Things I've Heard This Week...

A little girl who lives at the orphanage: "Don't mind them. They're only villagers."


Another girl from the orphanage: "I also have a white human. Her name is Janet." (She was joking, she doesn't really have a white human.)


Serwaa, upon seeing the ocean: "O! It is tooooo big! God can do aaaanyting!!"

Then this morning. We were landing in DC around 6:30am. It was still dark. Serwaa said: "The sun? It does not come to the US?" (It's up before 6am in Ghana) She was concerned!


Serwaa, once we landed: "Will we go to Obama now?"


Another girl at the orphanage: "Why did God make you with nice skin & nice hair, and he made us like this? Please, next time you come, bring the lotion." (The kind that lightens black skin.) Such a sad thing to come from the mouth of such a beautiful little girl. Who knows where she got the idea that they are less beautiful. Could be that half the billboards in Ghana are promoting skin lightening cream. So, so sad.

Thursday...

This hotel is pretty nice. It has A/C (which I have to keep cutting of b/c it makes us cold), hot water, a fridge, tv (with satelite) and a towel! It even included free breakfast for one! (Which we all ate.) When we left the hotel we first went for some bread that has onion & meat in it. Then we headed to the beach. It is so nasty! But- the kids were amazed! Konto said, "This water is bigger!" They couldn't believe it was so big they couldn't see it all! They stood in the edge & ran from the water. They climbed on the rocks. We even rode a horse around. (Although I ended up paying 5 cedis each!) We saw the fishermen emptying their nets. We saw several people using the bathroom on the beach. And you had to always look where you were walking so as not to step in people poop. Ew.
After we came back to the hotel for awhile, we went back out to get Serwaa's hair done. It was looking pretty scraggly. And believe it or not- it was done in an air conditioned building! And- it only took 1.5 hours! I was prepaired for way more! Even better- it only cost 5 cedis! (About $3 USD) After that, we went to a spot for chicken & rice. We all shared a plate & all had soft drinks. It was expensive, but fun! The kids got to try sprite for the first time, and loved it! I should've recorded that first face! There are SO many firsts with these two, it's exciting!

Now we're in the hotel again. They are drawing pictures of my house, which is really cute! Then we will watch TV, read books, and go back out for supper!

I can't believe tomorrow is our last day here! "Grandmother" and "Ghana Mother" will come here tomorrow to see us off at the airport! It will be hard to watch. Grandmother will be fine, she's a strong lady. 'Ghana mother' (their previous caregiver, technically their Aunt) will be sad. I know it is hard for her. But she is glad they are going. She is glad about all of the opportunity they will have that she'll never be able provide. Opportunities she never had. It seemed that it was harder on her than it was the children. (We already said goodbye once at the orphanage, before she decided to come see them off.) I guess it's because the kids were younger when they left her. But, I'm sure it's still hard for them.


I really am excited to get home with them though! And a side note, Serwaa keeps staring at herself & her new hair in the mirror. She knows she's gorgeous! Her & Malorie will get along well!

A Long Post...

Hey- I haven't had internet access for almost a week! So, where to start... The flight I guess. It was long. Since I'm usually relatively calm, I suprised myself by feeling anxious. Nervous. Fearful really. When we left America, I stared back at the land until it was completely out of sight. Like I was trying to hold on to my previous life as long as I could. I was shocked that I felt that way, because I'd tried so hard to get to this point! "Grandmother" (as the kids call her) met me at the airport in Ghana. She's the orphanage directress. We went straight to the bus stop, then on to Kumasi & eventually Offinso. My plane landed at 1:30pm. We got to Offinso at 11:30pm, so I went straight to the hotel. Same room as last year! I went to sleep with the same apprehensive feelings. (Hate to admit it, but I'm just being realistic for those who may feel the same thing in the future.)

The next morning I went to the orphanage. When I saw the kids, all of that anxiety went away. I really love them so much! Serwaa said, "They told me that you will come yesterday. So I stayed up all night, but you didn't come."

We've had a good time so far. The kids haven't been begging me to buy everything this time. And they don't pout when I say no. I've also been able to spend lots of time talking to 'Grandmother', and the kids' "Ghana Mother" (not their bio mother). I feel like finally I've been able to unravel their whole history. I'm glad to know all I can.


The kids seem excited most of the time. But, Serwaa did cry herself to sleep last night. So sad. But- they are happy today, and wanting to go to the airport already.


This morning we left Offinso for the last time (for now, I plan to visit again one day). Now we are at Ocean Sky hotel. I'm pretty sure it's right on the beach. But it's so dark outside, I'll have to wait til morning to find out! The room is great! (Despite the bed being hard as a rock!) We have soap and a towel!! Love it! We also have cartoon network! Which is nice, because I killed the DVD player. I borrowed an adapter to plug it in. It was the wrong one & it fried. Which I hate because we will go to Accra airport 6 hours early, then have a 7 hour layover in DC. Ugh!

I have much more to say, but I'll save it!