brief update

Another email from Anna:

“More emails later, I am in Lome just checking my email and then I’ll type the responses and send them soon.  Next week is swear-in so we will have high-speed internet time.

I saw a man wearing an Eagles shirt!”

~*~*~*~
You Know You’re In Togo When…

1)    You get excited when you see the thermometer by your bed reads 81
degrees F, and you think : “Yay it’s cold tonight!”
2)    You become increasingly aware of status symbols and make remarks
about people’s car or the cost of their pagnes.
3)    You see a goat tied on the back of a motocycle – and think, “That’s
weird, there’s room for at least one more person, why didn’t they put a child on too?”
4)    You automatically check for turkeys underneath the seats of bush taxis.
5)    You pour over US magazines both for the gossip and for models of
clothes to copy in pagne.
6)    You look forward to full moons because there’s no need to use your
lamp at night to walk to the latrine.
7)    You point out light skinned people and say “There’s a yovo! What
are they doing here?”
8)    You argue for fifteen minutes in the market over 100CFA because you
don’t want to get ripped off, then you realize you’re arguing over $0.25, but then you think “But it’s the principle.”
9)    You don’t bat an eye when your friend complains she didn’t sleep
well last night because there was a gris-gris ceremony next door.
10)    Even though you get more than 10 hours of sleep at night, you’re
still ready for a nap by noon.
11)    You get very excited when the FanMilk guy comes around, and
actually crave FanMilk in preference to “real” ice-cream.  Who wouldn’t want to eat frozen material out of a bag?
12)    You get excited about showers – whether ‘real’ or out of a bucket
– whether or not it’s hot water.
13)    You clean your fingernails every morning but by the end of the
day, Kassie still doesn’t believe you that you did so.
14)    You often meet the animals the day before you eat them.
15)     You sprinkle French words in with English, so now you can’t
really speak any language fluently.
16)     You say “bon soir” anytime after 9am…
17)     If someone says something in Ewe and you don’t know the response,
you just reply “Yoo…” and hope it’s right.
18)    If you go to Mass in Ewe, and it ends after two hours, you
complain at the time being too short.
19)    You can’t type anymore either because just as you got used to the
French keyboards in the internet cafés, you use your (American) laptop again.
20)    You think it’s normal to either throw your trash out the car
window, or else keep it and then burn it later.   Roasting
marshmallows is only possible if you get a care package from the States.
21)     Nothing really surprises you anymore.

thanksgiving post

Hi Everyone

It’s Thanksgiving so we have the day off so I thought I’d come to Kpalime and send an email to say Happy Turkey Day! I am sending this an email to make it more personalized but Sophia can you post it on my blog too?

Some updates:

- In the afternoon we are going to have real turkey (I saw it in the training center’s yard yesterday, I asked if I could help slaughter it but the schedules didn’t work out) and a real American feast, made by the PC chefs from Lome, and the formateurs will eat with us and it will be a great time!

• Yesterday was a “cross-cultural sharing day” where we put on a skit about American culture for our host families, and then they put on a skit, and then we had a fashion show. It was lots of fun. We decided to do a skit about Thanksgiving. I was the turkey! Paper wings and tail and beak and everything. It was great. We simplified the story a little, and much was “lost in translation” (how exactly do you explain the difference between the Pilgrims and Native Americans? We made paper hats for the Pilgrims, and feathers for the Native Americans, but we realized these hints might be a little lost on a culture that hasn’t grown up with these images). Our fashion show was fun and our host families loved it. First we wore American outfits, then we wore Togolese traditional clothing that our families loaned us. I wore chief’s wife clothing. Of course, mostly everyone’s clothes didn’t fit right (being borrowed), and those of us who wore headdresses looked a little lopsided, but it was a great time. Afterwards there were Togolese drummers and we all danced around. It was funny because before the show we were all acting like grade schoolers and freaking out and saying “I can’t see my parents in the audience, we can’t start till they get here!”
• Two books that I’ve read since being in Togo that I wanted to recommend are Shadow of the Wind and The Poisonwood Bible. The first is originally a Spanish novel and it was written so incredibly well. I read it all in one day and stayed up late at night to finish it. I highly recommend it. More on plot etc. later if my laptop battery holds up. Poisonwood is apparently a little well known, it was an Oprah’s Book Club choice, and it takes place in the Congo. Reading it while in Togo gave me déjà vu because so much of what’s described about Congo holds true about Togo – the pagnes, the babies on backs, the village community, donnez-moi un cadeau, etc. Anyway, it was super good and I think if anyone would like a good book to read that they will really enjoy and want to talk about with others, they should read these two books. Mom might want to recommend Poisonwood for her AP World History class?
• We haven’t gotten mail in a few weeks, which means mail in general must be held up getting to Togo. So if I haven’t mentioned getting your letters, don’t worry I’m sure I’ll get them soon. You might want to start putting “PCV” on the letters instead of PCT since it’s so close to swear-in.
• Our swearing in is fast approaching. Also the 45^th anniversary of the Peace Corps being in Togo! That is actually next week and we get to go to Lomé to celebrate. There’s a big gala at our CD’s house. I’m looking forward to it! Swearing in will be at the ambassador’s house in the beginning of December. So, this is interesting news: Everyone has to introduce themselves in their local language and greet the audience. But there is one person who makes a speech in French and one person who makes a speech in Ewe (the predominant language of the south). Like five minutes or thereabouts. Um, guess who is making the speech in Ewe? That’s right, me! So over the next week I am going to have to work really hard at practicing! There will be TV cameras there and everything. Today I wrote the speech in French and my Ewe teacher (who is also the site coordinator for GEE training) is translating it. When it’s done I’ll post the Ewe and French for you guys to see. I’m excited but also really nervous! Ewe is a tonal language, which means if you pronounce something wrong you could say something else! I’m also wondering what are the odds I’m going to trip and fall down, or something along those lines.
• Mom asked about care packages. Aside from the stuff I told Elizabeth, I was wondering if someone could send me a small book (or , just a bunch of printouts from the internet!) about teaching computers and/or typing. I mean simple stuff, the type of stuff that seniors learn at community centers, basic computer skills. I know I know about computers but I am so used to them, I have no idea what is a basic skill and how to teach it. Also typing ideas, although bear in mind the keyboards are different here, but I could probably adapt any instructions. Also, a pysanky kit. I think I want to do start a pysanky club!! Because you see, the pagne we wear is made with wax and dyes just like pysanky, so I bet they would understand the concept, not to mention the pagnes here are really inspiring for designs. Those are the only two specific things I can think of. In general, magazines are always welcomed (both serious and non. I like reading for knowledge, but also, I’ve used magazine pictures to show seamstresses what I want them to sew. Not to mention sometimes it’s nice to escape!) , photos, chocolate/candy (but not too much), venus breeze razor blades, stationary, hand sanitizer, letters. Also earrings and/or other jewelry. Earrings in particular are a big deal here, it’s women’s way of showing their uniqueness, if that makes sense. And I was an idiot and did not bring any except one pair of stuffs. I really appreciate all the letters so far, you guys are great. Oh, probably some AA or AAA rechargeable batteries, but those aren’t urgent, it’s just I don’t have enough for everything so sometimes I have to switch them between flashlights etc. Crystal Light To Go or something similar is starting to sound really good, I drink SO MUCH WATER (which is why I have to pee ALLLL the time) that I’m starting to get really tired of it and crave something sweet. But hey, at least I know I’m hydrated, right?
• Can I just say, that the formateurs/formatrices (trainers) are amazing. PC trainees are in such good hands. They are some of the most amazing people in Togo. Also, our host families are amazing. They have become like our real families – not taking the place of our real families, of course, but I hope it makes my American family happy to know that if anything happened I know I have a home in Agou that I would phone and ask for help. (Oh, my host mom gave me a bead necklace from Ghana and she says she is going to buy another one that is red, since mine is blue, for Sophia. I’m not kidding about the twins-are-special thing.) The Togolese definition of family is so much more inclusive (and sometimes vague) than the American definition, but I’m come to accept it and I feel I’m starting to understand why they use terms of relations so loosely (according to my Western ear) “sister” “brother” “mother” “father”. These basically just mean that this is someone you are prepared to welcome and open your arms to. I think that I am definitely going to be back to visit my host family. More on Togolese society in later posts.

-Well my laptop battery is running low so that’s all for now.

love

Anna

Nov 3 – Nov 11 2007

hi everyone

So I’m back from Post Visit! So it was a lot to process and reading over my journal notes I could tell that I was sick and overwhelmed (so take the entries with a grain of salt), but I honestly think this is just part of the transition out of nice, safe, comforting training, and that I will adapt to my village just as I adapted to my training site. I’ve taken the name of my village out of the journal entries because of security stuff, so please forgive the monotony of “my village” over and over again… I almost didn’t post this, as it’s a little boring, but I figured someone would be craving the details. I took pictures and as soon as I have fast internet again (the perks of being an hour from Lomé) I will post some. Lake Togo is beautiful ! I am pretty lucky with my village, it has a lot of really enthusiastic people who are potential work partners, and is very close to two major towns (Vogan and Togoville), and is relatively close to Lomé. The roads around it are not too bad either, although I’m wondering what happens during rainy season. The breeze from the lake is a godsend – we definitely don’t have that in Agou! In my village there is a petit marché every day, which means I can get bread, tomatoes, and other basics whenever I want (this is great, it’s not every volunteer who has this luxury) and then on Fridays is the grand marché in Vogan which is one of the biggest in Togo. That’s where I’m going to buy my furniture, as my homologue doesn’t like the carpenter in my town and says it’s cheaper to buy it ready made. We shall see. It’s just sad that my closest friends in stage are not that geographically close to me, however this now gives them an excuse to come down south!

It’s hard to believe how little training we had left, next week is Thanksgiving, and then after that is the gala for the 45^th anniversary of Peace Corps in Togo, and then I think the week after that is swear-in. And then all the stagiares will be separated for good and we’ll have to carve our lives in our new villages, making friendships/colleagues all over again, figuring out how to cook for ourselves, how to get around the area…. I will have to use both French and Ewe a lot, so I will definitely have to be disciplined about studying. I can’t wait to furnish my house, it’s so empty and lonely right now, and making it into my own little home will help with the transition process. I think I definitely want a dog and a cat, for company….

Next week we are having a fashion show for our host families, first we will wear American clothes, and then we will wear pagnes that they’re going to lend us. Also we are going to present a skit about Thanksgiving. I get to be the Turkey!

Post Visit

November 3 – November 11^th , 2007

Day One – Saturday

Picked up in front of our houses and a huge pile of belongings (we were encouraged to bring majority of our belongings and leave them at our post). My host mother told me that I have to eat during the week and she’ll be mad if I come back skinny. Yesterday we met our counterparts during the counterpart workshop. Yesterday and the day before we also went shopping Kpalimé to get essentials for post visit (plates, cooking pot, etc).

On the way back from Kpalimé we rode in a bush taxi with a billion turkeys hiding under the seats. We decided to get out of the car halfway there because they were piling huge bags of yams on the roof and it was sagging in and then they were putting it the front seats and the driver couldn’t see so we made a judgement call and got out and waited for another taxi. The next one was fun, full of nice people who let us ask them their names in Ewe (the only thing we knew how to say).

Glad I did this, kept thinking of someone’s blog I read a year ago about how they forgot basics like dish towels, so I was a little obsessive about getting many items. The big basins I bought are already super useful and are doubling as my shower, dish sink, and laundry tubs for the time being. I’ll have to get more in December. Anyway, 6am I was waiting with my stuff. We loaded it on top of the van (bush taxi) and then unloaded it again at the central meeting place, where we were divided into groups of three volunteers per vehicle. We loaded our belongings into our belongings into our respective vans (or onto, I should say) and set off. We first dropped Ruthia off then I was next. Martime region is supposed to not have mountains like Plateaux but as we drew closer to my village, some hills appeared and it was very pretty countryside which pleased me. My counterpart was on his phone a couple times because community members kept calling to see how our voyage was.

I felt like just as I’ve gotten used to Agou – Togolese friends, love my family, etc – I have to retransition into a new episode of culture shock. So it was a little overwhelming but I keep reminding myself that I was a little “dazed and confused” when I first arrived in Agou and that if I just stick with it I will adapt to My village too. “Du courage,” as they say here.

I forgot to mention that I was also very tired because I’d gotten up at 330am to finish packing (had chosen to go to bed the night before, plus the electricity had gone out and it’s annoying to pack by lamplight).

So we arrived in My village. This is what my house is like: It’s small, two rooms, and reminds me of my apartment in Philly. I live in a compound with my own fence and a gate for security / privacy reasons which gives me my own “yard”. I have a separate building for my kitchen which is good because gas stoves heat up the rooms too much. The traditional Togolese kitchen (which is what this is) has thatches walls, a cement floor, and a tin roof. It’s up to me to commission furniture. I have a small veranda with a tin roof to shade from the sun, again this will be nice because I can furnish it and receive visitors (in Togo you don’t normally invite people into your house). On the side of the house is a “yard” although it’s just red dirt right now I think because of the renovations they were doing. Last night when I showered, the stars were beautiful! The best thing about my house is that the gate, door, and window shutters (oh, both rooms have two big windows which has been really nice for ventilation and catching the crossbreeze) are all painted a bright cobalt blue! (Like a Greek postcard.) Right now there is nothing in my house except the stuff I brought up to store. Even the bed and table are just on loan. My house is a stone’s throw behind the Catholic church.

I’m not sure how to describe my village except by references to Agou, but that doesn’t help if you’ve never been to Agou. Oh, my house doesn’t have running water or electricity but some houses in the village have electricity from generators. My village is a substantial village with it’s own petit marché, a couple different schools… Many of its buildings are stone and it seems to have designed paths and planned houses. More on it as I explore more.

After unloading my things I was brought to the chief, sat in a circle of chairs and village important me, while the women danced and sang. Afterwardsa we had lunch on the chief’s porch. Then they all escorted me back to my porch and “officially installed” me. My head was spinning because I know I am not going to be able to remember everyone’s names/faces.

My counterpart / homologue left me alone to unpack / nap a little. They also brought me a bucket of drinking water (and after seeing where the only pump in village is, I probably won’t be fetching it myself) although we had a little argument as to why I still needed to boil my water. I boiled my water, sort of, although I must not have set the gas stove correctly because it never did completely boil even after an hour. (But the next day it boiled in fifteen minutes). My homologue returned to walk me around parts of the village and introduce me to more people who I can’t remember, while also telling them about how I was going to help them and what projects I am supposedly supposed to do (a little embarrassing). He also told them I didn’t really speak French. In my defense I was pretty tired and overwhelmed (In Agou I tested as Advanced Low). We ended up at his house where I met his wife and 5 month old son Espoir (Hope). He walked me back to my house where I b orrowed some charcoal from Justine who lives in the compound so I could cook outside. I made macaroni and ate it plain. I used my petrol lamp and headlamp to see. I washed my dishes and almost decided to shower the next day, but told myself I needed to stick to / create routines, so I showered by lamplight and went to bed.

Day Two – Sunday

I got up, showered (oh the roosters woke me up at 330am, but I stayed in bed for another 2 hours), and made myself Nescafé and bread for breakfast. Justine and I went to church. So, in church I noticed all the women had their heads covered, so I felt pretty self-conscious at not having followed custom. I also messed up and took Communion with my left hand, so who knows what they think of me. The Mass was two hours in Ewe. But after the homily the priest came to my pew and gave me a summary in French. When he was done I said Agbe (merci in Ewe) and all the congregation laughed and clapped. The kids here don’t speak French, I don’t know how many people really do, and so the kids just stare at me when I wave at them. When I was leaving church I saw a boy wearing a Duquesne University tshirt! Oh, the wonders of dead yovo markets. Church was over at 9am, and I came back and made a meal. A lot of rice with what was supposed to be a sauce. I thought I was being smart and just cooking once a day but it’s not that good and kind of boring. However, it was a pain to cook in the dark yesterday, so I’ll probably eat it for dinner too. *Edit : I ended up forgetting about the rice and four days later found the bowl covered with mold. Right…. Afterwards I napped – it’s warm but there’s a greet breeze, and I put my bed in the middle of the two windows. I got up, had some more rice, and am now sitting on my front stoop waiting for my homogue who oI think is going to show me around some more.

My homologue showed up (“Africa time”) and we took a walk around town. There was lots of singing and dancing because of funerals. First we went and greeted the chief. He had us come in and we hung out for a while, as it were. My chief is really interested in me and is glad I am a Catholic twin. (Twins are considered lucky here although everyone I meet in my village seems to be one so I don’t understand why it’s special.) My homologue insists on marching me into various establishments and saying “Here’s a Peace Corps Volunteer – now tell them everything you can do for them.” Which seems to go against the Peace Corps concept of grassroots development. I’ve already forgotten what else we did so I’m going to move on to Monday.

Day Three – Monday

I went to the primary school where my homologue works to meet a bunch of teachers and then met all the students and told them not to call me Yovo. So it’s pretty cute, you can tell which kids go to school because they yell “Dada Anna / Dada Akoele” and correct other little ones who say Yovo. Afterwards, I went to lunch with Delphine who is the infirmiary midwife. First we went to the infirmiary who tried to get me to commit to doing health work. The infirmiary is also built by La Columbe and is next to the youth center (also built by La Columbe) where there are supposedly going to be computers and where I may be teaching computer classes.

I sat on her porch and helped make lunch, which means I watched while she cooked. We had pate and sauce with fresh fish, and we ate together (I didn’t get a separate plate, which is a good sign not to eat separately). It took two hours to prepare with charcoal and it’s easy to realize why women in particular in Togo don’t have much time for anything else.

Afterwards, Delphine walked me back to my house – which means first we went to the hairdress (I have fun greeting people in Ewe, they get a kick out of it) then called in on the chief, who was sleeping but Delphine didn’t seem to think it was a problem to wake him up. We chatted for a while, then we came back to my house to refill my water and went back to the primary school to meet my homologue. I waited while he finished teaching then we walked to see the Catholic school although since it was evening we will have to come back to properly meet the students/teachers. I had an avocado for dinner but Justine felt sorry for me and gave me bananas. I met her husband, I think – the chief said she was married and that her husband is the catechiste at the church. But since people don’t introduce themselves here and Justine referred to him as “the brother”, I don’t know his name . My throat ws hurting and I went to bed early , I’m thinking about buying a generator.

Day Four – Tuesday

Today my homologue told me to meet him at the school but I just ended up sitting in on his classes. A little girl came up and held my hand all the way to the school. So cute. During a break he took me to hang out with a seamstress and her apprentices, to ask questions, etc. It was only mildly awkward. Being sick with what feels like a cold, I was not enjoying the day very much and just wanted to go to bed. I went back to the house for water and a nap.

I forget what else…more later.

Day Five – Wednesday

Was a great day. I hung out with Affi, a hairdresser, and her apprentices. She told me lots of info about hair, apprentices, and the status of girls in Togo. Afterwards I sat in on a presentation of La Columbe who gave out uniforms, school fees, and lamps to a group of orphans. I came back and made koli-ko for lunch, then my homologue and I went to Lake Togo! It was so beautiful! Not to mention the lake breezes felt great. I suddenly felt I was very lucky to be in My village. Once again a mansion was pointed out to me that was “mine”. We called in on a colleague. I bought bread and came back for dinner (macaroni). I need to get used to cooking. We also went to a couple women’s groups’ meetings to say hello and that I would be back in December to meet with them more extensively.

Day Six – Thursday

I went to the CEG at 6:30am with my homologue to briefly meeting the director and some of the students. Then I hung out with a tailor’s apprentices for a while. Then I came back here where I’ve been nappy (still sick – it sucks), a little cleaning/packing, etc. Forget what else…

Day Seven & Eight – Friday and Saturday

Friday we took a bush taxi to Vogan, where we dropped off my bags at the PCV’s house. Then we walked to La Columbe (which , not having moto privileges, took an hour to walk to under the midday sun). Later on my homologue left me, and we had our post party. The next day we went to Lomé, and the next day (Sunday) we took a bush taxi back to Agou, where I was happy to see my host family!