There was a giant spider in my room. And it was a different kind than I normally see. The others are mostly legs, but this one had a gaint body too. We're talkign bulkier than a quarter, in addition to its monstrous legs! And, to top it off, there were two scorpions and a lizard on my wall. All at the same time. And I was too scared to kill them myself, so I went to ask a neighbor girl, who told her mom, who came over with two other women and the elderly man who lives next door. They all come into my room (which in Togolese culture, is VERY private). They smack the spider and I scream as an additional cockroach also falls form the ceiling. Ick!! But now I can tell the elderly man every time I need help with bugs. I felt like such a girl!

So the most interesting day at the disponsaire: It is the baby-weighing and vaccination day. Good thing I came because the Sage-Femme didn't and the aide would have been all by herself. I filled out registration cards and what-nots while the aide administered the vaccinations. She has a child, 5-6 months or so. Well the baby screams, so it's time to feed her, but the aide is working. So she whips out one breast over the top of her shirt, lays the child across her knees to feed, and holds on to another baby's kicking leg as she gives the injection. Absolutely crazy!!

I am having to find a balance between helping and not being seen as a source of money and gifts. Example…

I was playing with the children in my neighborhood for nearly two hours. At the end, one little girl cut open her elbow. I have medical materials, but I am only supposed to use them for myself, because if I give it out or use it for others, I will be seen as a source for all those materials, for free. So the most I could do for this girl was to wash the blood off with water. The French volunteers who live in my compound, of course, come and help, and are able to clean it off with antimicrobials and put Neosporin and bandaid on. I wanted to be able to do that, but knew if I did, I would have a never-ending line for free care. And sure enough, two minutes later, a young boy comes up to me with his cut up ankle. It’s so frustrating to not be able to do as much as you want to. And I can’t even really tell them – “Hey, you need to clean this with alcohol and antibiotic ointment and bandage it” – because no one has any of that stuff. You’d find it at the pharmacy, but my local clinic doesn’t have a functional pharmacy! And not one has money – I told the little girl she should go to the disponsaire because she has other similar wounds that look like they’ve been infected and the wounds need to be reopened and cleaned. But how do you tell people they need to spend money they don’t have on care that isn’t essential?

Better day, worse night

Today started out well. I slept in, and had the rest of my nutella and bread for breakfast. I cleaned my house – and I mean cleaned! I moved everything out. Washed the table and put everything in new places. I organized some of my stuff and put them into baskets so that my room looks a little more put-together (mind you I still don’t have any furniture except a borrowed bed, borrowed table and two borrowed chairs). I swept the floors. I took out the garbage – two bags of organic waste that I was going to start my compost with. I burned all the non-organic waste. (First time I tried, and it was a success except that the plastic stuff melted into the bin I used to burn stuff in. My neighbor said to just burn the stuff on the ground and sweep it away, but I dumped the ashes into my latrine to cut the smell and deter cockroaches. She helped me clean the bowl but it was a lost cause – doesn’t matter because I’ll keep using the same one only for that function.)

SO things started not being great because my kitten is not eating. I bought her some fish yesterday, which she ate before, but wouldn’t eat this time. I tried more powdered milk, and couscous. She wouldn’t eat any of it. So I thought that I’d run and get her some concentrated milk from the marche. Not a big deal, but I was a little worried. Things were fine for a while. I visited my homologue and was invited for lunch – pate with a sauce made from something similar to peanuts, and palm oil. It was good. Then I just hung out with the neighborhood (who are all related to my homologue) and the elder man bought me a soda (I tried to refuse but it was insisted – it’s not polite to refuse drinks, except most understand why I refuse alcohol.) Then I went home to find my kitten had thrown up several times, and wouldn’t eat the concentrated milk. I don’t know what to do and I am really worried because she is so young. I don’t know what to give her, esp since she won’t take anything and there isn’t exactly a petsmart or veterinarian here. I took a lovely shower though – I heated the water. It was wonderful. So everything was basically fine up until this point. Then I went to rest on my bed and I could hear a cricket. So I went to hunt it down and instead found a MOUSE!! (I was surprised at first and not sure what it was because they look different than at home. Their tails are furry, I am still not convinced it’s a mouse but maybe something else). Well, I leave to get a bowl and cover to trap it and set it outside (there is no way I could kill it and kitten is too small) and when I came back it ran away and I lost it. Of course. It’s the scorpion all over again. So I look everywhere, but it is no where to be found. So now I am just uncomfortable in my room, but I tuck in my mosquito net and try to go to sleep. It goes well for about an hour. Then it starts pouring outside, and I hear that darn cricket again. And I have to pee. So I get out of bed, see that my sick kitten has gotten sick on my bed. I go to grab the toilet paper and, low and behold, there is the lost mouse that has multiplied into two (the second larger than the first)!! So I chase them around and get them outside. Yay! Then I go to use my chamberpot (yes, I use one – I am deathly afraid of the cockroaches that come out in my latrine at night) to find another mouse by the catbox! I chase that one out and of course I can’t sleep now – how many more are there and where are they hiding because I just found the two sets in two different places?

What is worse than cockroaches, but not as bad as snakes?

SCORPIONS!! I found one in my room after being gone for the day. I left to get the broom to smack it to death (as I do daily with the giant spiders), only to find it had disappeared. The next day I tore apart my room cleaning and simultaneously looking for it, but to no avail. Good thing I sleep under an impregnated mosquito net – that’ll kill any bug that comes too close.

No named kitten…

I went to the Agoe marche – it was awesome: big but not overwhelming, with tons more options than Tsevie (although the prices of the same items may be a little higher). It is there that I bought my tiny kitten! It’s orange with big blue eyes. There were so many options at the marche and I was actually afraid to take this one home because she is so small. But when I put my hand into the cage she was the only one that wasn’t scared. She came right up to me and let me pet her all day long. Once I took her home, it was obvious that I made the right choice. She follows me everywhere and stands right by my feet (I have to be careful not to step on her) and she sleeps on my stomach. I wanted a lap cat and that’s what I got. But she’s got a feisty side too – she likes to roll over and she’ll nip at my fingers. She loves the lace on some of my shirts. I think she’ll be a great bug-catcher!! But what to call her? I have yet to pick out a name and just keep saying kitty. Any suggestions?

Working at the Disponsiare:

I am working on getting to know the health system in my community. I have been frequenting the USP, helping with whatever tasks the Sage-Femme (midwife) asks me to, and asking questions when I see the ASC’s (Agents de Sante Communitaire – Community Health Workers). ASC’s are volunteers which is why it is a difficult system because they are relied on to disseminate general health knowledge. When you are not paid to do so, the accountable work load is very little. There are not enough workers for my village, which consists of 6000 people. Additionally, my disponsiare serves the neighboring 9 villages. This will be quite a task.

Water load

I tried to carry water on my head like everyone else yesterday. I had a small basin and still only made it a third of the way to my house, and still spilled before another women took it for me. Not sure that I’ll ever get used to that but I want to keep trying. It’s hard to stand up straight and balance, plus you hold the basin with your hands to help stabilize it – it’s all just very tiring. But at least I can pump my own water. Everyone is quite amused when I do.

Making foufou

Well, at least, I TRIED to make foufou. I went over to my work partners house to make lunch with his wife. I wanted to make foufou, to know how and for the experience even though it is not my favorite food. So first you peel the yams (you can make it with cassava too), and you have to careful because apparently the yams will make your skin itch. Then you cut it up and boil it. Madame uses a charcoal pot to cook, as do most people here. (I have a gas stove, two burner and a tank that I had to hook up to the burners myself.) So you have to keep fanning the charcoal too. After boiling it, you let it cool a little. Then you put it in a giant mortar (like 2 feet tall) and smash with a 5 foot…not sure of the word in English…pestle? Anyways, you smash it up and then add water on the pestle so the food doesn’t stick and while you keep pounding it, and I mean pounding with more strength than I possess, and turning it to make a sticky goop. And just when you think it’s done, you add another cup of water and pound away to mix that in, and sometimes you even do that again! All in all, with only two yams cut up to feed the four of us, it took 2 hours to prepare!!! (And in the middle of all this, we made fish sauce, with heads, to pour on the foufou, and then ate it with our hand!)

Humpty Dumpty

So in my brilliance to charge my solar charger, I placed the panels in my window, the most direct route to sunlight. Well, then the wind blew, and like humpty dumpty, my solar panel had a great fall, but unlike my egg-shelled friend, all the kings horses and all the kings men did not come to put it back together again. Fortunately only one panel is completely shattered, and it still kind of work if I tilt it just right, and the sun is blazing. That was, since being here, the first time I outright cried.

No lollipops

I’ve been working at the local disponsaire (clinic) in my village and this week there was a campaign for vaccinations “contre la grippe H1N1”. I watched as dozens of children between the ages of 6-18 months received the needle prick without the reward of sugary deliciousness. How tough the children are.

Feeling a little more comfortable…

While getting anything done is a slow process, I am getting back into a routine. I am running regularly again, and am becoming more and more accustomed to the time consuming daily labors – cooking, hand washing the dishes right away (don’t want to leave anything for the critters), separating garbage between organic waste for my soon to be created compost pile and waste to be burned (and dumped in my latrine to decrease the smell and likeliness of the already existent cockroaches), hand washing laundry including the ever-absorbent jersey sheets for my bed (good thing the fitted sheet I brought is jersey because I am making a twin extra long stretch into a full!), sweeping the concrete floors of my two bedroom/one hallway house, sweeping the latrine, and long walks to the disponsiare to observe the local health care. Candle-lit evenings have become relaxing and once I have furniture I am sure I will feel even more at home. I truly am enjoying all this. I am also trying to incorporate more local language into my daily conversations (just the greetings) but I desperately need to find a tutor. I have also visited my marche a few times to be comforted by the availability of fruits and vegis (some new and some classic favorites). Easily at my disposal are: pineapples, coconuts, bananas, sweet plantains and the kind that taste like potatoes, star fruit, oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, onion, carrots, green beans, potatoes, cucumber, and more but I haven’t bought because I am not sure how to prepare. Cassava and yams are a staple here. I made “koliko” the other day which is fried yams; made it with an egg, tomato, onion, and pimant sauce (kind of like an omelet but in chunky sauce form). And I ate it with my hands, which is custom here!! It was good.

Patience is a virtue I have yet to master, so I find African time incredibly frustrating. It takes FOREVER to do anything. I have learned that I need to make only one goal for myself each day, and if I am able to accomplish that, then I am set. It is when I am trying to do too many things at once that the stress amounts as my time is consumed insufficiently.

I am in my new home now. There are a couple French volunteers here for a couple weeks working at the school. They live in my same compound. I don’t talk to them much but I went and observed one of their classes to see what they do and participated in an animation with about 100 kids one evening (singing, dancing and playing games). Some people are aware of the difference between myself and them, that I am not here on a vacation, but actually live in the village. It’s reassuring.

I am in the process of ordering furniture which is quite a bit of an ordeal. I have to bike to Tsevie, a neighboring village, to find a menusier (carpenter) because there aren’t really any in my village. Then I have to discuss what I want, what type of wood, and then bargain a price. The first couple ones I went to were really expensive. I finally found one and ordered a garde a manger – whish is basically a long cabinet to keep food and dishes from the critters. Later this week I am going to another village to visit a friend and her menusier who makes everything out of bamboo. He is cheaper and the wood work looks nice. I think I will be ordering everything else from him. But more than just ordering, I then have to wait a couple weeks for the construction and then rent a car to take me to the village, pick up and load my stuff and then take it back to my remote village. So the price kind of adds up and it is just a pain all around. I miss IKEA, and having my own car to run errands. Bikes can only go so fast, and carry so much. Today is going to be an interesting adventure as I have two bags, a three foot bucket attached to the back of my bike and more buckets that I will hold in front of me. I am truly becoming Togolese. Hahaha.

Weather has been nice and breezy but I did get my first sunburn yesterday, which means I will be wearing sunscreen from here on out. We are getting into the dry season, where it will be unbearably hot. Exciting?! At least I’ll be able to dry my clothes. And use my solar charger more since it won’t be overcast. Not having electricity is such a bummer. I feel like I am camping all the time. But I have a few luxuries. I have gotten into the habit of heating water in the mornings so I can at least take a hot “shower”.

Context not quite enough:

So I was talking with my host dad the other day about my post site, which is really close to here (training site – Gbatope), and living out there in stuff (in French of course). So then he asked me “tu veut devinir une femme togolaise?” I said yes, that I did want to become a togolese woman, living like the Togolese. Then my host dad proceeds to say that “il faut trouver un homme…” Now I am confused…find a man? Why does la femme mean woman and wife!!? I then corrected the misunderstanding, stating that I have a boyfriend at home and do not intend to marry here, and to drive the idea home, I brought out pictures of my petit ami americain.

Where are the bluebirds?

So Africa – everything is different. I was walking in the fields today, where the flies follow me because they LOVE the smell of my shampoo, and I’m passing through spider webs because the spiders magically traverse the path from branch to branch three feet off the ground (don’t ask me how they do it, this is Africa.); I have become very content in my surroundings, existing and doing, almost wondering how this is truly different t than anywhere else. And then I hear a bird in trees, and a black bird with iridescent green/blue/purple wings flutters past, and I realize “I’m not in Kansas, anymore” (or moreover, California). My point being, even the smallest things remind me of how very far away from home I am, and how much more exciting it is to be in a place so very different.

Men wear pink?

So Togo has a very typical male versus female dynamic – the stereotypical patriarchal society: men work for money, women cook, clean, and have babies. But then you see grown men in flowy boubou’s (kind of like a moomoo) or a dress-like top with matching pants. You see men wearing bright bubblegum pink flowery pants. You see two grown men, twenties, thirties, forties…, hold hands as they walk down the street. How very interesting. (Note on holding hands: In Togo, holding hands is not a romantic thing and couples do not do it. Friends and siblings hold hands.)

La vie est toujour comme ca = life is always like that = tough luck

Farewell Gbatope

Today, 3 aout, is a day with mixed emotions. I am excited to be moving on to the next phase of my service here: the actual service part and departure from trainee status to full fledge volunteer (swear-in is Friday). But I am also sad because I am saying goodbye to the comforts (and annoyances) of constant American companionship, and my host family. My host family has been truly wonderful and while I did not develop a particularly close relationship, as other stagiares have, I am truly grateful for all their work and acceptance. I will miss them, but I am fortunate enough to have a post close enough to visit. I’ve got to get my fix of pate-rouge. Ma mere hote makes the best!

First day as a volunteer:

Spent 4 hours at the bank, trying to set up our account that was already established. Went to the mattress store, which was closed, to see if they even have enough of the high quality. If not, I will be sleeping on the floor for a while. Looking forward to the big fete tomorrow. My host family even made me an official Togolese outfit. I will try to load a picture.

July 13 –

I’m on post visit. Delave is a village of about 6000. My counterpart is really cool, and I have been kept pretty busy this week. So the hierarchy of a village is as follows:

Chef Canton (He is the chief of the whole village)

Chef Quartier (There are subunits of the village called quartiers. In Delave there are 11.)

Chef Concession (To assist the Chef Quartier, there is a “concession” committee, of which there is a chief of…)

Notables (Other officials)

I live in a compound (concrete fence all around the area) with one of the notables of one of the quartiers. He and his wife live here.

My house is donated by the notable’s brother (who owns it). I have two rooms. It’s kind of like a townhouse in that there is shared wall between my rooms and the other house. Really it was one house and then a wall was added to make my rooms separate from the rest of the house. So it’s like an attached apartment. No electricity, no running water. If I run out of collected rain water, there is a pump nearby where there is always a line and it costs. Plus I have a difficult time picturing me carrying a massive tub of water on my head like the others. I will try. Some people just pay a kid to run and get it for them. Not sure what I’ll do yet. The compound is nice but there are a bunch of cut down palm trees used to ferment sodabe (the local liquor). I tried a sip once and just the smell made my eyes water! I am looking forward to when I get back and setting up a garden and a pen for my future chevre (goat, or Egbo in Ewe). I haven’t figured out what constitutes my space and mutual space yet. I will probably find out more when I return permanently. I have a private latrine/shower that I keep a lock on, so it stays private. I do have roommates: I have seen one large cockroach that I was too scared to kill (plus I didn’t have any spray and I want to vomit at the thought of squishing it). Then another night I heard something rummaging but was too afraid to look, because they only come out at night. Hopefully it is the same cockroach and not a mouse too. I hear the lizards on my tin roof too. I have been keeping my dishes clean and all my food is in a closed plastic container, but I have yet to figure out the protocol for burning my trash. Plus, what do I do with tin cans? I will be asking very soon.

The weather really has not been bad. Outside it is cool and breezy since it is the rainy season, although it does not rain that often. Just when I really need it not to (see note below). The house is a little stifling though, with a combination of only one window in each room, and a mosquito net around my bed that does not allow the breeze through. If I spend more of the day outside though, it’s great.

What I have been doing: meeting all the chefs. We go to each one for about 45 minutes to explain who I am, why I am here, and what work I will be doing. It’s all in Ewe so I don’t understand. Everything had been very positive so far and welcoming. My homologue has been great about communicating that my security is of the utmost importance and has explained that I am here to work, not to marry. (If I have problems I can let them know, and they’ll fix it). Today I also visited the disponsaire (the local doctor’s office / hospital). The office services the whole village plus another one locally. There are only three personnel: nurse, midwife, and an assistant who maintains the facility. Healthcare is cheap relatively speaking. To birth a child you pay 3 mil CFA which is about 6 UD dollars. But there is no care for having birth. There is a bed to stay in but you have to have family come to change your sheets, clean up for you, and feed you. It’s the same for all who come in: surgery, wounds, maladies. Nurses here are more like doctors and provide information and diagnostics, not care/service. The disponsaire does not have a latrine. I am not sure what they use in the way of a bathroom. Apparently one was in the process of being built but is an uncompleted project (as is the house for the personnel that has half built walls and corn growing in the interior).

I am feeling pretty motivated. There is A LOT to do here, and people appear to be receptive. I am more worried about language because my homologue seems to think I will have mastered Ewe after living here for a month. Considering I still can’t get the salutations right, I am not quite as hopeful. I will try but I still have to work on my French. My homologue speaks English (which is not so helpful as it means I am not working on French which I need to work with other people, but is good if I don’t understand things). In Ewe they will determine your name based on what day you were born. I was born on a Thursday, so my name here is DaYawa (sister Yawa). It will be better than Yovo.

In addition to working with the village in Delave in general, I will be working in a neighboring bigger village of Tsevie where there is an NGO Espoir de Vie that works with people living with HIV/AIDS. I have a meeting with them on Friday to see how they would like to collaborate.

I’m trying not to be too homesick. I miss everyone so much.

Hugs from the bug-bitten Nikki.

**So the awful rainy day: On Friday (last) we met with our homologues in the morning and then had time in the afternoon to purchase food, pots and pans, and such as would be needed for our post visit. Since I have a new post (not replacing an old volunteer), I needed to buy everything. When I left it wasn’t rainy, but hot. Then it sprinkled a little, still not bad. Then it poured and I sat under one of the marche centers next to the smelly fish, hoping it would stop soon. When it lightened up, I continued on my adventure (with another stagiare) only to find myself further locked in the downpour. After waiting at a little shop with little coverage (thus my clothes were drenched and I was cold) for 30 plus minutes, we decided to brave the torrent and walk home. Only to find that below the foot deep water in the street was mud that locked our shoes so we couldn’t walk! I ended up walking into a hole that was about 2 feel deep and further soaked my newly made African pagne dress in dirty street water. We ended up getting a ride to her house and then back to the tech house where I was to be picked up to return home. It was quite the fiasco and after all that I still didn’t have some of the basic utensils I needed for post. Fortunately, a couple volunteers who live in town were able to pick some up for me and get it to me before I left for post. I find myself everyday saying, TIT (This is Togo!).

July 7 – I’ve been here a little over a month and things are going relatively well. I just took my mid-training language evaluation. I have reached my minimum performance level of Intermediate-Mid. That’s two levels up from my original placement and I hope to be at Advanced-Low by the end of training (I have three and a half weeks to get there). Although at this point I want to focus more on local language (Ewe). I have managed to learn the most basic of greetings, and I would type them here if I had keys for the several new letters in the alphabet. And they use sounds I still haven’t figured out yet. I leave for my post visit week on Saturday and will meet with my homologue/counterpart on Friday. This is the go-to-person that I will be working with in my village. I am pretty nervous about it actually. I would describe what I am to understand to be my future home, but I figure I should just wait until I’ve been there so I can speak in definite terms instead of guesses. (side note: I have not used a computer in so long that my hand is cramping up right now as I am relearning to type.) At this point in stage, two members of the health group have left- one girl broke her leg and had to be med-evacuated to the US to have surgery. She has the option to come back in 4-6 months when she has finished healing. The other, a guy, went home to attend the funeral of his father who died unexpectedly last week. He should be back in another week or so. Illnesses have not become of great concern. Many people are having digestive problems and one guy had parasites. He’s better now. Another guy unfortunately has an infected bite. It’s in the yucky stages at this point but it should get better. He is on antibiotics. Our med unit is pretty good about getting us the medications we need. We had our first taste of what our work is really going to be like on Monday. We did a mock-causerie (info session). We gave a presentation to new mothers about the advantages of family planning and some basic contraceptive info. We gave the presentation in French and then our teachers had to translate it into local language for us (that is how it will just about always be done – which is why our homologues are so important). Afterwards we helped with baby-weighing and filled out weight charts for the mothers, explaining that it is important to monitor growth because malnutrition is a big concern here, particularly for infants. The babies were all very cute. Everything is going well. I killed another spider in my room. A big one. But at least that is the worst of it for me. Some of the others have had cockroaches or scorpions in their rooms. I would cry!! I do worry about snakes. The path through the cornfield that I take to get to my house from the PC school always troubles me. I have only seen a dead snake on the path so far. I should carry a stick, especially at night. One guy had a snake in his room. Fortunately, it was day time and he hadn’t gone into the room but saw it before hand. His host mom went screaming to the neighbors who came over to kill it. It was bright green. Not likely to be my new friend. Lol.

Hello family and friends–

I hope you are all doing really well. I am doing wonderful but the last couple weeks have been full of ups and downs. I have been in Gbatope for three weeks now with three weeks of classes and living with a host family. The village is really small: no electricity, no internet cafes, no cold sodas! It’s pretty though. I live in a house with a host dad, mom, two sisters, and a grandchild (he’s a year and a half old). They are all really nice but I don’t interact with them as much as would be beneficial. They all speak some French, the dad speaks a little English, and they all speak Ewe (local language) primarily. I bucket shower twice a day (it is really hot unless it rains – then it’s bearable). I wash my laundry by hand. I am really bad at it and it takes me forever. Then I hang it on a line to dry in the sun. (I have to hang the underwear inside). It’s definitely a different lifestyle. I think the most difficult thing in regards to the electricity is that when I came back in the evenings after class, I need light to do homework. Often I am hunched next to my kerosene lamp trying to read.

So here is my general daily schedule:

M-SAT

4:30 – wake up and can’t sleep anymore

5:15 – run with a couple other stagiares (we are called stagiares because this part of the program is called stage=training)

6:00 – bucket shower, brush teeth, eat – I have bread and tea for breakfast everyday

7:30/9:30 – Class: classes consist of French language training (I’m in a class of two),

technical training, learning about Togolese society and the health care system, health training for personal safety and health, bike lessons (I have to learn how to fix my bike – and know the parts in French), Peace Corps Administrative policies and more.

9:30/10 – break

10/12 – more classes

12/2:30 – Lunch break. My host family makes me lunch and I usually take a nap after.

2:30-4:30 – more class

4:30/5:30 – extra language tutoring (2-3 times a week)

So my room: I have a room to myself in the house with my host family. We live in the corn fields near the Peace Corps facility. It is like a three minute walk which is convenient except when I have language class down the hill at another stagiare’s house.

It came with a bed. I made my twin extra long sheets fit a double bed. It’s quite a stretch. The bed came with a frame so that I could hang up the mosquito net around my bed. Malaria is a huge concern here. I sleep under the net, use bug spray everyday, and take mephlaquin once a week (an anti-malaria drug). I also have a desk, chair, and side table. It’s roomy enough but I have to keep my bike inside too which takes up some space. I have a roommate – a lizard – and I haven’t named him yet. I found him twice at my door outside and shooed him away but the next day I found him in my room. He eats the crickets though, so it’s ok. Plus he’s small. I don’t think he is even here all the time. He is much more welcome than the giant spider I had to kill my first day here. It was larger than a 50 cent piece and vaguely reminds me of a crab in its shape and the way the legs are positioned.

All the other stagiares are nice and we come from all over the place. There are 29 of us in total for the two groups – Health (16) and Business (13). Four of us had a birthday this week: June 21, 22, 25, and 26. Kind of crazy!

The town of Gbatope: It’s only about 500 people. Some speak French while most speak a local dialect called Ewe although there are a couple other groups: Kobye and Ausa (not sure how to spell or say correctly). There’s only one main road into the town. I live off of a dirt road that is off the main road. The house is a little secluded which is nice but my door is at the front of the house facing outward to the road and when the kids see me outside they wait and stare until I say something to them. Then they laugh and run away. They have a song for us: Yovo, yovo, bonsoir, ca va bien, bien, merci. It’s the typical greeting us white folks “yovo” have with our neighbors = hello, how are you, good, thanks. Sometimes it bothers me when all they do is call me yovo, but I do get a lot of kids that ask for my name too. And you can play with saying: where’s a yovo? Surely you don’t mean me? It’s fun. The town is amongst the fields as most people are farmers here. My host dad is and there are also goats, chickens, and guinea pigs running around. All the goats in town just run around free and I guess everyone just knows which ones are theirs. I have also seen the biggest snails ever here. And the lizards are everywhere. They hide in my latrine so when I get up late at night to go the bathroom I find them crawling on the walls. As long as they don’t move I am good. Hahaha. I have been going running in the morning with a group which has been really beneficial for my mental health – getting into a routine. Early in the morning there is a mist that hangs in the fields that makes the town seem very serene. You would not believe the amount of things the women carry on their heads. We are talking giant water jugs, bundles of wood, buckets of food, tin slates for roofing. I get a headache just looking. My host family giggled a little because I just carried the water jug in my arms. How unusual?!

Health wise: I am doing pretty great. I only had trouble just today – a little lightheadedness and nausea from not staying hydrated enough and it being so hot. My skin is broken out everywhere with heat rashes and sweat. So that’s fun. No one here has gotten seriously sick so far, so that’s good. I am making a very conscious effort not to gain weight. Most people during stage gain 10 lbs +. One girl I talked to said she gained 16!! The food here is mainly carbs and starches. I have bread and tea for breakfast (but soon I plan to incorporate some oatmeal for my digestion’s sake – I need fiber). Lunch and dinner are either couscous, rice, spaghetti, beans, or pate (corn meal) with a fish sauce. Sometimes I get corn on the cob, pineapple or bananas. So as you can imagine, it is all heavy foods that just kind of sit in my stomach. The food is really good though. A little spicy but there really isn’t anything I don’t like. Pate is not my favorite but my host mom also makes pate rouge which has other things mixed into the cornmeal like tomatoes, onions, peppers and stuff. I like the pate rouge more. I haven’t had foufou yet which is crushed manioc (cassava) which I don’t think I’ve ever had before. It will be interesting I am sure. I want to help make it. My host mom makes le gari which is the manioc powder. She makes a ton and sells it.

I’ve gone to a Catholic church here a couple times since my whole host family goes, but I don’t like it too much. Last week it was four hours long!! Next week I think I am going to go to a different church with other stagiares. There is one where they dance for like an hour. I want to see and get the whole cultural experience.

It’s technically rainy season here but I don’t feel like it rains that often. Just once a week or so I think.

The US Ambassador is supposed to come to morrow to meet with us. But the roads have been closed out of the capital – Lome. There is a strike by professional drivers and they have barricaded the main roads in and out of Lome. The price of gas went up like 15 percent and they are very upset. It isn’t really a problem. Just that none of the administrators we are supposed to meet with lately are coming out to see us because they are all located in Lome.

I know this letter is very all over the place, but I can’t seem to think in coherent thoughts. Again, I hope you are all doing well and I would love to hear from you. Snail mail letters are always awesome and I’d love to hear what is going on. If you send packages, it is best if they are in the padded envelope kinds instead of boxes. The envelopes tend to not get opened as frequently and I am less likely to have to pay a customs fee for.

Love you all,

Nikki

PS: If you decide to send me anything I have a wishlist:

-hard copy photos of you (past or present) – I miss seeing your faces

-mixed cd’s with music you think I should hear

-American goodies that you think I wouldn’t be able to find in Africa, because let me tell you – I can’t in Togo. (lol)

-magazines with clothing styles I can have copied and for just general news

-books you think I should read

- markers and color pencils for creating posters

-love and warm wishes – I miss you all so very much!

So I think I am going to become a farmer. They have the cutest pygmy goats here and I just have to have one. I am convinced I am going to have a goat, chickens and a garden = fresh vegis, eggs and meat (because I'll eventually eat the chickens), and milk from the goat. I bet none of you ever thought. lol. I'm definately getting the goat though.

So the first couple days in humid Togo have been filled with interesting information meetings: health, safety, logistics….

We arrived at the airport in Lome after an 8 hour layover and delay, but with luggage intact (after cleaning the exploding shampoo in the DC airport prior to check in). Welcome dinner provided some traditional Togolese food but still not the staple (patte and foufou – I don’t mind). The last two days following arrival have included scary conversations about safety (mostly common sense – except that people in fake police outfits might ask to see your passport and then run off with it – black market value ~$5k (US)), health seminars (malaria kills, take your pills – mephaquin apparently gives you extremely vivid dreams), and bathroom protocol (latrines = pits in the ground with a concrete box over it that when you go to use, you have to smack the top and the sides to knock the bugs down so they don’t crawl somewhere you don’t want them; located outside without real walls, maybe cloth). I have not used a latrine as of yet. The hostel has cold showers and flushing toilets, which will soon become a luxury. My bed is also rocking a wicked cool mosquito net. I have taken 3 shots: Yellow Fever, Meningitis, Typhoid. Rabies starts tomorrow!! Haven’t gotten a real taste of Africa yet. Still in a daze.

Host family stay in Gbatope starts in 2 days. I am super nervous considering most people don’t even speak French, but a local dialect. It will be fun to learn.

Interesting fact: “Yovo” is the word all the children call us. It’s the term for white person but literally translates to a Chinese person. Lol.

Thank you to everyone for their well wishes. It is going to be quite a ride these upcoming weeks. Below is my timeline (vaguely):

June 2 - Fly to DC

June 4 - Fly to France (6 hour layover - no time to visit)

June 5 - Fly to Lome, Togo

June 9/Aug 5 - Gbatope (about an hour outside the capital)

Aug 6 2010/2012 - Location Unknown?

Love you all and I'll see you in a couple years!