So far, our time in Kumasi has been pretty nice. We’ve visited a few bars, and even met a group of Irish medical students on Friday night. There were really a nice group of guys who were having a lot of fun and drinking a lot! I think we’ll meet up with them again before we leave.
On Saturday, we went to the Monkey Sanctuary in Kumasi. This is a village that lives next to a forest with two different species of monkeys. One species, the Mona Monkey, is very friendly and we got to feed it a few times. All we had were peanuts, and I don’t think they really liked them but they ate a few of them. The other species, the White Box Tail Monkey (or something like that), is very shy and doesn’t come close to humans. They are really pretty, and we got a pretty good look at a few of them. After that, we went to see two waterfalls nearby. At one, we pretty much just looked at it and hung around for about 20 minutes. But at the next one, we were able to swim and kind of slide down the big rocks. It was sooooooooooo much fun. There was so much water, and once you get under the big falls you can barely hear or see anything! One of my contacts got knocked out, but I didn’t really care. We eventually made our way to the top of the little cove where you could sit without getting pounded by water and that was really nice. It was one of the most relaxing environments I could imagine. That experience definitely made the whole trip worth it. We just kind of chilled for the rest of the night and waited for our shower to come on so we could get clean!
Today, I went to church with the 14-year-old (I don’t want to use here name, so I’ll call her Sarah) whose family lives next door to the hotel. The church service started around 8:15, and I had a translator since the whole thing was in Twi. The service was pretty nice and definitely more laid back and quieter than some of the other services I’ve heard since being here. The pastor there is also really nice. The service lasted for three hours and then I went out with and her sisters to meet some other people in the town. I think there was a misunderstanding with Sarah and one of the volunteers, and now I think Sarah thinks that she can come back to Accra with us and then maybe to America with us. She wants to go very badly, but of course it’s impossible for us to take her. I really feel like this is dangerous territory to be in because I don’t want to hurt her feelings or kill her dreams, but I don’t want to lead her on thinking that she can come back with us. Somehow we are going to have to break the news to her and make sure she understands that it’s just not appropriate for us to take her back with us. So many people think that they can just hop on the plane with us and we can set up their lives in America with a snap of our fingers. I wish it could work that way because I would love for Sarah to come to America and flourish. Unfortunately, now is not the time and I am not the right person for the job at this moment. Hopefully so doesn’t take it too hard…
Tomorrow starts my last week in Kumasi and my second to last week in Ghana! Where has all the time gone? I feel bittersweet about coming home so soon. I’m really going to miss Ghana and all of the wonderful people I’ve met here, but I can’t wait to get home and see everyone that I’ve missed so much! I’m gonna make this a great two weeks, and then I’ll come home happy!
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