Day Nine
Morning came early again as our bodies were still on "Hugo time." I woke to find Rebekah using the ipad and catching up with the outside world. Several days of no internet (and no electricity sometimes) left us hungry to communicate with family and friends.
Morning came early again as our bodies were still on "Hugo time." I woke to find Rebekah using the ipad and catching up with the outside world. Several days of no internet (and no electricity sometimes) left us hungry to communicate with family and friends.
The hotel has a restaurant and it was a welcome sight to see omelettes and pineapple juice. We had nothing on the schedule today as we were waiting to hear about an appointment at the US embassy. The way the process works is that we complete the adoption in court and then our agency requests a meeting at the embassy to file the I-600 form. We hadn't heard anything about the meeting yet so we were just chilling until we got the call. We decided to see some sights around Accra.
After negotiating with a taxi driver and paying way too much, we arrived in the most southern part of Accra at the memorial park for Kwame Nkmura, Ghana'a first president and the man who led it to independence. As best we could tell, this was one of the nicest places in Accra, similar in importance to the monuments around the Washington D.C. mall. There was hardly anyone there and we enjoyed the walk in the hot sun and learned quite a bit about Ghanaian history. Rebekah also encountered something that remains a mystery to her....female urinals.
Just next to the memorial is a place that defies description. On the tourist website I used, it is called the Arts Centre. I was thinking African music, dancing, visual arts, and artisan wares. You know, Ghana's answer to Lincoln Center. Nope. It was a several-acre area that was basically a flea market where you could buy African products from clothing to drums to jewelry to...you name it. The vendors are extremely aggressive and at first it was a little overwhelming, but once you got the hang of it, it was kind of fun. As everywhere in Ghana, prices were negotiable and they would always start way higher than they should have been. We bought matching Ghana Black Star soccer jerseys for Hugo and Henry and dresses for every girl in the house. I didn't get anything for myself but I knew I overpaid when the dress merchant threw in a bottle opener shaped like Africa for free. It was kind of cheesy but I really liked it and unfortunately lost it in transit. Oh well.
There was one man who I could only get rid of by promising that I would stop by his drum shop. When we did, it was very far out of the way and we were a little scared. He escorted me into the shop and then blocked the door with several of his friends so they could play a "Welcome Song" on the drums for me. Rebekah and I were cut off from each other and she had to wait outside because the shop was that small. I was concerned because everywhere we went, we carried all of our important documents and money because we didn't want to leave anything in the hotel. Here we were in a tiny little store apart from the main part of the Arts Centre and I had no idea what these guys would do when I told them I couldn't buy a drum. It turned out to be fine though and we escaped without incident.
Back at the hotel, there were several significant developments. First, I got sick. I won't go into details but suffice it to say that I ate something that did not agree with my intestines. Not. One. Bit. I was downing Pepto Bismol tablets like they were M&M's. Second, we learned from Boat that there was a mistake on the adoption decree and that he would have to return to Cape Coast to have it redone. We also learned that our embassy appointment was scheduled for the next day at 2:00. That was good news except we weren't sure that Boat could make it in time from Cape Coast. He also needed time to have something done called attestations at the high court in Accra. We were pretty sure we would need to reschedule the meeting but decided to wait and see what happened with Boat first. We passed much of the rest of the day watching soccer. It's not Steeler football but it was fine under the circumstances.
Day Ten
The next morning, we got a text from Boat saying that he was at the court, the decree had been corrected, and he was waiting for the judge's signature. We thought it was a good sign that all that was happening at 7:15 a.m. There was still hope for Boat to make the long trip from Cape Coast and get everything done by two. It would be close though.
I was still sick and after breakfast, I went back to bed for awhile. Rebekah finally convinced me to get up and we took care of some things that needed to be done before the embassy meeting. I hadn't shaved since we'd been here because the batteries in my shaver died on the way over. We took a walk down the street and found a little place that sold batteries. I was able to buy two AA batteries for the equivalent of about $0.50 and I felt a little guilty paying that little.
We messaged Boat a few time regarding his progress but hadn't heard anything so we decided to head toward the embassy just in case. In the taxi, we got a phone call from him saying that he was not able to get everything done in time. He apologized over and over but it wasn't his fault anyway. Since we were most of the way there, we decided to continue to the embassy and talk to them about rescheduling.
It took us awhile to figure out how to get into the building itself and we had to get past many armed guards. After several security checks, we ended up in a little room talking to a very kind agent with the Department of Homeland Security through what was undoubtedly bullet-proof glass. We explained that we didn't have the decree but were hoping to file anyway. As expected, she said we couldn't and that we should come back tomorrow at the same time. We had her check over our other documents just in case and then we were on our way. We would try again tomorrow.
That evening, we went on an adventure that was so worth it. Rebekah really loves pizza. I mean really. I had seen an advertisement for a place that sold American style pizza and we set out to find it. It was in a part of Accra call Osu, which was the trendy part of town, and there were hotels and places to eat everywhere. Our taxi driver got lost on the way so we got a nice tour of the neighborhood. When we finally found it - a place called Mamma Mia's - it turned out to be SO worth the trouble. If you are reading this and planning on traveling to Accra, I highly recommend looking this place up. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but eating good food that reminded me of home went straight to my heart and made me eager to get back.
After negotiating with a taxi driver and paying way too much, we arrived in the most southern part of Accra at the memorial park for Kwame Nkmura, Ghana'a first president and the man who led it to independence. As best we could tell, this was one of the nicest places in Accra, similar in importance to the monuments around the Washington D.C. mall. There was hardly anyone there and we enjoyed the walk in the hot sun and learned quite a bit about Ghanaian history. Rebekah also encountered something that remains a mystery to her....female urinals.
Just next to the memorial is a place that defies description. On the tourist website I used, it is called the Arts Centre. I was thinking African music, dancing, visual arts, and artisan wares. You know, Ghana's answer to Lincoln Center. Nope. It was a several-acre area that was basically a flea market where you could buy African products from clothing to drums to jewelry to...you name it. The vendors are extremely aggressive and at first it was a little overwhelming, but once you got the hang of it, it was kind of fun. As everywhere in Ghana, prices were negotiable and they would always start way higher than they should have been. We bought matching Ghana Black Star soccer jerseys for Hugo and Henry and dresses for every girl in the house. I didn't get anything for myself but I knew I overpaid when the dress merchant threw in a bottle opener shaped like Africa for free. It was kind of cheesy but I really liked it and unfortunately lost it in transit. Oh well.
There was one man who I could only get rid of by promising that I would stop by his drum shop. When we did, it was very far out of the way and we were a little scared. He escorted me into the shop and then blocked the door with several of his friends so they could play a "Welcome Song" on the drums for me. Rebekah and I were cut off from each other and she had to wait outside because the shop was that small. I was concerned because everywhere we went, we carried all of our important documents and money because we didn't want to leave anything in the hotel. Here we were in a tiny little store apart from the main part of the Arts Centre and I had no idea what these guys would do when I told them I couldn't buy a drum. It turned out to be fine though and we escaped without incident.
Back at the hotel, there were several significant developments. First, I got sick. I won't go into details but suffice it to say that I ate something that did not agree with my intestines. Not. One. Bit. I was downing Pepto Bismol tablets like they were M&M's. Second, we learned from Boat that there was a mistake on the adoption decree and that he would have to return to Cape Coast to have it redone. We also learned that our embassy appointment was scheduled for the next day at 2:00. That was good news except we weren't sure that Boat could make it in time from Cape Coast. He also needed time to have something done called attestations at the high court in Accra. We were pretty sure we would need to reschedule the meeting but decided to wait and see what happened with Boat first. We passed much of the rest of the day watching soccer. It's not Steeler football but it was fine under the circumstances.
Day Ten
The next morning, we got a text from Boat saying that he was at the court, the decree had been corrected, and he was waiting for the judge's signature. We thought it was a good sign that all that was happening at 7:15 a.m. There was still hope for Boat to make the long trip from Cape Coast and get everything done by two. It would be close though.
I was still sick and after breakfast, I went back to bed for awhile. Rebekah finally convinced me to get up and we took care of some things that needed to be done before the embassy meeting. I hadn't shaved since we'd been here because the batteries in my shaver died on the way over. We took a walk down the street and found a little place that sold batteries. I was able to buy two AA batteries for the equivalent of about $0.50 and I felt a little guilty paying that little.
We messaged Boat a few time regarding his progress but hadn't heard anything so we decided to head toward the embassy just in case. In the taxi, we got a phone call from him saying that he was not able to get everything done in time. He apologized over and over but it wasn't his fault anyway. Since we were most of the way there, we decided to continue to the embassy and talk to them about rescheduling.
It took us awhile to figure out how to get into the building itself and we had to get past many armed guards. After several security checks, we ended up in a little room talking to a very kind agent with the Department of Homeland Security through what was undoubtedly bullet-proof glass. We explained that we didn't have the decree but were hoping to file anyway. As expected, she said we couldn't and that we should come back tomorrow at the same time. We had her check over our other documents just in case and then we were on our way. We would try again tomorrow.
That evening, we went on an adventure that was so worth it. Rebekah really loves pizza. I mean really. I had seen an advertisement for a place that sold American style pizza and we set out to find it. It was in a part of Accra call Osu, which was the trendy part of town, and there were hotels and places to eat everywhere. Our taxi driver got lost on the way so we got a nice tour of the neighborhood. When we finally found it - a place called Mamma Mia's - it turned out to be SO worth the trouble. If you are reading this and planning on traveling to Accra, I highly recommend looking this place up. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but eating good food that reminded me of home went straight to my heart and made me eager to get back.
When I went to Ghana, we went to the same flea market. Almost the exact thing that happened to y'all with the drum man happened the small group I was with!
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