Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sunyani, Ghana 6-24-2009

Well medamfos, t-minus 7 days and counting. It's hard to believe I've been away from home for 10 months. It feels like just yesterday that I was getting off the plane in Accra, and now I'm about to get on one. It's definetally a very bitter sweet feeling. Bitter because I've fallen in love with my host family and the simplicity of life. But sweet because I start school in September (I graduated high school!!!!! :]) , I get to put all these things I've learned in Ghana to use and I have the rest of my life to live! One of the things that really hit me that I'm going home is that since I got to Sunyani I'd be promising Junior and Kwasi that I'd take them to the pool right before I left. And when I took them, I finally realized that I'm about to leave. I can tell its going to be harder leaving here than coming. I knew I'd eventually go home when I first go here, but now that I'm leaving I don't know when I'll be coming back! I'm curious to see how the cross culture shock affect me. Coming from Ghana where people live on less than a dollar a day, where kids don't have shoes to walk in but still they have to walk 3 miles to fetch water. Going to America where people think they need a new phone, car or tv, even though their things still work. Where if you dont wear Abercrombie, you're not "cool". People materialistic ambitions annoy me and I'm not even back in the States yet! It sounds rather harsh, and of course we should live comfortably, but do we really need the unnecessary things that we buy everyday (retorical question)? I think that being back with the people I used to surround myself with will be a bit difficult. Not that they've changed, but I've changed (Yeresesem! siiiike! Kukurudu!). I won't like things that I used to like and vice versa.
But at the same time, It'll be nice to get home. Not dealing with constant heat (though I've heard it like 90 degrees with 600% humidity), having a diverse meal selection and just being around my family and just being home in general.
I just hope that I can put these things that I've learned into good use when I get home. I've made some good decisions and some bad ones, but I just hope I can learn from them. This has been the greatest year of my life. It really has changed my life; not in the fact that I was a drug dealer or alcoholic, but now I appreciate the small things in life. At times I cursed myself for coming to Ghana, but I couldnt have made a better decision in my 19 years of living on this big blue marble we call Earth (Thank you Ron Burgundy). I would encourage any highschooler to become an exchange student. It's fun, challenging, aggrivating and difficult, but in the end it'll only help you! And (it sounds like a plug) but if you're to old to be an AFS exchange student, host a student. It'll change your life more than it changes theirs!

Well, this will be my last blog from Sunyani (it kind of hurts to say that *sigh*). I'll be leaving Sunyani on Sunday morning, will spend a few days in Accra with medamfo Wes and then will leave Ghana on Tuesday and arrive in Nashville on Wednsday! That 303 days went fast!

Until next time! God Bless!!!

2 comments:

abhi said...

its nice

Songbird said...

Oh my goodness you're coming home! I think you're back now! Well- I think now you have two homes : )

I hope it's not too overwhelming to be back. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about your trip and hope to hear more about it from you. I'm so glad you've had such an amazing experience!!