Back in the USA

Matthew and I arrived in the U.S. late on March 11 after a long but uneventful series of flights. He and the girls are doing very well, get along well and are all adjusting to being back in a routine and working through things together. They have had remarkably few disagreements so far! It's really great to be home with Matthew, Jemama, Princess and all of the animals! Thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful and much-needed support.

What day is it anyway?!?

I think things went well today. It took getting some pretty high-up people in the Liberian government involved, but the right phone calls were made and the airport officials have been notified that we can travel. It took visiting two offices, many phone calls and sitting in the waiting area of one office for over four hours to get it to happen. Just in case, we have a phone number for one of the government people who said that it's OK to call Wednesday if we have problems. Let's hope and pray that everything works. Tomorrow is a Liberian holiday, so none of the offices are open. Thanks for all of the positive thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate it.

Monday - Still Here

Well, "the rules changed" is what we heard at the airport. Gotta love when the rules change and nobody knows about it. It has always been the case that we bring the travel letter (the one we waited for) to the airport as a final exit clearance. When I was going through customs, they said that the letter was supposed to have been taken to the Immigration office downtown for approval and a signature. This is the first that the country rep knew of this and the woman who cleared us to get the travel letter written didn't know this either. Since the next flight doesn't leave until Wednesday, that is the soonest I can leave. Pray that everything works for us to get the approval, signature and a flight out on Wednesday. Thanks!

Sunday

Today we slept late and went to church with the country representative. We went to her church, which is Methodist. It was really a neat experience. The church is big and was packed, even with all of the kids downstairs for their service. There was a lot of singing and everyone joined in. It was really a moving experience.

We went to the beach in the late afternoon - a different beach from the one I went to with the girls. This beach was full of people and it was a lot of fun to walk around. We met some people from the U.S. who were on a mission to renovate a Lutheran church outside of Monrovia. Most of them had been here a month and were going to stay until sometime in May. M was a little afraid of the ocean and eventually got wet up to the bottom of his shorts. We didn't really give him the option of getting completely soaked. "We" means the adoption country representative and myself. She's a wonderful person and is lots of fun. We all had a good time.

We leave tomorrow - I really want to go home, but in many ways I really love this place. The heat would always be a challenge, but even the people who grew up here find the heat difficult at times. M and I will be leaving the country at about 7 pm local time and will arrive in Denver sometime in the evening on Tuesday. I'll post pictures, etc. after I get home.

Saturday - Play Day!

We went to the foster home this morning and let the kids play. It was really neat to see everyone interact and get the kids laughing. They had lots of fun coloring pictures, running around, playing with toys, playing with my hair (trying to get braids to stay in), having races with their Matchbox cars, etc. One of their favorite things was for me to take their picture and then to look at the picture. This was really cute, except they think they have to be on top of me, which means that (1) I can't get good pictures of anything but their noses and (2) I have to constantly guard the camera! Some of the boys think it's great fun to put their hand in front of the lens - makes it really easy to get good pics!

The weather was much cooler today because it poured last night. It was still really humid, but at least not so hot. It's weird - people here say that you don't ever completely get used to the heat, but sometimes air conditioning feels like walking into a freezer rather than feeling good. Our A/C broke last night and it was pretty warm in the room. It didn't bother me until this morning when I started getting ready and was burning up. They fixed it today and it is much more comfortable tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to church and then planning to go to the beach - will let you know how things progress.

Friday's News

Today we did more running around - first the Ministry of Justice, then the U.S. Embassy, made copies, did a couple of errands, back to the Ministry of Justice, back to the foster home about 30 minutes away. We then got a wonderful call - M's travel letter was ready! This is the final piece of paperwork needed to bring him home. My trip is still extended until Monday - we got the travel letter at about 4:30, which was after I would have needed to be at the airport (about an hour away). Unfortunately, I won't be escorting the kids I planned on bringing home. The MOJ said that their parents would have to come get them.

We had a long day and I'm going to sleep early tonight. M is already asleep. Tomorrow we will go to the foster home so that the kids can play together for most of the day. Sunday we are going to church and then to the beach! More later when I can think straight! It is SO hot and I'm wondering if our A/C in the hotel is working at all.

"Mechanical" Delays on the trip here

I realized that the story of why I was so late wasn't really clear. First, the plane that was supposed to fly to Brussels out of Chicago had mechanical problems. They took it away from the gate for awhile, brought it back, and then told us that it couldn't fly and we would have to wait until 9:00 for the plane coming in from London. That plane arrived and we boarded at about 9:20 (flight was originally supposed to leave at 5:00). We stayed on the tarmac for about 1.5 hours without moving. They then announced that there had been a "physical altercation" between two passengers and that they would not be allowed to continue on the flight - and the crew were at the end of their duty day and couldn't fly the plane anyway. That night they put me up in a hotel in Chicago. The next day I flew to London, transferred planes and then went to Brussels and had to stay in a hotel there, since the flight from Brussels to Monrovia only leaves Brussels on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. I was thinking about going to town, but ended up sleeping the rest of the day. Fortunately, the flight to Brussels to Monrovia was uneventful and all of my bags were with me - probably because I had to claim them on every leg of the trip! Anyway, at the time it was frustrating and oddly amusing at the same time. Now it's just in the past.

Wednesday

We did lots of running around today, but it should pay off by giving the government a little more time to do our exit clearances (final letter before we can leave). I'm still planning on returning on Monday (arriving in the U.S. on Tuesday evening). I took individual pictures of the kids at the foster home yesterday and will get lots more pics before I leave.

It's amazing to see some of the trees - avocado (aka butterbeer) trees that are more than four stories tall, huge rubber trees, palms, etc. There is a very pretty calico cat here that must belong to someone because she's not afraid of people. We haven't touched her - probably not a good idea - but watch her walk through the razor wire on the top of the fence without getting scratched. She's expecting kittens and likes to lay under the shrubs by the restaurant.

Thursday will be more running around and probably time to go the foster home for awhile.