I am hardly a literary buff, but for some reason, “Nothing gold can stay” came to mind tonight as I had the first of many goodbyes to the people that have made my time in Saboba so wonderful. Joe leaves early tomorrow morning, like 3:30 early, to go back to Damongo for the next phase of his nursing school. Kristi and I went to bid him farewell this evening, and none of us were not as cheery as usual. Pastor Jidoh always sends Joe to get our eggs and tea, so I had to have Joe pass on the secret of where exactly he gets those. Both he and Pastor Jidoh have told me you just walk down there and they are right by downtown on the street…. I am sorry. Could you be a little more specific? Pastor Jidoh off in Accra buying a tractor (so funny) so he was not there this evening, so I had to see to it that I got my egg sandwich. Joseph was not leaving until he revealed the secret! As it turns out, his directions were very accurate… downtown over there on the street. Interestingly enough, it is the same place where my white skin and I get near daily proposals from the entourage of young gentlemen who sit on the street. The last time I was there, Muhammad, the guy who owns the store they sit in front of, asked yet again if I would marry him and I stopped, turned around, walked over to him and looked right at him. The concept of marrying for love hasn’t quite reached these parts… getting to know your future spouse is totally overrated here. In good humor, I posed a question: what if I was the most awful, most annoying, over-bearing girl ever and I could make you miserable for the rest of his life all because he didn’t bother to get to know me. You have to understand this is completely harmless and out of jest, even though both parties in this instance were jokingly serious. His posse thought this was just hilarious, and were rolling with deep, Ghana laughter, which never fails to make me laugh. Muhammad kept going though. He said that is exactly why we need to go to America together so he can meet my family (For those of you who know my family… can you even imagine?! I’m tempted to do it just for the reaction hehe). So there it is… they see white and think green. White lady. Green card.
That was a total spinoff what I was trying to say, but it is probably just as well. I am not good with goodbyes and prefer to get them over with as soon as I can and walk away. But Joe being Joe has to say things like, “You know what I am thinking about? I am wondering when, after we have all gone our separate ways, when we will ever sit together like this again?” Ugh Heart pang. And then I stupidly blurt out, “heaven” as an answer to what was clearly a question that has no answer. I am so eloquent sometimes.
I have hardly lost my hope in humanity, but meeting people like Joe always gives it a boost. People like him are rare because of the way he loves and cares for people, and I am so happy we are friends. I will have to put a plug in for facebook right now… our world is getting smaller by the second. Tonight in the compound of the Jidoh residence, I set up an account for him so we can keep in touch on the internet he has on his phone. Most have it here on their phones. It’s so crazy and something I certainly did not expect. The technology that has given us email and facebook will allow these relationships I have made here to continue in a different form, and I am so thankful.
I did not write yesterday because I was so sick of being on this computer after putting all those pictures up for you viewing pleasure on facebook. The stubborn side of me kicked in and I was determined, no matter how long this takes, to get these pictures up and send the nasty teratoma pictures to spare the general public from seeing them against their will. It took FOREVER. In addition to my repulsion to this computer, we had a rainstorm last night, and I wanted to spend my evening reading my murder mystery because the combination freaks me out in a thrilling kind of way. Weird? Totally.
I will be leaving for Tamale Wednesday morning to begin my much anticipated adventure to the Volta. Kristi begins her journey home (sad) and Bob and Jean will stay in Tamale to celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary on the 14th. So, we will all be leaving together and splitting. So yes, this means I will be doing this trip by myself, but I have connections. One of my life goals is to have a really stellar global network and it is starting to take root in Ghana. I am meeting up with the guy I met at Mole (whom Dr. Jean trusts. She wouldn’t let me go if she didn’t), a friend of his flying in from the U.S. and some Peace Corp friends of his in Kpando on the east side of Lake Volta. Stop. No one freak out. I will be fine. I have connections, hook ups and people I know along the way and a really amazing Chuck Norris-like round house kick to the face, or other sensitive areas, if provoked. I told my parents not to think of me travelling across a foreign country by myself but the state of Oregon. That’s all it is. It’s like I’m dropping down from the Tri Cities and headed to Portland! I just have to do this. I have been plotting this trip for months and I intend to take full advantage of my time in Ghana. There are things I need to see and check of my list. I will compose a loose outline before I go so you can follow along. It will be a good time.
This is an extremely random entry, so I think before I go on any more tangents, I will spare all of us and wrap it up.
I hope you had a wonderful Sunday! Recall the quote of the day a few days ago… We had pancakes this morning for breakfast;)
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