Goodbyes are Hard

Goodbyes are always hard but especially when you don't know the next time you'll see someone.  Before leaving Ghana, I made sure I took my time to prepare to say goodbye and not be rushed doing it all at the last minute.  Honestly I think it was more for me to try and feel some closure as my service came to an end.  Either way I'm glad I started early because it took a lot of time going around to people's houses and giving out a few small gifts as appropriate.

My school did an official goodbye party for me the weekend after July 4th.  They cooked light soup (one of my favorites) with guinea fowl and goat, bought minerals, and gave me lovely parting gifts.  It ended up being held at my house, which was crowded, instead of the school because rain was threatening and the cooking was being done out front under my neem tree.  But it was still nice to hang out with all the teachers and other community members who stopped by.  I wished my students had been able to take part but we'd done ice cream parties in each class so I was glad I done that with them.

I think was the most difficult part for me- trying to properly goodbye to my students.  I tried giving out a few hugs to some of my students I was closer to and it was super awkward.  So for the boys I would just shake their hands but the girls were fine with hugs.  This is one of my final group pictures with some students.

Madam Millanie from church made me beautiful hand-painted calabashes to take home and use as decoration.  I'm working on setting up our Ghana guest room and will hang them up in there.  

Most of the tears didn't happen until it was actually time for me to leave early in the morning.  A small group of students came to see me off which meant the world to me.  I tried to hold it together as much as possible but with all the girls crying it was hard.  I did ok for the most part and then lost it on my final ride to Bolga from the village.

Here I am with Auntie in front of the lorry that carried me away from everyone and the village I grew to love. As much as I miss the people, I don't miss the crowded lorry rides on bumpy, unpaved roads.

After going to Kumasi to witness the wedding of a volunteer to a lovely Ghanaian gal, I stopped by to see my homestay family one last time before proceeding onto Accra to start the process necessary to close our your service.  I drove banku for old times sake and my homestay mom made me okra soup which was one of my favorites that she cooked.

They also took me to the nearby spot where we all had minerals and Fan Ice (vanilla ice cream) to make floats.  I introduced this to my homestay brother on my first (and only) birthday in Ghana and he remembered I liked them.  I actually was pretty sick in this picture and while I stayed with my family but I learned to hide it pretty well by then.  I felt awful on my last trip to Accra and so was feeling rather ready to leave Ghana and stomach troubles behind from a physical comfort standpoint.  It made it a bit easier to say goodbye to Ghana and then hello to England for two weeks before my homecoming in Atlanta.