Although we've come to end of the road...

Africa fun fact #5: Africa is awesome. You heard me, punk. AWESOME.


As we type this final entry into our Blog of Africa (or "Blafrica" for short), we thought we'd take a bicameral look back at what we've learned about each other during our time here. And yes, I said "bicameral."




BEN SAYS:






Farhan is a many-faceted creature...








For those of you who don't know, he and I first met over a cadaver we named Beyonce, and we've been inseparable ever since. This month in Africa was born out of some random comments we made to each other while studying at a Starbucks in Dallas about a year ago, and, a year later, here we are, preparing to leave Ghana and trying hopelessly to process the past 4 weeks of our lives. These have, without a doubt, been weeks that I will never forget for the rest of my life, and not just for the reasons you think.

But before I get to that, let's talk about what I've learned about Farhan. And, for easier organization, let's listify:

1: He's a sucker for Daniel Bedingfield. "If you're not the one, then why does my soul feel glad today?" Amen, brother. Amen.

2: He is a rare delicacy for mosquitoes. They chase him like he's made of crack, man.

3: He can haggle down a marketplace shopkeeper like no one's business. I think he talked one of them into giving him his shoe, then paying him $2 to take it. Incredible.

4: He has difficulty opening bags full of liquid, which, surprisingly, are ridiculously common in Africa. Go figure.

5: He cannot recognize any quote from any movie. Ever. Unless it's from "Encino Man". Then he's all over it.

6: He causes dogs to bark. I have a running theory that he's actually a Terminator. Time will tell.

7: He has a true passion for public health. And I mean PASSION. I've been blessed in my life to meet a handful of people that, when you look at them and see what they've chosen to do with their lives, you just know that it's exactly what God designed them to do. Farhan's got something very rare in young people today... a genuine concern for the world around him, and the motivation, brains, and creativity to actually affect change. I'm extremely lucky to have shared this fantastic experience with him, and he's going to be an incredible asset to the world of medicine and public health.


That is, if the mosquitoes don't get him first.

FARHAN SAYS:

Some of you may remember Ben's attempt to introduce Christ into my life via a bottle of holy Mirinda. And now you have also read the chicken sacrifice blog entry. What Ben doesn't know is that just before he sacrificed the chicken I whispered Allahu-Akbar (Allah is Great). SO THE CHICKEN BECAME HALAL MEAT!!! Welcome to the Muslim brotherhood suckaaaa!!! Farhan-1 Ben-0

Anyway, there are so many things to say about my Ben Brown aka white tiger aka my Caucasian counterpart aka my surgical soulmate. These last four weeks have been incredible. And other than Carmen Elektra, I can't think of anybody that I would have rather had with me. I've learned a lot about the Benster including...

1. He absolutely cannot appreciate a good British accent when he hears one. Nor can he appreciate a Ghanaian Christian minister's accent when he hears one. To him all of the accents that I do sound like Borat.

2. Mosquitos don't like him. Or at least the African ones don't. My theory is because his skin is so glaringly white, they don't recognize him as a human.

3. He can have entire conversations with me while he is asleep.

4. He makes up quotes that don't exist and then asks people what movies they're from.

5. His ability to understand English spoken in a Ghanaian accent is terrible. He once told me he didn't understand anything said to him for an entire 30 minute car ride.

6. He can sing like a pro. I was fortunate enough to have him serenade me one day, and let me just say that on the outside I was like, "It was ok." But I was crying on the inside.

7. He should quit this whole surgery business and go back to pediatrics. Although there is no doubt in my mind that he will be an excellent surgeon, he is amazing with children and loves them too much to not be a pediatrician. His level of patience with them and his ability to connect with them was amazing. I hope that maybe one day I can be something similar. And when I think about him and his career, I can't think of anything that sums up my thoughts better than that I am very excited to see the incredible things that he is going to do.

But in the meantime, keep him away from your pets... unless you want them to end up in a stew.

THEY BOTH SAY:

We cannot begin to express our gratitude to our families for allowing us to take off into the unknown like this. You all mean so much to us, and your words of encouragement while we've been here have been what's kept us going when we were tired or worn-down or just ready to turn sour. Our bodies have been in Africa, but our hearts have been with you all in America.

And to everyone reading this, wherever we're going from here, know that we're looking forward to nothing more than being back with you all and seeing your faces again. Ben will be back in Dallas on Friday, Feb 22, and Farhan will be back in Houston on March 8. Hopefully we'll see you all soon!

But, for your own safety, you might want to let us shower first.