October update

These past few weeks have been good.  I spent a few days in Pagala with another SED volunteer who has been here a year.  It was great getting to see her work as she is a very dedicated, motivated, and creative volunteer.  Some of her work include: creating a 6-week business seminar for local carpenters, masons, tailors and seamstresses.  She’s going to have local professionals (Aposto is one of the trainers) teach one topic each week (accounting, marketing, SWOT analysis, etc.) and anyone can attend.  She came up with this and will carry it out in Pagala on her own. I really respect and admire her ingenuity and drive. Also she has a Peer Educators club at the middle and high schools—teaching life skills once a week, a mothers club- organized by the Red Cross but who she works with on health projects throughout the village (latrine installation, village clean up days, starting a health club for young girls, etc), and she and her counterpart have formed many tontines which are small credit unions for groups of women to save and take loans. She is very busy and was quite inspired.

I went down to Anie, my friend Connor’s town as it was only a half hour drive south to visit for the weekend. Connor is an amazing cook and he made us Coco Vin with garlic butter mashed potatoes and Nutella and banana pizza for desert. OH MY GOODNESS.  Quite amazing from the cabbage and eggs  and PB&J’s I’ve been making for myself!  The next morning he made stuffed French toast with banana syrup…again, wow. We took a last-minute trip about 3 hours west where there was a PCV birthday party going on and it was so good to see some of my friends from training. Just a quick (sort of) trip there on Saturday and back on Sunday but worth it.

Last week and this week have been busy – and thus the time has passed pretty quick! With the PC Trade Show coming up in November, Aposto is very busy making t-shirts, computer bags and other things to sell.  While I don’t see myself regularly working with the wax and dying the fabric, it has been nice to be able to help and keep busy.  Makes me feel a part of something.  I also began my French lessons last week. My tutor is an English teacher at the school and is very kind and patient.  I go over to his family’s house a few nights a week and my lessons consist of talking with his 7 kids with them asking me questions about the U.S., me responding in somewhat broken French, and my tutor providing the translation and help along the way. I really appreciate just being able to practice speaking (although I’ve been doing more and more of this spending a lot of time at Aposto and Nima’s house).   I had a perfect ‘Peace Corps moment’ the other night as the kids and I sat on their porch talking for 2 hours all about the U.S. I was able to dispel rumors and confirm some of their thoughts about the States. They asked things like how long does it take to get back to the U.S.? How many people fit in an airplane?  What do they do with the corn that the farmers grow -- make pate? Fufu? They were shocked when I told them if they gave me a bowl of corn right now, I wouldn’t be able to make a meal out of it (not sweet corn folks).  This is CRAZY to them as every girl my age –and younger- knows how to pound the corn into meal and make pate (their staple meal).   I was able to explain what PC is and why I’m living in LT.  We talked about heavier things too; I explained how even though we have machines to do a lot of our work (especially around the house) the people still work a lot (they thought that Americans have lots of free time since they’re not spending a lot of time on the dishes, laundry, fanning charcoal stoves).  I explained how some would argue in the States that development- the machines- have made life more difficult: the more machines the less jobs for people and the more time for people to spend at their office and not with their family.  They were shocked when I said some people only have a half hour for lunch, as they have a 3 HOUR break each day! We talked about poverty – trying to convince them that there are homeless and hungry kids and families in the States.   “But we are an impoverished country too,” they exclaimed. “How can there be poverty when you have so much in the States?” Now, this is hard to explain thoroughly in English, let alone in French, but I gave it my best shot.  I explained how there are different kinds of poverty: you don’t see many homeless people in Togo as everyone takes care of each other, almost everyone as a house, even if it’s made of mud with a thatched roof – but still everyone has somewhere to sleep each night.   We talked about how it was easy for me to come and live in Togo but it would be very difficult for them to move to U.S. 

This was a really amazing conversation.  The kids were so interested and it was neat to be able to explain things to them – trying to point out that life isn’t perfect or easy in the States either.  A couple of times I sat back and said to myself, ‘Wow, I’m in Africa and THIS is Peace Corps.’

Even with the really great moments there have been some sad days to (too be expected I guess).  Hearing from home is so nice. Hearing my family and friend’s voices and being updated on their lives is very exciting. But it’s also very challenging sometimes too. Last week I had the opportunity to talk with some of my best friends – including my sister.  But after about the 4^th conversation I lost it and had a small pity party for myself. Calling Vanessa and venting about being here and not there to be with the people I love, miss, and want to be able to comfort, celebrate and just be with.   One must be in the right mindset to hear from home; even checking email and Facebook.  I must constantly remind myself that I’m on an adventure and that I won’t be here forever and will soon return to be with my family and friends.

After church Sunday I went over and helped Aposto and Nima shuck their corn. I’ve learned everyone – everyone! – has a farm here. Even if it’s just a few rows of corn, everyone grows something.  And they grow it to survive.  Dad asked me on the phone if they’ll feed it to their animals or sell it – and when I asked Aposto he laughed and said ‘of course not! We will eat it for the rest of the year!’   This led to another great conversation about what Americans –or some Iowans at least- do with their crops.

I also had the chance to lead a couple of activities with some women’s groups.  Last Monday morning I went with my host mother to her group to present the Seasonal Calendar which we had been trained on in June.  Along with Felicite, a women who works for the NGO in LT, we spent an hour talking and literally making a calendar of the year to highlight when the women spend money (school fees, religious holidays, buying things for the farm) and the times of the year when they don’t have as many expenses.  We pointed out times of year when there are more marriages, the prevalence of illness, and even the time of year when there is a food shortage (hot season). The whole point was for them to be able to literally see when they spend money, where their money most likely goes, and the times of year when they could save money to lessen the burdens of the harder times of the year. If they know that malaria is more prevalent in the rainy season, then they can put aside some money for medicine or save to buy mosquito nets before the rains come.  It went over really well and my host mother was beaming the whole time. I then had the chance to lead this activity again with Aposto’s help with another group of women from the Christian side of town (my mom and our neighborhood is Muslim).  Aposto is a great instructor and he translated my broken French (Fran-glais as we call it) into their local language.  Again, it went really well and the president asked me to come back and teach them more things! YES!

Lots of things coming up in the next few weeks: another week of technical training all next week with my friends in Pagala.  I don’t miss training, but I sure do miss being with my friends every day.   Then in the final two weeks before the Trade Show there is a big Muslim holiday, a PCV going away party and my one of my NGO co-worker’s is getting married.  Then I will head to Lome for the Trade Show –proudly representing Aposto‘s business alongside him (he calls me his ‘big manager’) for a few days.  There will be lots of PCVs down there for the Swearing-In of the next group of Volunteers who have been in training these past few months.  Then a PCV is hosting a ‘real’ Thanksgiving not too far from me and PCV’s from all over the country will come.  In December I’m planning a trip to Badou to visit Vanessa and I’m hoping my training group will all spend Christmas on the beach in Agbodrafo where my friend Lucian lives.  Exciting times!

Happier Times

After my last blog was a bit of a downer, I figured I better report on the wonderful ‘vacation’ Rebekah and I had last week and the high points of this week.  So when we got back from Kara (the town an hour north of Sokode with the amazing pool) I stayed with Rebekah in Sokokde and we convinced Vanessa to stay too… slumber party lives on!  We had such a good time – again, just really learning the value of being –just being- with people you love and enjoy. We ventured around Sokode – hopping from one treat to the next (lunch, to ‘ice cream store,’ to cookie store) all while sweating our butts off and picking up some nasty tan lines. 

On Tuesday (9/20) Rebekah and I took the bus from the Post Office in Sokode three hours south to Atakpame. Even though travel seems to always be a crapshoot in this country, we were pleasantly surprised when a new, Nissan type mini-van pulled up and 8 other civilized, quiet, and clean people got in with us – and we left on time! From Atakpame we took motorcycles to the ‘bus station’ where we found a van to take us to Kpalime, the final leg of our 6-hour journey.  We had heard that the road to Kpalime was bad, but as the drivers waited for enough people (22) to fill the 12 passenger, old, rusty, not-sure-if-it-will-make-the-trip bus, Rebekah (who was inside waiting and I was standing outside) whispered, “check the tire treads,” –"right Bek, cause that’s gonna save us from this nightmare of a vehicle."  Long story short, it was horrible. One of the worst trips of my life.  Three hours turned into four- and that was with the bus working and not breaking down at all! You see, the problem is that the road looks like a minefield… or like you’re walking on the moon. The van can only go about 20mph and swerves from one side of the road to the other in order to try and avoid as many craters as possible. It was long, HOT, sweaty, smelly, packed on top of each other and we were immobile the entire time.  What’s worse- when we were getting close to Kpalime and a few people got out, no one around us felt the need to MOVE and so we didn’t have to sit on top of each other, because in their words, “why? We’re almost there!” AH! So, not hesitating, I willed my numb legs to hop over to the EMPTY bench in front of us. And yeah, we arrived literally five minutes later, but geesh people, it’s the principal of the thing! Bek kept a pretty good attitude for the first half while I was peeved from the beginning (although I was the one sitting next to the really stinky woman but Bek kept hitting her head on the roof of the van and had half of her bottom on the rusty seat). We took it one hour at a time and about halfway in I gave in and got my Ipod out and escaped.  I told Bek I considered jumping out the window, but we weren’t going fast enough for it to do any good.

Anyway, we finally arrived and the lower half of our bodies still worked and we found motorcycles to get to Ashley’s (the PCV in Kpalime) house.  Luckily, she had a feast prepared for us: fresh tortillas, cheesy beans, Spanish rice, guacamole, salsa and COLD Sangria.  Amazing.  Even more, Ashley’s house is big, light, and beautiful. Bek and I enjoyed our guest bedroom and FULL bathroom. Running water, flushing toilet, sink to wash your hands in. Wow. The next morning Ashley made us coffee, grown in the mountains of Kpalime. Kpalime is absolutely gorgeous. Surrounded by mountains, covered in lush forest, the air is cooler, crisper and I swear there isn’t a drop of humidity.  Known as the tourist section of Togo, the people there are quieter and used to seeing foreigners and therefore more polite (we didn’t get called ‘white person’ once- quite the accomplishment considering little kids constantly shout that every day)! We ate well there too. Great little restaurant run by Belgians.  The first day I had a salad (lettuce, cabbage, a hardboiled egg, and vinaigrette) and the next night I enjoyed a real cheeseburger and fries.  The owner makes her own mayonnaise each day and it was quite tasty. Looking back, those two days in Kpalime were a true vacation; we never felt like we were in Togo. We weren’t sweating constantly, enjoying running water, eating great food and watching an established volunteer carry out her work.  It was great and we didn’t want to leave.  However, Ashley provided a better way out of Kpalime and the three of us headed south to Lome on Friday morning via a much, much better road! Although we were still packed in a bus, it was a quick two hour trip and nice to be with Ashley who could show us how to get around in the big, bustling capital city.

Friday and Saturday we pulled out all the stops to enjoy all this surprise trip to Lome had to offer.  Bek and I got a room at a hotel (more like a hostel- but still with running water) and then we picked up falafel wraps from a Lebanese restaurant and walked to the PC office where enjoyed the afternoon in the PCV lounge, equipped with air-conditioning, cold water and wireless (what more do you need?).  Our friend Lucian who lives about an hour from Lome joined us and we treated ourselves to an amazing dinner at an Italian restaurant.  I had the lasagna and the others had pizza.  Delicious. When Lucian and Bek ordered dessert, I ordered another glass of red wine.

I wanted to see the ‘grand marche’ (the big market) of Lome that we’ve heard so much about and so Lucian led us there first thing Saturday morning. Walking parallel to the beach, this farm girl begged the West Coasters to walk on the sand. It was marvelous and I was in awe of the huge crashing waves.  Then we came upon some fisherman pulling in a giant net.  They were chanting and tugging in unison and the rope was buried too far out in the ocean to be able to see it. One of my favorite things of Lome was discovering the coffee carts.  The Togolese version of Starbucks, if you will.  Men pushing carts with thermoses of hot water and you can order a coffee or tea (automatically come with LOTS of sugar and condensed milk) and the man mixes it in his plastic mug and fills up a tiny Dixie cup for you to drink.  So in the blaring sun (easily 90 degrees by 8 a.m. that day) we licked our lips and savored every sweet drop of java!

The marche was something else.  Packed street upon packed street, filled with random, packaged, plastic things from China. Yes, there were sections with fruits and vegetables, electronics, clothing, and even baby things.  In the meat section there was a semi with its doors open and you could see row upon row of cow carcasses hanging from the ceiling.  Men carried freshly skinned and killed goats piled in basins atop their heads.  Tons of people.Lots of yelling and hawking to get you to buy things. And hot hot sun. It was wild.  

Escaped the marche and headed to the grocery store.  Cooling off in the air conditioning we walked very slowly up and down each isle, gawking at all of the wonderful things to buy. More Lebanese food for lunch, air conditioning and wireless at the PC office for the afternoon.  Dinner was at a Vietnamese restaurant where we split egg rolls and I enjoyed some Pho (shout out to my friends at YESS!).  The restaurant had a TV playing 80’s slow love jams and I was eating that up too – much to Lucian and Bek’s disdain. It was a perfect ending to a perfect week. 

Sunday morning we were up at 4 a.m. so we could catch the bus from the Post Office at 6.   A nice, new charter bus (no AC, but did have complimentary water!) took us the seven hour trip back to Sokode.  Whew.

Bek has been an amazing travel companion.  I’m more of the navigator –paying attention to street signs and landmarks (yes mom/dad/Maddie, it is possible) and she is more of the people person; being nice to everyone and letting me play the mean cop when mean moto drivers try to take advantage of us. We laugh a lot. You have to. Noticing that we are doing things a bit differently (again, have to) we started making a list – a natural thing for Rebekah as she writes EVERYTHING down (yes, friends even more than me- you should see her notebooks!).  Anyway, I’ll leave you with our current list.

The ways I’ve changed; the things we do here:

Ration our supplies.  Rebekah has been splitting baby cotton balls into two and I used one band-aid for  an entire week in Kpalime.

Garbage envy (I hated throwing things out in the States, but here, everything can be reused for something – right?) I, however haven’t gotten so bad as Bek who I had to hold back from digging through Ashley’s trash bag.

Bathroom privacy.Using the restroom in a hotel with only a thin plastic curtain separating the toilet from the rest of the room (more of a thing for Bek).

Smell test. Our trip to Kpalime gave me a whole new perspective on re-wearing dirty clothes as we were gone three additional days than originally planned.

Used treasure.  Volunteers getting ready to leave country dump their used clothing and any other random things they don’t want in the PC lounge.  Bek and I enjoyed a ‘shopping-spree’ of sorts as we dug through the bins where I found a new pair of pants, a couple of old tshirts I’m going to have made into a skirt, half-used face wash, sunscreen, baby powder, a whole wad of ziplock bags and some stickers.  Amazing huh—things I would give to Goodwill in the States I now cherish.

Ants.Lots of ants here.  Last week, we ate Bek’s ant-ridden Oreo’s because… they’re OREO’S!