Back to the Future

So, the trip was over last week and the last of the official posts has been posted. To finish up the story for those who need closure, Leslie and Pam and I returned to Koforidua on 08 January where we spent two days at a local hotel (with a pool) and where they got to see where I live and work. Both Leslie and Pam were a big hit with the children, what with the long blonde hair and motherly ways. Oh, Leslie had Tootsie Pops, too, that might have helped.

We hung out at the office/ residence most of Friday, and also packed up some of the things I brought with me that I had since discovered I didn't need - like shoes! Whit's brother and nephew were also here, so it felt like the Brady Bunch for some reason - three boys and three girls from two different families, I guess.

On Saturday, we drove to Accra very early in the morning to deliver Pam to the airport for her continuing journey to India. Then Leslie and I went with Greg, Peter, and Bobby - oops I mean Whit, Max, and Harper to the Cultural Center aka Craft Market where we saw some real drumming with six drummers, and looked for an Oware board (also known as Mankala, the name you are most likely to have heard) but the quality wasn't so hot, so we got a few other last minute things and continued on our way.

Tim and Shika had us all to their house for an amazing lunch of Ghanaian food. Leslie's comment: "Oh, so this is what it's supposed to taste like!" After that, the guys took us to our hotel for a last afternoon by the pool and an evening together before Leslie's flight in the morning.

At 7:00 in the morning, we rode the hotel shuttle to the airport, where no one but passengers are allowed inside. We said our goodbyes on the sidewalk three hours before Leslie's flight. As checkout was not until noon, we agreed I would stay at the hotel until the flight left, just in case. Leslie called me at 8:30 and said she was at the gate and the plane was there, so all should be well.

I, unfortunately, was not well. I went to the pool for about an hour, then back to the room for a shower and an emotional meltdown. Whit had taken the truck and gone with Max and Harper to Cape Coast, so I was intending to take my first trotro ride back to Koforidua. But the idea of two hours in a van with nothing to do but feel lonely, think, and sweat was more than I could handle. As Leslie said: "It's a lot harder being the one left than the one leaving." I get it.

In the end, I called Tim, who answered even though he was in church. Having no idea what to do with a distraught woman, he called Shika, who called me then came and got me. Having done his good deed for the day, Tim left church early and arrived home shortly after we did. I stayed the night at their house and Tim brought me to Koforidua in the morning. It's such a gift to have such wonderful people in my life here.
XO