The first days

The ride to the airport.

I stood in the airport. 12 totes on a stack, five carry ons, and six backpacks. Are we crazy trying this? Thankfully we had three adults. And three children! Kelsey kept a very watchful eye on her little brothers. Kenny took totes and all the passports to the check in counter. I cringed just a bit because sometimes they frown when they see totes, but we were met with big grins. "How many do you have? We will take them all! The weight is so perfect! Did you weigh them at home?" Suzanna hadn't known the carry on has a weight limit so her's was a bit heavy. "Can you move something to another one?" So we shifted things around and were soon on our way.

Security always makes me a bit nervous. But we were very early so there were no lines and we were met with smiles and understanding. We arrived at our gate with two hours to spare. Everyone was hungry so Kenny and the boys went to eat while Suzanna, Kelsey and I stayed with the bags. Then we went and enjoyed our lunch/supper. About 15 minutes after we were done they started boarding.

Kelsey was a bit nervous about flying but ended up loving the take off and landing. The flight itself was "smooth as butter" and was a bit boring and very uncomfortable.

Kelsey enjoyed playing games on the screens on the back of the seat. Colored a bit, read a bit and only slept about 2 hours. Austin did a bit of this and a bit of that. Sat with Suzanna a bit and worked on sticker books and finally about 6 hours into the flight crashed and we could barely wake him up 4 hours later to land. Brent played the first 2 to 3 hours and then tried to sleep until they served us breakfast. He kept waking up and crying out. He slept on his seat for a while and then kept waking up and crying. So I held him the rest of the night. It was a long night of trying to get comfortable enough to sleep without waking Brent.
But we survived! And landed about 8 AM, a half hour ahead of schedule. We waited a while for oue totes to come out and Merlin and Bethany, Tom and Galyn were waiting for us. We divided things between two pick-ups. Kelsey and Suzanna rode with Toms, the rest of us went with Merlins. After a stop for some of our furniture and lunch at Burger King, we headed for home! Over the speed bumps, through police checks, and along the ocean. It was good to finally arrive!

The house looked so different from last time and I love it! They put in a lot of long hours painting, wiring, carpentering, cleaning the yard, everything looked good! The kitchen doesn't have cupboard doors yet. The dressers aren't done. My book shelf hasn't made it's way here yet, but it looks so so much nicer then before!

The rest of the day Wednesday we unpacked some. Rested some, and just tried to get our bearings. Jethros dropped supper and new SIM cards for our phones off. We went to bed good and early!

Thursday we unpacked. Kelsey has a wardrobe/dresser so we put all her things away. The rest of the stuff we worked at organizing. All Kenny's clothes in one tote, all mine in another. A tote full of extra clothes for the boys to grow into. Two totes of books and toys. Kenny and Austin drove over to the shop to see whats happening there. In the afternoon we all took long naps. Our freezer had casseroles and cookies in from the other missionaries, so cooking was easy. Late afternoon Merlins came with Mama Esy and her son Ben.
Thursday evening we made it to prayer meeting/song service at Merlin and Bethany. It was good to be along even though Brent was sad because I left his sippy cup at home.

The children love playing in the wash tubs.

Mama Esy used to wash for Lonnie Weavers but has been out of work since they went to the US on furlough the beginning of November. When she started for them 6 years ago she didn't know any English. It is still very limited so Ben came along to translate. I wasn't sure how it would go without Ben and Bethany to help communicate. But Friday morning rolled around and around 8:30 Mama Esy was at my door to wash. It went better then I could have dared hope. The children loved watching Mama Esy. She washed Kelsey's feet when she came to the door with them muddy and Kelsey took her a drink when she asked for one later, She tried to play with Brent, but he hid behind me.
When she was done, around 12, she fried 2 eggs with some pepper and sat down to eat and rest a bit. Then with a grin she said, "I will come Tuesday!" and left. I think I am going to enjoy having Mama Esy in my home! I also think I will learn Fante faster than I would have otherwise. It was a warm day with a nice breeze. Perfect for drying wash I thought as Suzanna and I hung it out. I forgot how humid it was. My wash line wasn't up yet since they weren't sure where we would want it, so they had just strung line on the porch. Without the sunshine and being wrung out by hand, the wash dried very slow!
The men had been going to work on the kitchen, but first they needed to get boards. True to the way things work in Ghana, it was noon till they got back. After lunch Merlins took all of us on a market run. And showed us around Cape Coast. Here is where we get water. Here is the plastic store (we purchased hampers, toilet scrubber and trash can,). Here is Melcom. We decided not to run in there. Here is the pharmacy. Here is the bank. (Thats an important stop!) We stopped at a store for peanut butter. (Its like the natural peanut butter you buy back home.) They had frozen french fries, frozen bacon, even a large box of Welch's fruit snacks! For 110 Cedis! That is around 20 dollars! I decided you can get about anything in Ghana if you want to pay for it! We stopped at the fabric market for fabric for curtains. I found some for every room except our bedroom. The living room and kitchen don't need any. We stopped for vegetables and fruit in Abra. It was suppertime till we got home.

Today (Saturday) Suzanna mopped floors, I did more organizing. We have ants everywhere so I put the things in my pantry in containers. Our rice we had Friday night for supper I skimmed a few ants off the top of the kettle. We folded and put away wash. Put some lettering on our walls. Suzanna baked cookies. Kenny and Austin walked to the shop and brought Kennys moto home. Then Kenny went back to the shop and worked around there for a couple hours. The three teenage obruni (white) girls brought us supper. Victoria (Noah Beachy's daughter), Andrea (lives with and helps Earl Shirks) and Karissa (Kelsey's teacher.)
So that sums up our life in Ghana so far. Some day soon I want to take pictures and give you a tour of our house. The weather has been warm (upper 80s) and humid (so it feels like 90s). We are happy for our AC but chuckled when we realized we have it set for a chilly 26 degrees Celsius which is 78 F. But we sleep with covers and feel spoiled! The children have been loving going away. Everyone smiles and waves and they enjoy waving back. A lady felt Kelsey's hair yesterday at market and said I want some! Kelsey just smiled. The heat definitely makes everyone tired.