Three and a half weeks

For three and a half wonderful weeks, Josh was here with us. Yesterday was his last day with us and each of us spent the day trying unsuccessfully to think about anything else besides the fact that he was leaving. We didn't do anything spectacular during those weeks. We just enjoyed being five again, catching up, talking, laughing, Christmas, etc. As you can see by the photos, Josh adds a certain charm and personality to any group he is part of. 

Part of preparing to leave Kinshasa is pre-checking your bags. Pre-checking bags here is not the same process at pre-checking bags for a U.S. airline. It is not done over the internet. There is no curbside kiosk for tagging and dropping luggage. Oh, no. In Kinshasa one would to, ever leave their luggage with stranger in front of the airport. Pre-checking luggage means you take your suitcases downtown to the office of whatever airline you are going to fly with (not all airlines offer this service either.) You present your tickets and passport and they weigh your bags and check them and print your boarding passes for you. You can also pay your exit tax in advance and get a receipt so you don't have to do it at the airport. We go through this process because it is waaaay easier than checking bags at the actual airport. We have had "security" find things in our bags they liked a lot and try to take them, right in front of us. Sometimes they ask for them. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they ask for money in exchange for letting you keep your own possessions. Pre-checking your bags with the airline means your luggage bypasses the airport staff and is handled only by the airline.

Yesterday we learned that another reason you might want to pre-check your bags is if you have a weight issue. The customer in front of us in line to weigh luggage was trying to get a bin of dried eels through. We know they were eels because the bin was open. It was also overweight. The ensuing discussion/debate was causing a delay and the line was backing up. The official pointed to Josh's luggage and told David to pick it up. When he picked it up easily, she declared it all 50 lbs and sent it through. So if you have  slightly overweight bags and strong arms, you might want to try getting in line behind the eel guy.

Josh's flight was in the evening. David took him to the airport and the kids and I stayed home and boohooed together. Then we all got busy trying to distract ourselves from our sadness. By the time David got home I had done a load of laundry, worked ahead in my Bible study book, baked brownies, baked cookie bars, made two batches of oatmeal muffins, and washed dishes, and lost all my holiday season weight (just kidding, it's still there). I would call it comfort food but we aren't stress eaters so none of it even got touched until breakfast today. A friend pointed out to me that saying goodbye hurts so intensely because we have been so blessed to have a close-knit family. I am very grateful for that!