A Fond Farewell

As the day of my departure draws closer, I’m experiencing such a mix of emotions that I literally can’t fall asleep at night. My mind keeps racing with thoughts of how things will be different back home at the States, worries about adjusting to my normal busy life, and, of course, about how I am about to leave this place that I have just recently become so comfortable in.

I don’t know what I will tell people when they ask me, “So, how was West Africa?” It would take years to explain my experiences and words don’t even begin to describe how I feel about this place, about living here, and about leaving. But, hey, I might as well give it a try.

I have learned so much in West Africa. Obviously, I have been endowed with a few superficial skills. I can do a number of traditional dances, I know how to drum, I can speak some Twi and a bit of pidgen English, I know what tro-tros to take to get to different parts of the country, and I know how to eat fufu with my hands. I know that I can talk my way out of almost any situation, where the best places are to listen to live music, how to haggle at the marketplace, and where I can actually find real coffee.

But my learning in Ghana has gone so much deeper than that. Ghana has taught me the true value of wisdom, patience, kindness, love, and just a little bit of recklessness.

I’ve learned that it’s ok to do stupid things within reason. Doing dumb things like riding motorcycles without helmets or paragliding with some people you just met the day before is part of life. But I’ve also learned that it’s best to follow your gut because it’s usually right.

I have seen people with so little that I literally have no idea how they survive. For nearly 6 months, I cast aside my make-up and nice clothes and I began to understand that this “need” I always felt was not truly need at all. I realized how ridiculous my vanity is in the larger scheme of things.

I have also had to re-evaluate my idea of comfort. Never again will I complain about a long car ride or airplane flight after riding, packed with 14 other passengers, in a sweltering hot tro-tro on the bumpiest dirt road imaginable. Never again will I complain about heat after being in a country where I can count on one hand the places that I know that have air conditioning. Never again will I shout out in anger when someone flushes the toilet while I’m in the shower after living 5 months without any hot water.

After teaching at a school where some of the children are illiterate and even more are unable to even bring a pen to school, I will never ever take my education or my resources for granted ever again.

I never knew what being sick meant until I got horrible food poisoning and vomited 14 times in one evening. I have been rushed to the hospital with an extreme fever and a rash that covered my neck and back. I have had a sunburn so extreme that my entire face blistered and I was peeling for a week, and I experienced about 2 weeks of serious homesickness at the beginning of my trip. I have been so dehydrated that I literally felt like collapsing and I have walked miles in impossible heat.

I sweat endlessly. Although most of my friends seem to have adjusted to the temperature, my body refuses to accommodate to the change. And so I sweat profusely. After walking about a half mile from my dormitory to the EAP office, a friend inside the building genuinely asked me if it was raining outside.

I have come to realize how much friendships maintain my sanity. In Ghana, the family unit is everything and everyone works for the benefit of the entire community. I have realized that, without those I love, I am nothing.

I have walked through busy cities and I have wandered through the desolate slums. I have relaxed on a gorgeous beach and I have waded through a sea of grass in the bush. I have had days where I felt miserable and days where I felt like I could take on the world. I have laughed, I have cried, I have flown, and, above all, I have lived.

Every single day in Ghana was exhausting both emotionally and physically. A few months ago, I would have gotten on an early plane home without hesitation. However, as I find myself settling down in the life I have made here, I am experiencing emotions I never expected. I have done so much and seen so many places since I have arrived in July—I taught at a school weekly, worked with Liberian refugees, learned how to dance, walked on thin rope bridges in the canopy, met a famous hip-hop group and was featured in their music video, took a full load of University courses, traveled to a neighboring country, paraglided, played with a monkey, wove a basket, swam in the ocean, and met a ton of people along the way—and, yet, there is still so much I have left undone. I am finally beginning to understand why some people choose to stay for two semesters.

Staying for an entire year was never an option for me. I have so many responsibilities to return to and, besides, I love my life in California far too much to leave for so long. Still, I am left wondering, “What if…”

Living in Ghana has been one of the most trying and most rewarding experiences of my life…and I don’t think I can comprehend how difficult leaving will actually be. However, I know in my heart that, if I really put my mind to it, I can come back. Ghana is so different from anywhere in the world that I have been to before and, if nothing else, it has radically changed my perspectives on the world and what it truly means to experience another culture. But it has also taught me the true value of home.

Goodbye for now, Ghana. I’ll miss you, your spicy food, your people, and your colorful culture. Isla Vista, I’ll be home soon.

Thanks to all of you who followed my blog. Happy travels, Gauchos.