Nearing the End

Today I didn’t go to school in the morning, because I’ve spent the last few days being nauseous after I eat, but I feel better in a few hours without too many issues, so then I feel silly for not going to work.

We walked to library by ourselves. The people on the way know us now and so we offer greetings back and forth, in Twi. They know we know the traditional greetings, so they switch it up a bit to test us. I keep getting confused between the reply to “Etusen?”, which is “Eya” and the reply to “Aiko!”, which is “Ya-e”. I always have to pause and think about “Ya-e”, which makes them laugh at me, but we are laughing together.

We pass a school that is always getting out just as we come by. Cliff and I were thinking that the chorus of, “Obroni, Obroni!” make us feel like superstars. Perhaps we’ll have to put on a show, now.

Kara had a bag made to take back all the lovely swag that is, wood and hand crafts, that we’ve gotten here, but the zipper isn’t big enough, so we dropped it by for Noah to put another zipper in. Which brings to mind that our days here are numbered: we go home in just a few days.

This is a beautiful place, and the people here have left an imprint on me. Each day when I teach, I meet the children under a mango tree during their break, to play. Mango trees are ubiquitous, here. They’re everywhere! So, when I think about coming back, bringing my family and my friends to enjoy some of the things I have discovered, and some of the people I have met, and who have let me into their community and their hearts, I do not think about good-bye. I think, someday, I’ll just meet you under the Mango Tree.