Postcards

(Darn it, for some reason I can't upload my pictures! Check back later for the pictorial version of this entry. Oh you know there are some of you who only look at picture blogs.)

Greetings from Ghana, where we arrived yesterday morning.

The long flights over went amazingly well--Audrey is such a trooper. We continually marvel at her good-nature and sense of adventure even when sleep deprived and trapped in an airline seat. With regard to sleep, we were kind of 'behind the 8-ball' from the outset, not having slept much 2 nights prior to departing. (At the hotel the night before leaving, we shared a wall with a family who let their toddler stay up all night screaming, bouncing on the bed and watching Elmo on high volume. Apparently, they were trying to wear him out for their upcoming flight.) Not a huge surprise then, that Mike and I are miserable withe some sort of respiratory virus; Audrey seems to be slightly congested and Gail is symptom-free.

For those of you who don't already know, Gail is my aunt and has joined the tour as our nanny. Wife, mother and a school principal, she is a very busy woman and we are SOOO privileged to have her along. Last year at Thanksgiving, she mentioned having a dream of going to Africa so when faced with the dilemma as to how we could both be 'on the job' and still take the best possible care of Audrey, Gail quickly came to mind. Also known as 'Gailkie' in our family, this sweet aunt is a fun lady of rock-like faith, optimism, hard-working, and a total servants' heart. A constant encouragement, she is always looking for ways to serve others and we are so grateful that she followed God's leading to come on this trip. Audrey is already WILD about her and the two are best-buds.

After arriving at the airport, we headed to the SIM Guesthouse in Accra where we'll stay until early Monday morning. We crashed for a nap and then headed out to one of our favorite ex-pat haunts--'Ryan's Irish Pub.' Yes, we play it safe when it comes to cuisine here. More on that in another entry. Then we had yet another horrendous night because Audrey could not get comfortable in her PeaPod and kept waking up from our ceaseless snorting and coughing. Finally, she ended up sleeping peacefully in bed with Gail. Today, we abandoned plans to show Gail and Audrey the city, in order to get some desperately needed R&R.

Daytime temperatures are 90-100 degrees F with INTENSE humidity (Mike estimates 80%-85%). Needless to say there is no point in trying to look decent. It's all about taking frequent showers so as to smell as pleasant as possible while one is drenched in sweat.