two weeks!
It dawned on me today, perhaps for the first time: that I am completely, utterly ready to go home.
Ghana's been a great opportunity, a good experience with some amazing moments; but I am already starting to resolve it all in my head - I am waiting to go home.
Not that it's bad or traumatic or dangerous here in any way - but chatting with the other volunteers here (all of whom are here for three months like me, or for six, in Martin and Liz's case), I do feel like three months is a long time, and we are all just about over being away from our homes.
Tomorrow, it is 14 days until i am on a plane, and 16 days until I see Miriam. I think about that number as one of the first thoughts when I wake up, and as one of the last before I sleep.
And I am missing more and more things about home. I missing being able to travel into a town without worrying whether the vehicle will crash. I miss going to the bathroom and not worrying whether a snake is going to take my life. I miss going to the supermarket or ordering food online, and having the FREEDOM to buy what I want, and not worry whether or not something will make me violently ill if I eat it raw (side note: so far, never had diahorrea! And only the one upset stomach, which I think was caused by doxycycline more than food. I that's a pretty damn excellent testamonial to my hygiene and precaution here, especially considering my doctor said that it's 'almost unheard of' that someone doesn't cop digestive troubles in three months of West Africa). I miss the idea of fresh water coming from a tap - because right now I can't really fathom how safe water could come from anything other than a sachet that may or may not taste like mud, or from a bottle. I miss the floorboards and carpet in my house. I miss seeing my dogs' faces. I miss the helpful nature of my daily work.
And that's other than the obvious - god, how I miss Mim. That beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL human. I miss her so much. I miss everything about her, i miss her and me, I miss the way she tells jokes and how she smells nice, I miss holding her, I miss her eyes.
So yeah I miss that stuff.
The next three days are a Volta trip. I'm looking forward to getting away, i'm not looking forward to being a killjoy because I likely won't go kayaking on the lake for fear of Schistosomiasis. I am looking forward to reading and eating vegan food at a couple of the places we are staying at, I am not looking forward to telling Martin that I won't join him for hikes or bike rides through the Volta's valleys and hills. I know what lives there.
Wow, i just spent a while reading about Schistosomias/Bilharzia. It is such a huge thing at Volta , especially Akosombo. It'll be shore lines and books for me. :)
i'm really enjoying One Hundred Years of Solitude, though i've had little time for reading lately. I still owe a couple of people some emails, but the list is getting small.
Today, i told my football team that I am leaving in two weeks time. I think they are planning something as a thankyou. I'm not sure what. Gyampoh made me really happy today - he's such a great guy.
Mm.. Getting sleepy now, i'm looking forward to crossing another day off the calendar. Nightclub-volume bass thumps through my dorm floor, as there's a funeral on in the village (they are three day affairs, which is similar in length to mayhayana buddhist funerals, but very different in terms of the latter basically being a chanting ceremony, and the former being basically a party). We mightn't get lots of sleep tonight - so it'll be a good few days to get out of town.
Posted via m.livejournal.com.
Ghana's been a great opportunity, a good experience with some amazing moments; but I am already starting to resolve it all in my head - I am waiting to go home.
Not that it's bad or traumatic or dangerous here in any way - but chatting with the other volunteers here (all of whom are here for three months like me, or for six, in Martin and Liz's case), I do feel like three months is a long time, and we are all just about over being away from our homes.
Tomorrow, it is 14 days until i am on a plane, and 16 days until I see Miriam. I think about that number as one of the first thoughts when I wake up, and as one of the last before I sleep.
And I am missing more and more things about home. I missing being able to travel into a town without worrying whether the vehicle will crash. I miss going to the bathroom and not worrying whether a snake is going to take my life. I miss going to the supermarket or ordering food online, and having the FREEDOM to buy what I want, and not worry whether or not something will make me violently ill if I eat it raw (side note: so far, never had diahorrea! And only the one upset stomach, which I think was caused by doxycycline more than food. I that's a pretty damn excellent testamonial to my hygiene and precaution here, especially considering my doctor said that it's 'almost unheard of' that someone doesn't cop digestive troubles in three months of West Africa). I miss the idea of fresh water coming from a tap - because right now I can't really fathom how safe water could come from anything other than a sachet that may or may not taste like mud, or from a bottle. I miss the floorboards and carpet in my house. I miss seeing my dogs' faces. I miss the helpful nature of my daily work.
And that's other than the obvious - god, how I miss Mim. That beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL human. I miss her so much. I miss everything about her, i miss her and me, I miss the way she tells jokes and how she smells nice, I miss holding her, I miss her eyes.
So yeah I miss that stuff.
The next three days are a Volta trip. I'm looking forward to getting away, i'm not looking forward to being a killjoy because I likely won't go kayaking on the lake for fear of Schistosomiasis. I am looking forward to reading and eating vegan food at a couple of the places we are staying at, I am not looking forward to telling Martin that I won't join him for hikes or bike rides through the Volta's valleys and hills. I know what lives there.
Wow, i just spent a while reading about Schistosomias/Bilharzia. It is such a huge thing at Volta , especially Akosombo. It'll be shore lines and books for me. :)
i'm really enjoying One Hundred Years of Solitude, though i've had little time for reading lately. I still owe a couple of people some emails, but the list is getting small.
Today, i told my football team that I am leaving in two weeks time. I think they are planning something as a thankyou. I'm not sure what. Gyampoh made me really happy today - he's such a great guy.
Mm.. Getting sleepy now, i'm looking forward to crossing another day off the calendar. Nightclub-volume bass thumps through my dorm floor, as there's a funeral on in the village (they are three day affairs, which is similar in length to mayhayana buddhist funerals, but very different in terms of the latter basically being a chanting ceremony, and the former being basically a party). We mightn't get lots of sleep tonight - so it'll be a good few days to get out of town.
Posted via m.livejournal.com.