An African Education

Hey, its me. Just not the me you expected.
After a month of being here in Africa, Katherine decided I should make a contribution to the ol' blog, so here I am.

Has it really been a month already? It is hard to believe as I am both sad to go and excited to get home. Certainly my time here has been well spent, of that I am certain. It has been a wonderful blend of copious travelling and an authentic home life. I have really gotten a taste and a feel of what West Africa and Arab Africa are like.

One of the more defining elements of my experience here is the growth I see in my sister. It is wonderful to see how confident and independent she is and how much she has matured since the last time I saw her in August. She did after all travel four hours cross country by herself just to pick me from the airport on my first day here. It has been especially neat watching her converse in Ewe; far more than I expected.

Of course she has taken much pleasure in the fact that she is the one with the knowledge to share and I have tried to be a eager student. Largely because of her efforts I can now draw water from the well in the dark, launder my clothes by hand, catch a tro-tro anywhere I need to go and even feed a Mona monkey while still retaining all of my digits.

Our recent trip to Egypt was hands down the neatest travelling we have done. Being in Ghana for nearly three weeks prior to going provided a unique comparative experience that coming straight from America would not have afforded. Where our travel companions saw pollution and maniacal drivers, Katherine and I took deep breaths and snoozed in the car. I am sure Katherine will elaborate more but the simple and seemingly universal fact that Egyptians do not consider themselves as Africans is an intriguing dichotomy with implications I am sure I do not even begin to understand.

The Egyptian sights were second to none and while I feel my pictures can't tell the whole story, I know my words cannot. All I can say is that if you ever get the chance to come, do it! The Great Pyramid at Giza, the Valley of the Kings and the Karnak Temple are all must see destinations.

It is quite difficult to sum up my time here in Africa and the blinking cursor is not helping to extract any more valuable tidbits. For myself I mostly just hope that I can keep things together in my head for a long time to come. I firmly believe that you really are the sum of your experiences (and how you process them) and thus in no small way, Africa is a part of me and for that I very thankful.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Brother Andrews (Brandrews) signing out.