And I'm Out...

Things I'll Miss

1. The weather!
2. Being in Africa
3. The many friends I have made here, especially Kyura and Mr. Embassy-Man
4. Being able to (but not having to) walk anywhere I need to go
5. Not buying gas
6. No bills
7. Yam on Sundays
8. Getting my hair braided for super cheap
9. The time zone difference that made it so my friends back home were always awake when I wanted to talk to them (they were sleeping when I was at work)
10. Being able to hang the laundry outside
11. Plantain chips and drinkable yogurt
12. Random chickens on the side of the road
13. Mr. Trizzle being nice because he's forgotten how annoying I am when I'm actually around ;)
14. Work, most of it, at least sometimes
15. Being able to be there for my friends when they need to talk in the middle of the night (cuz it's my day time!)
16. The 9-4, doesn't matter if you're late, workday (even though I was usually there around 8 and stayed 'til nearly 5; it was nice to know I didn't have to be there)
17. Kim the tailor and his amazing work
18. Yummy ice cream that comes in a plastic bag and tastes like cake batter
19. Palm trees
20. Never having to wear or carry a jacket
21. The smell of fresh flowers along the roadside and the gentle scent of burnt grass in the air
22. Moin moin, Milo, roasted maize on the roadside, purple Ibo fruits, and other foods I can't get at home

Things I Won't Miss

1. Random people I don't know coming up to me and telling me they want to be my friend or that they love me
2. The tribalism
3. The driving
4. The bathrooms at work
5. The constant condescension
6. Only having one pair of shoes and enough outfits to get through one week
7. Power surges and outages (that destroy my computer)
8. Having to haggle or bargain before buying anything or going anywhere
9. Having walls and gates and guards around every building
10. Having to buy an expensive and only so-so meal in order to get an internet connection good enough to download a pdf file
11. Smashing cockroaches at work and shaking off ants at home
12. Those creepy lizards that seem to be everywhere
13. The hypocrisy
14. Unfitted sheets
15. Having to iron everything
16. Having to count in hundreds and thousands
17. West-African men
18. Watching people eat goo with their hands
19. Having a maid (I like her, as a person; I just don't like having a maid as a concept)
20. Being called "whitey" or "white" as if that's my name
21. People hissing like snakes