After the trip to Wa things moved incredibly fast. In the final month of my internship I planned one more Women's Entrepreneurship Event-this time in Tamale and helped the Entrepreneurship Club at T-Poly strike up a student executive (the picture below). We also planned a whirl-wind tour to watch the Africa Cup games that were hosted in Ghana. We traveled to Kumasi to cheer for Ghana in the third place final (they won!) and then went on to Accra to watch Egypt capture their third title in a row against a crushed Cameroonian team.
It was sad to say goodbye to the students-during our last meeting they brought a photographer to come and do a group shot and presented me with a traditional kente cloth smock. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and I couldn't believe how quickly our time together had passed. The staff at T-Poly also gave me a warm farewell-treating me to a dinner of traditional Ghanaian cuisine and presenting me with some Ghanaian clothes and accessories to take back with me.
On my last night in Tamale I had a fabulous hot dog roast with my friends from the house. My Ghanaian friend, Joseph insisted that I try real dog meat so he brought that over and Shawn and Nicole wrote me a fun farewell song, which made me tear up. After the dinner I pulled an all-nighter trying to get my drum and a 10 pound statue stuffed into my suitcases. 6am came way too quickly and all of a sudden I was hauling my bags out into the darkness and preparing to make my way back to the airport with my project coordinator, Razak. As we drove to the airport I tried to take in all the sights of my neighbourhood one last time. I was so tired but my mind was running with thoughts-would I ever be back here? Would it be the same if I did? I smiled to myself as I remembered the scene at the Tamale airport six months ago- my knees were shaking when I climbed down from that little plane and realized I was in fact, in Africa!
There wasn't too much time to lament though, after a 45 minute flight I was on my way to the ocean front resort I was bunking at for the night-a little treat for myself before I had to face the -20 weather in Canada. The resort was absolutely beautiful and since I arrived on a weekend, they had live African musicians playing at the grandstand in front of the pool all day. I ordered red-red (my favourite Ghanaian dish) for dinner that night and tried to breath in the beautiful, palm tree lined, ocean view one last time from my thatched-roofed gazebo.Goodbye Ghana....Hello Family!!!!!!!!
I arrived home in Regina to a warm welcome from my family and friends. My first week back went in warp speed as I caught up with people back home. I had a welcome home party with the family, a surprise supper with the girls, and was treated to a show at the symphony. Then, Uncle Kim,Auntie Heather, Grandma and Grandpa offered to help me with my adjustment to the weather change....by taking me to the coldest part of Saskatchewan for 10 days!!!
Yes, just 3 weeks after arriving back in Canada I headed to Nemebien Lake with the Hughes Clan for some R & R. I got to drive on the ice road for the first time and took a shot at ice fishing. ( I figured even though I didn't actually catch a fish, I still came out on top in terms of the following ratio: amount of time spent fishing (1 day)/fish fries (3 : )= a happy fisherwoman. ) We got some x-country skiing in and Grandma and I learned how the locals put the fishing nets under the water. (picture below)
As always, hangin' with the Hughes clan was a blast!
Within a few weeks I had traveled across an ocean; went from one temperature extreme to another; swapped my bike for a pair of skis; and instead of treading in flip flops across the dusty red dirt, I found myself clomping through snow up to my knees. It was at that exact moment-when I was over my boots in snow hiking back to the cabin that a quote by Helen Keller came to mind:
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
Thank you to everyone who "helped pack my parachute", I wouldn't have the courage to go for these adventures if it wasn't for all of you!
Until the next adventure....
Shawna from Ghana
