Today we dropped our favorite guy off at the airport, not to see him for 9 whole days. Matt’s off to meetings and conferences in the States, so it’s just the girls here in the wilds of Africa!

So in an effort to keep him up to date with what we girls are doing, and to add a little life to the blog, I’ll post on here every day while he’s gone.

Today’s big event was, of course, Matt’s departure. We spent the first half of the morning helping him pack, running last minute wheelbarrow marathon races with him, and enjoying him as much as possible. Then mid-morning we took him to the airport. The girls did fine, but mom might have shed a couple tears. I was just getting teary on the drive home when Abigail started asking why you can’t take bombs and knives on airplanes… and so I was distracted by explaining why bombs and drugs and such are bad to my 5 year old.

The early afternoon was fine, with rest times for everyone and catching up on Abi’s school that we hadn’t done in the morning. Then about 3 we decided to go on a field trip to the plant nursery across town to see if we could find the three types of plants that Abi has been studying in science – plants that reproduce by seeds, by runners, and by division of bulbs. We found them all at Four Seasons Nursery and *BONUS* water plants too!

We had a great time – even if I can’t get them both to smile and stand normally at the same time. =)

Then on the way home from the nursery, we did something I never thought I’d do in Malawi.

We went  to a drive-thru! Seriously! KFC opened up just a couple weeks ago, and they have the very first drive-thru in town (in the country?)! It was at the same time a very African and a very American experience. The American experience was 1) order at the speaker box, 2) pay at the first window, and 3) pick up at the second window. It felt normal and very odd at the same time. The African part was that right next to the drive-thru lane they were digging up what appeared to be a broken septic line. That also felt normal and very odd at the same time.

It’s been about 10 years since I had KFC, and I think I could probably go another 10 years without it. I think Naomi is in agreement with me on this one. Abigail, however, for the first time in her life, declared that she loved mashed potatoes. The part of me that makes 98% of our meals from scratch sighed very deeply at forfeiting this major victory to KFC.

The rest of the evening was normal, but bed time was a little difficult for Naomi. She cried and cried about “Dada, airport!” We walked up and down the hall, finding him in every picture hung on the walls. Then we prayed for him and I sang her a couple songs before she said she would go to sleep. Sweet girl!

Now I sit quietly in the dark, thankful for the inverter that Matt installed to give us enough power for computers and internet when we have a power outage. It’s been a good day, but a little emotional. Matt and I haven’t been apart for more than 3-4 days since… December 2007? I know that we’ll be fine and that the days will fly by, but I think I can speak on behalf of all three Floreen girls in the warm heart of Africa: Absence make the heart grow fonder.