Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Life in the Mountains
29 Aout, 2012
There’s a part of me that thinks I
should be sitting down more often to write down my thoughts. I keep sitting at
this chair with far too many thoughts to unload because I’ve allowed vast
amounts of time to pass since I last wrote.
And yet the only reason I have so much to put down is because I’m
spending my time doing things other than writing. Who’s to judge that which is
a better way to pass the hours, enjoying new experiences or reflecting and
recording all that occurs.
I cannot
recall what was my frame of mind the last time I sat staring at this screen,
writing to it and to all of you, so I’ll just jump into what the last week has
been like for me. I’ve finally gotten a glimpse of my life for the next two
years; I’ve finally seen Sola, the beautiful lush valley where I will grow my
new world. The week at post was fantastic and I am finding it unimaginably
difficult to think of how to dutifully encapsulate the experience.
I arrived
in the valley early in the evening last Saturday, just as the sun was making
its bed on the west flank of the mountains. The canton chief and several
movers-and-shakers of Sola greeted me with a small fête
of Fanta, boxed wine and even some champagne! (FYI a canton is a classification
of region somewhat equivalent to what we call a county in the US.) After the
brief greeting I was introduced to my future home: a beautiful compound in
which I have a living room, bedroom, bathroom and two terraces to embrace as my
own. The house is new, and due to this
it is a little impersonal as of now, but have no fear, I will change that
quickly.
Extra bonus: my compound has a
bounty of fruit trees including four mango trees, two guava trees and a lemon
tree in addition to the small field of corn, sorghum, okra and tomatoes that
inhabits the center. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to mango season
already.
I spent the week visiting several
of the organizations currently working in my village, including the disponsaire
(medical clinic), MUCAD (microfinance office), Affairs Social, and the lycee
(somewhat equivalent to high school), CEG (somewhat equivalent to middle
school) and two EPPs (somewhat equivalent to elementary school). The lycee consists of a set of tables under
an open air pavilion atop a small hill in the village next to Sola center- I’m
not sure what the local opinion is of this set up, but its just what I dreamed
of studying in when I was cramped up in the stifling white, windowless
buildings that seem to characterize many schools stateside.
School isn’t in session currently;
it’ll recommence in September. There were, however, some summer classes going
on and I attended one with my neighbor M’fa, who was teaching some French
classes. The teaching style here is certainly different than in the states.
It’s much more direct and teachers are not hesitant to call students out- while
these days I feel I have the confidence to persevere in such an intense
environment, I think teenage me would have been terrified.
I spent my evenings with the people
of my compound, including my landlord’s wife, Hermine, who is a student in
Lome, her 9-month-old son and the 6 or 7 other kids that were always running
around (some of whom are my landlord’s kids, not exactly sure on the relation
of everyone though). M’fa would give us lessons in the local language and I was
pushed to practice my French intensively. It’s hard to believe that I’m
learning a new language through my second language (in which I’m nowhere near
fluent).
People keep asking me if post visit
was awkward, expecting me to share stories of language fumbles, loneliness and
discontent. It goes without saying that my communication was in no way perfect,
but that’s to be expected so I just laugh off my mistakes. There’s a strong
joking culture here so I find it easy to twist everything with humor and people
seem to embrace it. My landlord said he was impressed with how quickly I’m
adapting. But in reality I don’t feel like I need to adapt at all; I’m just
being myself and so far its working.
To be honest, I felt more at home
in Sola than I have during my entire sojourn in the south. I can’t say if this
feeling will continue as I come to develop a deeper understanding of my
surroundings; perhaps these sensations are only an illusion of my initial
honeymoon-esque level of joy. But I hope, and truly believe, that they will
only strengthen with time.
Friday, August 17, 2012
POST
4 Auôt 2012
I’m not sure how to best
encapsulate my experience in Togo thusfar, so I think keeping it short and
simple is probably best. I’m living with a host family in Gbatope and they are
fantastic! I have two young sisters, Lizzy, who will be 2 in October, and Esta,
who will be 4 in November. My host “mom”, Akoffa, is 26 and incredibly
welcoming and joyous! Since she’s really not old enough to be my mom, I call
her Dadavi Akoffa. Dadavi means sister in Eve, the dominant language in the
Maritime region, and is a common salutation for women, whether you know them or
not.
Akoffa is a
coiffure (hairstylist), so we have lots of women coming through the house
everyday to get their hair done all fancy like. Her husband, Koffi, is 32 and a
mason. He’s very kind and he seems to support his family very well, both
fiscally and emotionally. I’ve heard some horror stories about the way Togolese
men view and treat women, but none of those characteristics have shown through
in Koffi. He is more than willing to help out in the home and show love for his
daughters and because of this I have a good deal of respect for him.
Our house
is located within the “palais du chief” (The Canton chief’s palace), so it’s
been a bit of a joke that I’m a princess. I have a bedroom and a sitting room
to myself, although I don’t spend much time in them aside from sleeping and a
little studying. It’s much more comfortable and engaging to pass time in the
common space with my family and their friends.
Mt French
skills are coming along nicely. I placed in at intermediate-low, only one step
away from the required int-mid level, which shockingly made me the most advance
French speaker in the EAFS sector (but a lot of people speak Spanish, so
they’re picking up French quickly). We’ll have our mid-PST (pre-service
training) language test in a little over a week, after which I will likely move
on to learning Kabiye, one of the languages spoken in Sola. Kabiye is the
language of the President of Togo and is thus one of the more important
political languages in the country. It is also the second or third most
commonly spoken language in Togo, after Eve and possibly Kotokoli.
I’ve been
learning a little Eve since I’m currently living in a place where that’s the
most commonly spoken language, but I’ve really only got a couple simple
salutations down. Eve is a tonal language and thus difficult for me, but people
seem to appreciate that I’m at least trying a little. Hopefully I’ll be able to
learn Kabiye well. There’s no doubt that local language skills will help me
greatly with forging relationships and transferring knowledge in Sola.
Hmmm… what
else to share? One thing I am really digging about Eve culture is how much
people joke with one another! This is definitely not a place where sarcasm
doesn’t translate and I LOVE that! When people ask me to bring them things, I
can retaliate with a request for their shirt or just say “demain” (tomorrow)
over and over and they burst out in laughter. When I get requests for marriage,
I just ask the person to buy me a plane. It seems that most situations here can
be diffused with humor and that works well for me :D
We’ve also
been learning some great dances and I think I’ve got the chicken dance pretty
much down at this point. I wonder what kind of looks I’ll get when I come back
to the states and bust these moves out there? To all those awaiting my return:
if you didn’t think I was weird before, just wait until you see me in two
years! I hope you’re ready!
Oh and
FOOD! I eat a lot of rice and beans, which is great because I love rice and
beans! The sauces here also have a lot of piment (hot peppers) in them, which
adds to my daily sweating regime. I’ve been eating a good amount of fresh fish,
eggs, the occasional chicken (I killed one myself a couple weeks ago! Something
to check off my bucketlist), and a couple nights ago I even had shrimp! I’ve
learned to eat all parts of any protein source, including chewing on fish bones
to get at the marrow, and while this kinda freaked my out the first time I saw
my host mom do it, I soon discovered that marrow is delicious and that its
important not to waste any source of protein here. There’s also a lot of fruit
around, including pineapples, coconuts and papaya. Sadly, mango season ended
just before we got here, so I’ll have to wait until December, which I think is
when the avocados come, too! My mouth is already watering in anticipation…
One lesson
I’ve learned: check for ants before sitting down. Those bitches bite hard!
1 Auôt, 2012
I’ve been living in Togo for about
three weeks now. So far things haven’t been too difficult to adjust to and not
much has happened that I didn’t anticipate. But I just got my first shock: my
post. I know I had been told countless times already not to put too much weight
or anticipation into receiving a certain site, but I made the rookie mistake
and did just that. I expected a placement in the Maritime region, at the site
near one of the main phosphate mines in Togo, or in the extreme north in the
Savannes region where I hear gold mines abound. I did not expect to be placed
in the far east of the Kara region (the zone just south of Savannes) in the
large village of Sola (Pop. ~6000), right near the border with Benin.
But that is
where I’ll be living for the next two years! I am both excited and terrified,
just as I’ve felt through most of this journey thus far and as I’m sure I’ll
feel continuously for the foreseeable future. So first lets explore the excited
part of my dichotomous emotional life at this moment. Sola is located in one of
the more mountainous regions of Togo and is supposed to be exceptionally
beautiful. I am already well aware of how beneficial mountain vistas are for my
mental health and serenity, so this is certainly a blessing. While I haven’t
seen photos of my house, I’m told it has a large terrace, which may be the
perfect location to welcome guests and watch the sunset over the mountains.
I’m also
posted in a strong cluster of fellow volunteers, with two EAFS located each
about 30km away and one SED (small enterprise and development) located in Pagouda,
the closest large town, which is a mere 20km away. These distances make my site
one of the more remote, but its still only and hour-ish bike ride to one of my
cohorts. And apparently I’ll be biking A LOT because moto/bush taxi
transportation to my site is more limited than to most.
While my
site isn’t new for Peace Corps, it is new for my program and the last
volunteer, a CHAP (community health and AIDS prevention) worker, left in 2001.
So it will likely seem like I’m forging new ground, which is mostly an
exhilarating thought. But this also means I might encounter people who have
never heard of Peace Corps and forging work connections may be slightly more
difficult than for a hf;r’’gtd d [[[‘’’’’\\]
9999999999999999999[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
‘ (sorry, my two little host sisters came in and started
playing with my computer for a minute)
anyway, as I was saying… somethings may be slightly harder
than if I was in a replacement site. But overall, I think it will be a great
placement and I’m stoked to get a taste of my life to come when I go to post
visit in two weeks!
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