It’s our last week in Africa. Ghana, wow. You truly did a number on me. I was able to learn and become friends with some of the most incredible professors (Leslie, Senyo, Lisa, and Curtis) at the University of Oregon. All while living in a house and experiencing it with 15 classmates, that only a couple months prior I didn’t even know. I was able to experience a perspective for media on a global scale. I was able to see amazing parts of this country. I swam under Wli Waterfalls, held a monkey in the Volta Region, rode a horse along the sands of Cape Coast and so much more.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to go home too. I’m excited to see my family. To not sweat at all hours of the day. To not be sleeping in a squeaky bunkbed, or to be covered in a million new bug bites. But mostly, to not be questioned everyday why I’m in Ghana and for how long. I’m excited to not be stared at; to not stand out so much.

That’s why when I sit here reflecting on what I’ll miss most about Ghana, I try to think of the times where I truly felt immersed in my surroundings. There is something special about riding side by side a group of people smooshed together on a tro-tro. After a long day of work and the sun is setting, casting an orange glow over the sky. The muffled commotion all around me, while I look out the window thinking how surreal it is to even be here. I would look out the window and watch all the moms carrying their babies on their back, the hawkers selling plantain chips, the motorcycles zooming past traffic. A community of amazing people in a place many people in America have never even heard of. That’s what comes to mind when I think about leaving Ghana. I know I’ll never forget that feeling.

Thank you to everyone who made this trip an experience I could relive over and over again. Through the ups and the downs (and there were many), I can’t imagine this summer any different.