Hello family and friends! As crazy as it sounds, my time in Ghana is coming to an end. With that, I have already spent a week in the different departments. After finishing up my routine of mornings of watching wound dressings, and ending in the theatre, I am now free to go where I wish. With that, I have had the opportunity to watch consultations, do some vitals in OPD, and watch more surgeries and births. I cannot remember if I mentioned this already, but having Janet at the hospital this week has been so fun! Janet is my fellow NWC SOS member and a good friend. Today is Monday, so it was our last market day—bittersweet! There are also more lasts to come this week, and saying goodbye to the friends I have made here. Saturday morning, we will drive through Kumasi to Cape Coast. Our tentative plan is to walk on the canopies on Saturday, and then spend Sunday at Elmina Castle and the beach. Monday morning we will drive to Accra, and then fly out on Monday night! Do not worry though, I will post a few more times about this trip—maybe some of the things I have learned looking back. I haven’t uploaded pictures lately on my blog because it has taken much too long and ended in failure too often. However, I will also be posting pictures when I get back to my laptop again. Of course, I will have to talk about this past week on here also! If you had to ask me what was happening around Kasei, I guess the first thing I would say is Cholera. Yep. Cholera. I spent last semester reading The Ghost Map by John Snow. It outlined the Cholera outbreak that overtook London back in the 1800s. However, Ghana has been experiencing Cholera lately. I first heard about its presence in Accra, but it has reached the Ashanti region now. We had a 21 year old girl from a neighboring village die of Cholera at the hospital here on Saturday. It isn’t very common, as it is easily prevented. We have been extra careful washing our fruits and vegetables after market day. The other way to stop its spread it washing hands with soap after using the washroom, and before eating or handling food.  This is very easy to do, but when people fail to do these things, they have the potential to eat contaminated food. Cholera’s symptoms include both severe vomiting and diarrhea. The Cholera does not kill, but rather severe dehydration does. This morning on rounds, we did not have any more Cholera patients, but I will have to watch again tomorrow morning. It is hard to imagine coming home after being away so long. In our SOS meetings, we learned there can be a sort of culture shock again coming back into the American culture. I suppose I can see this happening when I adjust to having a car, cell phone, internet, laptop, hot water, air conditioning, my clothes, American food, and work. None of these things are bad things, but I think right now my perspective on them have changed. They are wonderful things, but I have also seen how having them has at times kept me busy and distracted me from the important things in life such as my relationship with God. I have been so blessed by this experience, and I am looking forward to looking back on my time and continuing to learn and process different experiences. Anyways, this is short, but time for bed. I want to be well rested to enjoy my limited time here. One week from now, I will be at the Accra Airport…crazy.