Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Where We Are At...

Waiting, of course. Oh the waiting. You'd think I would be a pro at this by now, but alas no.

We are currently waiting for our homestudy update to be completed. Even though ours was not expired we had to pay to have it updated to reflect we were adopting from Ghana instead of Haiti. I got the update paperwork in the mail a couple of weeks ago, got it filled out right away and returned it. I felt like I was on my deathbed when I filled everything out, but somehow managed to put pen to paper for this important task. I believe they are waiting for our county police and social service clearances to come back.

The dossier for Ghana is very simple so it won't take long at all to get everything gathered up for that. No translating. No authenticating. No legalizing. Simple. I love that.

We're really, really close to having all of the money we need for our agency fee. That is a huge praise! We don't have the final total from our Tastefully Simple fundraiser yet as online ordering will remain open for a couple more weeks. Once we get our updated homestudy back we will begin applying for grants to help cover the cost of our country fee of $5,700. We've already scheduled three brat fry fundraisers which will hopefully put a dent in those expenses as well.

I've also been spending some time trying to learn more about Ghanian culture. I came across an interesting article about funerals of the Ga tribe in Ghana. The article states they they "honor their dead with brightly colored coffins that celebrate the way they lived. The coffins are designed to represent an aspect of the dead person's life -- such as a car if they were a driver, a fish if their livelihood was the sea -- or a sewing machine for a seamstress. They might also symbolize a vice -- such as a bottle of beer or a cigarette."

So tell me...if you happened to die in Ghana...what sort of casket might they bury you in? I'm thinking a nice Diet Pepsi can might be good for me.

Like Spongebob? How about the pineapple casket.


The ultimate in luxury...the Mercedes casket.

Like to get your drink on? How about the beer bottle casket!

Another refreshing choice...the Coca-Cola casket.

Love the lake? The fish casket might be perfect for you.

10 comments:

Amanda said...

those caskets about made me choke with laughter. Oi.

Hmmmm.....Diet Orange Crush Can would be interesting...but then again, so would Bailey's Irish Creme bottle.. **snicker**

Back to business....sounds like it's SO much simpler in Ghana. Which translates to quicker, for your sakes, I hope. :~)

blessedfamily said...

Hi Steph!
I remember reading about that too. Freaked me out a little... Oh... there is a DVD that follows the lives of 3 Ghanaian children. I was able to rent it from the library (Dont remember the name of it however, LOL. I guess that would help you find it. I'll look). It was interesting. I also checked out quite a few books on Ghana as well.

Hope all goes well and smooth.

CG said...

Wow, now THAT is an interesting tradition!

I guess I'd be buried in a big clock. "She died waiting on the Lord."

The 3, 6, 9 and 12 would be represented, respectively, by a Haitian flag, a little picture of Greg working in a real office someday, a USA that is truly free, and a picture of Christ Himself. Just think... if I died right now the hands would be pretty darn close to 3 o' clock!

The Gang's Momma! said...

Make mine a cup of coffee, lightly flavored with sugar free hazelnut creamer. Or a big peanut butter cup.

Kathy Eden said...

That's pretty interesting! I like the Diet Pepsi idea :o) Praying that your homestudy will be updated very soon & your paperwork will "fly" through all of the steps!

Michelle said...

That is interesting information about casketts. I think mine would be a camera :) Praying you have every cent you need. Did you ever find out if the cookbooks were usable with out tastefully simple recipies for me or not.

kayder1996 said...

Interesting...truly. I do not jest. Things like that fascinate me and make me wonder what American things captivate foreigners. My own casket? Probably a shoe of some type-I've got a major shoe fetish.

Annie said...

Wow.... It would be painted, Russian-style with flower and birds, and a passage of Scripture:

I have strength for anything through Him who give me power.

Katy said...

Hmmmmm....very interesting! I think maybe an ice cream cone. I am relieved for you that the dossier is easier...you certainly earned a break!

Anonymous said...

How funny!!!!!!!!!!