Getting Settled

In reflecting on the last couple of days, I think this is the best way to share how it’s going: (I’ll call it “Bad News, Good News”… because I always think you should end on a good note ;-)

11.       The bad news is almost all of Stephen’s clothes and my shirts were in our lost luggage… the good news is none of Evelyn’s were!

22.       The bad news is I have to handwash our underwear every night… the good news is I packed an extra shirt and pair of said underwear in our carry ons ;-)

33.       The bad news is most of our food was in our lost luggage… the good news is none of Evelyn’s clothes, diapers, etc. were

44.       The bad news is Stephen and I don’t have a brush or comb… the good news is Evelyn does and is willing to share! (we appreciate all two inches of her comb, trust me)

55.       The bad news is we are all still pretty exhausted and Evelyn hasn’t been sleeping well since she’s been here (jet lag I think, plus all her teeth have been trying to come in at once =-/ )… the good news is our traveling here went off without a hitch (except for previously stated bag fiasco), and Evelyn even slept for 3/4 of the flight – which, if any of you know my daughter, you know could only have been a direct result of prayer!

66.       The bad news is my stomach is having some issues while it adjusts to the new foods and normal but different bacteria and flora in the produce here (I’m not sick, this happens every time I travel internationally)… the good news is the food here is terrific and even Evelyn has been eating amazingly well, and the food and water here at the hospital compound are clean and trustworthy

77.       The bad news is we do have some bugs, spiders, and crickets (which are nothing compared to the enormous crickets I had in my basement at home!) in our room… the good news is we also have geckos, and they eat bugs! And they are cute, especially the little ones – unless of course I step on one barefoot in the middle of the night =-)

88.       The bad news is there’s nothing quite like your own home and bed… the good news is we have a terrific large room and bathroom that is perfect for a family and very comfortable!

99.       The bad news is Evelyn sometimes finds all the people that stare at her and reach to touch her a little overwhelming… the good news is we have been treated with welcome and kindness by everyone, from the airport all the way to here

110.   The bad news is Evelyn seems to have come down with a mild cold… the good news is she has no sign of malaria, typhoid, meningitis, yellow fever, tetanus etc!

  Ok, I’ve had my fun =-) To summarize, our biggest struggles since we have been here have been improvising without our luggage, and Evelyn not sleeping well at night. Sadly the bag that didn’t make it (which apparently Delta couldn’t fit all the luggage on our flight from BWI, so they just decided to leave it in Baltimore – thanks Delta) was kind of a key one. I tried to spread our stuff out but in retrospect didn’t do a very good job with mine and Stephen’s clothes! But it’s ok, we have borrowed a few things and are making do. We’ll probably get our bag back on Wed, when another missionary family arrives in Ghana and drives here.

   Evelyn’s sleep has been a struggle, so please pray for that. I thought she would be so exhausted she would sleep like a rock the first night here and then would be changed over, but it hasn’t worked like that. We really are quite comfortable here in our room – it’s large and has plenty of shelves and drawers for our things (which makes this organizer’s heart happy!). Not only do we have a clean sink, toilet, and shower – we have two of each! I would kind of compare it to a retreat center – not a fancy HBC Women’s Retreat center, but more like your typical youth retreat in the mountains kind of place. I’m grateful for it!

Stephen jumped right in to the hospital the morning after we got here, and is the only doc here doing OB at the moment so he is always on call for OB for the next week or so. I think the midwife that is normally here will be back around then, so then they will share it. It is so nice for both of that everything immediately felt familiar from our last trip. And we have loved seeing missionaries and Togolese hospital staff again that we got to know last time - even more now since we know them already! Yesterday and today I have spent a lot of time unpacking, getting settled in, and giving lots of attention to Evelyn to try to give her as much a sense of normalcy as possible. We did go down to the hospital for a little while today and “talked” to some moms and babies (ok, so our talking consisted of me greeting them in French and thereby exhausting my French vocabulary, and me talking and cooing in English to their baby strapped to their backs, while they talked and cooed in French or Ewe to my baby strapped on my back, and Evelyn ecstatically pointing her pudgy little finger at their baby and screeching “Beebee!!!” at the top of her lungs). We handed out some stickers too, but most of the kids around right now were toddlers or babies and rather scared of the strange white lady trying to hand them something weird =-) On Monday I am hoping to be able to start going down regularly in the mornings and spending more time with the moms and babies, which will hopefully make us less scary.

Ok, sorry for being so scattered and superficial… I will write more in a few days. I think Stephen is going to try to update soon too. Tomorrow we will try to go to a local Togolese church, which I’m (mostly) looking forward to =-)