Robberies, Funerals and Moving Time

Well it's been a while. I figured I'd take advantage of this lovely, much needed rainy day to write.
Where do I begin....well from February to now has been very trying for our family. Too many daily problems and tragedies going in these past months. I'm not gonna lie and say we haven't had god times, but for now, the bad outweighs the good.
Lets start with February.......
We hired an electrician who worked for the estates we live in now to connect a generator for us as well as misc things...he seemed like average guy, just working but weirdly very talkative, he would try to play with the neighbours dogs and our son and such. Well anywho, we should have know what he really was doing was scoping out the place, because just a few days later we were robbed in our home, while we wee sleeping. We didn't hear a thing! Hubby woke me up the next day said we were robbed and showed me the missing kitchen burglar bars (cheap ass kumsark) and we were missing my iPad, hubby's asus slider tablet, brand spanking new blackberry, smart phone and about $1300american dollars.....
Yeah we were devastated. We usually don't keep that much money in our house but I was making an order for my new business, and found out we can't western union money out here, just receive,  so we were just going to wire the next day.....
We went to the police and told them who we thought it was and lo and behold this guy has already got a long robbery record! The people who manage our estates are hiring criminals, can't say I'm really shocked tho...after a long couple days and me tricking the guy to come back to finish work, he was caught. That would be great and all if the police weren't friends with him and attend his wife's spot. They searched the house and found nothing and he somehow had money for bail and got out the next day..all I know is some local is out here ballin outta control with that money. But we have no choice but to let go and move on right? So we did, and just raised our walls higher, added extra bars to the windows, got a dog...we are ok now

Lets go to March.....
My MIL has been battling cancer for a while and since the doctor gave her a poor prognosis, she decided to come here and seek alternative treatments. So me and the hubby were getting the house ready, her favourite foods and drinks. Basically making everything nice and comfy for her arrival, plus we were both excited to see her since it had already been three years since our last visit.
Hubby heads out to the airport to pick his mom, gets a text that says she didn't make the flight....long story short, she passed away that morning...
Def was not expected at all.family devastated. We actually have the funeral this weekend to say
Goodbye...don't even want to elaborate on the emotional side of this because this is ongoing and it's a process to say the least..all I can do is be here for my husband in his time of need..

April to now has been intense funeral planning by my hubby and his brothers. Talk about a new version of culture shock. Ghanaian funerals are way too much, not the funeral but dealing with relatives and getting them to agree or you just going along with it all. Again not gonna elaborate because I may hurt some feelings.....

Annd now we are in May. I have been waiting for this month because it signifies endings and new beginnings....We say goodbye to this house that has been the source of many an argument. And say hello to West Legon to a bigger space, with more land and security. Fresh starts are where it's at..cannot wait!!!

The happy moments of these past few months has been celebrating 2 of my children's birthdays, albeit , one oversees and one here...just so proud that all my babies are growing and healthy. All I can do is be thankful for that :) plus IM GOING HOME in July!!!!! Yay!!!!! Already bought my tickets, ill be home for a month. My hubby and son will still be here tho, but I gotta see my girls and my family :) I have learned that living here you must take periodic vacations from this place or you will go crazy, at least I do....

Well enough with the long post, I hope to write again sooner, after we are all settled in the new place :))

Merry late Xmas and happy new year

Hello folks its been a while. I have been busy working and turning myself into a spoiled expatriate brat! Lol. Hope everyone had a great Xmas and New Years :)
Let's see where to begin...
Well I guess the only new things I have going on is I have been socializing a lot more than usual due to the fact we have now hired full time live in help ( hence the spoiled expatriate brat comment)
I was really reluctant to do so because I came here in my American mindset that goes something along the lines of  ' ill NEVER get house help! I cleaned my own house in the states with kids running all up and through it with no problems! That's for spoiled lazy folks!)  well I'm eating those words now...
Cleaning in Ghana is completely different than cleaning in the states. Dust like you have ever known, and tiled floors that must be mopped daily, porch duties, ect....plus we needed someone to take care of our son during nights we went out and while we work.
So I got a recommendation from a friend and we hired her on the spot and she is from Togo.
There was a whole big hoopla from the relatives because we apparently were paying too much, we should have consulted with the ten million other relatives, who btw are just dying to teach me how to be a proper Ghanaian wife! Lol.  I feel at the end if the day we are the ones paying for her services so unless ya payz ma billz, you don't have a say, so mind your biz:)
Anywho...Xmas was cool. We were actually worried about what we were going to do since the family we would usually spend Xmas with was not on this continent :( So my husbands cousin who is also my boss and close friend, invited us to go to Ada for the week and spend it with her son and friends. Of course we jumped right in and said hell yes! It was a great week :) I have pics below:)
New Years was quiet..which is unusual for us. We usually have a house party or something to bring in the new year, but not this year.
We actually cooked and had some Moët and fireworks and while our son was sleeping we counted down the new year and kissed and blew up some fireworks :) I called my girls via FaceTime and surprise surprise I got to talk to my little brother and some old friends!! That made me happy!  My girls were up and hyper as usual, they love to have gatherings lol. Their dad was having a small party for New Years.  That about sums up my holidays.
I made a few resolutions this year. The usual like, trying to work our more, drinking less wine ( that's been going well btw), being a better wife, mother, friend, ect.
So far so good except for the working out part lmao!
Hope everyone had a awesome holiday! Enjoy the photos :) 

The craziness

I have been a very busy lady these past few months.
I'm finally starting to become more acclimated to Ghana and all that goes with living here as a foreigner. I still haven't caught malaria yet, but hubby did again....
I have actually got a job at a dental office part time. The dentist is really awesome and she is located at the lizzy sports complex.
My best friend Nancy came to visit me for 2 weeks, and it was an adventure. I'm very happy she came because she lifted me out of this funk I've been in since we arrived. We travel to kakum, elmina castle, boti falls, and axim beach. Of course, we are in Ghana so some Ish is bound to happen like, when we got to the axim beach hotel, we found out (after I specifically asked numerous times over the phone) that our bungalow was not really on the beach. After a few expletives and apologies, we ended up staying there and moving to a two room bungalow right on turtle beach with a tire zip line next to the room :)
Also our two year old son caught the stomach flu, and a wicked diaper rash.
Annnnnd our car broke down on the way back to Accra from axim near takoradi!!
We actually (thought) we were fortunate to break down near a auto repair shop, but of course after many many hours and a cranky baby, we had to leave it there and find a hotel in takoradi.
The next morning they called and said the couldn't fix it so we had to pay 220 ghc to tow it 30 mins to takoradi!!
Sooo me and my baby, Nancy, and her friend that came along, had to take the diplomat bus back to Accra, and my husband had to catch the next one after because the stupid driver, even after I bought my husbands ticket, could not wait for him.
Thennn, those jerks wanted me to wake my sleeping two year old and put him on my lap, so someone could sit in the seat I paid for!! Gah!!
I told them I'm not moving my son your shit outta luck!
If I could understand two, I'm sure I would have heard people calling me all sorts of names as my friend told me later ( probably because they knew I'd go ape shit lol)
Sooo we made it home, Nancy made her flight, and tonight I'm in a gourmet cooking mood and relaxing on my porch!
Still was a great vacation tho :)

In sickness and in...malaria???

Well we have been in Ghana now for a little over a month and let me tell you, this is the most frustrated, stressed and god knows what else I've felt in the last month, but it's been a definite roller coaster of emotions! There!! 

Let's start with the house we live in. We are actually located in adenta which basically means far the fuck away from anything fun. The house is in these " estates" with the catch phrase "your well planned estates".... Really? Ok so let me get to it, day one when we came to look at the place after we were told the house was done, nothing was really done. Ok let me be fair and say the building was up and that's about it. No electricity, no fixtures, no tank, basically nothing that said move in now. 

That my introduction of how things are done the 'Ghanaian' way lol.

2 weeks follow of me losing my shit and hubby eventually losing his shit, living in a hotel for 2 weeks, screaming at the director, micromanaging, losing my temper again, dealing with shoddy work,  we finally move in. Sigh..... And to this day we are still dealing with it all! I swear those folks who run this place are scam artist. Every other day someone is screaming at them for something they did bad or for taking their money or both!!

On top of it all, hubby got malaria and was down for a few days well really a day, since we caught it so early. We actually went to a hospital in Ghana which was a complete waste of our time.  We were in a waiting room that was semi outdoors, that crammed us all in like we were sardines in a can...not good when the person in the front of you is throwing up and to top it all off the doctor wasn't even there!!! Gah!!! So we left and went to the pharmacy and bought the 3 day course for malaria.

Ohh but we aren't done yet.....I wound up with the flu/ cough thing that's been going around apparently , and every day for about 3 days I either have a fever or cough, but no malaria thank goodness :) The one saving grace is that our son is still healthy as a horse and that we found a reliable net that allows us to talk to our beautiful daughters and family stateside :))

Good things about being here is that I have met one person who's blog I followed as a way to know Ghana somewhat and prepare. He has ended up being a godsend to us :). We have also met a fellow American couple who have been amazing as well.

Hopefully, by this months end I'll have more positive things to say about my experience here. I believe it will get better once we get settled. I'm realistic enough to know that things aren't going to rosy and fun, no matter what I thought before I came here.  Sooo I do look forward to a few small trips we have planned this week and next.  Until next time folks :))

We are here

We are in Ghana now!!!! I know I haven't posted anything new in a few months, sorry :) We have been super busy with preparing for the trip and spending time with family and friends before we left. Sooo...where do I start? We arrived here July 11th, I was expecting it to be hot, but it's actually been a lot cooler then the US ( they have been going through a heat wave with temps up to 110) when I first got here, I loved being here for like the first 24 hours! Lol. But you know you get the culture shock, get homesick ect ect..so I really wasn't feeling Ghana too much the first week. Namely due to the crazy traffic, horrible roads and people trying to get over on me because I'm American. My poor husband could barely help because he hasn't been in Ghana for 11 yrs. On top of that, the house we are moving into is not done yet because they claim the bank has been holding on to the money to pay them! Sigh...soo because of that we have been stuck in a hotel, eating out and taking taxis. I also go a little sick, guess my body was getting used to the new environment here. But I can say after that week of hell, we did get to see the beautiful side of Ghana. We went to Ada beach where the mouth of the Volta lake and the Atlantic ocean merge. It was soo beautiful. We spent few days there and I came back with renewed energy and patience :) So here I sit now in the hotel, the power went out, they luckily have a generator so it's not bad. We actually have to see about a generator next week after our container clears.. Aside from everything, I love Ghana for what it is and I'm excited to start our new chapter here :) Cheers till next time!!!

Tickets please

Hi all, it has been about 2 months since my last post. During that time we have been busy with 2 of our kids birthdays, girl scouts, farewells and research. We recently came back from a week long spring break vacation to north Carolina and va beach to visit and say bye to family. It was fun but of course when you have kids and a bunch of sad relatives, it's not much of a vacation just work lol. I can't believe that in 2 months time we will be in Ghana....sigh..so soon! We recently bought our tickets from Turkish airlines, and I'm hoping it will be a safe ok flight. I say ok because I don't know if any of you folks out there has flown with a two year old in tow, but judging on how he is in the car for road trips, I'm guessing it won't be fun lol. But luckily our flight leaves at 11pm so I'm hoping he will be asleep for most of the trip. It's been sad and exciting preparing to move. Sad because of obvious reasons and the fact we just showed our townhouse to 2 families this weekend. They were nice enough, but it is hard to imagine someone living I the house we got married in and started our life in :( But exciting because on our layover we get to see Istanbul for 22 hours before our connecting flight to Accra leaves. Plus the excitement of the unknown, of what this move holds for us, the newness of everything, starting over, having expectations, meeting new people and growing... So until next time folks....

And the ruling is.....

Happy Valentines Day Folks!!!

Oh and........

We are moving to Ghana for sure in the second week of July....

I think I was more excited when we didn't know. We told everyone at this point and its been really depressing, I mean I have been depressed. I guess when you think of all the things you have known your whole life, such as friends, environment, family...you realize what and who you are leaving behind. We have ad a few promises to visit and a few tears...but I feel like everything will be OK. I told everyone that they are only allowed to cry twice, once when I tell them and once when we leave. I want my last 4 months here in the states to be filled with good memories.

Any who...We are now setting things in motion as far as where we are living and the location, what we will be bringing, etc.. The location now is a town called Oyirifa (sorry if I spelled that wrong). The neighborhood is new, as well as the house.

Now on to jobs...I'm hoping the hubby will hear something back from the many he applied for located in Ghana, if not we got to the last resort which will be going to the Ghanaian location of his current company, which he does not want to do, because he feels like he has outgrown that place.

I keep telling my husband that Ghana will be new to him as well because lets face it, he has been in the USA since 2001 and has not been back...I keep telling him e is Americanized now lol. Of course he says otherwise.. lol

One thing I can say is that I'm excited to meet new people and broaden my horizons a bit. I really haven't been or lived anywhere other then the east coast.

BTW, does anyone know which airline is the least expensive that flys out of Washington Dulles to Accra? So far at the least expensive I have Turkish Airlines at 2665 for 2 adults 1 kid one way total (not bad right?)

If any one out there, know of any more information or websites to visit that will help me, please email me or Facebook me @ www.facebook.com/JenniferAboagye

Thanks for reading,
Jennifer :)