A wonderful day...

Selina and I had a really wonderful day. I arrived at the home early this morning as I wanted to take her to church at the Catholic Church in Tema where my great uncle was before he retired. He was there from 1987- 1996.

We arrived for church before the mass and so I went and met with the priest there. Selina had fallen asleep in the car and was still sleeping.



I asked the priest to baptize her and so he did. She will have a formal baptism when she gets home but in the meantime, I feel better that she has been blessed! I also asked to have the mass said for my grandmother.



Church was about two or three hours. It was a sea of Africans and Selina and I. I say this as I had to walk from the back of the large church to the front for communion and to give my offering and everyone looked at me. Kind of like when you get married and you are the bride. It was a nice mass though and several people came up to greet me and remembered Father Beem and were happy that I had come. The priest ended up saying that mass for my grandmother and so it was nice to have had her remembered while I was there.



Selina woke up for a large part of church but was still tired which made it interesting. She started babbling loudly. It doesn't go over quite as well in Africa- I was getting a little extra attention and so we went right out the door and I was able to easily watch the mass from the overflow area. It worked out beautifully. She fell asleep again prior to church ending!

After that, I had our taxi driver, Augustine, take us to two of the hotels that I am considering staying at with Selina. Augustine was so good today and helpful. He took us to church and waited the three hours, drove us to check out the hotels and waited for us when we went to lunch. He also said that he had his brother go get a gift for Kman because he wanted to give him something. I don't have the gift yet as it is coming from another region of Ghana. So here he is- a taxi driver in Ghana that makes probably about $30 a month after he pays for gas and pays the man who owns the car and he is buying something for Kman? Another example of how kind people here are!



Now to some people, it may not matter what hotel I stay at, but those who know me, know how I can be when I get an idea in my head! I wanted it to be a nice comfortable place where Selina and I can have some room. The first hotel was exactly what I wanted. It was all on one level and is spread out with walkways and grass so we can walk around. There is a HUGE pool area with about six pools including a kids pool that had about 10 little kids playing in it. It also had a fountain in it. There are three restaurants there- including one with Ghanian food (for Selina) and one with American food (for me). There are tons of big chairs everywhere to sit. It was just what I wanted.

The second hotel is multiple stories in which there are a lot of steps to get where you are going. This may not seem like a big deal but Selina can barely manuever a few steps still so she would have to be carried up and down most of the places we went at this hotel. I want her to be in a place where she can get around easily and independently if she wants to walk on her own and run around. So there is not much space to walk around and no grassy areas. There is a pool with a smaller kids pool but it was deserted wheras the other one had a tons of families around. So to make a short story long- I will have wait to find out the prices but I plan on staying at the nicer hotel!

We ate lunch at the second hotel and it was okay.



We had the interesting experience of a lizard waiting for Selina's table scraps. Yes, not just one but a few showed up at different times during the course of the meal which made me eventually eat with my legs elevated (a good thing to exercise the legs while eating pizza though). Selina liked the first lizard well enough but by the third was a little concerned and sat in the corner of her chair!



Selina also peed on me. She woke up right when we got to the restaurant and as she woke up, I felt a warm sensation on my clothes! Oops, the adoption center accidently sent her in the wrong size diaper (they had a few extra infant sized diapers in the room with Selina's)so needless to say, she had some overage!

Thankfully I had brought not only diapers that fit but an extra outfit for her. As for me and my clothes we just had the potty! With all the sweating I do, what is the difference anyway? I was able to rinse the spot so I was fine! Just one of the bonuses of parenting- you gotta get peed on and puked on at least once by each of your kids so we got at least one of them out of the way!

It was funny as the house mother at first acted like I was crazy and Selina's diaper size was the right one until she went to look and saw that there were two sizes out! Then she felt bad but I gave her a hard time and we had a good laugh about it!

I go to start the visa process tomorrow. I am not sure how it all goes but I will know soon enough! I called the airline and asked about flight availability and prices and all looks good for me to leave on Friday or Sunday. I prefer Friday but won't know for sure until Tuesday.

It was such a great day with Selina that when I was at the hotel, a part of me just wanted to call the house and say, we are staying here! I am really ready to take custody but I also have to consider Selina and the aunties at the home. I started telling the ladies last night that Selina's last day will probably be Tuesday. They were surprised at first as they don't really keep up with where everyone is at in the process and all the details. A few just nodded and looked at me and I could tell that they were trying to keep their composure. I am glad that they know and can spread the word as it is obvious she is really loved here. They are the ones that saw her come in unable to walk or say anything. They have taught her to walk and have watched her flourish in their care. I know that the day or two that I wait will mean a lot to the aunties and Selina will just be at a place where she is loved and cared for a day or two more. I know that she will get some extra love and attention as everyone has their time with her.

Have a great evening...




Jennine