First things first, the good guys can win every so often. Rusty and Uriah went to the airport first thing yesterday. When they got there, there were no customs people there. They showed up about 9:30 saying that they had bus trouble. They inspected the papers and decided that they were in order, so all that had to be done was the fee for not having to pay a fee had to be paid, but they couldn't find the cashier. Eventually the cashier showed up, the $55. US was paid and the boxes were loaded into the Land Cruiser. Rusty and Uriah made it back just before lunch with their trophies.
I started the day with a run with Christopher, I didn't try to beat him, there is no way I could do that without help or seriously injuring him. Later I did some more math with him. I did a little snorkeling and D'Linda looked for more treasures on the beach.
A fisherman came by just as Rusty got here for lunch so we bought 7 lobsters from him for $15 US. We boiled them up for lunch.
Rusty took the afternoon off so we could see a few more things before we left. He took us up to the ELWA school to show us the computer room. It has 7 working computers, they looked pretty old to me. The teacher said they have to limit the class. He also said they have server problems and pretty much every other problem you can have.
We went to visit the orphanage that we visited the first day here. We got there just as the bigger kids were getting up with from their nap. They were happy to see us, especially uncle Rusty, he brought out the bubble making stuff and everyone popped bubbles for a while. Then the chalk came out and pictures on the concrete courtyard appeared. Teddy was excited to see Rusty, he always picks him up and puts him in the tree. Teddy loves to sit up in the tree. Of all the people and things I have seen in Africa, Teddy has effected me the most. He is 5 or 6, he has bright beautiful eyes and long eyelashes, he smiles a lot, but his body doesn't work right. He seems quite smart, but can't talk. He walks around on his Knees dragging his feet behind, he has a hard time using his hands, but manages to hold the chalk and draw. I have to believe with a little therapy and work Teddy could function very well. There is a family in New Jersey who loves and wants Teddy, but... If I thought I could get away with it, I would pick Teddy up on the way out and take him to New Jersey. When the younger kids got up from their nap Jamie got Dekaghar, the other little girl that they would like to adopt. They have approval to take her home as a foster child, but Rusty has decided not to until they are sure that the adoptions will open up again. He thinks it would be to hard on her and them if they had to take her back to the orphanage when they leave.
After the orphanage we went to the resort down the road to relax around the pool for a while. Everyone went swimming except me, I just enjoyed the breeze and watching them play. We had decided to take everyone out to dinner and thought about doing it there, but we decided to go to The Palm Springs. It is a nice hotel, office, shops, restaurant, place, I really don't know how to describe it. It is not quite finished but what is is very nice. When we got to the restaurant the manager came out a told us he was very sorry but the restaurant was reserved for a private party. He told us that we could go down stairs to the lounge and he would serve us there. I noticed that there were lots of men in suits around, but didn't think much about it. We all had different things for dinner and everyone was good. It was the nicest place we had been here in Liberia and it wasn't overpriced. We kept noticing more men in suits and they all had earpieces. Rusty asked someone and we found out that the private party up stairs was some foreign dignitaries and the President of Liberia. I was hoping that she would come through and greet the people and we could appeal for her help with Blessing, but no.
We came home and I stayed up watching Transformers 2 with the boys until I was falling asleep. Christopher had bought a bootleg copy of the movie, along with about 20 others for $4 US.
In the middle of the night D'Linda got up and I heard her talking and laughing, I asked her what she was doing and she said she was chasing a cockroach. She chased it into our room and managed to hit it with a shoe. She was quite proud of herself, just three weeks ago she would only scream and run. She also said that she doesn't like the ants in the food, but it doesn't gross her out anymore. I guess three weeks in Africa can change you.
Lastly, I saw the most inappropriate tee shirt yet. I saw it at the orphanage again. This time it was Teddy who was wearing it. It was a couple sizes too big, frayed around the neck, well worn but clean, it said "someone who loves me very much went to Miami and got me this shirt"
I actually have a picture of Jamie holding Teddy as the background on my computer. Teddy is wearing that shirt. I knew it was one of those "Someone..." t-shirts. Now I know where it's from.
ReplyDeleteThis is my 2nd chance at a post. I hope it works this time. Let me try to remember what I said.
OK, now that I know it will work, let me continue. Rusty gave me a link to your blog. As you now know, I am hopefully, soon to be Teddy's mommy. My husband and I have four kids. Andy will be 8 in April and the triplets will be 5 in April.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first "met" Teddy it was a picture of him that I found on a site that helped special needs kids get adopted. In the picture he was about 3. In reality he was 5. He's now 7 1/2. He'll be 8 in October. I've heard he's small, wearing a size 4T - same size that two of the triplets are wearing (the biggest is in a size 5 or 6).
It's been such a long time waiting and I absolutely thrive on any pictures or mentions of him as you have done here. No news is not always good.
When I first read your post, I actually had tears whelling up in my eyes. I don't know why. Or maybe there's too many reasons why.
You've mentioned God's will and I believe in that too but very recently I've been feeling very desperate about this situation and am starting to feel that instead of God's will, it's actually Ellen's. Or Eva's. Or anyone else who should look any one of those kids in the eyes and said, "No. You can't go to home to the family that is waiting for you and loves you without ever meeting you. No. We can't/won't provide you with food and education and medicine but you can't leave Liberia because we're not politically ready yet."
I'm going off a bit. As I said, I'm finally staring to feel a bit desperate for Teddy.
I'm only too happy that AoH has people like Melodie and Rusty and Jamie, et al. to visit the kids. I'm only too happy that the kids are so happy to see them. I'd be only too happy to have Teddy home.
My kids are starting to call me a liar. My husband is starting to thing this is a scam. I'm starting to feel desperate. Have I mentioned that?
A year ago I met with the professionals at the elementary school Teddy would be attending (same as my kids - a Blue Ribbon school). I had a meeting with some 10 professionals who would be on Teddy's "team." They are all excited for him. Truly excited. It was so nice to see. I was thrilled at the opportunities Teddy will be having educationally and therapeutically.
We wait and wait and wait.