Time for my very first blog post. There's just so much happening and not happening at the same time. I need to get things off my chest. If you would like to read some of it, I'll try to get some structure into this, for your reading convenience

Visit-highs and back-at-home-lows
Our last visit was beyond great. I went back to Ghana for the 4th time from May 27th to June 24th so we got to spend his birthday together. It was very special for the both of us because we haven't been able to have a holiday or birthday together yet. I arranged a party in a bar in town with some of his friends and we had a blast ! The rest of the time we just enjoyed life together doing normal everyday things and going on small trips around the country over the weekend. I will make sure to add a picture.
So I've been home for about a month now and we're currently in the longest "long-distance-phase" yet.
8,5 months !
We've gone 8 months before, which seemed like forever but it was okay somehow, because it was at the beginning of our relationship and it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better.
While I'm currently coping so much better than in the first 2 weeks of being back home, I miss him like crazy. My next visit will be around February. And that's if I pass all my uni exams and I get enough time off work. We talk on whatsapp everyday and I've been calling him a lot lately, too (my bank account is not happy) I just need to though. No shopping, no unnecessary purchases... It all goes to my phone bill.
This too shall pass.

Apartment hunting is a...
... huge pain in the butt ! I will be starting university in October in a different town and need accommodation badly. One of my friends, who I met while volunteering in Ghana actually, has to move out of her place and we came up with the brilliant idea of moving in together. Lowering costs and having loads of fun. What we didn't think of was how hard it was going to be to get something. We've been actively looking for 3 months. I've looked at so many apartments already, phoned dozens of people, but it never worked out. We have 4 more to look at next week.. Fingers crossed !

Founding an NGO
While I was over in Ghana this summer, my SO and his uncle told me they would love to build an education centre in their home village and wanted my opinion. I thought it was a great idea, especially because it's a fairly remote and rural village. They only have one Elementary and one Junior High School with few teachers for hundreds of students. Plus, only few school books and no internet access.
So together we've come up with a plan for the construction. I will try and raise as many donations as possible and it will hopefully become a sweet reality very soon. We've already purchased a bit of land and by the time I come over in Feb, we can hopefully start building. I will also be discussing our plans with the chief of the community, who I've spoken to already. Such royalty !
I love the fact that my SO and his uncle want to contribute to their community and came up with something their village actually needs. What I really do not like about many projects run from abroad is that they think they know what the people of a community want. They come, build and leave feeling better because they did something for "poor African children".
I much more prefer the idea of helping people to help themselves, by getting the funds together so their ideas can become reality.
Ideally, this will be one of many projects, as they have asked me to become the founder of our own NGO. It's not going to be easy, but I can't wait to get things rolling

Btw, if anyone was wondering what "walahi" is.. it means "i swear" in arabic and housa.

So here are the piciwoos
His birthday party and spending the day at the beach on the day I left.