Never Wish for Exercise…

By: Cindy

You just might get it! Yesterday I taught the girls in homeschool in the morning, ate lunch, and then taught my Women’s Bible Study after lunch in our front yard. I had been sitting for most of the day and was starting to feel like I needed to get out and get some exercise. It was 3:30 when I told Aaron that I was headed to deliver some seed corn to Yawilum. I knew I would pass by Elizabeth and Rachel’s houses on the way, so I took a few capsicum (peppers) to share with them. I also knew that at 4:00 I needed to be back to cook dinner for Aaron and Kaela to take with them to Loun village for the video Bible study. So, I figured that gave me 5 minutes to get to their house plus 25 minutes extra because nothing in Vanuatu takes 5 minutes! As I started out on my walk I thought to myself, “I feel like I need some exercise. Maybe I will walk there and run back, just for exercise sake.”

When I arrived at Yawilum’s house I found that she wasn’t there, but Elizabeth and Rachel were just a short distance away so I walked over to say hello and give them the capsicum. I hadn’t seen either of them for a couple of weeks. Rachel apologized to me for not bringing me any food lately (which she seems to feel obligated to do, even though I’ve told her countless times that it isn’t necessary. I think I need a sign on my front door that says, “Gifts of food are not a prerequisite for coming to this house”). But, that is just the way it is in Vanuatu, so when Rachel wanted to take me to her garden and dig some kumala (sweet potatoes) for me, I didn’t argue, even though I doubted that her garden was as, “Close-up! Close-up!” as she said it was.

As I figured, it wasn’t close at all. She grabbed her bush knife (machete) and set off at a brisk pace through the bush with me stumbling along over tree roots, muddy patches, sticks and vines, doing my best to keep up. 10 minutes and 2 log bridges later we arrived at her kumala garden where she dug me several kumala. Then, she insisted that I needed some white bone cabbage too. So, we set off uphill for her cabbage garden. I was almost jogging to keep up with her! After cutting the cabbage she was certain that I needed some lettuce as well, so we headed up the hill again where she cut me some lettuce. By this time I had told her I needed to get back because I knew if I didn’t say something she’d want to race over to some other far off part of her garden. So, we headed back down the hill where she stopped to pick up a 4 ft. log for firewood while I carried two arm loads of vegetables. Rachel was fairly skipping down the hill with this huge chunk of wood on her shoulders, picking up speed as she went, while I was huffing and puffing behind her, trying my best not to slip and fall all the way down.
To make a long story short…er - I finally reached home at exactly 4:02pm, my legs shaking from the unexpected exertion and working to catch my breath. I said I wanted some exercise – well I got it!