they're here

My adrenaline is still pumping, so I thought I'd post quickly while I still have the energy. I went with 2 other women tonight to pick up the 10 Liberian refugees we're sponsoring. They were extremely quiet, almost unresponsive, when we talked with them, but they were probably exhausted and confused. I'm pretty sure no one told them anything about where they were headed or what would happen when they arrived. They almost all know English. The oldest 2 children (20 & 22) actually can speak quite clearly without dropping all the ends of the words as Liberians normally do. They must have been around Americans quite a bit. The 22 year old read a street sign on the way home, so he must have had a decent amount of education. They are clearly Liberian, based on the pile of chicken bone pieces left behind after they chewed them up and sucked out all the marrow. After a quick meal, we split the family between 3 houses to sleep, but they'll all be back here early tomorrow. I showed the mother and two of her daughters how to use the shower. We ended up flooding the floor because they were so intrigued and kept pulling the shower curtain out to look. I broke the ice with the 6 year old who's staying with us by getting out Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. She thought they were pretty funny. Of course, she then decided that toys were fun and got in trouble with her mother for not going to bed. I think they're asleep now, so I'm going to go relish the peace for a bit and then try to get to bed early. That's a huge challenge for this night owl, but getting up at 6:30am will be a much bigger hurdle.