What Happens in Ghana

So for all of you who have been wondering...here's the story about our adoption fiasco in Ghana.

It's been hard getting myself to the computer to write this out. It's still painful for me :(

Anyway, our lawyer told us we would have our adoption decree when we arrived on the 9th. (Actually, we were told they would probably have it around the 4th).

We arrived in Ghana to find no decree. Not only that, the lawyer didn't have ANY paperwork from the social welfare worker in Ghana. It turns out the report was (hand) written, and the SWW's secretary just decided she wasn't going to come into work for about 2 weeks. So it was sitting there waiting to be typed.

After volunteering my services to type up the report, things got moving. It finally became clear to the SWW and the lawyer that we meant business and we needed to hurry if we were going to make our flight back home.

We were sent on long, wild goose chases for paperwork, we had numerous meetings that went nowhere, and we blew out 3 tires. At the end of it all, we finally had a court date (2 weeks into our stay).

The judge hearing our case was new. The lawyer is of the opinion that he has never done an adoption before. Our hearing, according to the lawyer, was a big mess and nothing went 'the normal way'. Our judge told us to come back in November and he would give us our decree.

Everyone (lawyer, SWW, Kingsley, and myself) consulted and agreed we should re-file with a different court. The lawyer knows another judge who can get it all done quickly. I met the judge, informally, at the lawyer's office. Once that was decided, I made arrangements to fly back home a few days later. Our lawyer said if I stayed they could have it done in 2-3 weeks, but I just couldn't stay another month. I needed to get back to work.

So my return was empty-handed, sad, and painful.

Ajua wouldn't kiss me goodbye. She was very mad that I was leaving her behind. In fact, Kingsley said whenever I am brought up, she says she is angry with me.

lol. Am I crazy to think that is cute? It doesn't really upset me. I figure it's a god sign that she cares about me and is bonded to me. Really, it would be a lot worse if she didn't care one iota that I left. That would be sad.

So I am home. The house feels quiet and looks lonely....

Oh, and due to the market fiasco that happened while I was gone, all those clients I was eager to get back to have decided to wait a bit. They are just sure home prices will come down some more and want to wait about a month. Awesome. I need to pay for another plane ticket, here people!