Stuff, Glorious Stuff

There was much excitement in the Grove household this week. Finally, we have stuff! Our shipping container’s long and arduous journey began in Denver on February 5, when KC and the movers from Rocky Mountain Overseas packed the things that we thought we’d need in Yap. Two months later the container magically arrived, and after clearing customs, the circus arrived in our front yard. In a wonderful show of efficiency, the shipping company utilized no fewer than 10 workmen driving 5 vehicles.

Once the movers had unloaded the crate, they looked ready to take off without helping us get in. We wouldn’t need help under normal circumstances, but seeing as how our only tools were inside the crate, we needed help opening it. After some cajoling, a couple of workmen grabbed some bolt cutters and prybars, and proceeded to hack away at the nails on the broad side of the crate. After a few minutes of this, one of them said: “Why did those [very nice and competent movers in Denver] put all of these [wonderful, and enjoyable to pull] nails into this [lovely] crate?” At this point, KC could no longer keep quiet (not an uncommon occurrence, Matt feels compelled to point out), and asked, very politely, whether it might be easier to pull the nails from the end marked as follows:

The workers had the crate open within a minute following this Eureka moment, and our two-month wait was over.

Meanwhile, our long wait at the post office was finally paying off. USPS delivered a shipping container full of mail on the same boat that carried our shipping crate.

As luck would have it, the care packages that we sent to ourselves – the goods that we thought we couldn’t go without and that we were assured would arrive within two weeks of mailing – were on the same boat as the shipping container. Irony, indeed. Here’s Matt excitedly searching the post office box:

And here is KC with the spoils of victory. Take that, USPS!! You have not killed us, but only made us stronger.

On Saturday, we took a break from unpacking and headed across town to the Yap island-wide table tennis (whatever you do, don’t call it “ping-pong”!) youth tournament. We were too old, and definitely too bad, to play, but we had fun watching the kids.

We didn’t stick around for the end of the tournament, because really, how much ping-pong can you watch?

The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking and preparing for the week. We’re still missing one box, which, sadly, has Matt’s snorkeling gear in it. If it got thrown overboard on the way to Yap, we hope that it makes its way to a Robinson Crusoe out there somewhere. The mask and fins will come in handy, as will the fully-charged, waterproof, satellite phone/GPS transponder.

Thanks for reading, and have a good week!