A year in Ghana

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I have officially crossed the halfway mark on my service in Ghana. I arrived here about sixteen months ago, which means I have eleven months left in country. I have lived here longer than I ever lived in Korea, Austria, or Russia.

So how am I feeling about this?

Well. I am feeling a lot of things.

I often feel frustrated by the fact that I haven't been able to accomplish much. I haven't managed to do much of what my community hoped I would do, and I also haven't managed to achieve many of the goals I set for myself. There have been a lot of moments over the last year when I have doubted exactly why I came, and wondered if I might have been better off staying home, where at least I would have things to do every day.

Although it doesn't feel like a lot, I have managed to do one or two things over the course of the last year. I have held cooking demonstrations, tended my garden, taught adolescents about malaria and HIV, created a Grassroots Soccer group, and attended a youth leadership camp with kids from my community. I have worked with other PCVs to plan and host events and I have given talks on hand-washing and planning healthy meals.

More importantly, I have made a lot of connections in my community that I hope will pay off in the last year of my service as I work to accomplish more of my Peace Corps goals. I have learned to speak Ewe relatively well (the Peace Corps examiner told me I speak at an advanced level, but I am very skeptical...). I have learned to live in a culture that is extremely different from my own. I have tasted foods that initially made me wrinkle my nose. My neighbors and I are no longer strangers to each other.


Not a quality picture, but these are quality people.

And that's pretty much it. The majority of what I have accomplished in the last year fits in those two paragraphs. Sometimes, it feels like nothing. Sometimes it feels like next year will bring more of the same: a lot of endless days of boredom, shelling peanuts and riding my bike for hours for lack of anything more productive to do.

The support and encouragement of everyone at home has meant so much over the last year. I know I am pretty terrible at responding to texts. And What's App messages. And Facebook messages. And...basically every form of communication. As far as that goes, if you've communicated with me in the last year and I haven't responded--it's me, not you. I am pretty much the worst at checking and responding to messages, but I do read them eventually, and they all make me very happy.

So yeah. Halfway there, and I am feeling hopeful. The last year has not always been easy. At times it has been downright rough. But for today, I am feeling happy and excited for what the next year will bring.

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