The End is Nigh

Here it is, the end of the semester. After a long spring, the end is in sight. In fact, I moved that sight up by 10 days. The hospital was the straw that broke this camel’s back. This is not defeat but rather an acknowledgement of the circumstances. Even in Cedis, my bank balance appears tiny. Furthermore, I must get back to the love of my life as we are getting together Memorial Day weekend. The food is beginning to become repetitive, particularly after. One can only eat some many egg sandwiches and there is always the worry in the back of my head about getting sick off it again. Thanks to my dad, I have about ¾ of a pound of Starbucks French Roast left but I really want to use my free drink coupon on the new trenta size! Icy coffee drinks would sell so well here.

Coming home early proved to be more trouble than I thought. Searching the web last fall, I found a wicked cheap fare at a ticket bucket company called Student Universe whose attempts at legitimization include checking that its patrons are actually students. Customer service is outsourced to India. I was very happy with it right up until I went to change my ticket to an earlier date. I know that this costs money, a change fee plus the different in fare. However calls to both India and United yielded no availability in my fare class. At United, I inquired as to paying the difference in fare class as there were plenty of seats available. In a gross disservice to United’s shareholders, he refused to do it, saying that it was not possible. Suddenly, my attempts to get home early were in dire jeopardy! I was going to have to mope around Ghana for an extra 10 days with little to do but think about being at home.

Luckily, I have a dad who is more than generous with his frequent flier miles. With just enough miles, I was able to book a flight using Delta miles on their best friend KLM through Amsterdam to New York JFK. The tiny leg to Buffalo required double the miles so I booked a JetBlue flight for less than a hundred bucks. After exams, nothing more matters than leaving as soon as humanly possible afterwards so my flight leaves at 10:05p from Accra on the balmy evening of May 19th, not long after my last exam finishes at 1p. After an 11h layover in Amsterdam, I arrive in western New York shortly after midnight in the early morn of the 21st.

I have enjoyed my time here thoroughly. Before I leave, I am planning one last trip to Mole National Park in the north to take in some of Ghana’s wildlife. This coming week, I have a meeting with a high ranking diplomat to take about the Foreign Service. Tomorrow morning at the ripe hour of 6:30a, I have my dance class final exam. Tuesday at 2p, my Arabic oral will hopefully be at least a passing grade. After that, my next exam is on the 13th at 7:30a.m giving me plenty of time to study. All of which should be lovely!