Not Missing

(The details of what I do and will miss are in the previous post)

What don't I miss from home?

I was going to say there is very little I don't miss - perhaps because I have been away for 4 months now and am getting a bit homesick, but on further reflection... the things I don't miss are mostly cultural, having seen, if not experienced, this lifestyle which is focused on need, not want, and a daily struggle to provide for oneself and one's family

I don't miss the way we use so much credit to buy so many things we don't need and then discard them within six months - either because we don't use them or because they were poor quality and have stopped working. People here pay cash for 99.9% of everything they buy and repair things to re-use them, for many different purposes, until they literally fall apart. Of necessity, they do the things (three R's - reduce, re-use, recycle) that we pat ourselves on the back for - when we really only do them in tiny increments to "reduce our carbon footprint".

I don't miss television as much as I thought I would. I may disappear into a fog of DVR recordings when I return, but there has really been little extra time to spend on TV anyway, what with the monstrous Excel business model I was working on every night - and which we will be re-modeling in the next few weeks.

And, I don't miss driving to and from work every day in stop-and-go traffic. Walking down the hall in shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops is awesome.

What won't I miss when I go home?

Frankly, there are a few things that come to mind.

I won't miss people, including adults and neighbors, calling me (yelling in a chorus when I appear) "oburoni" as if it's my name.

I won't miss the abysmal customer service - although after spending an hour on the phone with Bank of America the other night, it's not looking so bad.

I won't miss the speed bumps (two or three homemade ones on the main highway through many villages on our route - requiring us to slow to 5 kph or hit our heads on the roof), potholes, nor "dusty" roads, as the locals call the mud-rutted, washboard, dirt roads that are the vericose veins of the land.

I won't miss people demanding things ("Give me ____") as if I am a money tree, plastic bottle tree, biscuit (cookie) tree, banana tree, or ice tree. OK, that last one is my own fault. I did start giving the kids a piece of ice now and then. It only costs a few pesewa to fill all the trays in the freezer and they L-O-V-E, love it. And I can't begrudge them the empty bottles either - they use them to save water for when the city main is not running, and for the children to take water with them to school.

NOTE: In fairness, from speaking with many people, I understand that "give me..." is the literal translation of what they would say to another Ghanaian, so it is just a cultural difference, but especially when combined with "oburoni" it is the cultural fingernail on the chalkboard of my days.

Most of all, I won't miss the heat. As most everyone knows, I wilt in the heat. Since being here, I have taken half an Oral Rehydration Salts packet in water every route day (the day we deliver fresh batteries to our agents in the field and collect the used ones) since I discovered them. Unfortunately, I discovered them out of necessity - I'll spare you the details. Anyway, I completely understand why people in very hot climates get up early and work while it's cool, then rest when it's hottest, and work again after the sun finishes its assault for the day.
XO