speaking of the crazy turns of life, i met someone a lot of people know… not personally that is, but through the “A-lister/Celebrity” kind of way. fancy me, he was fond of me. at least for a moment that is. no I’m not mentioning who this person might be. there really is no point in it. why? bc i dont really want to. if i tell you, great.. you know. if i dont… then wait for it….. keep waiting….. i might tell you later……… or i might not. hell, if you really want to know, ask someone close to me and i’m sure they will spill the beans. anyways, had a great date with “said person” and possible the best date of my life. AND NOT BC THEY ARE FAMOUS! hell no, bc they asked me the simplest question EVER, in a genuine manner…WHY. love it. it seemed, at the time at least, that they were interested in me. fancy that…ME!!! “why” isn’t a really big deal, but how they posed question to get to know me made it feel real and genuine in the effort. I appreciated it. oh, did i mention “said person” has a job… that they like and seem happy with it. That aspect made me happy too, bc it didn’t seem like some dead beat was trying to hit on me… that was reassuring that there are men out there that aren’t pathetic. wow I’m really coming off as a positive person right now… let me reassure you that I’m not biter about my dating past… nope, I’m very happy that I’m not with anyone from my past

okay so i think those are the interesting aspects of my life that might be worth reading about. none the less, i miss my friends and family that i dont get to see on a regular basis. wish i was closer to y’all…. but at this time… and i’m not sure when, i will be “home” again… just a reminder: I havent forgotten you, i miss you, and most likely love you tons! this includes multiple friends that are PCVs in Togo. Texas, you have my heart, but my spirit is free and wondering the world. see ya when i see ya!

quick notes version
-goign to the poll, hopefully not going to be too hot today
-hot season is on the rise…very difficult to sleep, i have resorted to sleeping on a cot due to waking up in the middle of the night bc im sweating and my sheets are soaked. also it is very common to be nausious at the hottest part of the day. SUCK
-putting in for vacation time soon, hopefully JULY
worek is picking up, hopefully starting an engligh club for students soon
-greg, my pup is doing good, hes more of the compound dog now since i travle a good amount.

****if you know any simple child songs like row row row your boat, twinle little star, games like simon says…. facebook me a message with the instructions or words… i will be teaching these in my engligh club!!!**
much love, and i hope the weather for yall isnt too bad!!!

Today is the last day of my IST (In Service Training; a formation that each volunteer goes to three months after swearing in). Late November was the last time that I saw many of my members of my training group. After spending 9 weeks together, non-stop, all the time, we were ready for a break from one another. Coming together again at IST has been amazing though. All our stories from being at post (our new homes through out Togo), the integrations, the work, our new Togolese friends, etc….. soo much to talk about. One week hardly seemed like enough at the beginning. Now at the end of the week, we aren’t tired of one another as we were after PC training, but we are full of excitement once again to return to our villages. Some of us miss village, and are not used to being away for so long. I now have a puppy to return to at home, whom I hope will be excited to see me! Now to the exciting things, gossip and other such things….Upon arrival at post new volunteers usually get a local name (mine being Mazalo)… during IST another volunteer Emily (also known as Emm) was telling us a story about someone who was new in her neck of the woods. She was in conversation with the local chief asking is she could be given a local name (spelling in French “nom”). She went on and on about how it would be good for her integration into the community, and how other volunteers in near by villages also had names, thus she thought it proper to have one of her very own. The Chief gave her a puzzling look and asked if she would take this ‘nom’ back to America, she replied that she already had an American ‘nom’ and would most likely not. Again, the Chief gave her a confused, serious look and said he would have to think about it, but that he would get back to her about the matter soon. Close to the end of this conversation the Chiefs’’ wife interrupted and said, “the volunteer is asking for a NOM not a HOMME.” (Homme = man/husband). The Chief no longer had a confused look, but yet the volunteer now had a look of horror! This story is a classic case of misunderstanding of accents, so freaking hilarious to me. Asking for a name to be part of the community, but someone thinking your asking for a husband to be a better part of the community…. It doesn’t get much better then that on a scale of misunderstandings!!! Another funny side note about this week, my training group started off with 14 people, only 1 being in a relationship, NOW 8 people are in relationships or are dating someone else…. For me, this week has been named IST the musical. why? Because we have all been rocking out and singing along with each other to any tune that presents it’s self. For example: the lion king sound track, the song G-6, Ludicrous, and yes….. Save a horse ride a cowboy. Classic moments while we’re all stuffed into a PC bus traveling from one site to another. Not to mention every morning we start off with a ‘bonc’ or ice breaker…. Just a little game or chant to get the work and excitement a-flown’. Some activities we went over this week were MAP (men as partners), Girls in Science, cross sector work, VSL (village savings and loans programs), and other possible projects and action plans that we can use for work here in Togo. I really enjoyed MAP, which I plan on doing with some of the volunteers posted near me. We are going to put together a small training for couples, teachers, and high school students to give an introduction to the information on “MEN AS PARTNERS”. Formally this projects focus is getting men to be partners with women, how to better recognize the importance of communication, respect, and the work on both ends of men and women in relationships. Also the differences in types of relationships, how they are abused, and how they can be aided. Cross sector work, which I will be doing a lot of rearch on very soon has to do with working with the other programs Peace Corps has in Togo. There are 4 programs here, GEE (girls education and empowerment), NRM (natural resource management), CHAP (Community Health Awareness program), and SED (small enterprise development). February 5, 2011 IST is over, and I’m headed back to my petit village in a day or so. I’m sticking around the big city so I can catch a ride for free with PC when they do their monthly tour up and down the ‘road national’. Side note: there is only one “high way” in togo, and it sucks, it runs north to south, runs through the capitals of each region, the road is mostly just pot holes. Cars don’t actually have to stay on one side of the road while driving so they swerve every 5-10 feet to avoid either a pot hole, another car, moto, or goat….. traveling sucksssss to say the least. Also, to review, I will be, if I haven’t already mentioning BUSH TAXIES…. If you don’t know what this is I will be uploading a photo in this post. I could try and explain exactly th situation, but pictures speak so much louder ☺…..

welcome to my life of traveling, comments welcome, and encouragement needed!!!

Other then work and traveling through Togo: vacation is on the mind!!!! Or at least traveling outside of Togo…. SEEING THE WORLD!!! I just checked my e-mail (sorted through about 500+ crap) and discovered that Egypt is currently off limits to PCVs. Bummer! I was looking forward to visiting there, but hopefully it will open soon and I can get back on track with places I want to visit while living in West Africa. Speaking of vacatins…. I’m thinking (very hard) about going to the film festival in Burkina Faso…. I will let y’all know how it all pans out….. definite plans are: pool day … I can’t wait to jump into the pool at Hotel Kara in the next few weeks… SO EXCITED!!! I just received a package from my momma, and she sent me a sarong from her trip to the Caribbean….. I’m excted to have a reason to wear it… and cool down from the heat. Which I hear is exactly the opposite from whats going on in Texas… I hear snow is happening again this year? Craziness! Also I’m very jealous! Well Texas, enjoy the snow, while your are trudging through the fluffy white stuff and slipping on the ice, I’m sweating on short strolls though inches of sand. Much love from West Africa!

Today is a day I could easily forget, but I don’t want to. Very small things occurred through out the day to make it extraordinary. I woke up right as breakfast was being delivered to my door by my loving host family. They must really love me because they made me an egg sandwich. Their egg sandwiches’ are famous (at least with me they are). So I started my day off by eating an egg sandwich and some coffee. I gave my left overs to the domestiques (two little girls that help with the house work for payment of living in the house). I walked to school, the weather this morning was nice and crisp with a bit of a chill. For me, it was perfect, for the Togolese, it was a very cold morning. Class begun at 8am sharp, we had a very concentrated lesson on French ‘imparfait’ tense, then we were separated for individual study. I was asked to explain in French why it is important for a girl to continue school rather then get married at a early age. The actual situation is, the girl wants to go to school, her boyfriend doesn’t think its important and wants to get married soon to start a family. She try’s to discuss her desire to continue school, but alas her boyfriend refuses to discus it. She loved her boyfriend, and does not want to loose him, but she feels she is right in wanting to go to school. This is a very difficult situation from many different angles, her parents view, her wants and needs, her boyfriends’ wants and needs, and her future. My final statement of advise is that whatever choice she makes, she must accept the responsibilities what fallow as well as the outcome. OF course I mentioned that there are more fish in the sea, and they if her boyfriend doesn’t listen to her now about her wants and desires, what kind of message does this show for their future relationship? My professor was satisfied with my answer, and I was satisfied that I could convey this in French! After class I returned home for lunch. I was served a Togo style salad, which is chopped up lettuce and other vegetables mixed with mayonnaise. I’m not the biggest fan of this dish, but today it was good, there wasn’t an overpowering amount of mayonnaise. I had to fight of my family only a little bit when they tried to put more mayonnaise on the plate, I succeeded which also means my French must be getting better because they accepted my explanation. After lunch, I walked back to the tech house where our class is held. I like to walk back before ‘repo’ is over so there wont be a lot of children in the road singing the classic ‘yovo’ song. The stroll was peaceful, I had reapplied sunscreen before my departure so I was feeling extra okay about my skin being exposed to the sun this afternoon. Class commenced as always, reviewing possible situations and random French vocabulary. Once class was over for the day the other volunteer that I have been studying with invited me over for a popsicle. His mother makes fruit flavored popsicles since her family has a freezer. This is an exceptional treat after a hot afternoon! I accept his invitation and we return to his house that is around the corner form the peace corps tech house.  Upon arrival I greet his host father, sister, brother, and finally his mother in proper Togolese fashion, “Hello, how are you, how are the kids, how is the family, how is the cat, goat and everyone else.” All these questions are asked of me, I respectfully answer each one even though I don’t have a goat or children. This is just how things are done. Haha. We all sit and have a popsicle, discuss the weather, I mention that I’m hot and they family storms me with questions asking if I’m sick. I have to reassure them that no I’m not sick, I just think Togo has quiet warm weather, EVERYDAY. This becomes a joke, and from here on out I’m sure they will ask me if I think the day is hot or cold. I thank the family for their hospitality and inform them that I must return home before dark. They offer to walk me home, but since it is not dark for at least another 30 min I decline their offer. As I make my way home the weather has actually cooled down a good amount. I laugh to myself about the weather, and how it will never actually be cold here. Once I reached the gravel road that takes me directly to a cross road to my host families compound, I regard the people along the way. I love people watching. Today was a lucky day for it too, there was a moto guy wearing a Texas Longhorn hat. I was so excited to see Texas apparel! The man had no idea why I was excited, or why I was looking at him, but he seemed happy that I liked his hat. I continued on my way walking against traffic, and not 20 steps later to I see the funniest thing I have ever seen concerning a moto. Now I must explain, there is an ongoing joke and competition to see the weirdest most outrageous passengers and things being carried on a moto (motorcycle). Usually the most interesting situation on a moto is two extra passengers, including the driver, one passenger holding a goat, another jugs of water, and most likely small children in-between each person. Safety first here in Togo.  Today I saw an unusual situation on a moto, the passenger was actually sitting on a couch while on the back of a moto. Usually furniture is transported by truck or car like we do back in the states, but nope, not today. A couch, a wooded, fully completed couch, with a man sitting on it none the less! Of course, the couch was not the only thing being transported by this moto, seeing as the mans hands were free because he was sitting on the couch, he had two free hands to hold the table that also needed transporting. Yup, that’s what I saw. I wish dearly that I had had my camera on me, or that I had accepted the invitation for someone to walk me home. It would have been nice to gaze at this spectacle with someone else, to share this bizarre moment with another person so later when I am telling my story I have a witness. Oh well, you will have to take my word for it. If you have ever seen the amazingness of motos in Togo, then you know my story is very fare from being fabricated. To wind up my day, it was a very calm, relaxed, funny day full of culture and good memories.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Tomorrow I move out of my host family’s house and into my own place. I will miss them dearly, especially around suppertime, but this is part of the program, and life! Live with a host family for three months then your own home provide by Peace Corps for two years. My new home is a lovely 2-room house in a very large, very nice compound. The compound has 2 chicken coups, and a lot of children that run around. This is very common for anywhere in Togo though. I’m going to miss waking up to breakfast, coming home from class and watching or helping for both lunch and supper. Saturday nights when I didn’t go out with other volunteers, I stayed home and hung out, I would dance around with the kids, color in the afternoons, and talk French or broken French/English (fran-glais). One time after playing basketball another volunteer came home with me to hang out for a bit. We were messn’ around and play fighting, my host sister Fifi came up very nicely and told the other volunteer that if she hurt me that Fifi would have to hurt her. AHHHHAHAHHAHA I laughed so hard! Once it was explained that it was a joke, Fifi laughed too, but it was such a great moment for me. I loved that my host family was protective of me. Fifi is a wonderful girl (19, about to graduate from ‘high school’, wants to be a doctor, and makes amazing spaghetti!) I hope all her dreams come true, she’s worked hard to achieve what she has, and I’m very glad that her parents support her dreams. Its not very common for parents here in Togo to support a daughters wish to go to the university, its actually a very rare thing. Girls here are seen as being prepared to be a wife, and if they are educated they are less attractive to the majority of men here. This of course baffles me to no end, but then again, this is why I’m here!!!

As much as I’m going to miss my host family here, I miss my family and friends back home much more! I called my good friend Jessie today to see if she’s engaged yet, but nothing yet, I’m crossing my fingers for it to be soon!! I think I’ve decided that if she sets a date while I’m still living in Africa,  then that will be the time for me to return to America. I just don’t think I would be very happy with myself if I missed out on such a big event in a close friends life. A book I’m reading is what prompted my call to Jess to ask, and also in past discussions with my parents recently. One of my stepsisters is getting married this spring. I will not be returning to America for this event. This is a touchy subject, because I would defiantly want to attend, but I have no idea if I was still in America if I would even be invited. I don’t have a bad relationship with my stepsisters (Sarah being the one getting married, Jessica is already happily married), but we by are no means close. I drought if they know my birthday, and I haven’t gotten them a Christmas present since the second year after my mom married their dad. This situation sometimes troubles me, and has at point sent me into counseling sessions with close friends to seek their advice. Obviously being here I can’t just pick up my cell phone and call a friend to chitchat for an hour, and sending e-mails is no easy task. Blogging is what I’m left with.

Maybe with all the nerves of moving, and everything else that’s going on here, the little things that I have no influence towards are affecting me more. No that’s not right, I would most definitely be reacting the same way if I were back in the states. I would also have a clearer picture of the situation because I would know for sure if I were invited or not. On the other hand, things are looking good for an adventure home, going to a good friends wedding, and seeing friends and family that miss me, but no where near as much as I miss them! Things work out every which way for a reason; I haven’t been steered wrong yet! As much as I hate the quote, it’s completely appropriate for all situations, “Everything happens for a reason.”

December 30, 2010

Christmas has come and gone, and the new year is around the corner! I trust everyone is enjoying their holiday, I most defiantly have. For Christmas eve my cluster (the volunteers with the same post office) had a dinner party and movie night. We made tofu tacos, spiced wine and watched Elf. It was an enjoyable night just sitting around talking and eating. The next day, Christmas day, I returned to my village for the grand Noel Fete! The day was spent preparing food and cleaning. My host family here (the people family that I rent my house from) invited me to join them for their Noel supper, which happened to be with another volunteers’ host family. (Everyone’s related here I swear!!) So for supper we set up a table out side, pours many glasses of wine, in real wine glasses!!! (this is a huge thing because usually we just drink out of calabashes) The women served everyone a salad, and then rice with some sort of meat. (I’m still unsure about some of the meat here, so I passed on receiving something that was called meat.) During supper there were many people who passed by on the road, yelling and singing Joyeux Noel!! There were many groups of people that were crossed dressed for the fete with white powdered faces, they were dancing, singing, and pounding on instruments. The host families embraced the people passing, but did not invite them to eat with us (which is not usually the tradition, but I’m sure it had to do with it being Noel). After all the boxes of wine were finished and the food was put away, everyone headed to the grand fete up the road.  Everyone was dancing in a large circle outside someones hut, there was tchouck being served of course, just a wild scene to be perfectly honest. My host family didn’t want to stay long, we had actually had out supper at a neighboring village (2 Km away) and needed to return to Tchikawa for our own fete. We made an appearance for about 30 min at our villages fete, but since I was a little overwhelmed, the family took me home so we could continue in a smaller setting that wasn’t as chaotic. (People were of course cross-dressed, but there was a lot more people dancing, and everyone was trying to pull me out there to dance with them. I’m just not ready to jump right in the middle of things just yet. Lots of the volleyball players came up to me and tried in vain to pull me out there, but I successfully resisted telling them to go dance, and that I would see them at practice soon. I’m sure this was taken as an insult, but I’ll get out and dance with them when I’m good and ready.) Back at our compound, the family served up some palm wine (wine made from coconuts), it’s absolutely amazing! We just sat around in a circle ate some more and chit chatted. They also turned on the generator for the night, which I took advantage of to charge my cell phone and ipod!

A few days after Christmas I went and visited another PCV for shadowing (an assignment for new volunteers to see the daily life and projects of volunteers a year into their service). Andrew was my assigned mentor; I visited his village just in time to attend their saving and loans program fete (a fete in honor of the success of a program Andrew did with his village). The fete was very fun, his village doesn’t drink alcohol because they are a Muslim community, and I was a little more comfortable to participate fully with them.  When we danced, the women would come and put large scarves/cloth over our shoulders to represent honor and respect. I got a few pictures, but it doesn’t do justice to the video that the village has of the whole thing. The village hired a guy to videotape the whole fete. Later that night about 45-50 people crowded together in a small room to watch the video of the fete, everyone laughed and rejoiced in watching the tiny TV screen filled with people dancing and giving speeches. There are a few good and embarrassing shots of me dancing a traditional African dance while women come up and honor me by putting money and candy to my forehead (this action symbolizes that they think you are doing a good job).  When watching the video, many of the women would point at me on the screen and tell me “you need to send a copy for your family back in the States! They would be so proud of you.” HaHa, I agreed, but I getting a copy of the video isn’t as easy as copy and pasting onto my hard drive from a USB key, and copying onto a VHS tape isn’t very helpful for people back in the states since no one I know owns a VHS player. Even though the fete was a lot of fun, it definitely wasn’t the best part of my visit to Chez Andrew…… someone in his village has monkeys!! On my last day we strolled on over to someone house who has a monkey chained to a tree. The monkey was very amused and scared to see a white woman. I got to take some close up pictures, he really was cautious of me at first, every time he looked at me he would get a shocked look on his face and try and jump on a branch far from me. Once Andrew and some other people played with him a little bit, the money was a little more comfortable and started posing for the camera. He was a funny little guy.

New Years is around the corner, and my family is preparing already, we have three new goats tied up to our mango trees in the compound! I’m just planning on hanging around village, it seems important to the community that I participate in these activities. Andrew is planning on coming and doing his half of the shadowing for my birthday. A few other PCVs are planning on coming to chez moi as well. I’m going to host about 8 people in my tiny two room house with no electricity or running water! Haha, it will be a fun time. We’re planning on making some food, drinking some wine, listening to my ipod if it’s charged and playing cards by candlelight. I’m sure it’ll be a good ‘ol time! I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

January 1, 2011

NEW YEARS WAS AMAZING!! I went to Paguda to visit another volunteer, Kristine, and we just had the best UNEXPECTED time! Not that we didn’t think new years would be amazing here, but our expectations were blown out of the water! We went to a hotel that was having a ‘club’ night, no one showed up till after midnight, and I guess we didn’t really either because we returned for the real party after visiting another bar for the stroke of midnight. We met up with a friend she knows in town (Serge) and his friends, they took us back and forth between the two bars so we wouldn’t have to walk at the time of night. No matter where you are, it can be dangerous to walk around at night (virtually in the middle of no where). So we danced all night and didn’t return to chez Kristine until after 4am! Us Americans got tired early, the party was still going on until after 5/6am! And then Church was at 8/8:30am….. for those who were, which was not the Americans! Haha. We were so exhausted, we slept till 9am! Which is very very late for the togolais. Once we got ourselves put together and felt some what alive, we did our rounds to a few peoples homes to properly salue them for the new year. We went to chez Serge at midi and he had prepared us lunch! I was so so SOOOO happy, because him doing this just screams MAP (Men as Partners, a training I plan on doing with my community to bring up the issues of women needing partners not bosses in the home). He actually served us and the food was amazing. Serge is a very forward togolais man, I was very excited to meet someone like him here. After lunch, I returned to my village to prepare for the fete in the evening. I helped cut veggies for the huge salad that would be served to about 50 people! I’m not sure how I managed to cut so many tomatoes and not go insane! The fete was amazing, its actually still going on as I type, but since I was out so late last night dancing up a storm, I turned in early. The fete today was in honor of the new year of course, I sat with the men as always. OHHH just an example of how I’m treated differently then others here: a) I am the only female to sit with the males, b) I receive more food on my plate when being served, c) I usually, almost always am sat next to the most important person in attendance (most commonly a chief), and d) even though I offer to help set up for the fete, or assist serving, it is insisted that I sit so that people can find me easily to salue me….. ohhh togo… I’m hoping some of these things will change, and I’m sure they will in time.

Tomorrow Sky is arriving at chez moi to help me prep for my petit fete on Monday. I’m going to be scrubbing my cement floors, dusting everything, finishing any laundry, and making some homemade tortillas for the supper on Monday. Monday Maggie, Jenn, Emily, Kristine, Katie K., and Andrew will be arriving for a night full of cards, music, electricity (hopefully), tofu tacos, cookies, and wine! Mostly everyone will be crashing in my two room home, this should be interesting. I’m sure there will be pictures of the set up some time in the future. I have taken so many more pictures than I have posted, it just takes a lifetime to upload anything here, but ohhh how I love to take pictures!!

January 17, 2011

Birthday was great, I had a little party at my place. A few volunteers and one of my Togolese friends made it in. We all did our part, cutting veggies, making tortillas, and frying up the soja! The tofu tacos were a hit! It was the first time for my Togolese friend, Serge, to ever have a taco. The whole night was full of franglais. We couldn’t just speak English bcause Serge doesn’t speak very much. Side note, Togolese study English in school, but its mostly written, so they can read it quite well, but can not speak very comfortably.

I got a dog the other day! His name is Greg! He’s about a month and half old I think. I paid 2000 CFA, roughly $4 USD. I don’t have any pictures of him yet, but they will be coming soon! Not much to say right now, but a lot will be happening soon. I’m traveling the country a bit this next month for some trainings and medial check ups. Hope all is well in the states, I sure do miss winter!!! Much love!

I have this feeling that my lap top does not appreciate being in Africa. I understand, this is not its natural habitat. Since I bought my Mac it has lived on a very large white desk that was located in my nicely air-conditioned apartment. I must admit, that is not the case here.

Yesterday at Super Ramco (Togo’s super store of American things…. Their style of a Wal-Mart) I spoiled myself and purchased a bag of Doritos. The plan was to save them for a rainy day. Today I returned to Tsevie… and what do ya know, it stormed. Initially the original ‘rainy day’ was meant to be when I missed home, or America….. I thought the chips would be a good pick me up….. nope… okay well they definitely weren’t a downer…. I’m currently eating the amazing nacho cheese flavored Doritos. Priced at 1,100 CFA, and worth every frank. Am I eating them one at a time, savoring the taste of America? Nope, I’m eating them as if I hadn’t eaten in days….. well that was until I realized they could be gone in a matter of a minute of two….. I slowed my pace and decided this would be a good blog post. Haha, writing about my experience of eating chips….. or you could look at it as me documenting my connection with America through eating traditional foods. Doritos are traditional foods…. What American hasn’t eaten them? And all of us for the same reasons: boredom, party snack, with a sandwich (best when actually ON the sandwich), and of course just because it is habit when they are available (which could be classified under boredom).

Rain, rain, go away come again another day….. this is a sore subject…. During rainy season your laundry doesn’t dry and can become moldy very quickly…. But the availability of water is good (well great compared what I hear about dry season).  Tonight I poured; the rains here are what I imagine monsoon rains are like. Even though it is night, and currently the electricity is out (which means its extra dark at night), you can’t see through the rain. The water is more like a blanket then a sheet. I can’t even imagine the roads right now. During a normal, or light, down pour, the streets flood to my knees. When the blankets of rain descend from the sky, do not expect to walk your normal route ANYWHERE. Streets have become rivers, or the gutters framing the main roads have become so flooded that you can not pass without slipping, falling, and possibly contracting a parasite from touching the left over water with bare skin. RAIN! BEWARE! There should be signs…. Kind of like our DOG! BEWARE signs. Both are just as dangerous. Although here, from my experience, dogs haven’t really been something to beware of…. That is unless you touch one. And still, only then your risk is flees, flies, worms, and well any kind of bacteria, bug or parasite you might not desire. This makes wanting an animal a catch 22. Get a dog, or cat…. Your not completely alone, you have yourself a buddy….. and you have more opportunity to get some bug bites, animal bite….and things get infected easily… or yes indeed they do! In my opinion there are more benefits, or at least the benefits out weight the risk of having a pet. I just wanted to state that for the record…… I miss my Sophie and Abner….and of course Smokey Buster Cooper (RIP).

Well, I’m signing off, back to reading a book by candle light and finishing my beloved Doritos. Minus the candle light part, I’m doing the exact thing I would be doing back in the states right now. In some realities, not much has changed with me since moving to a new country. That’s comforting.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Women carry gallons of water on their head here like women carry purses back in the states. Water is the most common thing, but I have also witnessed trees (the big ones, not just the baby ones you plant, or some small branch, but a HUGE, fully grown adult tree), food, large basins full of anything and everything (bread, mirrors, cloth, etc). This is such an amazing thing to me. Why carry something on your shoulder, and become hunched over to one side, switch shoulders and spread the pain …… nope, not here. Carry what you need to carry on your head. Now, not just women do this … men too… but from what I’ve witnessed, men usually have access to a form of transportation (motorcycle, car, or truck); while women do not have this luxury as often. I have no balance, and personally just pulling my hair back can give me a head ache after a few hours. Thus, I carry what I need to carry American style.

I talked to my Uncle Richard today.  Called to wish him and anyone who comes out the Thanksgiving later this week a happy Turkey Day. I tried to explain thanksgiving to my host family today, and well, I know how to explain it in English and kind of in French … but really the most difficult part is explaining it to a non American. Our tradition began with pilgrims and Indians… if you are trying to explain this to someone and they don’t know who or what pilgrims and Indians are… then the story just spirals down. I try and say it’s a yearly feast to celebrate what you are thankful for….. that didn’t really make to much sense…. Maybe the frustration of my lack of vocabulary, or the combination of that and how I pronounce French… oh and since its French and English together, the other person doesn’t always understand my English vocabulary either. This conversation was doomed form the beginning.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year; mostly the support of my family and friends. THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!!  2010 has been a very productive year for me. I started the year out completing my final semester of my undergraduate degree. I took 18 hours and had an internship; two of those classes were math that I had put off till last minute. I had a lot of busy work from January till May. Also in between these months I was in the process of putting all my medical paper work together to be cleared for service in the Peace Corps. This was no simple task to say the least. This summer was one of the best I have had in years. I had free time, no school, no immediate needs, no limitations, nothing, just foot loose and fancy free. I will always treasure the summer of 2010. Taking a vacation after graduation with my parents and best friend, living with my sister for a few months, laying by the pool, taking road trips, floating the river, going downtown, dancing, watching movies, reading books; I felt like a kid again. That is exactly what summer should be; care free. I eventually returned to work for a short time, this was completely unplanned, but what can you do? When opportunities arise, even if you have been preparing for them, they are sometimes still unexpected. I got my invitation to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in late July/early August. I accepted this invitation and resigned from my job after working for barely a month. Although I had been actively in the application process for over a year, it still was a shock when I read the invitation, country: Togo, Program: girls education and empowerment. How perfect. All of my goals for 2010 have been accomplished; for this I am thankful. Someone once told me that you can lead a horse to water, but only the horse can decide to take a drink or not. Friends, family, you helped me get to where I am today, if I didn’t have the influences and support that I do, I’m not sure what my life would be like. So much on the surface has changed since last thanksgiving, but really not much has changed at all. Happy Turkey day American, I hope you know what you are thankful for and why! P.S. I am also thankful for my health and fans. J

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Random things in Togo: today in the middle of class my professor cut down some coconuts. He made a small hole in the top of three of them and served them to sky, himself, and me for a snack. Best drink I have ever had, and the raw coconut wasn’t too bad either. It’s the most unexpected, off the wall, things that I love here. My professor chopped down a coconut with a machete for a snack… yup, that’s my life.

Tomorrow Sky and I are headed to Lome for Thanksgiving at our Country Directors house. We are really excited, we are making mac-n-cheese for the feast!!! (you can’t buy real cheese here, so we are using “happy cow” if you know what that is) Oh by the way Sky is the other volunteer that is continuing French classes with me.  When we return our host families have requested for us to make them mac-n-cheese, they have never heard of it and are very interested in this ‘American’ dish.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving was amazing. a mix of togo traditional foods and american. i ate so much of the mashed potatoes with gravy and mac and cheese. wonderful day of food. tonight is going to be amazing too, the hotel I’m staying in has air conditioning and hot showers. I haven’t had a hot shower since September….. ahhhh I’m so excited!!!