#At the local Costco with her… Y’all need anything?

[iero]

My mom is so fucking real for straight up telling me she also goes to most grocery stores or wholesale outlets in the morning literally just to avoid people.

[youreghanamissme]

The Last Post

This is the last post I’ll be submitting to this blog. I miiight be compelled to post all those informational entries about Ghana I always thought up, i.e. transportation, the local cuisine, top asked questions about being in the Peace Corps/ Ghana (aka “what was dating like?” and “how do you stay healthy?” hoooo-yeeee haha), social/cultural tidbits, etc. but I might be too lazy. If I do post up anything non-Ghana/ Peace Corps related, it would be on my personal blog. Go ahead and message me if you want the link to that since it’s just about me and not about this experience. 

The much-hated question: “So how was Ghana?” 

What I want to say: I don’t reeeally want to unpack this right now over dinner, Sheila. We haven’t seen each other in over two years, and I really can’t do the whole peace-corps-service-in-Ghana thing justice in 30 seconds. I really just want to eat this plate of Thai food I haven’t had since 2016 and not listen to myself talk.

What I actually say: It was good. I enjoyed it a lot. There were times that were really tough, but I regret nothing, except maybe sometimes willingly taking a chance on cold food.

Or, conversely...

In one word? Umm... hot.

Being back has been quite a whirlwind. Internet. ALL. THE. TIMEEE!! Driving! A refrigerator :D I now have a smartphone in America, something that was not a thing for me before I left for Peace Corps (brick phones, RIP), and I. LOVE. IT. Perhaps a little too much. Those apps really got me, man, because I am completely addicted to podcasts. And I’m always collecting new ones and asking for suggestions, so if you got any... holla at yer girl ;)

Basically me, all the time, sans velvet blazer. I need to get me one of those.

I’ve gained quite a bit of weight too. I mean, I wasn’t slim... more “normal bod,” but I was exercising regularly and not eating processed food (as much). Lately, your girl has gotten thicc. Booty booty rockin’ it arounddd, rockin’ it arounddd... to the other side of the kitchen for some thirdsies, thanksss ma! My biggest guilty pleasure has been cereal and pizza. 

Costco pizza has been giving me life*, and y’all know I live near a plethora of fast food joints, right? Round Table Pizza, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, McD’s, In-N-Out... America, you know how to trap a girl!! But right now it’s been YOLO, even when I have a hard time getting back into all those Ghanaian bespoke clothing I spent a lot of my monthly allowance on. That’s another two great things about being back: cool enough to wear sweatpants, and socially acceptable if I wear shorts (I wore some in public the other day and I felt a lil’ nekkid ;)

*fyi: pineapple belongs on pizza

I was travelling for a bit, and now that I’ve been back to America, I’m off for a month again! This time to Vietnam with my mum and my older sister. We haven’t been back to my mother’s country in over two decades; I was four years old the last time I’d gone, and that was because of a family emergency. Why the long wait? I’ll tell you why: it ain’t cheap to fly there! Plus, I’ve been hustling ever since I graduated from college, so it was no contest: savings, bills, rent money > Vietnam vaca.

Luckily, my sister paid for my ticket (bless!). The original plan was to go to Vietnam and explore southeast Asia after the Peace Corps, but since my sister is a teacher, I’d have to schedule my Close of Service date to coincide with her Spring Break. I wasn’t able to because PC Ghana staggers COS dates so that communities don’t experience a mass exodus once a year. They experience mini-sayonara’s thrice a year lol. There can be a lot of drama when your cohort is figuring out who gets what date; it really depends on the people. Most of everyone wants to leave as soon as possible to catch graduations, see family, or just get. the. hell. out. of. there. Waiting until my sister’s summer vaca meant that we had more time to be in Vietnam, a country that we mostly have to seek information about for ourselves as American children of Viet refugees, and I appreciate that our mum is making the journey with us. The trip will be our first time exploring the whole country. No one has been north of the southern region. I’m thrilled to see my mother’s village, my father’s hometown, and also explore the mountains where my father was held at a concentration camp for almost seven years after the war. Vietnam has gone through so much industrialization and cultural change in the last few decades; I’m sure we’re all bundles of apprehension, wonder, and excitement! Once I get back, I need to hit the ground running; no more travel for me for a while!

At the moment, I’m set up to re-attend school. I’m going back to finish up some pre-requisites for nursing school (that’ll take me a year as the anatomy & physiology portion is a 3-part series offered once a quarter--eww--and nursing programs typically last 2-3 years,so I’m looking at the next 3-5 years until I finish #lesigh) to get a second Bachelor’s degree. I know, I know. A second BS? Damn, gurl. You coulda saved yourself some moolah by getting it right the first time! But I don’t regret anything. I love nutrition, and studying it was a big source of joy. I’m rather scared as a twenty-something who likes to create, be in nature, and help people... I know there is an intersection there somewhere, but I’m having a hard time finding it. I’m pulled in three separate directions: pursuing nursing, pursuing environmental science (a passion that has been steadily growing since college), and forgetting academia for now and just working on a farm with nutrition and youth and nature... it’s all very romanticized and a total quarter life crisis. I’m wondering if nursing would open some doors for me to work with women and international settings (other huge passions of mine), perhaps in midwifery (to tie in the nutrition component), and in rural areas (to be more in settings that are more nature, less city... though I love the city and am I city grrrl at heart). The creative side will just be brushed onto my spare time, like it has been for the last decade lolol (but really doe...) 

I’m in a transition mode right now, and “trusting the process” is hard when the process is scary af! But at the end of the day, I acknowledge it’s scary and daunting only because I’m reveling in my own fears of failure and self-doubt. Still, that doesn’t make it any less scary and confusing :(

I implore y’all to go forth and pursue what makes you smile. It’s hard to navigate that in this society and culture where we’re all so immersed in the sense of time and money and the pursuit of happiness. Hell, I’m hella guilty of that. Yoo-hoo, nursing? Financial stability but also rewarding profession. I’m worried about making the leap to go back to school as I’m not a spring chicken no more! I’m still young (Asians don’t raisin, holla!), but Peace Corps Ghana definitelyyy took at least two years off my total life expectancy haha Still gotta reiterate: no regrets there. I’m older and a lil’ wiser and a lot more grateful for my time on Earth and the space that I occupy. I’m taking this sharper perspective to do good on some of the things I talked about in previous posts:

I signed up for a novice swimming class (your girl is about to learn some life skillz!)

Attempting to live more minimally (donating a lot of my clothes)

Reaching out to old friends to reconnect; fostering friendships

Be more kind to my other Mother. Continually attempting to start a compost pile in the backyard, and I bought a pack of stainless steel straws as a first step

So that’s it for now. HMU if you’re ever in NorCal in the next few years and/or you want to continue creepin’ on me as I try to navigate this post-Peace Corps life on another blog hehe (there is a certain source of vanity and joy from taking about myself, whatever forever~)