Hey People
I know its been awhile, but internet here is often frustrating and I don't have the patience to update my blog frequently. But good news...potentially... my village might be getting internet!
It'll be dial up, but at this point I'll take it. But it's not finished yet, though as I was leaving village they were painting the building, putting up the sign, and even more promising I saw some computers. So keep your fingers crossed and it might mean I wont have to make a two hour plus long trek to Kara jammed in a packed van full of people, screaming babies, chickens, and screaming goats just to use internet.
Animals in Togo
The french word for goat is chevra and I happen to like that word better so when you read chevra know I'm talking about goats. Now baby goats appear cute. They're little, cuddly, and furry so whats not to love? The fact that they shit everywhere.
You can't walk 10 feet without seeing goat turds somewhere. In addition goats make terrible screaming sounds that sound disturbingly close to the sounds a child might make if they were being beaten. This is particularly unsettling to listen to when traveling for hours in a hot, jam packed bush taxi.
Then there are the chickens who also make lots of noise. By the way the whole rooster crowing at dawn thing is a lie. Roosters crow all the time and the ones by my house seem to love doing so at 1 and 2 am. The chickens here are disturbing to watch and its kinda put me off chicken. Now I'm sure chickens in the US are dirty, they have to be. I mean in the US they all sit in cages where they all shit on eachother. Disgusting I know. The difference here is I can see them running around and I watch the things they eat which is the garbage laying on the ground. This does make you say, "yum, I'm having chicken for dinner."
Next come the mice and the bats. Now to my knowledge mice have not actually been in my house, but they live in my roof. At night they like to run back and forth on my ceiling and squeek a lot. They also like to leave me little "presents" i.e. mouse turds. These then come through the cracks between my ceiling and walls. Bats also live in my roof and like to fly around at night knocking into things and making strange noises. I have to say when I envisioned my life in Togo I knew I'd encounter mice, chickens, probably a goat or two, but I was not expecting bats which I often seen flying around at night.
Village Life
So my life in village is different. I read a lot. A whole lot so I guess its a good thing I like to read so much.
Initially I was reluctant to leave my house as the prospect of speaking to people in French some days proves to be very intimidating. However, I've made the rule for myself that I must leave my house and go into town everyday. Town is about 2km away and the hospital is about 3km from my house but I try to go everyday. Because I have no refrigerator I need to buy vegetables pretty frequently and fried tofu (sodja) only keeps a few days so I try to go if nothing else to eat. Though laziness has often resulted in eating a single meal of oatmeal.
Initially I didn't care much for the whole bike riding thing but it makes for a faster trip and now that its getting hot riding my bike provides a nice breeze. I still have a look of panic of my face everytime someone tries to speak to me in french but I'm starting to understand a little more and speak a little more so yay for me.
Every wednesday I go to CPC which is where mothers bring their infants hopefully every month to be weighed and receive vaccinations. Ideally the mother will come every month so that she can track the baby's growth progress. Its an overwhelming experience with tons of crying babies, but it adds a little structure to my schedule and the women seem to get a kick out of seeing a Yovo. Sometimes there are difficulties. Many of the hospital staff do not speak Konkomba, the local language, so they have to find someone who speaks french so they can translate. Every now and again a woman doesn't speak konkomba either and speaks another language no one can translate which can lead to difficulties. Also because many women give birth at home they often do not know the date of birth which can matter for vaccinations. But the hospital does a pretty good job of running things effeciently so overall its a fairly smooth operation which is nice.
Other projects are hopefully coming along and slowly more work is starting to develop which is good. Our first 3 months are supposedly just supposed to be spent getting to know the community and not doing much work work, but throwing yourself into it is the best way I think.
Getting to know the community is hard. The formalities of greeting people and the enforced small chit chat I have a hard time with. Its not enough to just say hi, you have to ask how the person is, how their family is, etc. I was never much good at that back home let alone here in another language. So I'm sure I sometimes come across as abrupt and possibly rude, but I'm spending a lot of time at Tchouk stands (tchouck is a local beer) and I've met a lot of people that way. They're often very happy to meet me but that could just be the alcohol.
Anywho my time is running short so I'll wrap it up. I'm doing well and my health is good. I love getting letters so please send them.
Some have asked me what I would like sent to me so here's a short list
Candy (sweettarts, starburst, sour punch, nerds, jolly ranchers are all good)
cds with new music always a winner
dvds
cross stitch stuff
people and other trashy magazines
photos
instant meal stuff like those lipton sides
tank tops (old navy ones hold up really well with all the washings and ringings)
but pretty much i'm taken care of. thanks to all of those of you who have written. hopefully i will post sooner rather than later.
