There's No Place Like the Mall (!) for the Holidays

 Of course, the moment I hit "post" on the blog about life being blissfully boring, life became anything but. It has been a tumultuous week or so with work and the holiday break has shown up at exactly the right time.

Somehow, it just doesn't feel like the holidays. Being a Northwest girl through and through, I associate the holidays with cold, wet weather, pine trees, fleece and curling up by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. It's about 95 degrees here, dipping down all the way to about 80 at night, the only pine trees are made out of some strange paper-like material and curling up by the air conditioning with a glass of cold water just isn't the same. 

Last weekend, I found myself heading to the mall 3 times with the kids. Given that I generally can't stand malls, I was intrigued as to why I kept feeling drawn there. Then, I realized, that despite my best efforts as an adult to stay away from malls and "holiday stress", I did spend much of my suburban childhood at the mall and being so far away from home, I found the mall oddly comforting. The mall, with its traffic, decorations, Christmas carols blaring (although I must say that carols with an African twist are quite a bit more interesting) and the overall energy of people bustling about was the one place that felt like Christmas.

Thankfully, we will not be spending Christmas at the mall. We're leaving this weekend to an eco-resort along the coast about 5 hours west of Accra. To make our bungalow feel more like Christmas and entice Santa to come all the way to Ghana, I'll be taking our 1 string of lights, the kids' batik stockings, some very out of their element polar bear candles (found at the mall) and lots of sunscreen.

There is no place like home for the holidays, but I think we'll be just fine all the same. Blessings and love to all of you this season.

Blissfully Boring

Ok, so life isn't exactly boring, but I am seeing signs that we're settling in. I've realized I haven't felt compelled to blog much, mostly because life is starting to just feel like....life. Fewer and fewer interactions feel strange, hilarious, bizarre or just off beat. Driving past a huge truck with a bunch of men laying around in flour-sack hammocks while the truck is going about 100 kilometers down the highway no longer feels like it's from another planet. It just makes me smile and be glad I've got a seatbelt and air conditioning.

Other signs of settling are popping up as well. Basil. My garden has its first crop of basil and various types of lettuce. I've started harvesting a few leaves at a time and spent much of the weekend cooking - pizza sauce with basil, chevre, basil & tomato salad and other yummy things. A few months ago, cooking was way too overwhelming. Whatever was set in front of me is pretty much what I'd eat because going through the hassle of figuring out anything myself took more energy than I had. I had forgotten how much I love to spend a Sunday afternoon in the kitchen. Although, I have decided that there's not enough air conditioning in the world that can make a kitchen cool when it's 100 degrees outside.

Life is moving into a nice rhythm for all of us. The kids are doing well in school (although due to swine flu that wasn't even at their school the school closed early and they are out for 1 month!!), they have friends and have started having a couple of play dates. Work is feeling manageable and I'm finally able to set some boundaries around it and take some time off. We're all staying pretty healthy, I have a beautiful place to swim in the mornings, we love hanging out at the beach on the weekends and life feels like it's taking on a nice cadence. Blissfully (almost) boring. Whew.

Wii Journeys....a Lesson in Entrepreneurship (and sanity for Mom)

Although it's very nice having a housekeeper to clean up & do laundry, I've also been concerned that I did not bring the kids to Ghana to become a little prince & princess. It's hard enough at home to get them to clean up after themselves and help around the house - worse here when they know that when they head off for school in the morning, the magic wand of tidiness will have been waved and all will be in order when they return home. Another big theme around here: the kids really want a Wii - something they know I won't buy for them. This morning, during a fit of arguing, complaining and generally being indignant when asked to do basic things - I thought up a plan that I HOPE will kill several birds with one stone (I don't really want to kill any birds, but I would like the kids to stop bickering about whose mess is whose and relentlessly begging me for a Wii).


We sat down and had a little talk about entrepreneurship - how to please your customer, how to proactively find ways to generate revenue and the importance of getting along well with your business partner. We even got into how to conduct business in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Voila! "Wii Journeys...where WE work together to earn our Wii" was born. The kids have a house tidying services business where they do everything from dishes to taking out the garbage to making breakfast (and cleaning up afterwards). Luckily, I fall right smack dab into the middle of their target audience - tired moms who need a little peace, cooperative children & completion of light household tasks and who are willing to pay for a service done well. So far, I've had pancakes (old favorite with a new twist - accidentally overloaded with too much vegetable oil and deliberately augmented with chocolate), the dishes done, a load of laundry put in the machine, garbage taken out and the shoes lined up neatly. Currently, my favorite household services firm is in the other room, cooperatively designing logos and invoices.

At least for the moment, I am one very happy customer!

Gratitude

Today was one of the best Thanksgivings I've seen in a while.  My mom thought she was leaving last night, but when we arrived at the airport, they informed her she was a day early!  So, she was here for most of the day today.  The kids had exams at school so mom and I had a leisurely day that started with a swim (for me - she sat on the veranda and had coffee), mom's first pedicure ever and a nice lunch.  I roasted a chicken (didn't come across any turkeys), made mashed potatoes and gravy & it felt a little like Thanksgiving.  The best part was spending much of the day thinking how very grateful I am.  Here's my list in no particular order:

• Health.  The past couple of Thanksgivings have been marked by surgeries and post-surgical complications.  This year, I feel stronger and healthier than I have in almost 3 years.  I forgot what it feels like to be able to swim and play in the ocean with the kids and to have my strength back and for the kids to know that Mommy really is ok. The kids are healthy, thriving and happy.  That's about as good as it gets.
• Friends and Family.  We are so blessed with how many people love & support us in so many ways near and far.  There are so many people here that have become part of our lives in such positive ways.  I love hearing from all of you that are far away and who connect with us by email, phone and just by sending love our way.
• Adventure.  Our lives are fun, interesting and never boring.  Yes, I get lonesome, yes, there are days that are challenging and when I'm exhausted and wonder just what part of me thought moving to Africa with 2 kids would be a good idea.  AND, every day, there are new things that I learn about myself, about the world and about what I "thought" I knew.  Everyday, I watch the kids grow in such amazing ways and with such a depth of understanding about the world and what it means to be....human. 

Today, I'm just thankful - for all of it.

And the winners are......

Thanks to all of you who voted.  There was much enthusiasm in the responses and most of you said it was a very difficult choice.  One of you who has a great interest in Sophie's photography career decided it's time for Sophie to go on to learning about depth of field (you know who you are :) .  Enough chit chat, here are the results....

Best Nature Photo 70% of votes (Sophie)

Grandma's photo

Sophie's photo

Best Person - TIE

Best Overall 52% (Grandma)

With the big prize money, Grandma will be able to retire and Sophie has enough to bum around the world during her "gap year".......

Sophie Vs. Grandma Photo Shoot-off - Need your vote by Friday, Nov. 20

We took a trip to Kumasi this past weekend.  During the nearly five hour drive (which included one episode of car sickness and a strategically placed ziploc bag), Sophie and Grandma challenged each other to a photo shoot-off.  Here are the rules:  there are 3 categories 1) best nature photo 2) best person photo and 3) best overall photo.  The photos had to be taken during our trip to Kumasi and the winner receives the joy of wining plus 1 Ghana cedi per each category won (about 75 cents - prize money generously donated by yours truly).  A fierce competition ensued with each participant going to any length - from leaning out of car windows in traffic to bribing locals to ensure a shot that was competition worthy.


The photos are available for viewing by clicking here. 

We need YOUR help - please take a look at the photos and send me an email by clicking here with your vote for best nature, best person and best overall - the captions on the photos tell you what category they're in and are listed as A and B.

Please vote by noon Pacific Time on Friday, November 20th.  I'll post the winning entries by Friday night.

Water: going with the flow in Ghana....Part II

I have a new appreciation for water.  Running water.  Not having running water when you're in a village and can pump from the well or go to the bathroom in the bushes is one thing.  Not having it in the city where those options don't exist is another thing all together.  Here is how water has eluded us in the past several days.

The government is working on a major waterline which means my neighborhood & many others have been without water for weeks.  We're all on backup tanks & pumps.  For the 2nd time in a week, we ran out of water Saturday. We had no water most of the day and water was finally trucked in Saturday evening. Of course, the outage happened when I hadn't showered for 2 days, so I was desperate.  Then, I woke up this morning....no water. I knew there was no way we could have run out of water so quickly.  We'd all been so diligent about conserving.  I went out back and discovered the pump was not running.  Got it working for about a minute. Then, nothing. Called the plumber at 7:30am, said he'd be right over.  Called him at 11:00, said he'd be right over.  Finally showed up about 3:00 just to let me know that our pump was broken and he'd need to "find" another and would definately install it tomorrow.  Ha.  I'm not that much of an optimist.  Looking around, I survey the scene:  Xavier is covered head to toe in so much dirt and sweat that his body is making mud.  Sophie is also sweaty but not as dirty.  Mom has been in the house all day with no water.  Both sets of school uniforms are filthy, so no school uniforms for tomorrow.  I'm leaving at 5am tomorrow to travel to the North and would really love a shower before I leave.  No water for hand washing, no water to flush, no water for bathing, no water for cooking & doing dishes.  Had the brilliant idea to stay at a hotel.  Every hotel I called was sold out tonight, so I finally found 1 room at a small hotel nearby. This was great, except all of us seemed to have our digestive systems working really well.  Sorry if it's TMI, but this is life.  Soon, the toilet in our room was....full.  And, the toilet won't flush!!!  The handyman's not around until tomorrow morning and there are no other room options.  So, here we sit, Sophie, Xavier, my mom and me....in a hotel with a toilet that won't flush but at least grateful we aren't squatting in the backyard!

Link to Project Website

Grameen recently revamped its website and a more thorough overview of the project I'm managing is now available. 

Check it out as well as the other amazing work Grameen does around the world.........  http://www.grameenfoundation.applab.org/section/ghana-health-worker-project

The Week in Review

A quick recap of the past few days: Cedric left for the US. Couldn't nail down a job here, but has something promising in Cyprus on the horizon. Yes, Cyprus, An island, but not the one we thought he'd be on! So, still no resolution in that department - he could end up in Cyprus, Vashon, Ghana....just about anywhere. In the mean time, I'm back to single to parenting in Ghana while holding down a pretty big job. Somehow, it all works - thankfully, mom is here for another couple of weeks, my housekeeper is helpful & I have great staff at work that help out however they can.


The very next night, Xavier had a coughing attack that was scary - he couldn't stop coughing for a couple of hours & was having a hard time breathing. Thankfully, I had signed up for a service called West African Rescue Association (WARA) that provides on-call consulting, house calls, private ambulances and access to the best doctors and hospitals. They came to the house & we ended up taking Xavier to the hospital to be seen by a doctor. The WARA guys were amazing, the hospital was much nicer than expected and Xavier ended up being fine - a perfect storm of enlarged tonsils, allergies & a virus. It was a long night for both of us.

Today, I was driving around with the kids & my Mom to do a bit of shopping. I went straight through an intersection from a turn lane and was pulled over. Long story, but basically my choices were 1) to be escorted to the nearest police station to be fined & likely end up in court which would mean spending the rest of the afternoon in hot, sweaty, bureaucratic hell or 2) pay a bribe to the officer - who insisted we "talk" about it away from her commander who was still at the intersection. So, for a modest 10 cedi (about $7), we were on our way home, have a good story to tell, were slightly entertained and I had my first near arrest. Cool.

Oh, and our water is out again today. Seems we went through our entire reserve tank of 2500 gallons in about a week! Obscene, especially considering I feel like I've barely showered all week! I think the guy who works around the yard is a bit over zealous in the watering of the plants. So, we're waiting - hoping - water gets delivered by this evening.

Well, that covers the highlights of this week.....I don't even dare to presume to know what's in store for next week!

Welcome to Ghana, Mom

Mom arrived in Ghana last Tuesday night - after about 24 hours of travel and no sleep.  I have to say that I'm impressed that my Mom, at age 72, made the trek from Vashon all the way to Ghana.  Although she has traveled quite a bit, it's mostly been via cruise ship.  Being on the ground in a developing country isn't exactly the same. 

The kids were elated to see her and she arrived just in time to celebrate Xavy's 7th birthday.  And, just in time to experience my house running out of water.  I had been told when I moved here that it was important to have a water tank for when the city's water was turned off.  I was a bit skeptical that the water in a city of somewhere around 3 million would just be turned off.  Luckily, I did end up with a house with a water tank.  A day or so after Mom arrived, the water pump stopped working and I couldn't figure out if the pump was broken or what was going on.  The next day, I overheard someone casually mention that the water had been out around my neighborhood for weeks!!!!  I had no idea, as my pump automatically switches to my reserve tank.  Apparently, since the water had been out for weeks, we had used up all the water in the tank.  So, we were without any running water for about 24 hours.  Not really pleasant with 5 people living here and another 2 working here.  Finally, we were able to arrange for a truck to bring in water and have it pumped into the tank and now I"ll know what to do next time it goes out - as there most certainly will be a next time!

I'm working, the kids are off to school for most of the day and I have a housekeeper  who does the cooking and laundry, so Mom is finally learning how to sit back and relax - sort of.  So far, she has rearranged the kids' closets, organized Patience's (the housekeeper) cookbook and read about and taken pages of notes on the history of Ghana.  Seriously.  Guess I come from a long line of women who just can't be idle.......

Sophie's Choice

On the right of the blog, there are new links to photo albums.  There are photos of the monkey sanctuary trip described in yesterday's post, Ghana landscape pics and, my favorite, the Sophie's Picks pics.  We always knew she was artistic, but when my friend, Tom, put a really nice camera in her hands, her artistic side really flourished.  She has used her camera as a way to process all she's seeing, as a way to connect with other kids (who are fascinated by her camera and beg her to take pictures) and as a way to occupy herself during long car trips.  Many of the Ghana landscape pictures & several of the Sophie's Picks were taken from the back seat of the Pajero.  I especially like one one of my feet on the dash board :)  Enjoy the world through Sophie's eyes......

A Very Happy Monkey Boy

When I first announced to the kids that we were moving to Ghana, the initial reaction was pure excitement.  One of the first things out of Xavier's mouth was that he wanted a monkey.  I explained that we couldn't really have a monkey as a pet, but that we would find some monkeys to visit.  As the initial excitement turned into the reality that we were leaving Grandma, our favorite island and so many friends, I had to pull out the "big guns".  I promised Xavier I would take him to the Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary for his birthday.  His 7th birthday is next week and I had to ante up.  The kids had two days off school following mid-terms, so we hopped into the Pajero and headed North.  After a very bumpy and dusty 5 hour drive, we arrived in Kumasi, the center of the Ashanti culture and 2nd largest city in Ghana.  I had found a tolerable looking hotel on the internet - the Amis Wonderland - and we checked in to find that it did, indeed, make us wonder......how could so many bizarre, tacky items be placed in one place?  Everything from the 4-foot tall, neon orange & yellow fake sunflowers to the too-small-for-the-bed pink satin heart-shaped bed cover to the rule sheet which stipulated that "no two males can share the same room" had us wondering where on earth we were.

The next day, we headed off for a 2 hour drive further north and a small village near the monkey sanctuary.  It's a fairly remote area & there aren't a lot of places to stay.  I found an orphange on the internet that had very quaint sounding guest bungalows & was only about 15 minutes from the monkeys.  We checked in to find that it was an orphange for mentally ill children, which added a whole other dimension to the stay.  Our bungalow was sparse, donkeys, chickens and guinea fowl roamed freely and it gave the kids a good idea about what village life is like.  Sophie & Xavier played with some of the kids from the orphanage and overall it was just another fascinating and educational aspect of our whole adventure here.  The best part was hanging out behind our bungalow, watching the lightning bugs & stars that somehow just seem to shine brighter in the rural African sky. 

From the orphanage, we drove to the monkey sancutary and it was amazing!  The monkeys live in the rainforest at the edge of a village.  Due to a long-standing belief originating from a village elder & a fettish, the villagers believe that the monkeys are like humans and hurting or killing them will bring evil spirits to the village.  So, the monkeys are treated like people and wander amongst the villagers like little, long-tailed humans.  Whenever a monkey dies, the villagers bury them & hold a funeral, compete with music & grieving.  We were able to feed them bananas and nuts straight out of our hands and watched them swinging through the tree tops.  Butterflies, bugs and beautiful, old-growth trees were everywhere - Xavier was in heaven.  I think we could have left him there & he would have been very happy! 

We wrapped up our trip with another night in Kumasi (NOT at the Wonderland) & a tour of the cultural center where I got a beautiful drum with Ashanti symbols carved on the outside and some other great things to bring home.  Xavier had one last request and we visited the Armed Forces Museum (after the 2nd or 3rd room filled with weapons, I had had enough of the guns and went to chat with some old man on a bench outside which was far more fascinating).  On the way home, Xavier declared that this birthday was the best ever and made up for last year - when I had to have surgery on his birthday.  It made me realize how life can change so quickly & in such unimaginable ways.  We never know what the next moment will bring.....I think I'm starting to like that :)

God Bless Our Homeland, Ghana!

I cannot believe we've only been here 2 months and this is my 2nd blog about football!  I've truly been swept by the football fever.  It is somehow amazing to be a part of watching a sport that is all about country unity, perserverence and hope rather than marketing and mega-priced ads.  In every corner of the country, young boys play football in the dirt, teenagers spend their weekends in agressive matches on the beach and football is an escape from the realities of life here.  Tonight, Ghana's U-20 team played Brazil in the World Cup Final.  All over the city, people have been buzzing about the game for days.  Little stands and shops on the side of the road suddenly donned Ghanaian flags and TV sets.  We went to Osu, the "heartbeat" of Accra - a busy place filled with stores, people and traffic.  There was an enormous TV set up at the end of the main street, the traffic was blocked off and people were out in droves to watch the homeland.  We watched in a nearby restaurant as our new little country showed huge strength.  Ghana played with 10 players most of the game but it didn't deter them in the least.  The game went into 2 overtimes and a hair-raising set of 5 shoot-out kicks.  Finally, in sudden death, Brazil missed their first kick and Ghana made theirs!  Dancing, chanting and singing erupted all over the city.  This is the first time EVER an African  team has won the U-20 World Cup.  I was amazed at how much I loved watching and even more so by how much allegiance I hold already for Ghana.  It is a beautiful country with beautiful people filled with enthusiasm and soul. 

The first week of school, Xavier learned the first part of the Ghanaian national anthem - the phrase we heard over and over tonight - God Bless Our Homeland, Ghana".....indeed, we are proud. 

(PS if you have any hook-ups for World Cup S. Africa tickets - let me know - the Ghana Black Star team will no doubt have a strong showing there!! :) )

Back from the Bush

I just spent 4 days at our project site in the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, very near the Burkina Faso border. The area is beautiful - a mostly flat, green landscape dotted with huge baobab trees and amazing rock formations. It is also very raw - a large majority live in mud huts without electricity or running water and are in extreme poverty. Every moment was a fascinating adventure that brought back memories of my Peace Corps days. We were doing some very early testing of the basic concept of using mobile phones to disseminate information on prenatal and newborn health. We were interested in whether people had phones, how willing they were to ask questions and what types of questions they needed answered. We had 3 teams going out to various villages over 3 days with phones. Once a group of women (and some men) gathered around, our teams called into a basic "hotline" we had setup with local health workers taking the calls. It was great - people were enthusiastic about using the phones and definitely hungry for knowledge. The day I was out in the field, it had rained all night the night prior. The networks were down & I ended up drawing on my public health/child welfare and being a mom knowledge to answer many of the questions women were asking. It was so amazing to me how the most basic of information was lacking and so sorely needed.

The logistics of getting around the area was also an adventure. I flew an early morning 1-hour flight to Tamale and took a 2-hour taxi ride up to Bolgotanga. The ride was harrowing - bombing down the road at who-knows-what speed (all the dashboard indicators were broken) in a beat-up tin can of a taxi, dodging potholes the size of an entire lane, goats, cows, children, bikes and chickens. Our project driver took us back to Tamale in the project car, but the alternator belt broke just as we were leaving Bolgatanga. It was getting dark and we pulled into a junk yard where, before I knew it, about 10-12 guys had their heads under the hood of the Pajero, a guy on a motorcycle is driving in and out with belt after belt, trying to find the right size, we had to borrow a small lamp from a local restaurant so they could see and about 10 feet away, a guy is going about the business of slaughtering chickens (don't ask me how you do this in the dark). But, the sky was amazing - stars shooting and bright with heat lightening off in the distance. Reminded me of why I love getting out of the city. About 2 hours later, were were finally off for a night in Tamale and our flight back to Accra the next morning. Never a dull moment.

Just Another Day

I've been thinking I should do a post on a typical day. Each day, I think "today was an anomaly, XYZ happened and it was so crazy, it wouldn't happen again, so I shouldn't write about it as a typical day". Then I realized that literally every day is an adventure. Here are the highlights of today - a "typical" day in my life in Ghana:

6:00am - woke up early to have a few quiet moments before the kids wake up. No use; Xavier is already up & doing math (he's obsessed with math problems and stays up late at night doing them and likes to wake up early to do more) and I'm greeted with the usual "I'm hungry". As I'm trying to make coffee for myself & breakfast for Xavier, Sophie stumbles out of bed shortly afterwards and the chance of a quiet few moments is gone. She was sick to her stomach again yesterday & is hoping to get through the school day without any "accidents". Hopefully, the results from the doctor will come tomorrow & we can find out what's making her belly so unhappy.

7:45am - Patience, the housekeeper, walks in & I give her the list of stuff I need from the market for the day, Japha, the guy who helps around the house has already washed the car & I explain to him the plants I'd like him to buy for the pots at my front door and the night security guard is being replaced by the day guard. As I'm walking out the door drive the kids to school in my very large Mitsubishi Pajero (size does count when navigating Accra traffic and, mine has a full bar across the front so I can run into stuff without sustaining damage to my vehicle) a man shows up at my front gate. Turns out he's the plumber & here to fix several plumbing issues I'm having in many of my 4 bathrooms.

8:05 - I've dropped the kid off at school and have pulled up to the nearby hotel that has a small, rectangular pool where I swim in the mornings. I can get about 7 strokes in before I have to turn - my flip turns are getting very good! My phone rings & a friend from the States is calling & needs advice (it's 1am for her). I'm happy that she's been able to reach me & we chat. I'm amazed that we can call each other as if we're in the same city. I go for my swim - it's the only time in the day I am alone & can be with my own thoughts. I notice that my hands are sticky. There's some sort of substance on the pool ladder that looks a lot like body oils skimmed off the top of the water that are stuck to the metal ladder. I've been sneezing a lot after swimming and wonder how they maintain the pool. I decide it's my only place to swim nearby and I'm going to take a "don't ask don't tell" stance in regards to what's in the pool. I'm just going to try to swallow as little water as possible.

9:15 - I head home to take a quick shower & find that the plumber has taken the porcelain sink off the wall in my bathroom & dropped it - shattering little shards of glass all over my bathroom. Hmmm, seems I have a new plumbing issue. I shower, trying to dodge glass shards as I'm getting ready for the day.

10:00 - I drive the 2 blocks to the office. My main mission for the day is to get cash. I've been trying to access cash for a couple of weeks. Everything here is cash based. We're setting up a new office, so it requires purchasing paint, air conditioners, furniture and a variety of other things. I need more than the 400 cedi (about $270) I can access at the cash machine in a given day. I won't get into all the details around the what's and whys of it all. I'll just say that the bank is getting to know me. Today is the day. I've opened a personal account at a local bank, wired funds from my US account and I am ready to get my cash. One of our fantastic drivers takes me to the bank. I sit around waiting for a while and then talk with the rep., Evans, who's been helping me for days and, after much phone calling, he is finally able to verify that I have funds in my account. Since I don't have a checkbook, I have to write a letter on a piece of scrap paper explaining that I want funds from my account. Finally, Evans tells me to come back in 30 minutes. I leave and head to a couple nearby stores. I walk into one and it reeks of gasoline & I immediately try to figure out how much damage I'm doing to myself by continuing to look at what they've got (generators, air conditioners). Hmm, not exactly the same effect as the stores in the States that pump in artificial smells to make you buy more stuff. I walk into another store and there's a cute little old man from Damascus who owns it. I chat with him and end up getting his life story about living in Ghana since he was 18. By now, it's time to head back to the bank. I stop at the car & ask the driver to come with me. I'm feeling a bit anxious about walking out with bricks of money.

We head to the bank and Evans asks me to have a seat. I wait a while, he then takes me to a teller (cutting in front of about 15 people) and tells me I'll have my money in 2 minutes. About 20 minutes later, as I've stood at the window, watching the teller dole out bricks of cash to others, handing it to them in black plastic bags, I'm wondering when my cash will come. I see that there's a room marked "Bulk Cash" and I wonder what's the least conspicuous - the white woman walking into the "Bulk Cash" room and walking out with a big bag, or the white woman standing in front of the teller window in plan view of anyone who chooses to watch getting the cash doles out & stuffed into a black plastic bag. I decide I should just stay where I am an hope my driver can double as a bodyguard. Finally, my bricks are counted out, I stuff the money into the bag I've brought just for the occasion, I hand the bag to my driver and saunter out of the bank realizing I have to get used to working with cash and looking confident when carrying large sums of it!

1:30 - We arrive back at the office & I begin doling out money to the various places that need it - the paint store, the gardener, the mobile phone purchases, etc. Between the work expenditures, giving money to the housekeeper for groceries and constantly paying for kids' books, uniforms, activities, I am feeling like I am no longer a woman. I am a cash machine. I spend the rest of the afternoon trying in vain to catch up on email and being on conference calls. Doing business with the West Coast of the US means that as I'm winding down my afternoon, they're ready to get going for the day.

5:30- I get home late, due to a conference call. Patience has made rice & beans for dinner. Xavier is watching The Flintstones and Sophie is working on some of her approx. 2 hours a night of homework. It ranges from "numeracy" to German to French to literature. Since it's all based on the British system, both kids are learning phrases like "a block of flats" and, from an Oliver Twist comprehension piece a "foggle-hunter". Sophie, clad only in pink underwear, demonstrates some techno-hip-hop moves she's learned at dance class at school. Xavier uses his plastic handcuffs to cuff me to my chair. I look around at the scene - Sophie in her underwear, me handcuffed to my chair and my ex-husband sitting across from me laughing at our children (Cedric is staying at my house while he looks for a job) and wonder if all families are like this or is mine just seriously affected by the heat?

7:00- I have a bi-weekly US conference call. I call in via Skype. Have a side conversation with someone else on Skype & then need to call him (he's in New York) after this call to deal with another work issue. The kids come in and out at various times, making faces & parading through my room. Thank God for the mute button.

8:15 - I get off my calls and read a funny chapter from a Roald Dahl book to the kids. Sophie again reviews her dance moves, Xavier rolls around on the floor being a little brother and the day is nearing an end. Sophie has been relentlessly picking at her mosquito bites, so I've been covering them with ointment & small pieces of medical tape. I do the night time check to see if there are any that need attention before she falls asleep. I've made an agreement with her that if she stops picking them & lets them heal, I'll let her get her hair braided - Ghana style. I am exhausted and decide I have to get this day down on the blog before I no longer think it's interesting. I'm writing this blog and all of a sudden a nerf bullet flies through the crack in my door and lands on the floor. I hear a mischievous little laugh and footprints running off. Xavier obviously hasn't yet fallen asleep.

9:08 - I'm signing off. Hoping the rest of the night is uneventful and wondering what tomorrow will bring........

A Shift in Perspective

Ever notice how in the US most world maps and globes are turned so the main focus is on North America? Here, when I see maps, Africa is front and center. It's a perspective that literally makes your world view different. As I was sitting here on my back porch tonight, I realized how many little indicators I have everyday that my perspective has shifted - hugely.

Xavier is in the backyard, playing in the dirt - a common occurrence even in the US. Except it's 6:40pm and dark and the bats are squeaking and flying around eating mosquitoes. I just saw one fly by and thought "cool". Not the response I would have had a few months ago. The other night, I noticed that, marching across my white tile floor, was a colony of probably thousands of minuscule ants carrying a dead baby gecko towards the back door. I called the kids and said "look, it's a science experiment right here in our kitchen". Again, probably not the response I would have had a few months ago.

I also noticed that I no longer look at people and instantly delineate between them being black and me being white. I hadn't realized how much that was still a subconscious filter for me until I came here and realized I was struck by the fact that the kids were the only white kids in their school and it was something that didn't even phase them. They were more concerned about kid stuff - who they played with that day, what was for lunch, how they did on their homework and neither gave a thought to the skin color of the people they were interacting with. Wish more of the world thought that way. Perhaps things would be different.

I hope our perspectives keep on shifting and that everyone has the chance to so dramatically shift theirs at least once in their lives.

Photos

Finally, some photos of my house & the kids in their school uniforms! Check out the link to the albums to the right of this post. More posts soon.......

1 Big Month and 1 "Small" Lesson

It's been barely over a month since the kids and I landed in Ghana, wide-eyed and pale. In that time, we've all had our weak, old Western belly bacteria switched out with a more rigorous version of Africa bacteria, the kids have learned that teaching styles here are a bit more "rigid" than on Vashon , we're all a couple shades darker (or redder, in Sophie's case) and I've learned to embody the phrase "small small" as much as my type A (ok, in the past couple of years, I've probably downgraded to Type A-) self can possibly stand.



I keep hearing people say to me "small small". At first, I'm thinking "what, am I eating too much?" Hardly. Then, I thought they were saying something specific was small and I was constantly looking around to figure out what, exactly, was so small. Then, one day, as I was lamenting about my house not being all put together and organized, my housekeeper looks at me and says "small small. you do too much. you've only been here 3 weeks." And, I got "it". I got much-needed perspective on my very Western expectations and I understood that "small small" means one thing at a time, take your time, slow down. Since then, I have heard "small small" sometimes several times a day. It's become my little mantra and my reminder to stop. Slow down. Take a deep breath and know that everything will happen in its own time.

One Question Answered

Many things here are great mystery. I can live with that and it's always fun to discover the answers (e.g. why is it so important to have a water tank at your house? Because the municipal water system turns off seemingly randomly). So, when I looked at houses I wondered why all the expat houses have so many bathrooms. My house is relatively small by expat standards and I have 4 bathrooms. Now, I know why. As mentioned earlier, Sophie had serious tummy troubles a couple days ago. She's gotten better, but it has persisted. Yesterday, Xavier started complaining of his tummy "pulsating" he started having fevers well over 102 and by the end of the day was spending a fair amount of time in the bathroom. This morning, his fever was way down, but he came into my room at 5:45 saying that his lungs felt blocked. Next thing I know, he has puked all over my bed - good morning, Momma! The morning continued on this way, Sophie and Xavy each running to the bathroom. All of a sudden, I understood why foreigners need so many bathrooms in their houses :)

Taxi and Tummy Trouble

I woke up excited this morning. I was planning on taking advantage of the fact it was Labor Day in the US and therefore people I correspond with at work in the US would be out and that it was not a holiday here, so the kids would be in school. I tracked down the one "spa' in Accra and booked a massage. I dropped off the kids at school and headed towards my few hours of bliss. The massage & spa were great - better than I had expected. I stumbled out of the spa, feeling very relaxed and tried to flag down a taxi. It was on a somewhat remote road where there weren't many taxis. After waiting a while, I finally took a taxi that already had 3 people in it. Mistake #1. It was very crowded & as soon as I got in the driver asked me if I had change for a 5. I looked in my purse. Mistake #2. I took out my phone to make a call. Mistake #3. All of a sudden, the woman in the passenger seat in front of me pushed the seat all the way back into my legs, cramming the tall guy next to me even closer to me. Things got chaotic at that point and I was more concerned about the seat than anything else. Mistake #4. Next thing I know, the taxi is pulling aside at a busy intersection & the passengers are telling me to get out, saying they misunderstood & they weren't going my direction and I should get another taxi. Totally confused, I got out. Mistake #5. I promptly got into another taxi. When I arrived at my destination, I took a deep breath and reached for my phone. It wasn't in my purse. I assumed I had left it in the 2nd taxi. When I replayed the whole scene from the first taxi, I realized I had been robbed. Classic taxi scheme that happens here with full taxis. You have to buy phones here, they don't come with the "plan" like in the US. I had just purchased a very nice approx. $500 phone so I'd have internet & email access. Ugh!!!! I spent the rest of my day trying to get my SIM card blocked & get my number reinstated.

So, I didn't have a phone the rest of the day. I went to pick the kids up from school only to find out that poor Sophie had been struck by the "coming out both ends" tummy troubles. The school had been trying to call me & of course couldn't get a hold of me. So, Sophie had to lay on a miserable cot waiting for me to get there, while she was running to the bathroom - which, of course, had no toilet paper. The poor girl was a mess by the time I arrived.

Spent the evening sitting with Sophie and getting fluids down her, trying to give Xavier some sort of attention & pledging that tomorrow will be a better day. Good night.

The Black Stars

Like much of Africa, football (aka soccer) is huge. The second night we were here, the kids each got Black Stars (Ghana national soccer team) jerseys. Today, the kids and I went to a Black Stars game vs. Sudan. It was an early qualifier for the 2010 World Cup. I have to admit, if a similar game had been in Seattle, I probably wouldn't have attended, but this seemed like too good a "cultural experience" to pass up. The VIP tickets were sold out, so we got 4cedi (about $2.50) cheap seats. We were in row Q (the stadium goes up to Z) and had a birds' eye view. The evening was warm & slightly breezy - perfect! We quickly learned that the seat # on your ticket doesn't have anything to do with where you sit. We crammed into a row & waited for kick-off. We had a GREAT time. I must say that Ghanaians are probably the most "civil" football fans on the planet. I was fully prepared for pandemonium & even wrote my cell phone # in permanent pen on the kids' bodies in case we got separated! However, people were enthusiastic, but polite & Ghanaian spirit was huge.

Ghana won 2-0 against Sudan. Someone mentioned to us that because of Darfur, Sudan needs to hope of winning, but we still had to cheer on Ghana. It felt amazing to be in a stadium with thousands of Ghanaians, cheering on our new little country & seeing a "real" football match.

Water: going with the flow in Ghana

Here's a little story about getting water that pretty much highlights the way life is here for new obrunis (phonetic sp. but means white person).

We can't drink the tap water, so have a need for bottled water. I've been buying case after case of 1.5 liter bottles & feeling guilty about the amount of plastic we're using. I've been looking for weeks for water coolers. Every one I find is about $275 and that seemed steep. Finally decided we'd used one too many plastic bottles & went out to buy a cooler. I wanted to use my Visa card because I needed to buy 3 for myself, another colleague and the office (most everything is cash & you can only get about $350/day from the cash machine, so a large purchase like this would take days of going to the ATM). So, went to 2 major electronics stores that had water coolers only to find that they did not take Visa. Went to another store that had the coolers, took Visa but found out my Chase card was declined because they're on a "blocked vendor" list. After the owner was really clear that they don't have anything to do with the US - they were obviously from the middle east - I finally clued in that they probably somehow were on the US financial institution list of companies that have questionable links to terrorist orgs. By then, I had to get ack to work, so called off the coller search.

The next day, I was able to find a place that had the collers (although only 2 not 3), took Visa and took my Visa - SCORE. Figured it would be easy to get the large bottles that go on top of the coolers. Wrong.

The super market did not have the bottles & sent me to another supermarket. They didn't have them & sent me to a mini-mart. They didn't have them & told me to go to the supermarket that told me to go to the mini-mart. Finally, with the assistance of our driver, found out that you have to go out to a little store near where the Voltic water company has their main facility. Took about half an hour to get there, found the store & they had many bottles in front. We went to buy a few and found out that it's not possible to buy the filled bottles unless you return empty ones. So, how do you get empty ones? Best guess was to go to the Voltic facility. Went there and they told me they were out of bottles. I asked how it was possible for the water factory to be out of water. The guy smirked and said "we're not the factory, we just sell it". They did have 3 dirty, empty bottles. I asked if I could buy those. They finally agreed & said I had to pay 18cedi (about $13) for each. I asked if I could get a receipt & they seemed doubtful. A sure sign I was getting the obruni price. I called the driver to help out & lamented about having to pay so much for dirty, EMPTY water bottles. We finally got the bottles for 15 cedi each, but then had to take them to the store down the street to exchange them for filled bottles. Paid 3cedi each for the filled bottles & finally went on our way.

Once home, I plugged in the water cooler. Plugged it in, left it overnight and......room temperature water. So, we have our water, we have our cooler & I hope that one day the water will be cold............

Humanity

Just back from a weekend on the "Gold Coast". More on that in the next blog. For now, I'm just going to focus on our visit to the Cape Coast castle. The Obamas just visited there on their trip to Ghana. It's an old slave fort where thousands of slaves who were captured from their villages were "stored" until they were sent on slave ships to other lands. It was stunning to feel the energy of the place, walk into the dungeons and see real shackles used on people. We were able to touch a rock that the slaves used to pray on before heading onto the ships. It was truly amazing. Standing in the "male dungeon" where hundreds of male slaves were held with only a couple of tiny holes in the rocks for air and light, I was stunned to find out that the Europeans had built an Anglican church directly on top of the dungeon. So, while hundreds of humans were sick, scared, tired, in pain and in hell, the Anglicans were singing songs of praise to the heavens. Unimaginable.

It made me come to the simple conclusion: this has to stop. Whites have to stop enslaving blacks. African tribes have to stop hurting other African tribes, in order for us to have a lasting and loving world, we all have to stop hurting each other - and using God as the excuse.

A plaque on the wall said it all "In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots. May humanity never again perpetrate such injustice against humanity. May we, the living, vow to uphold this."

Almost Like Home

We finally got our furniture. We ordered cane furniture from a furniture maker on the side of the row in section of town where there are loads of furniture makers. Sophie & I picked out material for the couch cushions & a tailors made them. We've now got beds, a couch, table & chairs and a few shelves. Feels good to be a bit settled. Last week, I broke down and bought a small TV and got satellite hooked up. I know, that's a minor miracle. For those of you who know me at home, I haven't had TV for a couple of years. I was desperate. I needed something to keep the kids occupied so I could breathe for a moment!

Tomorrow, we're getting out of the city and staying at a small beachfront bungalow place. Sounds very off the beaten path & we're looking forward to breathing some fresh air and swimming in the ocean (and I can't wait to pass out in a hammock!). The place looks great http://www.ko-sa.com/ and is only about $35/night for a bungalow. I'll report back after our weekend.

When we return, the kids start school on Tuesday. They just got their uniforms yesterday & they look so darn cute in their little green outfits, white socks & brown shoes :)

Hopefully, I'll get around to posting some pictures next week. Missing home & all of you.

What are you doing?

I realize I haven't written much about my actual work here. I'm the Project Manager for a Grameen Foundation project called MoTech http://www.grameenfoundation.org/what_we_do/technology_programs/ict_innovation/community_health/

It's a Gates-funded project designed to figure out ways we can use mobile phones to help women get better information about prenatal care & help health workers enter & access better information about the moms and newborns they are serving.

Using technology, such as mobile phones, is becoming the next wave of ways organizations are trying to address some of the major issues related to poverty. Cool work - I'm excited to be a part of it.

Fun in the Rain

Every day is filled with gazillions of new things. Today, we had the first "real" rain. When the sky opens up here, it opens! The kids were at the main market (traditional African market with 100s of stalls and 1000s of people) with Patience, the housekeeper. We discovered that Sophie is claustrophobic. She had a bit of a panic attack when everyone huddled under cover. I was trying to get a taxi and noticed a swarm of birds above the trees. The closer I looked, I realized it was actually a swarm of bats! Never seen so many bats and certainly haven't seen so many in the middle of the day!

There's just too much to try and convey. Here's some random info. about our lives here:
- Sophie had to get French, German and English dictionaries for school
- Sometimes phone numbers work, sometimes they just don't
- Minimum wage is 2.653 Ghana Cedi a day, less than $2 (I know this because I am having to brush op on Ghanaian employment law to be sure we're following the law with hiring)
- A couple of the main "western" superstores are South African chains - the electronics they sell have plugs that work in S. Africa, but not in Ghana - you have to ask to have the plugs changed to make your appliance work
- When it rains - it POURS and in some places it's not raining at all
- When airplanes fly over, they're so low you can't even talk to someone right next to you (our neighborhood is in the flight path - luckily it's not a busy airport)
- The opening of a major oil field has made prices skyricket - my house is just over $3,000/month - it's nice, but not a palace. Anything "western" or imported is really expensive. Anything made locally or labor intensive is pretty inexpensive - a housekeeper 5 days/week from 8-5:00 makes about $200/month.
- Overall, people are really nice, patient and kind.

We're starting to feel more and more settled. More soon.

A Very Long Week

I'm sitting in bed at 1:45 on Friday afternoon writing this. The good news is, I finally have Internet access at my house. The not so great news is that after a week of getting "the basics" in place, I am completely exhausted.

Imagine setting up a new household - starting from scratch - needing everything from toilet paper to pans to furniture. Then, image needing to figure out how to get around - finding temporary transportation while also looking for vehicles to purchase. Then, imagine establishing a new legal entity for doing business and navigating all the legal aspects, logistics of finding an office, getting equipment and then imagine managing a major project with a lot of stakeholders and needing to establish a team & hire staff. Oh, and then imagine having 2 kids who have been dropped onto another planet as far as they're concerned & you're their only familiar thing (thus, they are with me & needing me every moment they're not at day camp - including sleeping in my bed). Not easy - then add the additional element of doing all this in a developing country, not having any friends or support network yet.

So, I guess it's understandable that by 9:00 this morning, it was really clear to me that I needed to spend at least part of the day in bed. Hoping to get some photos up soon - my Iphone was "unlocked" to so I can use a local SIM card. It was also wiped of all Iphone software, so am having a hard time with syncing it, uploading pictures, etc. One of many things yet to sort out.

The first "real" day

The first “real” day
I’m sitting in bed on what is (hopefully) our last day “living” in a hotel in Ghana, writing this on a word document, hoping that tomorrow I’ll have internet access and will be able to sit down long enough to upload this to my blog. Yes, I used the word “hope” twice in the same sentence. It has come to define life here for me as I try to get our lives as settled as possible.
Today was the kids’ first day at day camp at their new school and my first day actually heading out to an office and working. We were up at 7am, had the hotel breakfast buffet and by 8:00, we were off to conquer the world – the kids armed with snacks I had stashed overnight in the mini bar and I armed with 2 laptops, 2 cell phones (more on that in a moment) and a large bag of dirty laundry.
The driver couldn’t find the kids’ school. We called the school 3 times for directions and must have stopped & asked directions at least 5 times. Finally, we arrived, about 40 minutes later to the school which was only about 2 miles from the hotel! There were several other kids there, mostly under age 6. The kids had a good time doing tae kwon do, tie-dyeing, dancing and art. By the time I picked them up at 4:00, they were both covered with a coat of red dirt – looking like they’d had a great day. They even said the food was good – rice with a chicken stew on top.
My day was incredibly busy and another test of taking deep breaths and letting go of the outcome. I won’t even get into my Iphone unlocking story, but eventually, I was able to get my cell phone to work and one laptop but still can’t access my old contacts very easily. We don’t have an office yet, but have started pretty much camping out at the office of another micro-finance organization and hoping they won’t kick us out until we’ve got a place to work. My day was filled with everything from viewing potential office space, to trying to get internet connected at my house to buying things for the house to meeting a new contractor for our project to completing a lengthy expense report (without a fax machine or scanner to send receipts). I’ll give you an overview of getting laundry done and that should pretty much sum up how the whole day went:
I have a fabulous housekeeper/nanny, Patience. She was at the house this morning as I arrived with a bag full of laundry. I gave it all over to her. Later, when I stopped to check in with the internet guy, she had been able to wash the clothes but not dry them. My machine is brand new & European-style where the same machine both washes & dries. She finally asked me to look at it & I couldn’t get the drier to work, either (yes, I even read the manual). I finally called the realtor, who called the dealer who called the realtor later and told her that we have to switch off the master power switch on the outlet on the wall after the wash cycle, turn it back on and then start the dry cycle. Not exactly intuitive. In the mean time, Patience had laundry hanging all over the place and had to hang it all in the kitchen when she left for the evening. Tomorrow, I’m hoping I’ll get the kids to school on time, that the hotel driver will help me schlep all our stuff to the house, hoping the mattresses will actually be delivered & the bank will let me pull out enough cash to pay for it (almost everything is cash – no credit/debit cards) and hoping the internet will get installed. High hopes, I know.

What a Week!

I'm sitting by a pool in Ghana, watching the kids swim. It's been quite a week! I got completely moved out of the house (with a lot of help from friends & Mom) and the kids and I had a good flight here. I'll post pics soon of the whole packing ordeal.

Ghana: the kids are loving it - everything is new and interesting. We all LOVE our house. It's even nicer than I had remembered it. They finished some renovations on it this weekend, I stopped by a roadside stand and ordered furniture, made our way through over an hour of polluted Accra Friday afternoon traffic to order mattresses and we should be able to move in Tuesday. Until then, we're staying at an over-priced, under-serviced hotel. But, they have a pool and that's really all that matters. The wi-fi doesn't reach up to the room, so I can only get to email in the lobby or by the pool.

My housekeeper/nanny is great and starts working Monday. She is aptly named Patience and used to work for an American woman from USAID. The kids start summer camp at their school on Monday and are excited to meet kids & see what the school is all about.

It's been crazy having to figure out EVERYTHING. I feel like I"m in college again, trying to set up my first ever house. Need everything from toilet paper to beds. We ordered furniture from a furniture maker on the side of the road - beautiful bamboo & wood stuff. I got a queen bed, double bed, bunk bed, table & 6 chairs and couch for about $800! Pretty good, but it does feel like prices of anything imported (e.g. towels, pots &pans) are obscene. I paid about $18 today for a single, mid-quality white towel! I saw blurb on tv the other day that said "inflation slows to 20%!" It's crazy how prices are going up & up.

It also took me a day or so to arrange a driver so we could run around the city on our buying spree. My two colleagues from Grameen are also here now & we've been looking for office space. May have found something today. I've been bribing the kids with ice cream - they've been troopers while I've had to just get stuff done so we can get settled.

I'll post up pictures once I get moved into my house and have internet. Should be by mid-end of the week. We are missing and loving you all.......

Hair Pulling, Post Office Madness & Sweet Goodbyes

My goodbyes have been going on for weeks. I have so many friends that don't live on the island, so have been saying goodbyes one by one whenever possible. The island goodbyes are kicking into full gear. We're all holding excitement and sadness. Sophie & Xavier, who normally adore each other and rarely fight, are escalating into all-out, hair-pulling warfare at the smallest of infractions. And, the intense emotions coming out sideways isn't just reserved for the kids. I found myself in a cross-town argument with Cedric that started at Cafe Luna and progressed to the post office. Nice.

Last night, Ced had a small going away gathering for the kids. It was a beautiful mix of friends who've been a part of all of our lives. As I looked out across gaggles of kids swimming in a pond, playing around a fire pit & dashing into the woods and our friends who've been a part of school drop-offs & pick-ups, play dates and hanging out, I realized how rich our lives are. And, I also realized it will probably be the highest concentration of blond children I'll see in a while (of 10 kids, 7 had white-blond hair, 2 were red heads and 1 brown). Yes, the Northwest is very white & Vashon is even whiter. We are about to hit culture shock!

Movers came yesterday & got most everything out of the house. When I got home from the party last night, I realized the house echoed from emptiness. I feel very ready to shed this huge house and move to a simpler life. We just have to get through the next intense weeks.......

Countdown

The countdown has begun - 1 week from now, we'll be on the plane headed to Ghana. I'm currently in Washington DC meeting all the Grameen HQ folks. I'm exhausted from 2 incredibly full days of meetings and amazed by the fact that in my new world a trip to DC feels like a quick 2-day hop.

When I get home, I've got the final move-out of the house, the packing of everything we "think" we'll need into about 6 suitcases and the wrap-up of busy work like filling out forms, banking stuff and generally tying up loose ends in the US. And, all they goodbyes. They've already begun, but the big ones are ahead of us.

My hope is that I get through the week with efficiency in getting the "stuff" done and presence and grace with saying goodbye and enjoying moments with friends & family - while staying well nourished & rested (whew!). I keep reminding myself that there's email, Skype and airplanes. Please use them :) All for now - off to catch a plane back to Seattle.......

Ghana on Vashon

The heat around here is getting us acclimated to Ghana! About 100 degrees today on the island. We lost power for over 2 hours....all things we'll have to get used to.

And, Ghana is a very communal place - people help each other out. Today, I experienced that on Vashon as well. I spent much of the day with amazing friends helping me get mobilized. When Colleen & Sue showed up this morning to help me pack, I was a deer in the headlights, standing in my kitchen with not a clue as to where to start. Within a couple of hours, they had stuff packed up and separated out between "give" and "storage". Then, Carol & Jeff came by and got the beds taken apart and more stuff done. More friends are coming later in the week, wrapped up by my brother & sister-in-law coming to do the final move-out on the 9th. And, none of this would have been possible without my mom doing the 3 rounds of slowly cleaning out the kids' rooms over the past couple of months & Anna coming over to organize the office & pretty much just get stuff in some sort of logical order.

It feels strange and freeing to be scaling down so much. After all I've been through in the past few years, I realize very few "things" matter. I'm healthy, the kids are healthy and we seem to always end up having everything we need (even when I have no idea how it will manifest!) and are surrounded by lots of love. I feel like this adventure isn't just mine, but everyone that's been such a part of our lives. Thank you & I love you all!!!

Ashes, Adenoids and Airplanes

I haven't really blogged much. In the past 6 weeks, in this order: my dad died (on Sophie's 10th birthday), I headed off to Ghana and Uganda for a "getting ready to move" mission, we had my Dad's memorial, Sophie had her tonsils & adenoids removed and now, finally, I'm thinking perhaps I'll be able to focus on getting packed up.

I am trying to enjoy the moments - smelling the sea air, the extreme low tides only summer brings, hanging out in bed on a Sunday morning (right now!) with 2 blond cuties (my kids) and seeing everyone I love. But, I have to admit, panic sets in at least once a day when it seems that every little task ends up having 8 more steps than I had anticipated (canceling utilities, Ghanaian visa application, international driver's license, paying bills, registering the kids for school in Ghana, finding a home for the cats, plotting out the move logistics, filling out insurance forms). Well you get the idea. It daunting. Such an amazing lesson in taking things one moment at a time and trusting everything will get done. Oh, and it's also a good lesson in the thing I'm worst at - asking for help!!!!!!

Swirling details and.........feeling what is right now

Life has become a swirl of details.....me getting used to working for someone else (!) and understand the structure and culture of the organization, not to mention my job. Ghanaian visas, passport photos, immunizations, house search, school research - putting closure on one life and starting up a new one.

As I was enjoying walking all over the beautiful little town of Vashon today, getting photos, FedExing my visa application, etc., etc. I realized that I felt so comfortable, so in my skin. Everywhere I turned, a ray of sunshine - whether chatting with the woman at the bank, getting milk & salad from Karen, Glen on his bike or a hug from a good friend at Thriftway, this place is home. And, leaving it is hard - no matter what I'm moving towards. It struck me that I can either swirl through the next couple of months focusing on the excitement, details and goodbyes without really FEELING the profound change that's occurring for all of us. Or, I can stop, breathe, get grounded and feel. The beauty of an island spring and summer is bittersweet. The more wonderful it feels, the more I realize what an amazing life we're leaving - even if temporarily. I have so much grief about leaving the relationships, routines, love and deep, deep support we all have here. No matter what, this time and place will never be again. For that, I am sad. For that, I realize all the more reason to open and fully BE in every moment.......so, if I hug you deeper, declare how much I love you more loudly or just seem to be dancing more boldly to the music at the farmer's market - just know, it is because I am so grateful for right NOW. XXOO.

We're moving to Ghana....seriously

Yes, it's true. The G's are off an yet another adventure. I took an amazing job with the Grameen Foundation - things moved rather quickly. Cedric agreed to pack up his life and come along, so the kids could have this amazing experience AND be with both of their parents. No, we're not getting back together, just working through our own "stuff" so we can effectively co-parent these 2 amazing little monkeys and give them an experience we both had always hoped they'd have.

We're in the whirlwind of wrapping up life on our beloved little island, looking towards starting a 2-year stint in the unknown of Accra, Ghana and trying to enjoy the summer on Vashon. We're leaving for Ghana sometime around Aug. 15th. I'm heading down mid-June to check out offices, meet local work partners, find a house & choose a school for the kids.

That's about all I can get out of my tired brain right now....more later. Thanks for coming on this adventure with us!