We are here!
The days are hot and sweaty, full of new adventures in sight, sound, smell and taste-- |
| Hotel Ricardo Pool |
On our first night, after checking in at Hotel Ricardo, we had dinner together, then settled in to our air conditioned hotel rooms....sparse but clean, and run by a delightful French-Chilean woman, Paulina, and her husband.
The next day, we were able to meet and visit with Sylvain twice-- In the morning, we drove into the compound, where his orphanage, his church, and a primary school are located, just off of a bustling roadway full of street vendors, donkey carts, and regular city traffic, which consists of bright green taxis, autos, and thousands of crazed "moto" drivers. I'm pretty sure that only the drivers of cars observe traffic signals....maybe only Ruth.
As Ruth's car rumbled down the red dirt road, we saw primary children taking a break from their studies, outside, all in their school uniforms. Further down the road, we saw Sylvain, sitting out on a blanket, under the shade, with a "Tantie" and about 5 other small children, all playing with legos. We spotted him immediately, and he jumped up as he recognized Ruth's car right away. As is the custom, he and his little buddies extended their hands in greeting, saying, "bon jour" to each of us-- SO very sweet! Within minutes after introductions, Sylvain had allowed us all to touch or hug him, and climbed right into Joe's lap for a snuggle. Even in 100 degree weather, he wanted Joe to hold him. The other sweet, tiny little ones also clamored for lap space with us and loved the attention.
Nate and Kellen noticed that Sylvain's little feet were in bad shape, and he was walking on his toes. We went for a short walk to see the street vendors nearby and found a little pair of flip flops for him to slip on. Back home, we'll see what a doctor says about how to best treat this. For the past couple of days, Sylvain has been in the pool, worn his little shoes, and has slept with socks and Neo-sporin, so we know he's already feeling much better.
On our walk together, Sylvain took our hands and loved being carried by Papa and "Coh-Lan". Despite his obvious difficulty seeing and focusing, he led the way, and navigated perfectly.
In the afternoon, after he had eaten lunch and taken a nap at the orphanage, the Directrice allowed us to bring Sylvain back to our hotel for a swim in our pool-- but she warned us that he had no fear of the water.....Boy was she right!!! He squealed and clapped and splashed more like a typical toddler than a six year old, full of pure joy! Sylvain jumped from the side to Joe and to Kellen, counting "one.....deux..... tree!"
The photo below shows him pretty calm, but there are some squirrely, silly photos on the other camera that we'll post another time.
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That night there was an amazing wind and lightning storm that rattled our door in its hinges and caused much banging and clanging outside, with the metal poles of our awnings, and giant trees being wooshed around....I was sure that Kellen and Nate would be nervous in their room right next door, with such a stormy night. Joe went over twice to check, but both boys slept right through the storm! We stood for a minute and felt the first rain start to fall, as the country began its desparately needed start to the rainy season. Joe and I can now sing that old Toto song, "I bless the rains down in Aaaaa-aaaa--fri--caaaaa...." with reckless abandon, the next time we see a Karaoke opportunity. :)
The rain cooled the temperature considerably the next day-- Sunday we attended church with Sylvain and his "Directrice", at her request. The service lasted about two hours, and was spoken and sang in both French and Morre-- it was beautiful to see and hear-- all of the women, dressed in the most beautiful African dresses and head-dresses, worshiping and praying with such freedom and ease. After church, we took Sylvain-- for good this time. Our first over-nighter! I'll write about that experience another time. Everyone slept and settled in beautifully, but all of of experienced a wide range of emotions and the experience seemed very surreal.
On Monday morning, Ruth picked us up bright and early-- we had a very busy day with her. After signing some important papers with Sylvain's orphanage Directrice, we purchased some fantastic fabric, and went straight to the tailor's shop to be measured-- The boys and Joe will have a few shirts, and I'll have several new skirts-- I can't wait to see them! Lunch on Monday was my favorite-- Ruth took us to an African restaurant-- the seating was outdoors, on gravel, and there were fans mounted on the inside of the shade structure. Our meal was African "comfort food".....rice and sauce, and it was absolutely delicious! We had more than we could eat, so took our "to-go" bags and gave it away-- one bag to a blind woman begging on a busy street corner, and one to a dusty little girl of about 9, who ran across two busy intersections to our car, when she and her mother noticed us handing out food.
Below is a photo of the hand-washing station from the restaurant. The boys loved it.
Every experience here is new-- we are slowing down, enjoying out time together, and doing our best to remember that God is at the reins.
