Today is the end date of our program and some of my really good friends are leaving for the US. Naturally we have spent the last couple of days being nostalgic, reminiscing about how we met, the good and bad times we had and everything in between. To think you can become this close with people in such a short amount of time is astounding. I often forget that we don't all go to school together and that once we separate that's it. There will be no more late night ramen cookings, no more "whipping our hair back and forth", no spur of the moment side trips or hanging out at the "Player's Club". We are scattered to the wind never to all reunite under the same roof. My roommate Jazmine however is convinced that we need to have a 10 year reunion but really I believe that is too optimistic to believe that it will come true. Looking around at my friends I often wonder, "Would I have been friends with this person had we met at school?" To answer truthfully I feel that I have met so many different personalities that we would have never crossed paths should we have gone to the same school. While this thought saddens me I am also happy that this opportunity to meet and befriend so many cool and different people was even possible.
It's been a little over 4 months now and the time has literally flown by. I feel I've been here a grand total of like 3 weeks but then when I look over all the photos I've taken (923) I realize that I have seen so many amazing things and been part of so many unique experiences. While a part of me is happy to return home (eat some good food, visit old friends and see family) the majority of me wants to stay here. The other day I was walking back from Shiashie to Electricity (an hour's walk) and it hit me. This is not my home. I don't live here. I am not even from this country. This revelation shocked me because sometimes I feel that I do live here and that I am at home. How can this be? Is it because I love Ghana so much or is it because I've been thrown into this foreign country and forced to figure things out on my own? Whatever the reason it's made me think a lot about national and cultural identity and what my own identity is. This is not to say I never feel like a foreigner here because that would be just a bold-faced lie. Hearing the calls of "Oburoni! Oburoni!" or taxi drivers trying to overprice rides or men calling on the street, "I love you, white lady! I want to marry you!" never lets you forget that not only do you physically stand out here but that the way you move, talk and approach social situations also differ to that of this culture. In turn I feel I've amalgamated bits and pieces of the culture to create a person who is not only a foreigner here but will be one when I return to the US. My pace of life has slowed, my talking as well, the slang I use my American friends back home are confused by and the way I interact with people is different as well. I think I can bargain for anything and I've grown accustomed to drinking water out of plastic bags. I feel that I never really experienced culture shock coming here but that I will experience it when I return, something I feel many people will have trouble understanding unless they themselves studied in a developing country. Either way coming home will be bittersweet but seeing the people I love and have known for so many years will definitely help acclimate me back into American culture.
As my friends are leaving and my Ghanaian friends are realizing I leave soon as well I am always questioned with "Will you come back?" My immediate response is "Yes! Of course!" But then I begin to think and wonder if this is actually true or if the allure of traveling to new countries will be too tempting and visiting Ghana again will be put on the back-burner. The people I have met here have made this an incredible experience and I would be coming back to see them even if for only a little bit and not the 4.5 months I have spent here this semester. We will see what the future holds but I know that I would definitely be up for returning at some point in my life if only to eat some banku and okro soup.
With only 3 to 4 days left I have begun disassembling my room and beginning to pack away my things. It's strange because I will never see this dorm room again, a room that has so many memories of Jazmine (my roommate), of friends visiting, of oompa loompa dances, of drumming and dance sessions, food poisoning, malaria, and many other memories both enjoyable and ones that were not as fun. Seeing my room everyday was so commonplace that I never took a picture of it and now to take a picture of it would not be doing it justice due to its haphazard state and the process of packing. I've realized that the things I see everyday are the things you guys want to see most; trotros, wandering goats, my dorm room, campus, my Ghanaian friends, eating banku and fufu, etc. and yet these are the things I have no photos of. They now seem so common to me that I forget it's not common for everyone else to see back home. These last few days will be spent running around campus and Accra taking pictures of things that seem so inconsequential to me now but will seem so strange and foreign to my family and friends.
So as I sit here reflecting in my room of disarray I realize that my study abroad experience I could not have traded for the world. I think studying in Africa, a continent that gets you strange looks when you mention studying there, has taught me so many life lessons that I could not have learned elsewhere. I only hope studying abroad in Costa Rica next semester will be as eye-opening, educational and ultimately enjoyable as this experience has been. But now if there is one thing I have learned for next semester it is that I definitely need to take some Mac n' cheese, something I consider almost a delicacy after going so long without dairy products. :) Until I see you all, nante yie. And happy holidays.
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