Ghana Journal Trip 2: Day 1

An excited bunch!

Talking to Grandma on the phone. He was telling her that he wasn't sure where our luggage was.....that whole process completely baffled him!

Nighty-night on the big airplane.

Woke up in the morning and we were almost there!

We've arrived!

Today has been an awesome day of highs and only one discouraging low. We had super easy flights, made it to all of our connection flights, and easily collected all of our luggage at the Accra airport. Nana Yaw’s mom, Esi, met us right inside the airport and once we were through the immigrations desk we were out to her car. Then we were off to the hotel for some breakfast – no reason to break tradition! Esi then had to get to work so Coach Mark met us at the hotel for a quick meeting – and then IT WAS OFF TO GET SAMUEL!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! We were all SO EXCITED!!! Kofi came to the hotel to pick us up and take us to the foster care mother’s house. One thing I didn’t have time to tell you pre-trip is that we had sent over our first sponsored student ahead of us to work with Kofi for a few weeks. We are planning on taking a group of kids to Ghana in the fall, so this was a sort of trial run to see how everything would go. The student’s name is Abigail and it is very much a God-story how we met her….I will save the details for a later post. :) You will see Abigail in some of my pictures, so now you will know who she is. When we got to the foster mother’s house Samuel was outside playing with the other children. We jumped out of the car and gave him a huge hug! He was ALL-SMILES and was so excited to see us. JJ had fallen asleep on the way so he wasn’t quite with it yet when he was introduced to Samuel. He wouldn’t come out from hiding under his blanket. Samuel didn’t seem to mind and went right up to JJ and held his hand. Everyone was telling Samuel “This is your brother!” and Samuel grinned from ear to ear. We went inside the foster mother’s home and greeted the other children there under her care. And we took LOTS of pictures!

Abigail and sweet baby Ian….he’s the little guy we brought the formula for on our last trip to Ghana.

One little boy, who I think was the foster mother’s grandson, was very fond of Samuel. I could tell by watching the two of them that they had a very strong bond.

We chatted with the foster mother and the other helpers in the home and then it was time for Samuel to say goodbye to his foster family. By this time we had walked out to the car. They all gave Samuel hugs and seemed excited to watch him head off to his ‘new life’.

I noticed Samuel had a little back pack packed which held all of his belongings. He practically skipped to the car, put his back pack into the trunk, and gave more hugs. Everyone was all smiles, except for the little boy who was Samuel’s friend. He said something in his language and burst into tears with the saddest little look on his face that I have ever seen. Kofi told us that the little boy was so sad that Samuel was leaving, and he had said that he wanted to come with us too. Talk about a heart breaker. Samuel knelt down to give the little guy one last hug, which made him cry even more, and then it was time to get into the car.

As we drove off and waved out the window I noticed the little boy absolutely sobbing. My guess is that day will forever be etched in his mind...so bittersweet.

In the car Samuel played with Jake’s phone for awhile and then he looked at me and said “camera” – he remembered! Then he took a ton of pictures while we drove in the car. He just loves it! After almost every picture he would smile and then show us. At first it didn’t seem that Samuel knew much English, so we communicated a lot by motioning. He did know a few key words which helped.

From the foster mother’s home we drove to the Embassy to see if we could obtain Samuel’s visa earlier than Monday. As we waited to be called up to the window it seemed that JJ had finally warmed up to Samuel (who had been trying his hardest to make friends with him). This was the point where they really started interacting. The security guy had taken our bags and snacks when we entered the Embassy, so we had nothing to keep us busy while we waited. Luckily we found a rubber band on the floor so we made some use of it. This was when I started asking Samuel some things like if he knew how to count to 10. And he did! He and JJ counted out loud to 15. Next up was ABC’s and he got through them perfectly. Then I asked him if he knew how to spell his name and he rattled it off S-A-M-U-E-L! Awesome! After about 30 minutes they finally called our name to the counter. The guy helping us seemed to completely understand our situation, but he said he could not issue the visa until the Ghanaian government ‘finished processing the papers’. It was then that I asked the worker what the appointment was on Monday – I specifically wanted to make sure we would be able to pick up the visa then. He said, “I’m sorry there are no guarantees….” My heart literally sunk. This did not sound good and I was not reassured one bit about the appointment on Monday. Jake and I thanked the worker for his help and walked away trying to talk through what to do next. We decided that worst case scenario would be that we would push our flight back one day, go in to get the visa on the 21st and if it wasn’t printed yet then Jake would stay the extra days past the 21st until the visa would be printed.

So, after that discouragement we went back to the hotel, said goodbye to Kofi for the day, and asked our driver (courtesy of Esi) to take us to a pizza place. :)

All day long I found myself intently watching Samuel. I adored how he talked, smiled, laughed at JJ’s antics, spoke in his language, answered questions – everything! I just couldn’t stop watching him! I could tell that he was used to having younger ones around because of the way he was such a good helper. When JJ dropped his sandal Samuel stooped down to pick it up, when JJ lost track of his blankey Samuel found it under the table and handed it to him, when JJ started eating rice with his fingers Samuel giggled and said “JJ, no” and handed him his spoon. I was just soaking up Samuel’s personality and taking it all in. At lunch I took a pen and wrote Samuel’s name on a napkin while he watched. Then I handed him the pen and motioned for him to write – and he wrote his name perfectly. Wow, this kid is smart! And he doesn’t stop smiling! After lunch we went back to the hotel and played with all the toys that we had brought along….the race cars, Leap Frog hand sets, and we also watched a movie.

He wrote these letters.....

We realized that Samuel loves anything electronic. And you only have to show him how to operate something once and then he knows how to do it. Which is why he so loves the camera. I mean really, what other contraption can bring you such direct satisfaction at the press of a button. And Samuel gave my camera a work out! Here are some of his takes….

The light in our room…

His hand.....

His face.....

Daddy.....

JJ......

Me......

The DVD player.....

Our backpacks.....

Get the drift? He’s going to be a photographer right? By 5pm I had over 200 pictures on my camera!!!!!!!

After some quick cat naps we then went over to the hotel restaurant to meet Big Sam, Ezekiel & Prince for dinner. Jake had a great time talking to the boys about ways to better develop basketball in Ghana.

As the day went on, JJ warmed up more and more to Samuel. By nighttime after dinner and showers the two of them were best buds – playing, laughing, and giggling in the hotel room like they had known each other their entire lives.

It’s funny because Samuel will often speak to JJ in twi (his language) and JJ will act like he completely understands him and then he’ll make up some words that sound twi-ish and say them back to Samuel. Then they will both giggle. I have absolutely loved watching these two interact, and it is only day 1! I am so, so, so, so, so glad that JJ came on the trip with us.

I do have to say that I absolutely love Samuel with all my heart already. It just feels like he was always meant to be here in our family. He is so comfortable with us, and us with him. By bedtime tonight we were all snuggled together, reading books, giggling, and praying together. What a wonderful family God has given us. I am so glad he called us to adopt. And I am so glad that God is sovereign and in control and that he knew Samuel would be a perfect fit for our family. Going into this adoption I thought I knew what was best – and that was adopting a little toddler. But God had other plans and I am so glad he did! Thank you all for praying for our bonding time– we can so feel your prayers.