Goodbye Ghana

It's nearly time to leave. 

Tomorrow night I will depart for Amsterdam, for a few days of holidaying with my darling Mumma before I return to England. I confess to have been looking forward to this moment for rather a long time, and the universe has played a funny little trick in that regard. For these last few days post exams were supposed to be my last chance to enjoy Accra, and instead I am tucked up in bed with tonsillitis and uvulitis (I didn't even know I had a uvula until it got infected).

Thus all reflecting has been done from my sickbed, in between naps and watching Harry Potter films. I am frantically praying that I will be healthy before I leave, and my uvula is showing signs of the antibiotics working.. it is now only twice as big rather than four times! I did a happy little dance on my pillow and tried to shout about it, but, well, I don't really have a voice to shout with right now.

I don't know what I expected from living in Ghana. I certainly didn't expect it to be easy, and my oft given reason for choosing it when people incredulously asked was that old comfort zone adage. The fact it wasn't easy, though, makes me feel somewhat guilty. It was set up to be easy, I lived within dorms and had Ghanaian staff around to help me through most steps. I pushed myself in many regards, but I didn't thrive like I expected to. It is an uncomfortable truth that living in the Third World (or the Developing World or whatever term you want to call it) is a pretty hard adjustment when one is used to living in the First World. It's not glamorous, and it's certainly not exotic. Whether this is about the development status of the country, whether I have been thoroughly spoilt in the rest of my life, or whether it's just Ghana, I don't know. I just know there are times where it doesn't matter, and then times when it's incredibly frustrating. 

I don't regret it for a second. I have been taught so much by generous men and women who showed me another side of life. Both inside my classes and out I was given the opportunity to think deeply about difficult subjects, and this will undoubtedly shape my life going forward. 

But I am looking forward to the familiarity of home, and very soon I will lucky enough to be back in the land that I dearly love. I will remember my experience in Ghana fondly, thankful for all that it gave me.  But England, I really can't wait to see you. 


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- Camera used: Canon EOS M with 18-55mm lens - 

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