Sharing good things

Here is a post from Carrie.  More family updates and pictures of the kids are at our scrapple the lab blog.

“We are starting our second full week in our little house in Kumasi.  A sort of routine has established itself, one which involves waking up much earlier than I would like.  Typically the kids are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by 6:00 am.  So that means Ash and I are stumbling out of bed around that time as well.  Then it is a mashed up malaria pill in a spoonful of peanut butter for the kids and some eggs or toast and jelly with our Milo around 7:00.  It is actually quite nice to start and end the day eating family meals.  Unlike in the states, we manage to eat together three times a day most days.  And we can take our time over the meals.  It is a wonderful feeling to not be rushed. 

Some time between 8:00 and 9:00 Evelyn and Paulina come over.  Evelyn cooks some rice and meat for the dogs while Paulina works on whatever needs to be done for the house that day.  Today it was explaining to me how to get the power card refilled.  Ghana uses a prepaid power card system.  It makes sense, no late fees, no delinquent bills.  The only problem was yesterday when the card ran out.  It was a Sunday so the Electric Company was not open.  We were without power for several hours until Paulina fortunately found a card with a few kilowatts left on it.  Paulina also takes care of sweeping and washing the floors and the outside patios while Evelyn and I talk food.  We make a menu plan and a shopping list.  Around 10:00 Churcher arrives to maneuver us through the crowded streets of Kumasi on our shopping errands.  Ash usually takes this time to meet with Albert Jatoe, the Head Coach for YLI, or work on business details at the internet café.  The kids don’t complain at all about our little outings, mostly because Churcher has gotten into the habit of buying them a chocolate bar from a woman selling them on the street. 

Today was no different.  The kids are in the back of the car covered in chocolate as we drive home from Opoku Trading, the grocery store.  Katie is talking about finishing her chocolate bar after lunch, as I had declared both children “chocolated-out” for the time being.  Then Katie stops in her dramatic way, “Mama, no, wait.  I am not going to eat my chocolate after lunch.  No.  I am going to save it and share it with the little girl when she comes later.” The little girl Katie refers to is someone Evelyn has rounded up to come and meet Katie.  After her third game of “doctor kit” I think Evelyn realized that Katie is missing playmates.   “I will ask her if she likes chocolate and we will share it.” Katie is beaming.  And then, “Mama, I love to share good things.”

And there it is.  The whole reason we are here – because we love to share good things; because the sweetness that has been given to us is too good to keep to ourselves.”