On our last full day in Ghana, both kids attended their final day of school, and many goodbyes were said. Osman cleaned our flat for the last time. Tracy and I spent the entire day packing, forcing Osman to work around us.
Catherine received a nice present from friend Jesse, a new backpack. And, we took a family photo on the patio prior to dinner at Coco Lounge. Interesting to compare today’s photo to its complement.
At dinner, we talked about highs, lows, and things we would do differently knowing what we know now. Here are our lists:
• Highs:
Catherine: Biggest highlight was making new friends. Both (a) banku and light soup at Samuel’s house and (b) rice balls were memorable foods. All trips were additional highlights.
Mark: This was a new, fun experience, living in a new place, being in a new culture, and experiencing new foods. Paragliding, attending a movie with the Calvin students, and the farewell celebration were all highlights.
Tracy: the visit to Zogga village and the World Vision site during January was a big highlight. Close behind were the funeral in Akropong, seeing the students flourish throughout the semester, and weekly meals at our flat. Other highlights included paragliding, the vibrancy of Ghanaian streets, the Ghanian love of life, and hospitable, warm, gracious, and fun loving people everywhere.
Matt: the biggest highlights were paragliding, the Akropong funeral, and the Ghana-Mozambique football match.
• Lows:
Catherine: saying goodbye to new friends.
Mark: cops and traffic.
Tracy: dealing with thefts at International Student Hostel and too many clinic visits with students.
Matt: cops and corruption.
• What we would do differently knowing what we know now:
Catherine: go paragliding.
Mark: set up the school situation better.
Tracy: ask more questions about schools and establish a different medical protocol for the Calvin program with the goal of reducing the burden on the director.
Matt: meet more engineers.
On the way home from dinner, we had one (hopefully final) encounter with the Ghanaian police force. This time I was definitely at fault for making an illegal U-turn. Thankfully, my International Driving Permit was in the glove box. Tracy had removed it this morning, but I remembered to get it shortly after departing the flat. We chose to fetch it before heading off campus. Sooooo glad we did!
—Matt
