Day 24: Monday, 6/13

I was pretty happy to know that we didn't have anything scheduled for Monday besides breakfast with Stacy at 9:00. We ate, Stacy went to her room with Oliver, and Jeff and I decided to camp out at the restaurant for a while. He went to grab his Mac and I had my book. We'd been there for a little while and who should walk in but Emi!

This was the first unplanned visit we've had with Emi although I'm not sure if it was a happy coincidence that we ran into each other or if she was looking for us. I saw her at the far end of the Enra by the cash register and waved her over to the table. I handed Grace over and she gave her the usual squeeze/snuggle greeting which Grace seemed to like... for a while. I think we've made her a little soft. Most kids here are, for lack of a better term, man-handled. It's not in a bad way, but the moms are not quite as gentle with the babies as I think we are in the states – given them a good squeeze and messing up their hair a bit roughly. They all seem to like it but I think Grace has gotten used to how we hold her so after a bit of mussing up by Emi, she starts to fuss a bit. We handed over the bottle and all was well again.

Emi said something about “bubu” so I think she might have come to the restaurant looking for her mom. But Merine wasn't working and didn't appear at any point so maybe I misunderstood. Anyway, it was nice to see Emi and she seemed happy to hang out not talking like we did. We offered her lunch (yup, it was now about 11:30 – we'd been there for 2 ½ hours) and she ordered fried chicken. Jeff tapped on his Mac, I drank coffee and Emi ate. We all occasionally looked at each other and at Grace... and smiled. After a while, Emi took Grace around the restaurant to chat with some other Marshallese and we continued to hang out. The waiter boxed up her left overs and soon after, Emi thanked us, confirmed “Tuesday” holding up 2 fingers for 2:00, and then said goodbye. I thought we were going to visit at 1:00 so I texted Claudia to ask and she confirmed... 1:00 Tuesday at their house.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a few errands. We went back to the Elefa handicraft shop and I bought a few more gifts for home and asked the woman about the Kemem mats. She's going to call a few people to see if we can get one made with Grace's name on it before we leave and I'm to check back with her on Wednesday. We also arranged for a lesson on weaving for this Saturday at 1:00... we'll be making something simple like a necklace or bracelet and I'm really looking forward to it! She'd just gotten a credit card reader and Stacy was the first customer to use it. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure how to do it and asked if we could return at 5:00 when her daughter would be there to show her how. It was after 4:00 so we said sure.

To kill a little time until 5:00, we stopped by a few stores that neither of us had been to before. No real finds there. We also stopped into the Tide Table restaurant to see if we could learn more about the Eneko trip. We never did get to go with the Wilsons since Tyler was sick but we still might go if we get bored next week. It's really the same as what we've been doing these past two Sunday's but it costs $25 per person, the beach isn't as nice nor is the company. We'll see. We also tried to go see the museum – it had been closed for repairs or remodeling earlier in our stay but is now open... just not after 4:00 so we'll have to go back to that one later as well.

At 5:00, we returned to Elefa but the woman's daughter hadn't arrived yet. We spent some time chatting and eventually she showed up. The transaction was complete and we were headed home. Every time we drive down the road past Dr. Pinano's clinic, we look to see if the sign says “open”... this time, it was open! We pulled a u-turn and parked outside the clinic. During our first week Emi had turned over Grace's immunization card to him but he neglected to return it and we've been trying to get it back ever since. I was thrilled when his receptionist pulled it out of the drawer and handed it over. This will probably save me 2 hours at the hospital trying to get a duplicate card.

I noticed that Grace is due for 4 difference vaccines at her 2 month mark... which she is 2 weeks past. So I asked him if he thought we should go to the hospital here to have her get the 4 shots or just wait another 2 weeks and get them when we return home. As you know, I'm not keen on the medical system here so I'd prefer to wait until we got home but Dr. Pinano thinks we should definitely go to the hospital here and get them. I've written home to ask for mom's advice so hopefully I will have an email when I log on to post this.

Tomorrow is our visit to Emi's home and, with Stacy's help (or, more accurately, reassurance), I think I have the gifts all sorted out. It's difficult to know what to bring for people when you don't know how many, what ages, what genders, and what they might have or not have... They're trinkets really, but I hope they'll accept them in the spirit in which they're given. I have one thing I'd like to get in the morning - a print of a photo of Emi & Grace. I bought a frame here and I'd like to give her the photo and frame tomorrow if I can. I also bought a photo album and I'm still looking to see if I can find someplace that'll print more than just a couple photos for a reasonable price.

I think I'll try to catch a few more winks... got up with Grace at 4:00 but couldn't go back to sleep. If my memory and math are right, I think she just slept for about 7 hours straight! Wow – I hope the trend continues at home!