Super Awesome Christmas Special

Most of today was spent riding up country with a box of 1440 condoms, plus some posters. This box was carried from the Peace Corps bureau to a gare (it means station in French. I probably could of just said station and made this easier, but too bad, I’m making you learn some French… gare) that has taxis going up to Tsevie. After an hour ride up to Tsevie I found myself on the side of the road with a guy discussing how much I should pay for a bush taxi from Tsevie to Sotouboua. This guy was supposed to be helping me get a car to go up north. The box full of condoms and my backpack full of clothes were resting on the side of the road. I was resting on a makeshift bench, which was resting on top of a grave. In this cemetery on the side of the road I was trying to tell this guy I wanted to get a car up north for 2 mille 5 hundred.

“The tariff is 4 mille 5 hundred,” he said to me, which was an obvious lie because the price to Sotouboua from Lomé is suppose to be 4 mille 4 hundred, and this was a slightly shorter distance. “You can afford that can’t you,” giving a not so subtle hint to the color of my skin.

“Do you not see how I’m traveling?” Pointing out myself, a not so clean guy traveling with just a box and a bag, sitting in a cemetery,  bargaining for what is about 4 dollars difference.

“Alright, I can give it to you for 3 mille.”

“Thanks”, happy I didn’t end up having to pay the foreigner’s price! Plus, seeing as I make around 3 mille 5 hundred a day I still technically had 5 hundred to eat with!

Two days before this I was in a town called Kpalime celebrating Christmas. I had saved up so I was treating myself to some amazing food. For the two nights there we (me and some other PCVs) went out to a restaurant owned by Belgian people (this means that the food was delicious). Some things that touched my palate during the course of these courses were French (Flemish?) fries with mayonnaise, chicken curry, pizza, and Belgian wheat ale. Christmas was topped off by a swim in a pool at the hotel we were staying at.

The hotel was pretty nice too. We all stayed in one big hotel room the first night. The second night we found ourselves split into two rooms because of an electrical fire that had started with the AC switch in the first room. That’s right, we splurged for AC.

The night before Kpalime I was in Adeta. This was the 23^rd and Adeta is a village just a little east of Kpalime. I was staying at another volunteer’s place and him, me, and two other volunteers. This is Ewe land. And Ewe is a language I don’t understand, so I feel lost about 65% of the time I’m there. They had edible food and we spent a lot of the day listening to music, sharing crazy Togo experiences, and somehow ended up watching a show called Archer.

The day before that I was in my sweet Kabyie-speaking town of Sotouboua. And that’s where I am now with my box of condoms and posters. They’ll be used later this month when I do a health workshop with guys in my community, and I’ll be talking a bunch on family planning (aka wrap it up).

I was down in Lome to pick this box up from PSI and check that a check had arrived from Washington to fund my project. Well, everything with the project is going smoothly and Christmas was a nice adventure. New Years I’ll be staying at my site. Most of the town heads out to the town center for a day of dancing, so that’s where I’ll be!

Schools!

Schools in Togo are a bit different from schools in the US. It is based off of the French education system. In some areas there is Jardin d’Enfants, which is like kindergarten. I know they have this in the country’s capital, Lomé, and in a few other big cities in Togo. Not everyone starts off in jardin d’enfants, because it isn’t available all over. Typically, many kids will start school in École Primaire, which is like elementary school. Unlike in the US where elementary school is first through fifth grade, students here spend six years in école primaire.

After that, the kids will then move on to Togo’s equivalent of middle school, which is Collège d’Enseignement Général (or CEG). For students here, CEG is four years. At the end of the fourth year there is a test called the BEPC. If you pass it, you get to graduate CEG and move on to the next part of schooling. But if you don’t pass, you have to actually be held back, repeat that year, and take the test again at the end of that next year.

For all the students that make it, they get to go on to Lycée, which is like high school. In Togo it is only three years, but there are two major exams. One exam is at the end of the second year of Lycée, and this is called the BAC I. Again, students have to pass this to move on or they’ll be held back. The other exam is at the end of the last year in Lycée, and is called the BAC II. When students pass this, they are now eligible to go on to University. Here, there are two universities: one in Lomé and the other is in the city of Kara. The universities are similar to how many are in the US. They offer bachelors, masters, and even doctoral degrees.

Bon Jour

I just had my swear in this pass week, so now I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Togo. A small but amazing country in West Africa. I have been here for 9 weeks already, and I had my training in a very small village in the southern part of Togo called Gbatope (ba-toe-pay). It was a crazy adventure living without running water or electricity but I loved every part of it. Most of my time was spent just trying to learn how to live in a completely different culture. I literally had to learn how to wash my clothes by hand, which is really hard by the way! Also, you wont find a microwave in village, so cooking food is a whole new project by itself. I’ve been learning French the whole time too, and I think I’m getting pretty good at it. Togo has plenty of local languages as well. In Gbatope and most other places in the southern part of Togo, people speak Ewe. I’ve picked up a few salutations in Ewe, and people here get really excited when they hear a foreigner speaking their language. When I wasn’t training, I spent a lot of time with the people in the village. I would play soccer, cards, or this local game that involves marbles. It is hard to explain the marble game, but I can tell you it is really fun when you have a big group playing. I also brought with me a pair of drum sticks and a practice drum pad. I spent many nights learning the traditional drum beats here in Togo, and I also taught a bunch of western style drum rudiments to people here. I really liked my time in Gbatope and all the people there too. Here in Togo, the Peace Corps works within four different areas: Small Business Development(SED), Natural Resource Management(NRM), Girls Education and Empowerment(GEE), and Community Health and AIDS Prevention(CHAP). I work in CHAP! I will mainly be working on projects that will involve educating the people on the causes of certain diseases and how to life a healthier life. I also have the freedom to create any type of project I want to, so I don’t have to solely focus on health if I don’t want to. In one week I’ll be going to the place I’ve been posted. It’s a relatively small town called Sotouboua (so-too-bwa). It is pretty much in the center of the country. It’s going to be quite the change for me though, because I will actually have electricity! I won’t be using a lantern anymore, even though I’m so use to it I kind of like it. There’s be plenty of work there, and right now I know I’ll be collaborating with the town hospital, some of the local schools, and even a radio station! I’ll be sure to let you know how all of it is when I get there!

Starting Off

Hi! I’m still in Florida, but I’ll soon be in Togo with the Peace Corps. I’m really excited! I’ve put together this blog so I can stay in contact with my friend Jen Cavanaugh and her class! I can’t wait to let everyone know about my adventures in Togo!