This weekend involved several things that my weekends this summer have yet to include: more hours traveling than not traveling, being in a room with people that I have known for longer than a month, and not having to worry about a bathroom lacking toilet paper.
I began my departure from Kumasi to Marysville early Friday morning. 6 hours of bus rides, 3 hours of catching up with Unite For Sight volunteers, 13 hours on a plane, 3 hours of taxi/car rides, and several stretches of waiting later, I was finally home for a glorious 34 hours in the States (about 28 hours of which were in Marysville/Port Huron). The wedding was amazing, but I realized afterward just how tired I was throughout the ceremony and reception. I was cruising on autopilot for most of the event. My apologies to anyone reading this with whom I conversed, especially those who endured a conversation of nothing but me talking about Ghana. Aside from being extremely tired, I also was totally not adjusted to socializing with so many native English speakers. This was especially apparent when anyone asked me, "How are you?" My response was always "I am fine, thank you. How are you?"...because that is the most well understood response in Ghana. As my good friend and YSPH classmate, Raj, accurately predicted during a Skype conversation just prior to me leaving, it just felt like a dream, and now I've woken up, back in Kumasi.
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| Congratulations, Kathryn & John! |
I still can't tell how I feel about including this visit home in my "Ghana experience." I am obviously happy I was able to make it home for the wedding, but going home feels like cheating. I had laundry done in a washing machine and dryer, I bought a ton of granola bars, I dropped off a load of souvenirs that I've already purchased. Most people working abroad for long periods of time don't get to go home, and being here only 3 months with a break included just feels weird. I also got really upset about returning to Ghana when I was back at the airport on Sunday night. I was trying to figure out a way to a) have an excuse to stay in the US, b) have a way to tell everyone involved in my project that I was going to stay, and c) get the things I had left there back home. This was all in vain, as I boarded the plane anyway and did a reverse trip back to Kumasi, arriving very late on the 25th (note: the bus route between Accra & Kumasi has uncomfortably cold air conditioning...definitely wearing pants and a jacket next time!). Once I got back to the hotel and got unpacked, all the frustration/anger/generally negative feelings I had about returning were virtually gone. Maybe it was the after-effects of the sleeping pill leaving me in euphoria, maybe I realized I didn't really have much of a choice,...but probably I remembered that I actually do enjoy living here. I can't imagine permanently moving to Ghana, or any other developing country, but there are far worse things than living here for another 6 weeks! In any case, I won't let a dumb thing like a bad attitude ruin such an incredible opportunity. Cheers, Ghana, let's have an amazing time together.
Side note: My brother, sister, and I must have the most understanding and supportive parents in the entire world. Not only did my parents pay for my trip home, they also managed to say hello and goodbye to all of their children within a few days. All three of us left on Sunday...Chris back to DC, me back to Ghana, and Kathryn off to Jamaica for her honeymoon with John. Thanks Mom & Dad!
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