Halfway Mark: What I'll miss and What I won't

A few days ago marked the three month milestone of my crazy Ghanaian experience. My family and I are now on the downhill slope of our trip and because of this I have compiled lists of the things that I will miss and won't from Ghana.

What I'll Miss:

·         The genuine hospitality and overall niceness of Ghanaians - Seriously. I can't count the number of times we've been helped out by Ghanaians. The people are so willing to help out someone they may not even know, and it's extremely refreshing. 

• Being around all the black people - Now I think every black person has heard Africa being called the "motherland" or "homeland" for them and most of us embrace that. I completely embrace diversity and am incredibly lucky to live in a place like Shaker Heights where almost all races are represented, but there is something about being a minority and traveling to a place where that isn't the case. Sure, the Ghanaians refer to my family and me as foreigners or "obruinis" (I'd like to point out that we've been confused for South Africans and Saharan Africans, not just Westerners, which counts for something right?), but we don't see ourselves sticking out like they might, we simply see ourselves surrounded by "our" people, so to speak. 
• The weather - The weather here is glorious. I'm not too much of a hot weather person (to my dad's great displeasure since my direct heritage is Caribbean, so I should be an "island girl"), and I'm not sure how I'm feeling about the whole 9 months of summer weather year I'm having, but, for now, the weather is fantastic. A normal day has temperatures of about 90 degrees at midday and maybe 80 at night and hot days are usually 95+ degrees during the day. We are entering the rainy season (May-November) where, in Accra, it rains about once or twice a week, which is a nice way of cooling down the ubiquitous hot air. 
• Break from "real life"- I'm not sure if this is the same for all travels, but something about being distanced from my normal life and routine makes me feel like I'm not really partaking in "real life". And, let me tell you, it's pretty nice. The fact that I'm taking online classes which give me an extreme flexibility and allows me to choose my own work hours and days (too much freedom for a teenager? Don't worry, parents still have me on a tight leash :)) is definitely a contributing factor to the whole "unreal" feeling I'm getting. A change of pace and scenery every once and a while is definitely good.
• The beaches - Accra is on the coast of Ghana, and the beaches are some of my favorite things about the city. Sundays are usually the Joseph Family beach day which means we pack up the car and head off on an hour drive to the beach and spend the day out there. Cleveland isn't exactly a beach city, so we are really savoring these weekly beach trips.

What I Won't Miss:

• The smells - There is a mixture of many different smells that one comes across while driving around Accra and, unfortunately, a majority of them are not pleasing to the nose. Ghanaians are strong believers in burning trash and leaves, which emits a quite foul smell and contributes greatly to the ever-present pollution of the area. In my blog about driving in Accra I mentioned the ditches that run alongside the road. These tend fill up with sewage in certain parts of the city, particularly those near the slum areas, and, well, it smells. Bad. Needless to say, I won't be missing the smells of the city when I head home. 
• Impatient drivers - My feelings towards the drivers of Accra are pretty well laid out in my 'Driving in Accra' blog post. The drivers are incredibly impatient here. The too-frequent honking of taxis, cars, and tro-tros will not be missed. 
• Insects in the house/Mosquito nets - Apparently, our shower is extremely alluring to all kinds of bugs and insects, as shown through the numerous centipedes, few spiders, couple lizards, and single tiny scorpion that decided to take up residence there. But! The accumulation of these insects is not limited to the bathroom! They also love to make appearances in the living room, bedrooms, and kitchen when they please. Has this increased exposure turned me and my mom and brothers into Bear Grylls-esque characters? No. (My dad is pretty rugged in this regard - he just opens the door and kicks the critters out with his foot.) Do I still jump at that tiny lizard snaking its way up the wall? Definitely. Although this exposure may limit my squealing at the sight of a spider back home, I'm not yet comfortable with the thought of sharing my home with creepy crawly hosts. 

It feels like just yesterday my family and I were arriving to Accra to begin our incredible 6 month journey, and here we are, at the halfway mark, speeding towards the end of our trip. There is still so much to and see while we're here and I'm trying my best to savor every moment that we're here.