Africa ain’t seen nothin’ yet (March 22)

And I haven’t seen enough of Africa.

I got out of the hospital March 19 and was anxious to leave. I made a decision to have fun the rest of the trip. This is fun. This is fun. This is fun.

So, here’s where I am now with “fear in one eye, denial in the other” (not my words, but someone’s).
I’ve seriously considered going home if I could find a way to take my final exams early or at home under supervision. Then I saw the picture Amanda made for me – a photo of me in a short red dress, heels & sunglasses, suitcase in hand next to a map of Africa captioned “Africa ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Maybe Ghana hates me, but there’s a lot more land to cover. I’m most excited about the journey to Barcelona and don’t know that I’ll have the chance to do this again. Despite having the time after entering ‘adulthood’ (which is rumored to come after college), I won’t have access financial aid to cover vacation. Even if I cry a little every day for the next 55 days I’ll have stories that outlast short-term depression.
But really, I’m fine.

The tentative travel plan is to head north through Burkina Faso up to Timbuktu in Mali, west through to Senegal, then north through Mauritania to Morocco and across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain. Jenn will be my travel partner until June 4; thankfully she speaks French because teaching myself isn’t happening as planned. Although we don’t know the exact routes we’ll take (we’ll have to wing that bus station by bus station) the biggest problem I foresee is finding transportation between Mauritania and Morocco. The border is open, but no public transportation is available. (Mom, stop reading.) It’s safe to drive on the main road, but the guidebook mentions surrounding areas are riddled with landmines. I’m looking into flights.

Hopefully I’ll get back to storytelling soon. I’ve been trying to stay out of trouble by reading other people’s stories instead of making my own.