Okay, so there’s been a lot of rough and rocky days these first couple of months. BUT there are plenty of things we love as well! Here are a few of our favorite things:
1. The fruit! There is a little roadside fruit stand just down the road from our compound. We stroll down there all the time and I still CANNOT keep enough fruit in the house. The pineapples and mangos here are just sweeter, and the kids inhale them as fast as I can bring them home. I’m talking multiple entire pineapples a day. A large part of our housekeeper’s job is just chopping mountains of fruit for these kids, which she does with much more dexterity and skill than I can, balancing a mango precariously in one hand and slicing it with the other. Also, at long last, after attempting to grow banana trees in both Florida and Texas that were subsequently killed by the ONE freeze we got each winter…we finally have flourishing, productive banana trees in our very own backyard! The list of diseases we could potentially battle here is loooong, but scurvy is not one of them!
2. Instant community. When we arrived, there were 17 kids in our compound between the ages of 3 and 12. Plus more in the compound down the road! Our kids absolutely love it, and we love letting them run free throughout the compound till long after nightfall. Our 6 year old in particular I never see anymore. She barely takes the time to fling her backpack inside the house after school before racing to knock on all her friends’ doors to play. They have made a 200 square hopscotch winding throughout the compound, collected snails and had “snail races”, battled in water fights, and spent hours upon hours scootering/bike riding/roller blading. The sound of children’s laughter and playful shouts can be heard even from inside the house constantly, and its music to my ears! It’s funny…this is the first time we’ve ever had the used-to-be-typical American experience of kids running free range throughout the neighborhood and telling them to just come home for dinner and bedtime. “Just come home when the bats start flying!” Even our 3 year old is allowed to wander the compound at will, frequently being scooped up by the older girls, until we drag the kids in, filthy, sweaty, and happy, every night. With tall barbed-wire topped fences and 24/7 security guards, we don’t have to worry about the kids crossing a high traffic road, wandering too far away, or about strangers entering the neighborhood. (Although Dominic did manage to schmooze the guards one day and escape. That’s a story for another time!)
3. At long last, HELP!! Ya’ll, after years and years of doing it all, including 18 months of solo parenting 4 children, I have HELP! We were able to hire a full time housekeeper extraordinaire here, and it has been life changing. Her name is Selina (sharing with her permission) and we love her! In addition to all the normal household cleaning, she makes us dinner 3-4 nights a week. She carries our full laundry baskets up 3 flights of stairs ON HER HEAD. She makes the kids hot dog rolls, donuts, cinnamon rolls, cookies, muffins, and zucchini bread, all from scratch. She treats our kids as if they were her own, and has offered to babysit them as often as we would like. In past years, we were lucky to have childcare to go on 3 dates in an entire year. Recently, Don and I went out without kids 3 times in one week! Sometimes I look back at the YEARS when I was juggling a toddler, cooking dinner, and helping 2-3 kids with homework simultaneously and I honestly do not know how I did it. I can’t tell you how much peace it has brought me to have time to breathe again. Weeknights are no longer mad chaos. I actually have the time to ENJOY my children. Such a huge blessing.
We also employ Amos, along with the other families on the compound, who is a jack of all trades kind of guy. He takes our trash out in front of the compound once a week, washes our car, waters all our outdoor plants, and will do whatever random tasks we need done. A couple weeks ago, he planted sweet potatoes in our backyard!
It is such a weird juxtaposition at times. Life here is definitely more challenging than in the States, but at the same time, we live like kings. I have told my family that Africa is terrible and wonderful all at the same time. Yes, I have ants crawling over every inch of my kitchen…but at least I don’t have to worry about making dinner. Yes, there is mold growing on my kitchen ceiling…but I don’t even have to take out my own trash. Yes, I may have to go to 3 different grocery stores and 2 fruit stands to find everything on my grocery list…but I actually DO have the time to do that, because I do not have to clean bathrooms, mop floors, fold laundry, or do dishes! One day I was stopped by the Ghanaian police, which ended up being a very stressful experience (more on that later), but there was delicious homemade lasagna just waiting for our family on the table for dinner that night. On 2 different occasions, we have had trouble with the Ghanaian bus drivers, and there were moments I had to hold back the panic, wondering if my youngest 2 kids would be brought safely back to their mama. But then I turn around and there are hot cinnamon rolls made from scratch for those kids to gobble up when they do make it home (which thankfully, is what happened). More on Selina coming in another post, because she has also been such a beautiful part of our faith journey here (and also has her own testimony to share!). So grateful for her easing the load on the toughest days!
4. Meeting people from all over the world! Between the expat community at church, the kids’ international school, and embassy events, we have the chance to become friends with people from so many different countries. So far we’ve met people from Cuba, Malaysia, the UK, Canada, Israel, Poland, Korea, Brazil, New Zealand, Czech Republic, India, and of course, many Ghanaians. Don and I went to a social event at the Australian High Commission (equivalent of embassy) one evening. After spending a fantastic 5 months studying abroad in Australia in college, I couldn’t wait to hear those Aussie accents again!! However, there were so many people there from so many different embassies, I never did find the actual Aussies! Guess I’ll have to try again another time. I’ve had to ask the kids what their friends’ names are 100 times, because 90% of them are names I have never heard in my life. Same with the parents! Although the onslaught of languages, accents, and cultures can be a little dizzying at times, it is such a rich and unique experience to hear everyone’s stories. What an incredible experience for my kids to grow up having friends in countries scattered throughout the whole world!
On a different, (but related) note, I was able to volunteer at a local orphanage for the first time yesterday, and I can’t remember the last time my soul was so uplifted and at peace. The need here is truly overwhelming, and I am working now on discerning the particular path God has for me to share these many blessings He has given us. Please continue to pray that I hear His voice and have the courage to follow it!
Medaase (“Thank you” in Twi).