Back in Ghana with 2 kids

Bonjour, Hello,
It has been a very long time since we have actually written on the blog. The last post refers to our trip to Europe in May. I have to say that many things have happened since then, for one, we had a new baby girl named: Chloe Katherine Longtin. A wonderful little baby who is so much easier to deal with than Eva was at that age. Chloe actually sleeps most nights. Laura still has to wake up some nights to feed her but the baby goes right back to sleep afterwards. Much better than with our first, Eva, who, because of awful colic’s and stomach issues, we had to bounce around for hours before she would go to sleep. They are so very different already in personality and at the same time, so similar in appearance. Looking at photos we sometimes have to look at the date to figure out which baby that is. We are blessed to have two Beautiful healthy little girls!

Chloe’s birth was in Montreal, at the Lakeshore General Hospital and we spent the summer living at Laura’s parents’ place as most of you know. The delivery went very smoothly, contractions started to get regular (every 5 minutes) around 6pm on a beautiful Sunday evening while we were relaxing at the parents’ having a summer BBQ. We went into the birthing unit by 10pm, and baby Chloe was born at 1h46 am on Monday July 12th. Laura did get the epidural which made the whole process fairly painless and did an amazing job overall. In Ghana, they have a cultural significance associated with the day of the week you are born, you have a Ghanaian name associated with it – Chloe’s Ghanaian name is “Ajoa”. As for Eva, it is “Ama”. I have to say this was the start of a very memorable summer, the weather was great, we ate well, partied with friends’ quite a bit and enjoyed every moment we could. We enrolled Eva in a summer day camp in the West Island to keep her busy and with kids her own age – she seemed to adapt to this very well. It’s amazing how kids can adapt! Better than us adults most of the time! Wer truly appreciated this time with Laura's parents and brother Michael, and their hospitality allowing us to stay at their place for so long.

We also went to visit Laura’s brother Daniel and his wife Debby in Vancouver. Eva had a whole ten days to spend with her cousin Hadrian, who is a year younger than her. They got along great, and demonstrated some sort of a “love-hate” relationship where they would fight madly over the same toy, then cry about it, then be looking for one another desperately to play again. It was entertaining for us. The kiddies even got a chance to try out a “slip’n’slide” outside on a hot sunny day. I think Dan & Debby were also pretty happy to get a chance to meet our little Chloe before we travelled back, far away, to another continent. Chloe is a very good baby, she slept most of the time and only cried to eat or be changed. Very different from Eva. Vancouver is a great city, beautiful, diverse and probably one of the few cities I would actually move to in Canada. The housing prices are however ridiculous and how people can even afford one there is beyond me.

Before returning to Accra, we did try to see everyone as much as we could since Laura’s parents were already gone for Vancouver before we would be taking the plane to Ghana. So we met with friends for dinner and partied all night one special night in Ottawa… An amazing night out in Ottawa in my opinion, those of you who missed it, you should have been there :P.
After a couple of months, and going through a very interesting bureaucracy process to obtain Chloe’s diplomatic passport and visas, we finally made it back to Ghana. I say interesting because, as a diplomatic family, when we are in Canada, we technically have to pay for all medical expenses and everything of that nature in cash, and then we will get refunded by the insurance company. Whatever the insurance does not cover, the government will, as long as it is normally covered by Medicare for the public. Have you ever tried to pay cash at a smaller medical clinic? They look at you as if you are an alien and they are absolutely clueless as to how to make invoices. It’s pretty funny! Laura got used to explaining to the receptionist at the gyne’s office which codes they had to type into the computer to get a proper invoice printed out. I don’t think Canada is quite ready for private health care yet ;)

In any case, we made it back to Ghana after 24 hours of travel... I must say I am seriously considering doing an overnight stopover if travelling takes more than a total of 12 hours. Because Eva just simply goes “nuts” during those last 6 hours and she becomes a crazy kid that’s almost hallucinating from lack of sleep, and runs up and down the airplane isles to travellers’ delight or nightmares. Fun times :) Chloe on the other hand, slept most of the flights back to Ghana, as well as to Vancouver – that's pretty normal for a 1 to 2 month old. I always say “Best time to fly is when they are really young, before they start walking cuz after that, it’s game over!” Being back in Ghana is actually great the second time around: our surroundings don’t seem as menacing or dirty, the country seems to be doing better overall. I guess we have finally adapted to our life here. Adaptation takes about a year usually, depending on the person, as per our preparation courses given by DFAIT before leaving. There are four stages or phases of what they call “culture shock” that one goes through upon arriving in a new place to live:

1. Honeymoon, yes it was all new and exhilarating at first but this phase went by quickly!
2. Confronting reality, Laura & I began discovering all the “wonderful” little things that were wrong with the house and dealing with bureaucracy...
3. Hitting bottom, this is about when Laura decided to go back Montreal (last Jan-February) for a little vacation. NB: This phase may be worse when you are pregnant.
4. And finally, Trying to make things work and Adaptation, which is where we are at about now I think.
   

Now, even the internet speed at 200Kbps seems fast. The people and the arrival at Kotoka airport does not scare us anymore, basically we feel comfortable. Just in time for our departure in 8 months or so. Since our return we have done lots of running around, gone to the beach twice now, once was on Thanksgiving Day. Only employees of the High Commission were off so we braved the traffic and brought a few of the new diplomats to the beach near Accra, called Tills beach resort, usually a 1 hour drive, but it took us 2 because of the insane traffic. Driving is always so unbelievable here, you have to be so aggressive in the roundabouts and look the TRoTRo drivers right in the eye, as if to say: “I’m going through and I don’t care what you think”. Some let you by, others don’t... One good thing that happened this time at the beach is that Eva did not seem to be afraid of the waves anymore. When we first arrived, just the sound of the crashing waves was too much for her, and she was unwilling to even go near the ocean. This time, she jumped right in and wanted to play and run in the little waves crashing at beach side.

To Laura’s pleasure, we also seem to have a very active social life now. We have to attend on average at least 2 or 3 events per week (and that’s saying No to others). As a diplomat, if you wanted, you could go out every night of the week and attend functions/dinner parties/events as much as you want. We have to set ourselves limits with the little ones otherwise it would get to be too much. Our house helper Becky won’t say No to babysitting for us, she accepts opportunities to do overtime without hesitation. Last week, we had Friday dinner at the Ambassadors’ executive assistants’ house for a sit down dinner with various diplomats from Canada and a few important locals, such as the owner of a bar I’ve been to a couple of times, the Bywell. A great meal, we had lamb, beef and chicken, as well as a huge Grouper fish. A waiter doing the bar and I brought French music, mostly some Manu Chao and other reggae-ish music. Eva played with Clare and was good girl for most of the night. Although since she had refused to sleep that day, she was carried out of the house screaming when it was time to go and she did not want to. Seconds later she was asleep. This is still one of the most frustrating things about parenting, planning ahead and making sure your child will be ready for the night. Most of the time, Eva is very uncooperative about anything so we pay for it when we go out. Unfortunately that means she will have to start staying at home more often with Becky. We have found one way that works with her is if we have a li’l pyjama party for her and one of her friends, they watch TV, eat popcorn and this way, she is cooperative, goes to bed early and is happy.

The next day we drove to the first International Bead Festival. Beading is a huge trade in Ghana and in most African countries; they make beads from melted down glass bottles, acrylic and some plastic; poured into moulds and have designs painted on them. Some are very pretty; Laura has started getting into it a bit as a pastime. This trip was a 3-hour drive during which we were stuck in traffic for half of it, on the one road that goes north...travelling in Ghana is still very frustrating. It is however the norm in most developing countries so we have to get used to it for our next postings. Believe it or not, on the way I almost hit a baboon (!) crossing the road, there was actually a pack of them and they are pretty big. I imagine hitting one would do as much damage as hitting a deer back home, not good at all. Getting to the festival was easy; the festival itself was a disappointment, well, for the men anyway. The whole thing consisted of around 20 tables of bead sellers, most of which you could get back in Accra. Amazingly the beads are not cheaper the further away went and some beads go for 150.00CAD. Supposedly they are old, but to me, a bead is still a bead, no matter how old it is.

Sunday, we had a brunch at our house, nice and simple crepes and fruits, fresh squeezed OJ, coffee and a salty plate with cheese, cold cuts and others. It was nice to spend time chatting with Canadians we don’t always see. We spent the rest of the day swimming at the High Commission pool. The water is always at the right temperature, Life is good :) Laura has started Aquaerobics with the ladies from the CHC now once a week at the pool and seems to be enjoying that. Eva also takes swimming lessons twice a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays, but at our compound pool with a few other babies. I don’t know how effective they are since she refuses to listen to anything the teacher says but anyways, it gets her out and in the water having fun! This week, well, tonight October 30th is Halloween at the residence of the American Ambassador, only Americans are allowed, except I managed to get in for a favour or two (this means I have accepted they use the parking lot and the High Commission for Americans). Supposedly, they go all out and transform the American residence into a haunted house, and do something they call “Trunk or Treat” where they decorate the trunks of all their cars, like houses, giving out candy to kids that way. Eva and Clare are going to be scared heheheh... Tomorrow, another Halloween night “Trick or Treating” at the Orchid Gardens compound where some Canadian compatriots live, so Eva will get the real experience like back home...except it’s hot and sweaty here, and the kids get stinky because of it. We’re going to have to limit Eva’s candy intake over the next few weeks otherwise she’ll be bouncing off the walls with energy – even more than she is already if that’s possible :)

So you see our social life is very good now, we seem to be busy and time flies...especially now that we are back with two kids.

Ah well what do you know, Chloe is waking up, gotta go. I will see you all later.

Oh and, one more thing: this is a picture of the HUGE spider that Laura found in our house, next to the computer actually. She screamed in fear and jumped up onto the sofa, and would not calm down until I got it out of the house! Funny enough, Eva, who didn't know why, imitated her mommy and was acting the same way!

Les "ptites bêtes" qu'on retrouve au Ghana sont pas mal, hein?