one month living in accra, 23 more to go.

When I first returned from Ghana in 2019, I struggled to share my experience with people—not because I had a bad time and didn’t want to talk about it, but because no words could truly capture how it felt. 

For the first time in my life, I was in a place where I felt genuinely seen, navigating an environment that reflected the life I had always wanted.

I was finally living in a place where people genuinely value one another, where the pace of life is slower and forces you to reflect more than you sometimes want to, where your worries fade into the background, and you wake up excited for each new day.

Now, after two years away, I’m back and within just a few weeks, Accra has once again taken my breath away. 

I’m quickly realizing that visiting a country for two months and moving there for two years are two completely different experiences. 

I still love Ghana deeply, but even the smallest inconveniences have made it clear that my greatest challenge here will be myself—particularly my patience, as Ghana has a way of testing every ounce of it.

Learning the ins and outs of life in Ghana has been funny, challenging, annoying, and fascinating all at once. 

It’s the Uber drivers who immediately call my phone to ask where I’m going after booking a ride. 

The men who ask if I have a boyfriend before asking for my name (a lot to unpack there).

The traffic that forces me to leave home one to two hours early, even if my destination is just thirty minutes away. 

Still, I’m so grateful for the people who have extended me grace and their precious time as I settle into my new home. 

I can’t count how many times I rewatched my old study abroad vlogs during both my highest and lowest moments, or how often I checked flight prices, imagining myself making the long journey from Florida back to Ghana. 

I prayed so many times to be right here again and now that I am, I can say every moment of waiting was worth it.

So I’ll embrace the highs and the lows, every single time.

I have a feeling that I’m exactly where Im supposed to be.