I’m feeling a bit Disney here today, although I’ve never been overly fond of their goofy, dorky, bumbling dwarves.
It all started at 3 a.m., when Donn called to let me know he was 15 minutes out and could I possibly start a pot a coffee?
He called me again 5 minutes later, knowing that I had lain down and gone right back to sleep.
By 3:15, they had arrived. I heard the screech of the brakes as the truck pulled up outside our garage. Yawning desperately, I stumbled down the stairs. The drivers were adamant that they be permitted to leave again immediately, so we had no choice; we had to get our stuff out.
The next 2 hours were a blur of carrying boxes up and down stairs, taking mugs of sweet, milky coffee out to the two drivers and our local street guardian, who came to help, staggering under heavy loads, getting more and more tired. We were finished 2 hours later, and no one on our residential street had shouted as us. I doubt Ismail and his family really slept through it, but they were very gracious this morning and claimed they did.
Donn and I finally went to bed about 6 and got up at 10, so we haven’t been our sparkly best throughout the day. We have made progress though. The house has resounded with cries of, “Oh look!” “Here’s the (fill in blank)!!” “Yaay!” etc. It’s still an absolute wreck.
Suddenly our house isn’t so echo-y. What it is, is dusty. Donn seems to have brought a lot of Mauritania with him. Boxes left in a garage anywhere for 2 years will be dusty, but Nouakchott has its own special kind of dust. The motto could be: Dust Is Us. Mauritanian dust permeates even the smallest crevice and crack, where it grows, it shawls, it expands. It is sand of the desert beaten to a fine powder by the incessant winds. You are thinking of crevices in a house, and it’s true that they fill up with this sand, but I am talking about even smaller crevices—those in the fabric of your suitcase, for example, or between the pages of your books. The fact that these things were transported on an open truck through the desert only added to it. We stored our rugs, and one came unrolled on the floor of our bedroom here. We spread it out and rolled it back up, and then I swept up a small sand-dune from the tile floor.
But don’t think I’m complaining. I’m Happy. It’s been a fun day. I love opening a box labelled “books” and seeing the faces of familiar loved volumes staring up back at me. I’m excited to have my favorite coffee cups again. And, finally, Ilsa will stop complaining that she has nothing to read. She might have already read the books in the 3 or 4 boxes bound for her room (once we find the hardware to put up her bookshelves), but at least she hasn’t read them in 2 years, and she’s ecstatic. Familiar pictures are leaning up against the walls, we’ve put together the hand-carved Senegalese chairs, and we’ve hooked up the stereo. Life’s good.
21 comments
June 28, 2009 at 3:07 am
Marcus & Mary Margaret
Yay!!!!
June 28, 2009 at 3:26 am
Cynthia Nelson Findley
Hi Elizabeth, I just found you again. My computer crashed soon after we started writing and I lost all my e-mail addresses. So sorry to hear about your Mum! I have so many happy memories of her. I remember the pencil case and chocolate orange she brought back for me from Wales. I’m now living in Iowa.
Would love to catch up more!
Hugs,
Cynthia Nelson (now Findley)
June 28, 2009 at 3:33 am
jolyn
Wow. Do you have a vacuum cleaner? Can’t wait to see pictures of your new home. (Especially the Senegalese chairs.)
June 28, 2009 at 3:55 am
Wacky Mommy
whew.
June 28, 2009 at 4:42 am
Susan
Wonderful!
June 28, 2009 at 5:28 am
Linda
Isn’t it great to have your things? I had things in storage in the States for three years before it finally arrived here. I totally had forgotten much of what I had packed. Since I had done without it for so long it’s probably a sign that I didn’t need it but it was like Christmas opening every box.
June 28, 2009 at 6:06 am
snacks from the cruise buffet
three cheers and hamdulilah!
June 28, 2009 at 11:24 am
Rachel
Yay! It’s so exciting to unpack stuff! I’m so glad all your stuff made it.
June 28, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Tonggu Momma
I always loved unpacking my treasures. I have to say, moving so much during my childhood made me place less importance on “stuff,” but the few bits of “stuff” that I DO still have become highly valued treasures.
June 28, 2009 at 5:08 pm
jean
Now that you and your things are reunited you’ll be able to relax and enjoy them. The sand/dust is amazing.
June 28, 2009 at 9:53 pm
LIB
I’m glad Donn & your stuff are okay. It’s perfectly understandable that you would feel sad about your friend.
Virtual hugs. (( ))
June 29, 2009 at 7:39 am
MaryWitzl
Here’s a bit of a coincidence: we’re getting ready to do the exact same thing, but in Scotland. The kids are bummed out because we’ve got two rooms stuffed with 90% of our earthly possessions.
And yep: we’ve got dust like that in Cyprus too…
June 29, 2009 at 2:52 pm
gretchen from lifenut
I’m happy for you. It’s like another one of your delayed Christmases.
June 29, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Kim
How exciting to be reunited with your things again! I can totally empathize with Ilsa because I felt the same way about my books. I brought ones I like to read over and over again 🙂
The sand can’t be too much fun to deal with though.
June 29, 2009 at 9:03 pm
suz
SO happy for you………you will have to tell us if you find stuff you should have gotten rid of or any surprises??..im sure you are glad donn is home!
June 30, 2009 at 2:15 pm
ladyfi
Glad to hear you and the dust are settling in nicely together.
July 1, 2009 at 6:24 am
meredith
Just like Christmas 🙂
July 1, 2009 at 7:14 am
shannon
I am so happy for you although not envying the work getting it all set up. I both loath and look forward to the day our shipment arrives at a new post. It never really feels like home until all my books and cooking stuff arrives, and of course mountains of kids toys.
July 1, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Carrie
So glad Donn made it safely, and you are able to start unpacking! I can only imagine all that dust that you are now dealing with. . . 2 years in a Mauritanian garage sounds like an INCREDIBLE amount of time for dust-collecting! Sorry, but it’s making me laugh, here in Central Ohio. . . 🙂
July 1, 2009 at 7:35 pm
lg
Shall I send some extra dust with Laura? We are packing lots of dust into our boxes, that will hopefully only sit in someone’s garage for 14 months, but who can predict the future?
July 2, 2009 at 3:21 pm
William@Freedom Debt Relief
Sounds like you are having some serious fun that is really nice.