MAY 31- DAY 1

We walked off the plane onto the tarmac

and boarded a bus to take us to the main terminal.

We were kind of nervous to go through customs but it went good, well almost. We were told on the plane that we only had to fill out one declaration form per family (I think that is what it’s called), but in fact, each person needed to fill one out.  They were gracious about it and I quickly filled it out so we could be on our way.

Since we arrived a day later than planned we weren’t sure who was going to pick us up, or if anyone would be there to get us. It had also been previously arranged for someone from the Fern House to be at the airport to pick up two suitcases that we had brought; we didn’t know if we’d be lugging four suitcases to Kwahu or if they’d be there.

Thankfully we walked out to see a man holding a sign with our last names on it. Then, as we followed him out the door, there was another guy holding The Fern House sign, thank you Lord.

We then went to a nearby hotel were the driver went to check on a family who would be traveling with us to Kwahu. Then it was off to the US Embassy where we would wait for our POA to finish with the appointments he had scheduled for that day. It was a bit un-nerving to have to leave all our electronics and bags (which held all our important documents) at the front desk, but that’s how it’s done.

Our driver then took us in to meet “K”, our POA. We walked into one of the buildings. It was a long narrow room. The room was lined with chairs and every chair was filled with a person, not to mention those standing, waiting for their appointments. “K” was very nice. After introductions he said he’d like to take us to meet the kids. MEET THE KIDS?!?!? Did he mean OUR kids?!?! My, and Kristen’s, heart about stopped. This is not what we had expected. We were led to the courtyard where we met 5 kiddos, representing 2 families, who were there for their visa exit interview. I’m not going to lie and tell you we weren’t a little disappointed, but it will be great to meet our in the morning when we are refreshed and more prepared.

We spent what we think were the next 4+ hours in the Embassy courtyard playing with the kids. While we had fun playing with kids we couldn’t help but wish we were playing with our kids. We wondered what their personalities were like, and how they would react to us.  I will say we were excited to be a part of learning that the interviews had been a success, and these children would soon be with their forever families.

The birth moms were also there. One was busy nursing her twins (at the same time), one seemed shy, and one of them tried to give us a crash course in Twi. She kept laughing as we’d say a word wrong, or would forget one she’d just taught us.

Finally it was time to go. Since we were such a large group we had to take multiple modes of transportation to get to Kwahu. We first split up from Ryan & Kristen and took a taxi to the bus depot; where we would meet up with them again. With us traveled little “A” who we had just spent the afternoon with. The other family rode with our POA, and our luggage, to the foster home.

We had to wait for an hour on the bus while we waited for it to fill up. Full bus equals departure time. With us were 6 kids, yes we gained one more, the four of us and the driver who had picked us up from the airport.

While we waited I had a guy blow me a kiss, through the window, as he tried to get me to buy something from him. There were SO many people selling all kinds of things, most of which were carried on the top of their heads (I wish I had a picture of this). Women even came on the bus with their wares. We weren’t sure if it was safe to buy any of the food, which was tough because we were hungry. We hadn’t eaten, or drank, anything since 6:30 this morning on the plane. Next time we’ll be prepared!

We finally left at about 4:30 in the afternoon. The driving here is crazy. You have a two lane road with about 5 cars going various ways at the same time. Everyone is frequently blowing their horns. There were hardly any stoplights/signs anywhere. I was so surprised we didn’t witness any accidents. It was also interesting when the charter bus would basically go off-roading on tiny roads through tight inhabited areas. Thankfully it was air conditioned and while we couldn’t understand it, they entertained us with Ghanaian movies. Oh, and we were very happy to remember we had a couple Snicker bars in our bag; we were so hungry. Little miss “A” slept on my lap the whole way. If I remember correctly, we stopped about 9 and had to take a taxi the rest of the way to the foster home.