A day for the books

DAY 6

(May 8)

Wow! It was a day for the books!

The AC unit in our room was dumping water again last night so we had to keep it off. Phew, it was hot! Even with the fan going. Nobody slept too well. Luke and Ben kept waking up when the power would go off (this happens randomly throughout the day and night- just a normal Nigeria thing). Then it’s pitch dark and they freak out until they find their headlamps on their nightstands. Poor AJ definitely isn’t made for the heat. He has been sleeping in our room on the couch. He was red-cheeked and sweaty and restless until Dave took him downstairs to the air conditioned living room at 4 am. Dave just worked on his computer from 4-7:30 am while AJ slept on the couch. I was in and out with Ben in my bed who kicks a lot!

Alarm went off at 7:30. Made some peanut butter toast for everyone and woke them all up. Filled water bottles, packed the snack/toy bag and sprayed everyone with bug repellant before getting into Mr. A’s car at 8:45. We made it to the Ministry’s office on the mainland a little before 10 am. 

Apparently we still need lessons in Nigeria rules. Dave was taking pictures of the scenery as we drove (endless trash/ dump sites with people in the midst of the debris preparing and selling food, working various jobs— making concrete blocks, cutting hair at an “open air barber shop” etc). Mr. A said “oh that’s not allowed.” Guess we’re not allowed to take pictures of Lagos?! Then the boys needed a restroom at the Ministry. A staff member had to unlock the restroom for us. It was this tight little room. Me and all three boys squeezed in to take turns using the bathroom. Luke just reached out to lean against the wall because it was cramped and immediately the lady says, “don’t touch the wall!” Another rule we didn’t know. No touching walls. Who knew?!

We met with several layers of government officials. There was a lot of waiting time between each meeting. We were probably there for 2 and a half hours. Thank goodness for Uncle Dan helping to entertain the boys!!! Once again, it was very apparent how much the government officials truly care about the kids— specifically the twins. Everyone basically asked us the same questions. I think they’re all gun shy (understandably) because the previous family decided not to adopt the boys after starting the bonding period with them. It appeared we were able to set their minds at ease once again. We think these boys are awesome! We are aware of some potential behavioral/medical challenges but feel fully called to adopt them into our family. We also feel encouraged  that the boys seem to be in much better shape than we were expecting given their life story up until this point. 

Our resident boys (Luke, Ben and AJ) were pretty worn out afterwards. I do feel for them. They have had an intense few days. After getting in late Wednesday evening following 24 hours of travel, they have been woke up early every day and driven all over kingdom come (with the exception of Saturday). Way too much sitting and waiting for active little boys! We took them to a fun place for lunch— the Art Cafe— recommended by a friend from Jos. Dave and I had some traditional Nigerian jollof rice with fried plantains on top (delicious!) and some… wait for it… real coffee!! Even more delicious! After we ordered our food, we saw a sign that stated they don’t take cash OR international cards. Uh oh. That’s all we had. The waitress said they could make an exception since it was our first time in and receive cash. But when the bill came and we counted (three times over) the dozens of naira bills we had, we realized we just came up short. Uncle Dan came to the rescue and put the balance on his card. The currency thing has proven to be one of our biggest challenges here! We tried to exchange US dollars again today at the bank but they said they didn’t have cash available; try again tomorrow. It’s a bit unsettling (especially for Dave, the main provider of this family!) when we can’t figure out how to pay for what we need. We’re trusting God to provide and we’re thankful for the many friends helping us navigate things here!

By now it was about 2:00. We thought we‘d make one “quick stop” on our way home to check out an apartment we found on Airbnb. On the map it looked “close” to our current apartment. Given some of our issues here, we’ve decided to keep our eyes open for some other options. Mostly in case the boys aren’t allowed to use the outdoor soccer field/ playground here. We HAVE to have options for 5 boys to move!! This place looked decent online. Good reviews. Pool and larger soccer field. Gym and well-stocked kitchen. I had prayed earlier that God would “make our paths straight” as we trust in Him for guidance for where to live. I think He gave us our answer! Using some CRAZY highly-trafficked, congested, bumpy, windy paths (which lasted about 3 hours!), He made a straight path to the answer of “NO” lol! It was a wild goose chase trying to find the place and contact the lady meeting us and get back out of the traffic to our current apartment. But I guess sometimes you have to give it a try to find out the answer!

We got back. Dave and Dan took the boys swimming. I showered all the sticky, humid grime off and felt like a new woman. Finally got to finish unpacking suitcases and tried to get things ready for adding two more boys to this house TOMORROW!!! 

We ate some indome for dinner. (Did I already explain that’s the Nigerian version of Ramen? Better than Ramen though!) Once again, thankful that Ben and I can eat wheat here. Not sure what we’d eat if we had to stay gluten free!

We stuck AJ in the big boys room on the floor. He should stay cooler there. All three boys were asleep so fast! Dave and I will sleep on the living room couch since it’s MUCH cooler than our bedroom. Facility guy was supposed to come today to fix our AC but true to Nigeria, now they say tomorrow at the latest ;)

Plan is to be out by 8 am tomorrow for 9 am court hearing. They say you show up at 9 am and wait your turn. Pack snacks and games for the kids. It could be all day. The magistrate could also decide not to show. In which case you wait for another court date. We’re going to stay positive. Tomorrow will be a good day. Will keep praying for straight paths. Smooth paths. A path that brings these boys home quickly! Hopefully next time I write, we will have the twins in our humble abode here in Lagos.