Coming along Slowly but Surely

One of the first things I learned here in Ghana was that things take time. Relationships, finding your way, work, cooking, and whatever else I can't think of right now. For example, well, let me back up, and cheer because-- I found a house!!! YAY!! But it was not like I could look in the paper and see the rentals listing. It wasn't even that I knew people who knew people who knew people who could find a house. It was me and the few people I do know asking around. I got into a "yellow-yellow", which is a 3 wheel motorbike with a backseat pretty much and they can drive you around for a cheap price. One time I got into one the driver looked like a little boy! I said, "Hey, how old are you?" He looked at his buddy sharing the seat with him and smiled and said, "17". I said, "You lie, you are only 12". They laughed, and actually I did too. Another driver, I told him I just moved here and was looking for a place and he said his father has a house for rent. So, that is kind of how it goes. I did find one through a taxi driver named Gefaru. He has been a big help. He found several houses for me to look at. But this house that I have chosen was a friend of his brother who is the landlord for his mom who has traveled. So, you could say it was a taxi driver's brother's friend's mom's house that I found. Love it.The house is not finished. It has ceilings and walls and electrical holes. It has a wall around it and a nice high roof to keep hot sun/air from beating down which will help keep my house a bit cooler. The thing I really liked about it is the area. There are family homes around and kids all over the place. It is near to the main road which makes it convenient. Since my first years will be spent learning Dagbani it is necessary that there are people who I can learn from and practice with. Also, safety issues the more people around the better. The landlord and I have gone back and forth with a monthly rental price, Gefaru being the middle man, which has been very helpful. Then we talked about when the house will be finished and made some verbal agreements. This all took about 2 weeks. Kind of long, isn't it? But like I said, things take time. So, as of now, the house is being worked on. I went last week and saw them putting up doors and fixing things on the outside. I am very excited and trying to kindly add in my input for tiles and colors...we will see if the landlord catches my subtleties.So, now that I know I have a house in the future, I have been thinking of other things. Next on the checklist is a language helper. A woman to meet with me Monday thru Friday for 1-2 hours a day. It has not been easy to find this. One gal I thought would help me, she just took a job as a teacher. So, I have put out the word (now that I am getting to know people) and praying to get one soon so I can start learning.Another thing that takes time is shopping and cooking. I have no box mixes, packaged frozen dinners, or fast food around. So, I go to the market and find veggies, meat, rice etc and bring it home and start preparing. And wow, is it tiring! I made a bunch of meals up and put them in the freezer so I don't have to do this often. I thought about moms and how amazing they are to be cooking everyday for their families...and yes, I did call my mom and thanked her! Some days, though, I just make a quickie peanut butter banana sandwich and eat some fruit.So, small-small (we would say little by little) things are coming along. Thanks for praying! Keep praying!