Day Five - Thursday, September 27

Be prepared for a long post. This was a very long day and so much of what happened was important and interesting. We were only on day five and every day seemed to be crazier than the one before. When we finally got to the end of it, we were spent.

We set the alarm for 6 a.m. but Hugo's internal clock decided it didn't want to wait that long. We had borrowed a sweet little wooden crib from the resort and at about 5:45 he woke up and wanted out of it. I picked him up and brought him to bed, hoping he'd want to just go back to sleep. He was willing to snuggle for a bit but then found a light switch located conveniently above the headboard and we were all up for the day.

Today was the day we would go to court for the adoption and we had no idea what to expect. We had some vague notions but all we really knew for sure was to meet Boat for breakfast and follow his instructions. Breakfast was available at seven and we were the first ones there. We thought we had to eat fast but we were learning that things in Africa just run a bit slower (including Boat) so scheduled appointment times are estimates at best.

We left at 7:45, getting a ride from a resort employee. Boat is the kind of guy who can strike up a friendly conversation with anyone, so the two of them chatted for the duration of the 15 minute trip. The resort is actually in a town called Elmina and to get to Cape Coast, you drive through Elmina's very crowded and busy market. There were lots of ladies with large objects stacked on their heads, numerous boats on the water, and tons of young people waiting to sell whatever the boats brought in. There are plenty of technological developments in Ghana - TV's, cell phones, sporadic internet access, and outdated but functional infrastructure, but the fishing was a different story. We saw many hand made wooden boats, each about 20 feet long, from which men would cast nets to gather in fish. It was like watching Peter, James, and John before they were called by Jesus.

We had passed several market districts like this in the few days that we'd been there. For the first time, though, I looked beyond the front row of shops and merchandise sheds and really started to see how people live here. Naked children bathing outside, goats and chickens running about, men peeing in the closest ditch, and small homes that were mostly old boards for walls and anything that could be salvaged for a roof. In the midst of all this, we'd occasionally see a young man or woman neatly dressed and nicely groomed. It seemed to be completely out of place. And despite what we would call very unfavorable conditions, so many people were smiling and seemed to be very happy. Life is hard here but no one knows any different.

When we got to the court, we waited. And waited. The building was built in the 1970's (there was a plaque) and hasn't been updated since. You entered the courtroom from the rear and were looking down on several rows of wooden benches that were situated in stadium style tiers. The room was white with peeling paint and the ceiling was moldy. There was a set of stairs on the main floor that led into some kind of basement and we hoped we didn't need to go down there. There were a few small tables for lawyers and a large, raised judge's bench. Behind this was a door to the judge's chambers. On the left wall were large openings that let in the light and the outside air. The court was situated on a hill with a great view of the ocean and the breeze off the water blew in through the left side windows. There were a few ceiling fans that proved the place had electricity but there was not a computer in sight. All the proceedings were handwritten in a huge ledger.

While we waited for the judge and the social worker to arrive, other people started filing in. We were quite the spectacle - in addition to being the only fair skinned folks, the fact that we were toting Hugo around drew a lot of attention. A family came in with five children. Boat knew the father and started chatting. Two of the girls sat right down next to Rebekah and I and one laid her head down on Rebekah's lap. The other one sat between us and turned out to be quite naughty. The first thing she did was to shake up the bottle of Coke she was carrying, then open the lid. Coke spilled all over the court room floor and sprayed us. Meanwhile, Hugo was not having a great time with all the waiting. He was tired and hadn't eaten as much breakfast as he would have preferred. The little girl kept calling him "Small Boy" and couldn't keep her hands off of him. He was getting frustrated and I eventually had to take him out of the room.

The judge arrived and we got to see two other cases. The first was a man who was asking the court to help him reclaim some money that was owed to him. He told his story and left. I guess the system is such that the court will now call the man he was accusing and bring him in for questioning. The other case was a man that had been involved in what sounded like a serious traffic accident. It was hard to catch everything but I think that several people had been injured and perhaps even one was killed. The judge was extremely upset with him and let him know it. We were really hoping that we would not be next.

Our case was next. We were told to go to the judge's chambers along with Boat and the social worker that we had just met. Hugo was very squirmy but we tried our best to keep him still so that we could make a good impression with the judge. There were two people having a heated argument right outside the window of the chambers and the judge sent a police man to go arrest them and bring them into court. Everyone in the room addressed her as, "My Lord."

She finally gave us her attention and asked us why we wanted another child when we already had four at home. I was not expecting this question and gave her an answer that I don't quite remember but that included something about having enough love in our house for another child. She then asked if she could take Hugo home with her and Rebekah said that she couldn't and would just have to come visit us in the US. There was a lot of silence while she filled out the appropriate forms then announced that the adoption had her approval. Just like that, after a morning full of adventures, Hugo was ours.

We had to wait again because Boat wanted to talk to the social worker who was currently busy with the next case. Hugo was thirsty but we had nothing to drink so we distracted him with an invented game using sticks and seeds from a nearby tree. While we waited, we experienced another one of those humorous moments that could only happen in a culture that is completely foreign. I saw a very nice bus drive by filled with young, athletic-looking men dressed in similar attire. I assumed it was some sort of team - probably a soccer team. Then I saw the team name on the side of the bus. It was - and I am not kidding - The Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs. How does a name like that happen? What is their fan base like? Are they intimidating on the field? Go Mysterious Dwarfs!?!

When all was ready, we got a ride back to Coconut Grove in the single most dilapidated vehicle I have ever ridden in. The interior was almost completely stripped to the metal except for the seats and it had no shocks at all. Every bump felt like a crater. It was a fun ride. We had a family lunch at the resort and Hugo ate most of my food. I had to resort to stealing back my food from his plate when he wasn't looking. Stealing food from a two-year-old ex-orphan. Nice.

There was a family at the next table who asked us if Hugo was our son. It was great to answer yes and not have to explain that we were planning to adopt him...it was already done. What made the exchange even nicer was that the family was African and very much approved of us adopting him. Boat had warned us to keep a low profile since adoption was a fairly new idea to most Ghanaians and our experiences in court this morning had not been terribly comfortable. This family, though, was very supportive and we were thankful to have encountered them.

After packing, we met Boat and once again got back in the car with Crazy Joe the taxi driver. Before the day was over, he would solidify his title as the most adventurous driver in Ghana. We left the resort, made a stop at the Regional Director's office, and had almost made it to the main road when I realized I had forgotten something back at Coconut Grove. We turned around to retrieve the items and, while it was unfortunate to have lost all that time, we got to drive by "He That Keepeth Thee Dry Goods" and "Clap for Jesus Credit Union" one more time. We cracked up.

Joe outdid himself. He were thankful to be alive when we got to our destination. There were so many near misses that I eventually had to just not watch. Once, we passed a truck that was passing another truck at the same time. We were three vehicles wide on a two lane road at 80 mph on a curve. Even Boat was nervous. When we got close to Kasoa, there was a traffic jam. Joe asked a local about a shortcut then veered off the road to the north on a dirt road through a neighborhood. Things were going fine until the road got muddy ahead of us. Joe decided to try it anyway and got the Hyundai stuck in a mud pit that nearly covered the front bumper. He and Boat tried hard to get us out but we eventually had to be pulled out by a truck that approached from the rear and couldn't get around us. Boat took the wheel while Joe and the truck guys connected something to the back of the car. Hugo handled all of it amazingly well. We had been in the car for almost four hours and he was doing great.

Great but hungry. We asked Boat if he could help us buy a snack from one of the ladies selling stuff on her head. He must have misunderstood us because at the next busy intersection, he said something to Joe then got out of the car and disappeared. We lost him for several minutes but when he turned up, he had a whole meal for Hugo. Boat had walked the distance of about a quarter mile. That may not sound far, but in that space, there had been several thousand people.

We finally arrived at the orphanage again where we would stay for the next several days. Separate from the orphanage itself, there is a guest house for visitors that is like a small dormitory. For $50 a night, we would have a place to sleep with a real toilet, a cold water shower, and three meals a day. It would suit us just fine.

Hugo hadn't been feeling very well today. When we got out of the car, he stretched his legs a bit and wanted to play but it didn't last long. Soon, he was sleeping on the bottom level of the bunk bed in our room. Rebekah and I had a double bed with a foam mattress and pillow cases that had pictures of Elvis Presley on them.

One of the last things we did was call home. In addition to all the Ghanaian events we experienced today, it was also Stella's sixth birthday. We love celebrating birthdays in our family and not being home for Stella's really made us realize how much we missed our kids. It was hard to talk to them without crying.