Bye Bye Ghana

I might do a few more blogs talking about adjusting to real world, which will probably be harder than adjusting to here, but this will be my last entry from Ghana.

Last week our COS conference was extremely fun. We’re the only group left that came in with under 70 and our group got really close after two years together. The conference was about reintegration into the States and all the paperwork that we have to do so it shouldn’t have been too exciting but it flew by. We did “Fufu Awards” between each section (ex. Most likely to bring Kente clothe to Broadway-me, Most likely to require a nap while walking to his car-our boss). 97% weren’t politically correct enough to quote here but they were hilarious.

The resort was gorgeous (Will Smith and lots of other celebs have stayed there), the food was so good, and the company was perfect. The last day the environment volunteers gave out a cutlass award to each of the 3 sectors to signify hard work and accomplishments. Hannah Frank won Health and Water Sanitation, Sam Frankel won Environment, and in a favorite moment of PC I got the cutlass for Small Enterprise Development. Kris Laurie, one of my closest friends during training, gave the speech. The level of respect that I hold him in really added to the meaning of what was said.

20 of us headed to the remote beach for the weekend to delay our goodbyes. A good amount have even came all the way to Accra to see Marcus and I off. We have a week full of paperwork, medical stuff, and last minute arrangements until we fly out Thursday night for Munich and Oktoberfest! From there we are going to Fussen in the Alps, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris. I should be home October 10th.

Bye Bye Kpetoe

Leaving America was hard because 2 years seemed so long. Leaving Kpetoe was rough because I’ll probably never see most of these guys again. Despite that it couldn’t have gone much better.

It was our Kente Festival this weekend so everyone was around and the town was crowded. Lots of PCVs and even the Country Director came. So basically all my Kpetoe friends were there, most my closest PC friends were there, and there was a huge festival going on. I got to say individual goodbyes to Michael, Bright, Joshua, Lawrence, Mr. Agba and Suzzy. It wasn’t easy but the fact that the last 2 years have been a blast really helped.

Tomorrow I leave Ho and our whole group that came in 2008 gets together for our Close of Service conference. 34 of our original 42 will be there and 2 of those missing will finish their service but can’t make it. We are a great group with lots of personality so it will be a fun few days together.

Master WEaver Ceremony

My PC Boss

Mukaila and me. He's the big man in town that's always been there for me

Going into our newly opened visitors' centre!

All Powdered

Beza, Julie, Steve, and Chrissa came.Ceremonies here are not exactly fun so this really meant a ton to me

The traditional rulers of the Agotime Area

Don't mess w/the Queen Mothers

My boss from PC even gave a speech

Mr. Agba, who calls me his son, powdering me as part of the ceremon

The entire Agotime Tourism Management Team

All the weavers of the shed. One of my favorite pictures because thses are the guys who I spent the most time with.