i dislike frogs. and saying goodbye.

This past week was my last in Ghana - after saying goodbye to everyone and attempting to come back to life I was kicked out of my dorm and on a tro tro to Busua, which is about four hours from Accra. We needed to heal ourselves with sunshine.

People in our program had gone to Busua and come back saying it was a life changing experience and so amazing and that the burritos were above all the best. So I was going with pretty high expectations, which, scenery wise, were met. The beach is absolutely spectacular and was pretty deserted for the week we were there - right in the center of your view is a picture perfect deserted island, complete with two palm trees. There's a surfshop (yes, there is surfing in Ghana) and a few restaurants but it's mostly just different guest houses and hotels that are spread out along the beach. We were staying at Peter's Place - this is the cheapest place to stay and rightfully so. I was used to staying in crappy places after fall break, so it wasn't that bad. A basic room, with a toilet and shower separated by a partial wall - a bit awkward, but nothing too bad. The first night was uneventful, we ate at the surfshop, got our first taste of the burritos that were AMAZING, and went to bed at eight when the sun went down. The second day - lovely. Our room was literally 100 feet from the beach so we could wake up early, walk outside, and be ready to go. We laid out all day, got incredibly sunburned, swam, napped in the hammocks that belonged to the other hotels.

Then it was night time. Nights were not so exciting in Busua - there is nothing to do when the sun sets, which is at about seven. There's a few people here and there, but it's nothing like Accra. So we're in the room because we are all bright red and exhausted, and I go to use the bathroom, lift up the toilet seat, and sitting there is THE BIGGEST FROG I HAVE EVER SEEN. Just hanging out. IN OUR TOILET.

So I scream and dart out of the little passage that separates the bathroom and yell about frogs being in the toilet, and Holley and Brenda look at me as if I am crazy. "I SWEAR THERE WAS A HUGE FROG IN THE TOILET." Brenda is brave enough to go look...and there is nothing there. OF COURSE. I though I could have been delirious from the sun, my eyes were playing tricks on me, whatever. Brenda and Holley have a laugh at me and move on. So a few minutes later, I'm still afraid to go to the bathroom and Brenda is nice enough to go check again. Ten seconds later, I hear a scream. THE FROG HAS REAPPEARED. This thing is huge - and absolutely disgusting. My biggest fear is having snakes come up through the toilet, so a frog is far too close for comfort. No one uses the bathroom that night and we put a huge bag of satchet water on top because you never know...that frog could have superhuman strength and dart out of the toilet during the night. Meh. Gross.

So the next morning I complain to one of the boys who works for Peter, and he doesn't believe me and goes to check and tells me that I am being silly and there is nothing there. For the rest of the day we snuck into different bathrooms at the other hotels and the surf shop, and finally later that night Peter comes back and says that he was very disturbed by what I claimed had happened and has something to show me. He grabs my wrist and starts dragging me to the room and I am convinced he is going to show me a dead frog so I start screaming NO I DON'T WANT TO SEE and then he sighs and goes OH MY GOSH COME ON and brings me around the back of our room...and shows me the enormous hole in the pipes leading to our bathroom. Fantastic. This hole was probably the size of a baseball, and as it is above ground, is the perfect escape for little creatures such as frogs. He promises to get DDT and kill it as soon as possible...which is the next day.

Watching this man 'take care of' our pipe issue was the most entertaining hour of the week. First of all, he brings in DDT, which is a bright neon green liquid in an old liquor bottle. No labels, no nothing, just the radiating odor of chemicals. Holley and I are sitting on the bed and he is in the bathroom, and I hear "Ohh it's BIG BIG FROG! Let's let it die a little more." So I'm assuming the frog is in the toilet and this man is pouring chemicals on it - for the next ten minutes he walks in and out checking on the progression of this frogs death. "Little more! Little longer!" He finally flushes it, and after fixing the pipe with cement tells me that there was not just one frog...there was actually three. Then a few minutes later...there were actually four. Three little frogs and one "BIG BIG ONE". So we killed a mama frog and her three babies - and no, I don't feel the least bit guilty.

I realize I have written a ridiculous amount about frogs and toilets, but aside from this experience the week was literally all reading, hammocking, talking to our new friends (such as a Serbian named Milo who spoke with a southern accent and went through half a bottle of whiskey in an hour), and getting as much sun as possible. And it paid off...when we came back Marjorie told Holley and I that we had different skin and we looked like the Ghanaian flag (I'm not sure if she meant the red or yellow part...).

Since we've been back we've been hanging out with Marjorie and her adorable daughters, using the Academic center's internet/shower/refrigerator because we are pretty much homeless, and attempting to stuff four months into two suitcases. Last night we saw New Moon with our CRA Abynnah and it was the most enjoyable two hours of my life - a little dose of American culture in the form of bad movies was a lovely preview for my life starting Wednesday.

My flight is tonight...and I am still in denial. Saying goodbye to people and to places when I don't know when I'll return is incredibly difficult - also, it is Christmas in two days?? WHAT?! I am definitely not ready for snow, 2010...I have a feeling I am going to be terrified by Manhattan after being in such a relaxed 'city' as Accra...obrunis everywhere! The culture shock is going to be quite interesting.

I'm excited to get back to America and see how different it feels, but I'm definitely going to be leaving a big part of my heart in Ghana. I've promised myself (and countless others I've had to say goodbye to) that I'm going to come back one day, so that is what I'll be holding onto. It's been an amazing, ridiculous, crazy four months being here - and I've loved every day of it.