Good-bye Tamale, Hello Vacation

It's been a few days since I posted last...I'll do my best to remember what we all did. Saturday was a lazy day for us, hit up the market and just lazed around. Sunday we had a class from 1pm-4pm where we talked about our experiences and debriefed about what we had seen during our clinical experiences. We all spent 2 weeks working in Tamale hospital, but for the other 2 weeks we were in groups of four in different areas of the country so it was interesting to hear stories from the other groups.

Monday we had another class from 9am-12pm and talked about transitioning back into life and nursing in Canada. I am nervous about the culture shock that I'll experience when I head back home, and I have a feeling it'll be difficult to transition back into the Canadian lifestyle. I am definitely more grateful for everything I have back home and will never forget the things I've seen here. So much of me wants to return one day. I feel like I am leaving a piece of myself here, and I definitely have a desire to come back.

Monday night we had a thank-you/going away party at the Bigiza hotel (one of the few places that has a swimming pool in Tamale). We invited all the friends we had made over the last few weeks, and some of the hospital staff that we worked with. One of our friends from Gushegu (2+ hours from Tamale) was in Tamale for the weekend so he came to our party too. So nice to have all our friends and support network people all together.

Tuesday called for a long day on the bus. We woke up at about 530am and headed over to the bus station for a thirteen hour busride from Tamale to Cape Coast. Thankfully we were on an STC bus (these, unlike the metro's, do not oversell tickets so it's not super crammed, and they have air conditioning!). While 13 hours on the bus is a long time, it flew by for all of us. There is so much to see all around us and I really enjoy that. As we made our way from Tamale to the coast, everything became more green and lush - so nice! Tamale and northern areas are so, so, so dry and brown, and here on the coast everything is green. Love it. Interesting story...at one point on the bus ride there was a semi truck that jack-knifed on the dirt road that we were traveling on. The only way we could get past was if we took a village road around the accident. The people in the village were not too keen on this idea and decided to block their road off with tractors and wood. After a long discussion between the bus driver and the village people, and some money paid to the village folk, the tractors and wood piles were moved and we were back on our way! This is Africa!

Eventually we (the six of us who chose to vacation here) made it down to the Cape Coast bus station and made our way off the bus. Here's another quick story for you...we were collecting our bags and finding two taxi's to bring us to our resort and as usual, there were quite a few people trying to help us get taxi's and load our bags in (then they often ask us for money in response to their favour). We thought one of the men helping was the friend or assistant of one of our cab drivers, so when he got into our cab with us we didn't think anything of it. Meanwhile, the cab driver thought he was our friend. When the man started asking us questions about where we were from and what we were doing in Ghana, the cab driver became suspicious of the man. He said "do you know this man?" and we innocently responded with "no...not at all". He pulled over instantly and kicked the guy out. He then explained to us that sometimes guys will find random tourists, go along with them in their cab, follow them to their destination, and possibly rob them of their things. Thankfully this driver was on the ball :)

So, now we are on the coast staying at a GORGEOUS resort. I cannot believe how wonderful it is. When you walk through the gates you forget you are in Africa. The six of us are in a family suite with two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, running water that always works, power that does not go out, and air conditioning! It's wonderful. We are so blessed. The Atlantic Ocean is just steps outside our door and the waves are crazy big. We all spent a LOT of time in the sunshine yesterday and today and our skin colour definitely shows it. The African sun is hot...and very capable of burning...

Tomorrow we are going on a fishing boat for an hour and it'll take us from the harbor out into ocean. There are so many fishing boats that go past here. I'm not exactly sure of what we're doing...the other girls arranged it. Should be interesting. Then we might hit up the golf course here at the resort...even though I dislike golf.

The plan was that we would stay here until Saturday, then head to the Volta River until Sunday, and then stay Sunday night in Accra and then fly out on Monday night. But...we are so in love with this place and not in the mood for another 4 hour bus ride, that we might not go to the Volta River. Not quite sure yet...

I've spent so many hours poolside and oceanside and have spent some of that time reflecting on my experience here in Ghana. I've also been reminded time and time again of how amazing our God is and have thought about where I'll be in the future. Although I will be leaving this incredible country on Monday, I am quite certain that I will not be leaving Africa forever. I don't feel like I can walk away from what I've seen... I need to come back.

I plan to post a reflective entry and some pictures within the next couple days.

Cheers.