A Few Funny Moments

For the most part, Diamond and Florence are very naughty. Diamond ignores everything I say, or just out and out tells me NO. Florence is mean and hurts people when she can't have what she wants. I have already had to spank her for poking a friend straight in the eyeball. But, they are also very cute and cuddly. Diamond calls me Mommy Jessica. Florence calls me Ma. I know we are slowly attatching, but I can see we have months, if not years, of issues to iron out.

Today we went to 3rd Street beach. It was actually gorgeous. The waves were massive and there were black bassalt rocks. The kids were terrified of the water at first. I took it that they had never been near the water before. It took about 15 minutes of testing the waters so to speak, and then they were covered head to toe in sand and soaking wet. Do you know how hard it is to get sand out of corn rows? I am terrified to take Florence's hair out because, if I have to do it myself, all of the foster mothers and black women here will mock me. She'll be wearing Liberian sand home.

We also went souvenir shopping. I got some incredible pieces, and of course spent way too much. The kids were trying to get me to buy everything for them. What they need with an ivory tusk, I am not sure, but they still asked.

We had a very nice cab driver that is going to be our driver for the rest of our time here. He is about my age and very smart. He told me all kinds of stories of what happened in the war and what he witnessed. It was unreal to me that this very kind young man had endured what he had endured. Yet, he made it very clear to me that everyone endure that. He told me that there were bodies everywhere lying in the street. The soldiers tried to get him to join their forces, but he refused and was almost killed. They shoved a gun and him and told him to go kill people. He ran into the bush, dropped the gun, and hid. Trying to stay out of sight, he made his way to Guinea on foot. He said that he witness a young mother being shot and dying in front of him as her baby lay screaming. He took the baby with him and gave it to his mother to care for. I can't believe how much these people have been tortured and yet they are trying to pull this nation out of the ashes. Slowly, very slowly. However, they are still terrified of it happening again. I guess when it is so widespread in Africa and war has been over a decade, that is a very legitimate fear. I pray for stability in this region, they have suffered more than anyone should have to.

On a lighter note, the kids are cracking me up. Florence is a dancer. Anytime she hears music she just starts working it. She has this booties shake that is hilarious. Diamond is a singer. He sings everywhere we go. He is also a giggler. I know I mentioned that, but I really must reemphasize his inclination to giggling. It is funny most of the time, but I realized that he laughs when he is really sad and when he gets hurt. I think it was not acceptable to cry at the orphanage, so learned to cover it by laughing. He is yet to cry for anything. Florence on the other hand cries over everything. They are good kids, I just know that it is going to be an exhausting road over the next year.

Here are some of the funny things they have said: 1) At dinner Florence asked me a question about something, so I gave an explanation. Then in her most authoritative voice said, "OH, I see, I see, that is FINE, FINE!" I know you can't hear that with the Liberian accent, but it was very comedic. 2) Diamond came out of the restaurant with a full stomach and said, "Oh, I feel FINE-O!" 3) (The absolute funniest moment of the day.) Diamond is a pesky tease to the girls . Today when we were stuck in traffic for two hours in the cab, Diamond was teasing Jemama (Sharon's daughter), and she shot back "You an armed rebel, Diamond!" 4) (Shouldn't be funny, but really is.) As I have gotten more accustomed to the accent here, I realized that every time Diamond drops something he yells "Shit". This is going to be really embarrassing in church.

I am off to bed! Another crazy day in Africa tomorrow.