Last One - July 2014 - Things I'm Going to Miss

1: Moto rides.
I really grew to appreciate the fact that there were no car taxis in my village, so that the only way out was to call a motorcycle taxi driver to come and pick me up. I will not, however, miss that sexy helmet.

2: A beautiful view ten minutes from my house.

3: The sound of rain on my tin roof.

4: Listening to, sitting and working with people.
I never became conversationally fluent in Kabiyé, but I learned to value just being in the presence of other people. I loved sitting with the women while they all talked and worked together.

5: Laughs, games, and dancing with girls club.
I did several different projects during my service, but girls club was by far my favorite. I looked forward to club every week, and I built some deep relationships with a few of them.

6: Candles at night.
I’m actually kind of glad I didn’t have electricity.

7: Time to read so many books.
My favorites were The Shadow of the Wind (thanks, Veronica, for the recommendation!) and Harry Potter.

8: Mango season.
I’d wake up and go out to the mango tree for breakfast.

9: Physicality of my everyday life.
I washed my clothes by hand, went to the well to get water, and walked 2-4 miles per day.

10: Family plan.
For most of my service, volunteers could call each other for free.  I have to credit the family plan with keeping me sane and, a biggie, offering a constant opportunity to speak English.

11: Juices.
Hibiscus, orange, lemon, and baobab juice were available all the time. So good.

12: Bright colors.
Everything is so vibrant: clothing, nature, food, sunsets.

13: Koi!
One of my favorite Kabiyé expressions –means “what?!” or “I am in a state of shock and disbelief.” Also “king king king!”, which means “a lot” or “really”. And “tdoh”, which means “okay”.

14: Seeing Papa work in his workshop.
My host dad is a carpenter. He makes chairs and tables and whatever other requests people have.

15: Hanging out with Maman in her tchouk stand.
My host mom makes beer out of sorghum for a living, and every Saturday she sells it in the market. I spent a lot of Saturday afternoons sitting in her stand, talking and hanging out with people as they came to buy beer.

16: Kara pool.
Fortunately, almost every day in Togo is warm enough for a swim.

17: The Shanks.
Jesse, Tiffany, and their two sons, Joshua and Owen, were an oasis of fellowship and good food during my service. Their friendship and support was invaluable to me.

18: Lomé beach.
Even though it’s the #1 place where people get robbed in Togo and there are piles of human waste you have to dodge as you take your afternoon stroll, the ocean view really pretty :)

19: All the weird food that came out of my kitchen that I somehow pathetically found to be delicious.
Cheese made out of milk powder, couscous doused in barbeque sauce, and rice with a mound of curry powder. Sriracha straight out of the bottle is also more filling and delicious than you might expect.

19.5: All the food that came out of my host mom’s kitchen that I rightfully came to deeply appreciate.
Togolese food is good. Corn paste and smashed yams don’t sound so appetizing, but let me tell you, they definitely can be. Gboma and sesame sauces are going to be pretty sorely missed by my stomach. Hot peppers and slimy sauces took some getting used to, but, I can honestly say now that I’m going to be missing it.

20: Normalcy of discussing bodily functions/issues with other volunteers.
The consistency of your bowl movements, color of your urine, and the strange rash on your ass became dinner table topics.

21: My host brother, Gabin, and sister, Léa.
I love them like we have the same parents – waaaaah.

22: Mail.
I loved going to the post office on Wednesdays and picking up letters from friends and family. I loved opening them. I loved reading them. I loved replying to them. Basically, I loved everything about it.

23: Pace and simplicity of life.
Which, as you may guess, is quite a bit slower and simpler. You cook food when you’re hungry, sleep when you’re tired, and work until your work is finished. Pretty much, schedules don’t exist. You just go with the flow – everything feels so natural.

24: Sense of community.
When there is a party, it’s for everybody. Grandmas and 14 year-olds are dancing in the same circle and sons and fathers are sitting and drinking beers together. Out of salt? Ask your neighbor. Don’t feel like watching your kids? Tell them to go next door. Need to pick your nose? No one’s going to judge you. Broke your leg and need people to take you places and cook for you? You’ve got nothing to worry about.

25: How easy it is to get hit on… or even proposed to.
Seriously, I was a hot commodity in Togo. I’m going to mark it up to my good looks, whit, and charm.

26: How acceptable it is to look grungy every day… and still get hit on and proposed to.
Bras were for dressing up days, which were not often. I think they think that maybe looking like you haven’t showered in days or washed your clothes in couple months is just how Americans prefer to look – I run with it. 

27: Having as much time to get ready in the morning as I want.
I took a good two hours every morning to eat breakfast, listen to the radio, sip on coffee, and read my Bible.

28: Buying all my food in the market.
Made me feel really healthy and organic and hipster. But it all tasted really good too.

29: The opportunity to learn so many different and unique things.
How to make soja, how to raise bees, how to graft a mango tree, how to make soap, how to do the dance ‘Corde a Sauter’, how to speak French and Kabiyé, and how to hang a mosquito net. These are all things that will most likely be worthless for the rest of my life unless I am a contestant on Jeopardy someday, but it has nonetheless been really interesting and valuable to me.

30: Funerals.
In Togo, funerals are a celebration. The community prepares a meal and everyone sings and dances to celebrate the life of the person who passed away. I thought it was a really meaningful way to look at death and life.

31: Diversity.
Religious, ethnic, and geographic diversity, specifically. I think, but I’m not entirely sure, that there are over 40 different languages spoken in Togo. Can you imagine? I can, but that’s only because I’ve been there. Up north, Togo is desert-ish and in the south you feel like you’re breathing water and that the Amazon is probably only a dozen miles away. Fetishism is really big, there are a lot of Muslims, and then, of course, numerous branches of Christianity in Togo. People are really accepting of different beliefs.

32: Relationships.
I know I’ve already mentioned a few, but I decided I’d just get the rest out there. I’m going to miss Irene and Rose sitting and laughing and talking on my porch, tea time with Eli and Simone, learning Kabiyé with Claudine, playing cards with Gabin and Léa, dancing with girls’ club, sitting with Edite and Simplice under the mango trees on Saturday afternoons, cooking with Maman, playing board games with the Shanks, praying with Jean, talking about life and all its twists and turns with Marie, and attempting to speak Spanish with Daniel. And, finally, my relationships with other PCV’s have been invaluable – esp. Matt, Sebastian, Matt and Julie – I looooove you!

33: Realizing how loud nature is.
At night I could hear bats, crickets, frogs/toads, birds, wind, etc. It kind of felt like I was sleeping outside. Except for most of the year I was covered in a blanket of sweat. Which, actually, still may have been the case had I ever decided to sleep outside.

34: Having such a high appreciation for the simple pleasures in life.
Never have I ever been so in awe and deeply appreciative of paved roads, chocolate bars, charged electronics, running water, hot showers, Mexican food, how easy it is to speak English, good cell phone reception, and shade/wind/fans/the general sensation of feeling chilly, as I have been in Togo.

35: Having a need and having it so satisfactorily satisfied.
You’ll be walking on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere with sweat dribbling down your back, and at the key moment a motorcycle will stop and pick you up and take you to your destination. You’ll be walking through the market having looked for shea butter for an hour, just about to give up, and a woman will walk by you with more shea butter than you could possible want piled on top of her head.

36: Perceptiveness/magical eyes Togolese have.
They can recognize people from a good half mile away. My host mom remembers where I set my cell phone last night. Lea notices that I missed a spot on the dish I’m washing. Although it can be annoying sometimes, it’s usually very helpful and really different from Americans. I think we are constantly over stimulated and tend to overlook small details.

37: The Togolese Card Game (le jeu togolais)
I’m really good at it. I mean it’s mostly luck, but what little logic is required, I execute quite strategically.

38: Complete acceptance of people who can’t sing.
Although it can be a little hard on the ears sometimes, it’s a beautiful thing. It doesn’t matter if we’ve got 5 different keys going on at the same time, everyone joins in and contributes their own musical ideas to what’s going on.

39: How cheap things are.

80 cent flip flops, 20 cent dinner, $14 monthly rent, $1 for a 25km taxi ride. The dollar menu is going to be feeling expensive.

June 2014

22
Today we had our end of the year party for girls’ club – so much fun! The girls made spaghetti, I bought them pop, we invited all the moms, and we had a little ceremony. After the eating/ceremony, we had a dance party. It started raining, but nobody cared – we danced for over an hour! Then we watched a movie and I walked to Farendé to watch the World Cup match between the States and Portugal. It was such a good game – we almost pulled out a win.

14
Julie’s going-away party! =/ I can’t believe she’s leaving!!!

10
Today we had our end of the year party for environmental club – meal, dancing and games. Whoop.

8
Today we had an ECO-Action meeting in Datcha – it’s our last meeting before we all come down for camp. Everything seems like it’s in place. I’m getting excited!

3
COS conference started! Everyone I came to Togo with came down to Lomé for the next three days. We’re staying in a hotel with air conditioning and hot water… fancy!

2

Closed my grant and turned in my bike… COS is getting closer and closer… I don’t know if I’m ready.

May 2014

29
Bad day. I lost my iPod cord and Cat ran away. Good news is that my house won’t smell like pee anymore.

26
Major bonding day with Cat. I put on gloves, scared it out from underneath my bed, snatched it once I had it cornered in my bookshelf, petted it for a long time, and half-forced it to eat pancakes.

24
I bought a cat. I’m not really sure what I was thinking, but it’s so cute!

23
We had our second presentation – it went really well – even better than the first one. Now we only have one left!

21
The health team did their first stomp-out malaria presentation! They were awesome. At the end, we presented six soccer balls to the school and the kids played two games.

17
Karamily party + Sebaz – Powers!

11
I read books 5-7 of Harry Potter like my life depended on it. I finished today. *SPOILER ALERT* I cried when Dumbledore died and sighed with relief when it was all over. So. Good. I can’t stop thinking about it.

10

We had our last practice with the health team – we ran through the presentation twice, and it seems like everything is coming together nicely.

April 2014

30
Stung by a scorpion!! Thanks for the internet advice Joanna :)

28
I went to Farendé for an officer meeting and to meet with Simone about the nutrition training we are having next week.

27
Girls club – we talked about women that they admire.

26
Second student training – the students presented activities that they prepared for the presentation, then we started to organize everything. By the end of the morning, we did a quick run through of what they are going to do. We are going to meet one more time in May to go over everything one last time.

25
I stopped by the school in Tchikawa to schedule the presentation for Tchikawa, and brought the sign for the well back to Kuwdé.

24
I went to the school to schedule the presentation that we’ll be doing in Farendé. Théo and I talked about the schedule for Saturday. I went to Kara to hang out with Matt and the Shanks.

21
I had lunch with Eli and Simone.

19
Student training! We had six students come for a 4-hour training. We talked about the goals of our project, what their role is, and how to give a good presentation. Two nurses from the hospital came to teach them about the causes, signs, treatment, and prevention of malaria. The team of students will give three presentations on malaria in three villages.

14
I met with Théo and we went over the schedule for our first student training.

13
We made mango jam at girls’ club – it was medium successful.

11
I went to school for the cultural week picnic. So. Much. Food.

10
The environmental club presented their dances for cultural week! They did so well!

8
The well is four meters deep! Théo and I went to Tchikawa to talk to the school director.

7
Théo and I went to the school and the hospital to get our malaria project started.

6
The people who are digging the well came!

3
I tried to change my nose ring. The situation was almost disastrous, but fortunately, everything worked out in the end.

2
The three of us waited for three hours at the post office for the bus to take us up north; we finally made it.

1
Winter, Matt, and I met with AVPE to discuss the contract with the camp site and the women who will be cooking during camp.


March 2014

31
Austin is leaving the country! I am going to be a little lonely surviving the rest of my time in Togo without him, but I’ll be back in the States, too in not too long. I had lunch at Sultan’s with Julie, Austin and Kodjo before catching a taxi up to Atakpamé.

30
Julie came to Lomé! We got some pizza for dinner.

29
I took a taxi back to Lomé and skyped with Dad at the Peace Corps office. I ate dinner with Kevin and fell asleep during a movie, not because it wasn’t good, but just because I am that lame. I’ll blame it on jet lag.
21-28
I flew back to Berlin and was greeted by my study abroad friends at the airport. It was exciting to get to see everyone after three years – Aurelie came from Paris, Ulrike from Utrecht, Julia and Martina from Berlin, Petra from Sheffield, and Noops was on her way back to Albuquerque from Nairobi. The five of us invaded Julia and Martina’s apartments; I laughed so hard and ate so much mozzarella cheese. When I landed back in Accra I was greeted with a familiar wall of hot air as I stepped off the plane, and made my way to a taxi to spend the night at Hotel Obama.

15-20
I landed in Vienna and Veronica and Peter picked me up at the airport. We went to McDonalds and got some coffee before dodging the rain and heading to their apartment. It was great getting a chance to catch up with Veronica; just in case you don’t already know, she is a pretty incredible person. We ate a lot of good food, watched Freaks and Geeks, and reminisced about high school and our Peace Corps experiences. We took two daytrips, one to Salzburg and one to Linz.


14
I left Lomé for Accra and got on a plane for Berlin! Whoop!

13
I took the bus down to Lomé!

12
I made a brief visit to the environmental club, and we started to make plans for cultural week. I took a zed from school to Kara.

11
Andrea, a volunteer from Germany came to visit. She is so sweet – it was fun having her over.

10
I went to the granary with a couple groupement members to update the books and number sacks.

9
Claudine came back from women’s conference! Marie came and visited our girls’ club; they loved her.

6
I met with Théo, an officer of a local nonprofit, to talk about a small malaria project that we are going to start. After, I went to Kara and had lunch with Marie.

5
 The environmental club made a compost pile for the garden that they will be starting.

3
I came back from Lomé. I helped maman make pâte and gmoba sauce at jeunesse en mission.


February 2014

22
First day of PDM (project design management) at Pagala with the new stage

21
Matt and I had a meeting in Datcha with AVPE for Camp Eco-Action. I was planning my COS trip and wanted to go to India – I was looking at flights and saw that it was really cheap to fly to Dubai from Accra – then realized from talking to Matt that Dubai is not in India. :)

17
Watched my host mom make oil out of palm nuts

16
Watched The Great Debaters with my girls club – we’re talking about self confidence and the importance of education

14
Sent in all the final forms for our well grant

13
Valentine’s dinner at Alicia’s with Michael – Italian pasta n French wine

7
Shawn’s birthday party at Shea’s

4
Superbowl party at the Shanks

2

Joshua’s birthday party in Kara

January 2014

29
Back to village!

27
I traveled back up to Pagala for a short training on Peace Corps’ new reporting system.

25
I went down to Lomé for a barbeque that I bid on at our mid-service conference. I met up with seven or eight other volunteers at our country director’s house.

15
Julie and her friend Andrew came to visit. In the morning we made soja with my friend Sabine and in the afternoon Julie and Andrew hiked the mountain while I went to club. Club went a lot better this time. We reviewed everything we learned about last week and went over any questions they had.

13
Traditional fete in my village! I went to it last year, too, with Austin. It’s still just as great. It’s only for men and women who aren’t going to have children anymore. The men dress up in masks and anything else they can find laying around the house (duffel bags, etc.) They all meet at the Catholic church, the drummers play and everyone is singing, then when the drums stop, everyone runs in every direction and screams away all the evil spirits. Random, I stepped on a really sharp rock. It broke through my sandal and cut my foot. Ria.

9
I went to Kara and met with Nestor to pick up the estimation for the well. Exciting!

8
Market in Ketao… environmental club… typical Wednesday. Environmental club was… not good. We are learning about soil fertility, which is a whole lot of new vocabulary for me in French and sometimes I forget that there are ten year olds in my club and that they can’t understand some things as easily as 17 year olds. I was trying to explain the Ph scale and they were all looking at me with blank faces. :) Next week.

1

Went to Kara to celebrate Jesse’s birthday!