America

The Pinch is back, and thus your bruise!

Meow.

Sad news, but also good news. Good news first, eh?

Well, we're in America now--Kansas at the moment, but going to Iowa tomorrow morning. Our last two weeks have been PACKED, and only one week left!

We were about to leave the house in Liberia to get the luggage across the monkey bridge and into the other compound we were renting, but there appeared to be a storm approaching. We made it down to the bridge in plenty of time--but then one of our neighbors began to come across from the other side. That wouldn't be so bad, but this man has one paralyzed arm, so imagine the speed with which he traveled. :P The poor guy couldn't hold on very well.

Then, it started to rain. We struggled to get the suitcases across, but by the time I made it to the other compound, the luggage, my backpack, and I were totally drenched. Lovely getting on the plain damp and smelling like mildew. :P All the Kindles were fine, but my brand new Bristol pad of paper was ruined. And I don't have any money to buy a new one. Oh, wait. This is all bad news. XD

Well, I managed to get one of my mom's shirts (way too big) and her African skirt (Even more too big! I tied it with a ponytail) and rode on the plane like that. I liked to plane ride, more or less. Thankfully out of my wet clothes. Once my lappa (correct spelling? 'Tis a length of fabric that can be used for sewing or just a wrap-around skirt) was dry, I wore that since it fit much better. :)

I sat by Ry, but she fell asleep so I didn't have much company on my sleepless plane ride. I don't sleep on planes, and Jake is even worse. I TRIED to sleep and got forty-five minutes to an hour of doze-wake-up routine. I just couldn't sleep. I don't think I ever really FELL asleep, just kind of faded into oblivion...

The plane ride to Ghana was two, two and a half hours, then from there to Atlanta was twelve hours. And from there, two more hours to Wichita, Kansas.

So, a pretty long plane ride. :P

We stayed at my grandma's for two days, then went to Oklahoma for a family reunion (Grandma's nine brothers and sisters and my mom's twenty-four cousins multiplied to fifty due to spouses--and their kids. XD) So pretty much, we have a big extended family. We had a great time and did a bunch of stuff.

We came back to Grandma's for a couple of days, then went to Colorado for two and a half days to see some Liberians who've come to America. :) The daughter called me "Liberian Girl" the whole time. She's really nice. I did my attempt at Liberian English, and they just loved that. When I said something correctly, they'd be like, "Ah! You hear that? She say, ____" It was funny. And then one of the guys' wife has the same name as me, and I never knew if people were talking to me or to her. It was great.

Back at Grandma's now for two days, and from Iowa we're going to KC to see people there, then back here, then...back to Liberia to see my dogs and kittens. :)

We went to my grandpa's farm and saw Beatrice! She's not that much TALLER, but she's really filled out and her coat came in really nicely. Very soft. :) She was so excited to see us! I'd been kind of afraid she wouldn't remember us, but she didn't bark once while we were there. She's the same as ever--rolls over when you touch her, jumps. She's a big sweetie.

And here's the beginning of the sad news.

The monkey has had four fits--strange little seizure-like things, and they got worse each time. We thought they were done after the third (the second and third ones we thought he was going to die). We got a call a couple of days ago that said that Bobby had a fit and died. We have no idea what he had (could be something was wrong with his brain, or maybe epilepsy) but it was horrible. Better this way, though, than having to suffer those fits. :'/

On a happy note, my mom's cheesecake is famous. O_o We searched "___(name inserted)'s cheesecake," and hers was the first that showed up on the list. :) We read a bunch of posts on blogs from people who didn't know my mom but loved her cheesecake. Haha. ;)

I'd post it, but I don't know it.

Well, see you. :P

--Vrenith