All right - so not THAT soon...

I realized a couple of weeks ago that I miss Ghana. Even as I realized that, I reflected upon it (because as both a teacher and a Fulbrighter, what else have I learned to do but reflect?!). I realized that I missed certain aspects of my time in Ghana. I missed walking from 37 to the Embassy. I missed people finding it amusing that I would walk from 37 to the Accra Mall, or maybe they just thought it was amusing that an obuni would do this, especially since trotros are plentiful and cheap. I miss stopping in at Woodin and seeing what was new in the way of cloth prints. I msis the bats flying from 37 over my house on campus every evening - every time I see a flock of birds here winging around, I check to see if they are really birds or if they are bats as I secretly hope them to be (I have been disappointed every time). I don't miss the bugs, but have not unconditioned myself to check out every small dark spot I catch out of the corner of my eye, particularly in my kitchen - it is almost always the screw holding the plastic backsplash behind my stove. I also don't miss public urination - one of my first days back, I saw two people standing on a street corner with their backs facing traffic. My first thought was "how dare they!" then I realized that they were not relieving themselves in public, but were in fact just standing there. Much to my relief.

I realized today something else I don't miss: laundry. Please do not think that I had not realized the luxury of washing machines upon my return - I fully appreciate this wonder of not-so-modern-technology (invented by a woman). However, today my power went out for a little while due to the amazing winter storm we are having in the DC area right now (I will have been off school for almost 2 weeks by the time we go back on President's Day. I have to think that Mother Nature is fulfilling my wish for a real winter following the world's longest August.) Anyway, my power went out, and I had laundry in the machines - sheets in the drier and towels in the washer. The one day I decide to do wash and the power goes out - no one ever said I had great timing. So, I cannot let the towels sit in the washing machine, that's tempting fate, and mildew. So I hung the sheets up in my apartment and proceeded to wring the towels dry. The water was HOT, the towels are thick, and I scalded and blistered my out-of-laundry-wringing-shape hands. To have the power come back on 45 minutes later. Not wanting to tempt fate again by re-submerging the towels into the washer, I just let the cycle go and will wash them again another day.

My partner in Fulbright, Leslie, is planning on going back to Ghana for a visit over the summer and I long to join her. I also am looking to teach overseas somewhere else. I survived and thrived (mostly) during my time in Ghana and I yearn for the new and challenging, although I will miss the seasons and the snow. Maybe this storm is Mother Nature's way of saying that weather I love will be here when I return.