After getting back from our trip to the North, I spent my seventh week in Legon, working on classes and spending time with friends. One exciting thing I did this week was go to Accra’s International Trade Fair, which was gigantic and had tons of stuff to look at from all over the world. On the weekend I also went to a jazz bar in Accra called 233, where we saw a beautiful live jazz band and relaxed with locals.
Overall this week was somewhat strange and I had some difficulty resettling after coming back from the North. I felt a little homesick for the first time since my first week in Ghana, and had less patience with certain things. Since this week was approaching my half-way point in my study abroad trip, I would read this emotions as a new phase in culture shock.
When I feel like this I find it really important to spend some time meditating and self-reflecting, through spending time alone in my room or on the beach, and especially journaling. It also really helped to talk to friends and family from home, especially my best friends Drew and Jenna. I realized that this was just a phase and totally normal to being somewhere so far away from all that is familiar to me.
Since I only have two months left in Ghana I need to appreciate every moment, even those that are more challenging! As a wise traveler once told me, there will be good days and bad days, just like normal life back home. The good thing is that I have had so many exciting and wonderful days here that completely outweigh the more homesick or uncomfortable ones. I have already experienced so much here, and cannot wait to see what else I will do and see during the second half of my trip.
