Back in the USA!

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that I am safely on U.S. soil! I've got jet lag pretty bad and have decided my body hates me, but I'm sure it will get better. I'll write more when I've had some time to process . . . it was an amazing ten weeks! Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!
Love,
Tiffany

Week 9

I thought that being a tourist in Tanzania before I came to Ghana would be enough, but then someone told me about this tree canopy bridge thing, and I thought, "Hmmm, it seems like I've seen that somewhere before." And then I heard it's close to Cape Coast, where there's a castle that was used in the days of slave trading, with a door called the Door of No Return. And then I remembered -- both of those things were tasks on the Amazing Race a few seasons ago when Uchena & Joyce were the winners! (I know, I'm a total reality-show nerd, but because I'd pretty much give my right arm to be on that show, I had to go down and check it out!)

So I've just returned from a lovely mini-vacation to Cape Coast. I did the tree bridge thing in Kakum National Park, which was amazingly high in the air but had cargo nets on both sides of the plank, so it was less scary than the ropes course at Rainbow Trail, despite being two or three times higher up. The castle was strange because it's in such a beautiful place but was the site of such horror. Mostly, though, I'm glad I went and saw the ocean. It was so beautiful and unspoiled and uncommercialized, unlike pretty much every other beach I've been to. My hotel was right on the beach and I paid $20!! The sunset picture was taken about twenty yards from my door. Now I can say I've dipped my feet in the Atlantic on both the American and African sides! (The African side was much warmer, since the American side was Maine in the fall . . . brrr!)

Ghana has all kinds of places I'd love to go if I had unlimited time and funds -- a park where you can walk up close to elephants, a village built on stilts above a lake that you can only get to by canoe, a sacred crocodile pond where you can sit on the crocodiles' backs . . . I guess I'll just have to come back again sometime! The great thing is that so few people know about this country and all that it offers, so there are no crowds of tourists everywhere and prices aren't through the roof.

I'm going to keep it short this week because I'm anxious to spend as much time as possible with the kids AND I want to practice my drumming skills on the new drum I bought yesterday. My neighbors will love me when I get home!

P.S. Way to go Women's Retreaters!! The director is going to be so excited! I said we usually get about $200 in offerings that weekend, and she said we should pray for a double portion. You're sending a triple portion!! Ascension rocks!

Week 8

I think today I'll tell you about one of the most fun parts of being here at Adullam Orphanage -- WORSHIP! I really miss Lutheran liturgy, but when I leave I will also miss seeing kids DANCE during worship! I wish this blog had video capability, because I've gotten some great footage. It's like a cross between MTV and a revival, if you can imagine. And no, I haven't really joined in. I kind of do a white girl sway . . . I stand out enough the way it is, so I don't think I need to draw any more attention to myself! The first night I was there I laughed because it seemed some of the older boys were really praising God with their dancing, but some of the younger ones were leading with their butts and purposely bumping into other dancers. I guess the behavior of middle school boys is universal!

And the singing! These kids love to sing. Sometimes at worship they'll sing four or five songs, and sometimes they'll keep singing for an hour. They tend to start off low key and then rev up into the dancing songs and then wind down into reverential worship songs. I can sing along to "Sanctuary" and "Here I Am to Worship," the two songs I know, and sing a few words here and there during other songs I've kind of gotten used to.

Friday night we sat outside under the full moon. It was a lot like church camp, for those of you who have experienced that. I couldn't stop looking at the little boy in front of me, who had his eyes squeezed shut and was singing his heart out to a song called "Count Your Blessings One by One." In a couple of hours he would crawl into his bunk bed with no blanket, no pillow, and no one to tuck him in and say good-night, and you could just tell by the look on his face that he was thanking God for everything he had. If only we could all have that attitude instead of always asking for more and more!

So, they may not have much, but they have faith.

Since I only have videos of worship and no pictures, I'll post some random pictures today. The first is of cuddlebug David who cries every day when I leave, the second is of Alfred and Isaac, two nice little ten year olds, and the third

is of Priscilla and Raymond, who aren't old enough for school but were obviously old enough to find the chalk and have a little fun. :)

Week 7

Cute picture alert! Yes, those are twelve babies potty training all at once. Makes you think going through it with one or even two wasn't all that bad, huh? They have a bunch of bowls, and if a kid can hold himself up, he's eligible for a bowl. Most of them have no idea what they're supposed to be doing on it!

The second picture is like a very easy version of Where's Waldo. Where's Tiffany? Gee, that's a toughie! This was during "recess" one day. For some reason, when you take a picture, they all yell Jesus instead of Cheese and put a fist in the air! I'm trying to get them to break the habit, but most of my pictures are fist shots!

And I was finally able to get the last picture of the babies loaded from a few weeks ago, so now you can scroll down and see Akua.

Things are going well. I realized this weekend that I don't have a lot of time left and it's hard to believe! But I'm looking forward to thin mountain air. It's very hot and humid here!! Surprisingly, I haven't gotten sunburned like I thought I would.

Now that everyone's settling back into the routine of school, some of the teachers are asking me to help with different things, so I'm happy to have new "jobs." I'm going to lead P.E. for one class tomorrow and make bracelets with another.

You who know my comfort level with babies will find it humorous that yesterday I was puked on by not one but two babies in the course of about fifteen minutes. One I had just fed an entire bottle and the whole thing came back up. The second one crawled over to me while I was feeding another one and threw up on my leg. Surprisingly I didn't throw up, which I thought was very adult of me. :) Maybe I'll be able to be a mother someday if I can continue to master those gag reflexes!

Thanks for your prayers and comments and everything -- miss you all!

Tiffany