The end is near

We went to Duncan’s on Monday night when the power was out and Frankie’s on Tuesday night after the meeting and I went to drumming alone on Wednesday while Prue and Kristy killed a bottle of wine each. Thursday we went to Champs for one last triumphal JHR quiz night (we won the beer round) and then yesterday we gathered in the yard for a group photo. The first was from behind some African masks, the rest were in various positions, getting more debaucherous as the time went on.

Eventually we retired into the house, where we opened two bottles of champagne and started reminiscing. We talked about our first impressions of each other and Ghana and the JHR house, our one word for Ben Peterson, our favourite Ghanaian, our favourite memory, the thing we’ll miss most and least. It was, as I said, fascinating.

We started with favourite Ghanaians, as the list was pretty varied, including Barbara, the Captain, Ato (Alex’s of course), Mac Darling and Tony. Sabie of Sabie’s fast food made the list as an honourary mention, as did Simpson from Epo’s, because he has one of the best and brightest smiles and because he helped catch Jerry. The thing that tied them all together was the unfailing friendship, the sincerity and generosity: people who know we’ll only be here for six months, who know we don’t have much in common with them, who know we’ll likely never see them again once we leave have taken such a genuine interest in our lives here, making them better at every turn and helping us out at every possible opportunity with no expectation that it will be reciprocated.

Having polished off the champagne, a bottle and a half of wine and a small bottle of Amarula, we headed out to Le Bouquet with two bottles tucked under arms. Le Bouquet ended up being a perfect choice, with good ambiance, great service and a sheesha for smoking afterward.

We sat down and had a toast to Prue, starting with Kristy who said she admired Prue’s passion and had learned a lot from her over the six months. Anita also said she thought Prue had a tough exterior but a soft heart underneath it all and she was glad to see Prue’s transformation after Liberia. I told her that no one had a more lasting impact on JHR than Prue, who worked so hard to revamp and reform the partnerships and the working relationships. She actually teared up and made a little speech about how the last six months were extremely difficult for her, but that she appreciated hearing such things, because they were what mattered to her most.

Our favourite memories included Liberia (Alex); the walk from hell in Tarkwa (Prue & Jon); the Anita-as-mate tro-tro ride (me); Tony and his anus story (Anita) and Yedji for Kristy. We started talking more and more about all the laughs we’d shared over the past six months and how amazing it is that six or seven people all shoved together in one house could have such a good time without killing one another.

We talked about our favourite things and least favourite things and I’d like to think that the good outweighed the bad. We didn’t talk about my fight with Prue, or what happened in Liberia. There was some talk about Liberia when Alex talked about how it turned out to be a great trip, even though she had worried that Prue would turn into a monster bitch. I just stared at the candle, wondering if they even realized how upset and hurt I was by that whole weekend. I was going to ask what was everyone’s lowest point, but then decided against it. We were having too good a time.

By this time we’d demolished all the food and polished off most of the wine and moved on to smoking apple tobacco out of the sheesha. Only Alex, the only smoker in the group, didn’t smoke. She seemed out of sorts, and later I wondered whether it had to do with a conversation about swinging Anita and I were having that she walked into just before we left for the restaurant. I was in the middle of saying how I couldn’t imagine going on with a boyfriend who slept with other women right about the time she walked in and sat on the couch, me ignoring the fact that Walter has spent the past five months doing precisely that.

Over the hookah we just laughed and laughed, particularly Anita and I, who were busy taking pictures of people as they smoked. It was fun. Truly.