Catch Up
Yes, we've been and returned and we didn't blog while we were there. There's quite a few reasons for our lack of blog entries. The list includes lack of Internet connections, lack of time, lack of energy, among others but we are back now and we've had a few days to rest which we needed after of six hour time change and handling the twins for two glorious weeks.But now it's time to catch up with you all and we apologize for waiting until now. We know you are all waiting for photos, answers, and information but it simply wasn't within our ability to do it until now. We've decided instead of a delayed day by day blog or just one massive entry we're going to blog the major events regardless of the days.
Arrival
We left DFW on the 5th at 6:30 and flew to Atlanta for a 9:45 arrival. Then on an air plane to Amsterdam, Netherlands leaving at 10:10pm and arriving at 1:05pm on Sunday. That looks like a 13 hour flight but it is actually only 8 hours and 30 minutes because we had to give up 5 hours of time. We had a 3 hour lay over in Schipol but it turns out you have to queue up again and go through security to board and our three hours disappeared rapidly in the queue. Let's start by saying we love KLM. They kept feeding us through the flight and the wine is complimentary. Say no more, it is KLM for us from now on. The last leg took us from Amsterdam at 3:15 pm to Accra's Kotoka airport, arriving at 8:00pm. That's 20.5 hours of travelling!Kotoka was busy and small. It has a single baggage claim that serves all flights and it was very crowded at the time. We managed to grab our bags and then began looking for Percy, our guide. And we continued looking and finally we texted our agency only to find that our guide thought we were arriving on Monday night and was not at the airport. We really only wanted a comfortable bed and hot shower at the time but we took the news of this extra delay in stride and waited for his arrival.
We did eventually find him after a very quick customs check and we were on our way. As we rode in the cab, a tri-colored Peugot, Percy informed us that the president,John Atta Mills, had died a few weeks earlier and that this week, the week of our adoption court date, was the week they were holding his state funeral on Thursday and Friday. Although Percy wasn't 100% sure, it was most likely the the courts would shut down on Thursday and we would have to try to reschedule the court date the following week.
Our reaction:
Blink... Blink...... Blink, look at each other ... Blink. (repeat several times)
The Mascot
As such Accra was full of people attending the funeral, hotel accommodations weren't so easy to get. Oh and did we mention we weren't expected until tomorrow, as in "right now you have no hotel to stay in". Whoopsie! We were due at the Swan hotel in a few days, but as of that moment we had no bed. Fortunately, Percy was on it and got us a room in the Mascot hotel. Where is it? I'm not entirely sure since it was dark but truthfully that wouldn't have mattered in the least if it was high noon because we made about 100 turns getting there, over down a hill, and there it was. I do know it is in North Kaneshie and by then we were happy to have it.How was it? Well it was a bed. A big one that was very firm, like a hay bale. There was hot water, sort of, once we figured out how to turn on the on-demand hot water heater, but we couldn't shower because the hose to the shower head leaked and there was no pressure. And we couldn't bathe because there was no way to plug the tub. So as much as we wanted a hot shower or bath, especially Jena, it wasn't going to happen. Internet was out of the question. This is where we would stay for two nights until we transferred to Cape Coast and our first night with the twins would be here as well.
We did have electricity though it didn't make it to all the lights such as the bed side light. But clever engineering had the foresight to rig us a way to turn the overhead light out from the bed. It was a long wire with a rocker switch taped to the ceiling and then down the wall to directly above our beds. A little investigation determined why the bed side lamp didn't work:
That's a tangle of the phone and lamp cord behind the bed side table which ended in no plug but bare wires instead. I'm thinking even Tom Bodett couldn't have left the light on for us here.
We awoke on Monday excited because we were going directly to see the kids. Hot showers didn't matter now, it was twin time. We just wanted a good cup of joe to get us started and we were ready to go meet out children. Said coffee arrived, a pot of hot water and Nescafe instant coffee packets. You know, it really didn't matter, nothing could shake us then it was...after all twin time.
Tema
The twins were staying with their foster family in Tema which is east of Accra. We piled into the taxi (as our driver wasn't on shift until the night we arrived at the airport which, of course, wasn't until that night, or so he thought) and headed to Tema. Here's quick map for you. This time we hit an express way and went most of the way on it until the very end. This is truly one of those scenes you see with people selling things on the street from a BIG bowl balanced on their head. Mostly gals, and they are talented. They can run to keep up with the car and make change at the same time without dropping the bowl. They carry everything on their heads, propane tanks, peanuts, roasted pig, bags of water, fruit, we even saw one with wooden skooters for the kids balanced up their, about a dozen of them. This is quite typical:
The streets are narrow with the open sewers on both sides which serves as a utility trash can, sewage gutter, and urinal, all at once. Don't worry this was not unexpected that is simply how it is done. You do have to be carefully getting out of the car and make sure you have your bearings before you take that first step.
We suddenly pulled over on one of these very busy narrow streets and Percy announced, "This is it.". We hopped the gutter and followed him to a gate which we opened and there was Noah, our very first glimpse. He was in his little red toy car pushing himself along. It took Jena about 0.01 seconds to reach for him and 0.05 they were both smiling. Nala came out of the house with her foster mom seconds later and we got busy taking pictures and kissing kids.
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| Jena meets her son for the very first time. |
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| Mama doesn't let him stay in his car more than a fraction of a second before she scoops him up. |
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| And seconds later she knows what it feels like to be a mom, times two. |
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| Little Nala with her dad. |
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| Noah goes a little Hollywood demonstrating his readiness for America. |
Our First Night
Once there Percy stayed around a bit to answer a few phone calls and tell us about the plan for tomorrow. He got us set up with breakfast and left. While he was there Noah invented a new game, called "Suitcase Slide". He played it about fifteen minutes with mama increasingly becoming concerned about his bottom. Noah Yow don't care.Then we played on the bed for a little bit. This was a wooden giraffe puzzle we received as a gift. It had ten pieces that easily fit together to make a giraffe. They had a great time with them throughout our stay.
When supper came along we whipped out our fancy organic food like peaches but it was baby food and these two set the standard right away that they don't eat baby food. With the kitchen closed (and scary anyway) we went to another plan, snack food to tide them over until breakfast. Mama got feeding duties and they loved it. We would soon start to understand their relationship with food. We learned the universal word "Ma" which means "more", "Mom", "Dad", "I want that", "pick me up", "get that over there", "take me there" and many other things all clarified with a pointing finger.
Then at last it was lights out for all of us because though we enjoyed out first day together all four of us were tired. We had one bed, a big one, and they got the right side as we took the left. Even on day one we found that they like to be in contact with one another when they first lay in bed.
Our first site of them was love. We saw them smile and giggle and laugh. We got to watch Jena change her first ever diaper (we'll try to upload that one but little Nala might not like her naked little self on YouTube when she's eighteen - but we have it and we're happy to show it more private - it's worth it).
Noah is much larger then Nala but many people determine they're twins because of their faces. They are cute and loving and we had a wonderful time with them. It was just the beginning of a whole life together.
