"Bye, I'm Going Canada!"

“Bye, I’m going Canada!” These were Finn’s final, jolly words to his teachers as he waved goodbye and left Little Acorns for the last time. While he does not fully appreciate the gravity of the departure or the weight of his farewell, the rest of us do…even Materia. Her last remark, whimpered to Carmilla as her eyes welled up and she made her way from Little Acorns was, “I’m holding all my crying inside.” I’m sure the rest of us will not be so strong as we prepare to depart Ghana, if not forever, then certainly for a very long time.

It has been everything we dared imagine, and oh so much more. From the moment we stepped off of the airplane at Kotoka International Airport and saw the word “Akwaaba!” sprawled across the airport walls, we have felt just that, welcome. The things that others said about the people of Ghana were absolutely true and there is an overall tendency towards goodness and peace here that is unsurpassed in any part of the world that I can think of (though a few pockets of Canada come quite readily to mind). At first when Douglas the driver, Matthew the security guard, Diana the housekeeper, or even the plantain chip seller referred to us as their brothers and sisters, it felt like an awkward joke, but I have learned that they meant it. And now we mean it too.

There is a song by Arrested Development called “Africa’s Inside Me” that keeps looping through my head and is swiftly becoming the title song for soundtrack of our exit from Ghana. It is taking on new meaning as I reflect on our time here (and as it plays in the van while we bob and weave through and past the pulsating streets, vibrant markets and red-earth trails of this colour-drenched country!) and despite the fact that I have long-resisted the urge to think of Africa as truly being mine, I’m starting to feel that it is. For as long as I can remember dreaming about traveling, I have felt a kind of an inertia drawing me towards Africa, and I think Carmilla would agree. I would like to believe—and choose to believe from this point forward—that it is something primal, a hearkening back to a beginning I cannot fathom, but can certainly feel in the heartsong siren call of the African drum. This, the red, yellow and green of Ghana, this black star, is very much our Africa.

And so, we are on to the next adventure that will include a return to Canada’s great north. This blog has been rewarding and the feedback has been both generous and wide-reaching—every writer loves readers (especially theirs!) and I am no exception. As this year has contained its fair share of challenges (very little of this was Ghana’s fault!), this blog was also a sustaining force in my ability to chew on every moment and every experience, and I sincerely hope that it continues to be useful and enjoyed. For now, I too am holding all my crying inside, right next to the place where I will keep Africa. Bye, I’m going Canada!

Africa’s inside me

taking back her child

she’s giving me my pride

and setting me free

(Arrested Development)