speech, then they all prayed for me.  It was a really special time together, and I'm really going to miss them.

Sunday we went back to Vecky's church and out to lunch.  Then I had him drop me off once again to spend a little more time with the DTS.  After a couple hours and saying goodbye, one of the ladies I was closest to drove me back to the base.  That is, after giving me one of her gorgeous shawl/scarf/wrap thingies that came from her home village in Sumatra.  It was one of those situations where you don't feel you can accept something so special yet you know you can't refuse them the joy of giving it either, so after initial protesting you just give in and be grateful.  I started packing that evening, until the rest of the Gold Coast team returned from the villages.  They had initially planned on returning Monday after I left, so I hadn't expected to see them again. 

I took my time packing and getting ready Monday morning, thinking I had until 2pm.  Then I was informed that we needed to leave earlier to do a couple of errands before going to the airport.  That left me scrambling to finish everything.  I was glad that I had more than enough room in my bag, with extra room to fit goodies Vecky wanted me to take back to America to give to my DTS friends.  The only problem in packing was finding my flipflops.  Since shoes/sandles are not worn indoors and are generally left in a pile outside the entrance of a building, it's not uncommon for other people to "borrow" your shoes to walk somewhere really quick, then forget to bring them back.  This is especially the case when there are more than 30 kids at a base going back and forth between the two main buildings.  So just as we were trying to leave I had to recruit the help of several staff members to search the property to find both of my pairs of flipflops.  Thankfully we did eventually find them all, but one pair I almost had to give up on.

My 2 day adventure in transportation began around 3pm when Brittany and I got to the airport to check in and found out that our flight was delayed 2 hours.  Typical.  So we got to just hang out in the tiny uncomfortable departure lounge that smelled of durian (an infamous, distinctly stinky Southeast Asian fruit whose smell alone could inspire some to vomit).  We finally left at 5:30 and arrive in Batam at 6:30.  Then we had to take a taxi across the island to the ferry terminal.  Since it was later in the evening I wasn't sure how many ferries would still make the journey to Singapore and if there were tickets left.  Thankfully we barely made it onto the 8 o'clock sailing.  I got to say my tearful goodbye to Indonesia somewhere in the middle of the sea.  It only took an hour to get to Singapore, but due to the time difference we actually arrived at 10pm.  I began to think that it wouldn't actually make sense for me to try to go to a friends house to sleep for just a few hours before having to get up and taxi to the airport really early.  Instead I decided I'd have to just take the subway all the way across the city and stay overnight in the airport.  I said farewell to Brittany (who was doing a visa run in Singapore) and got on the subway.  Only, it was already too late to get a train that would go all the way to the aiport... so I had to go as far as I could, hit an ATM to get some Singapore dollars and hire a taxi to take me the rest of the way to the airport.

Staying the night in Singapore airport wasn't actually that bad.  It was nice and quiet inside, and I found a stretch of carpet off the beaten path that I could stretch out on.  My friend in Singapore had asked me to call her when I arrived, so armed with a fistful of coins I hit up the pay phone and spent almost an hour talking with her.  She's an amazing woman of the Spirit who had accurately prophecied over me at the beginning of my trip, and she again gave me advice and wisdom for my time back at home, then prayed for me.  I then squeezed in about 2 or so hours napping before getting up to check in for my flight before 5am. 

I had planned on staying awake for the flight from Singapore to Tokyo so I could sleep from Tokyo to Seattle, but due to my lack of sleep that didn't really work out.  I got a few hours on that first flight, sadly missing the movies I wanted to see.  I had about 45 minutes in Tokyo to run around the airport and buy special souvenirs I had been missing/wanting.  Then I caught a few more hours on the way to Seattle.  Immigration took forever since they were severely understaffed (my line had more than 50 people in it with only one immigration officer, and there were at least 3 lines for US citizens).  I got pulled aside for questioning at customs due to some of the food items I had brought in, but they let me keep them afterall.  I had just one flight left, on a tiny puddle-jumper plane for the half hour journey to Portland.  That was enough time to down two cups of weak, lukewarm coffee.  Of course, as I expected, my Daddy had a fresh cup of Starbucks inhand when I met him at baggage claim (the coffee was for him though, not me).

I got to spend a couple of days in Portland to see family and old friends who were in town for a church convention.  My mom came down from Yakima the night before I left town, so at least I got to see her for a few hours.  Then I headed up to my hometown of Puyallup to spend the 4th of July with my aunts and uncle and their neighbors.  This was the first time I'd been home for the 4th since 2004.  My uncle and his neighbors set off enough fireworks to last me for the next few years   I spent another couple days with another aunt, then drove up to Vancouver, B.C. to see 2 of my long-lost DTS friends and even a couple friends from TWU.  The rest of the weekend is gonna be just as busy, picking up a DTS friend from Holland who's flying into Seattle tomorrow (my birthday) and meeting up with yet another DTS friend in Seattle for a couple days.  I think I'll finally make it over to Yakima on Monday or Tuesday...

One disappointment on returning home was fining that my laptop is broken   The hinge that holds up the screen is stripped so it won't stay up (I had to unscrew most of my laptop to figure this all out).  It's the kind of small problem that would cost an enormous amount to track down the tiny parts to fix it.  So even though I couldn't really afford it, I had to get a new laptop since I honestly can't live without one - especially in my line of work where a laptop and the internet is my lifeline to the rest of the world.  Thankfully there was an awesome 4th of July sale going on and I got a steal of a deal on an excellent quality laptop that, I hope, will not be as fussy as my old one (which, I've actually been hoping to replace for about 2 years now since it's had so many problems).  Here's my leap of faith that somehow my money will be able to stretch enough to pay off the laptop, fill up my gas tank, feed my tummy, and give me startup for moving to Indonesia this fall.