The end of this week has been a rush of emotions....sad to be leaving this experience, the work that I am doing, the new friends I have made, and the people who have become my colleagues...but also excited to be going home to see my fiance, my family, and my friends. While this experience has been exciting, there is also so much to look forward to in the coming months.

Through the end of the work week I continued to do data analysis. It was actually really neat to see how the results of the surveys I created turned out. There is still A LOT more to be done before my thesis is complete, but I think it is off to a good start. Unfortunately the exciting part of the research is over and now I'll just be looking at my computer screen for the next few weeks.

Since I had a few days before my flight back, Leonoor and I decided to go spend some time on the coast for the long holiday weekend. After a 5 hour bus ride (that left at 4am), a 45 minute TroTro ride, and an hour taxi ride we finally made it to Safari Beach Resort just outside of Bushua, Ghana. The long trip was worth it though...the place was gorgeous! The rooms were tradition mud and stick huts with thatched roofs, a cold shower two feet from the bed, and had a drop toilet, but you'd be surprised how up-market they made this feel. The shutter doors swung open to a beautiful view of coconut trees and crashing waves. (I wish I could attach the pictures, but I'm not on my lap-top). The staff made you feel like you were at a 5-star resort (and for Ghanaian standards this was true).

Saturday was beautiful. We spent the day out on the beach reading and swimming, and then we walked down the beach until we came to the nearest local village. The image of this village on the gorgeous beach seemed like such an oxymoron. The village was in sever poverty. Trash was everywhere and vultures literally swarmed around over head. If this property had been in the US, it would undoubtedly be developed in the most up-scale market. But the people there were amazing. Everyone stopped us to say hello and welcome us. When the women discovered that I was engaged they insisted on me having the waste beads (literally a few strands of beads tied around your waste) that every Ghanaian woman wears. They wear them to be attractive to their husbands, but the girls start wearing them even as babies. I know I talk about the children everywhere, but these were adorable. We had to take turns holding each one. They would take our sunglasses and wear them so proudly. When it came time to leave they would have followed us all the way back to Safari had it not been for another American couple who was walking toward the village - we got the children to latch on to them instead.

Unfortunately the weather on Sunday was not as nice. As we were eating breakfast it was very pretty, but the rain soon came. We were perfectly content to lounge around reading though. Sitting in the lounge area was still like sitting on the beach. The rain broke at one point so Leo and I decided to go on a walk in the opposite direction and see if there was another village close by. We walked as far as the beach went but never came to a village. We did walk right into a rain storm though...and we walked in the rain all the way back! Despite the weather on Sunday, it was still a great weekend of unwinding and eating good food. Like every weekend, we cherished eating real meals instead of snacking on whatever we could find.

Today I left Leo and traveled east from Bushua to Accra. She was going back for one more week of work in Manso Nkwanta, but I am now on my journey home. Tonight I will stay with Maame's (a Ghanaian who works for MVP in the NYC office) parents and spend the Republic Day holiday with them tomorrow. Then, at 9:20pm I set off back to the States. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel. I can't wait to see you all when I return!

PS - sorry no pictures are with this entry