Getting Creative

“….We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains,
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind…”

~Pocahontas

At the end of training my friend, Gracie, in collaboration with other volunteers, came up with superlatives for every new volunteer, such as “most likely to kill a chicken” and “most likely to become the most integrated.” My superlative was “most likely to be featured in Homes & Gardens Magazine.” Haha I’m not sure about that, but when I’m done getting my house together, I will make it a feature on Facebook.

Of course, the main focus of life here in Togo is always going to be my job with the Peace Corps. I know this will be very intense and time-consuming work. When I return home at the end of a busy day, I want to be able to decompress, feel safe, and relax. This is my first time ever to live completely on my own, and I’m really excited to make my house in Kpalime a place where I can truly feel at home.

I love that I get to be creative with my choices. I usually like things simple, no knick-knacks, minimalist style, white walls, neutrals, and earth tones. However, here in Africa we are surrounded by COLOR. Green trees. Red roads. Bright pagne clothing. It makes me want to break out and celebrate color. I’ve already done so by painting my walls light aqua, and yesterday I made and hung curtains….a sunshiny orange print. Hand-sewing

curtains is not a quick process; it took my entire afternoon to finish, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Normally, I'm not someone who likes to do craft projects, but sewing these curtains was different, because I was making something that serves a purpose while improving the look of my house at the same time.

I’ve always admired my mom for her incredible sewing skills and patience. Making all  those Halloween costumes and clothes when I was younger must not have been easy. It’s difficult, but in the end you’ve created something for yourself that is entirely unique and only yours. I’ve already had several clothing items sewn for me here. Just yesterday my friend Gracie and I were joking about how strange it’s going to be back in the U.S. not to have the opportunity to buy fabric and have clothes made, all for under $15. Shopping in a mall and buying something that one hundred other people have already bought seems so weird now. We’ll have to enjoy this creative outlet while it lasts. 

Cooking for One

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes,

learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”
― Julia Child, My Life in France

I’ve never considered myself to be a great cook. At home in the U.S. I can cook a few things well, like lemon squares, salmon, rice, and chicken tacos, but there’s not a whole lot of variety. I tend to be a very boring eater. For example, when I was studying abroad in Paris, I ate plain oatmeal, nothing added, every morning for breakfast. I get into a habit of eating the same thing over and over again.

I’m living on my own for the first time here in Togo. I’ve never had to do all the cooking, cleaning, and housework before. If I ever had a problem at home, I had people to turn to. Especially when cooking, my mom and dad are the best cooks I know, and can always fix my disasters in the kitchen. Since I’m a rather inexperienced cook, I was really happy when we received the “Whopper” in training. The “Whopper” is the Peace Corps Togo cookbook. It’s a compilation of recipes from former volunteers. It shows us how to make meals that we like with ingredients available in Togo. There are sections on snacks, breakfast, sauces, desserts, meals from Africa, etc.

Knowing that I tend to get into boring eating habits, I’m going to try to mix things up every once in a while. This morning I used the “Whopper” for the first time to make myself brunch. I cooked the Dream Meal Beans.

I knew I would like this recipe because I love tomatoes, onions, and beans. To make it, I halved the ingredients since I’m only cooking for one, but I still used 1 onion because I LOVE onions. I didn’t have the spices, so I just chopped up 1 piment pepper and put it in with the onions and pepper to sauté. Vegetables here are MUCH smaller than in the U.S. The tomatoes, green peppers, and onions are all tiny compared to the ones you would find in Safeway, for example. The cans of tomato paste are a lot smaller as well, only 70grams. Piment is an incredibly popular pepper in Togo. If I was going to make this in the U.S. I would just substitute with any hot pepper, like a jalapeño, and make sure to take the seeds out.

I encountered only a couple of problems, but they were stupid mistakes. One, I nearly burnt my beans because I didn’t add enough water. Two, I touched my eye after chopping the piment and couldn’t open my eye for about ten minutes because it burned so bad. I understand now why it’s called pepper spray. Who needs Mace in Togo? Just carry around some chopped piment and you’ll be safe. Other than that, it was a pretty successful and delicious brunch. Bon appétit! 

The Rains Down in Africa

~Whoever has only one garment does not wash it when it rains. ~

African Proverb

Of course, on the day I finally decide to do my laundry, Mother Nature brings a torrential downpour to town. Kpalime is perhaps 'the Seattle of Togo,' but the rain here is different than back at home. In Kpalime it doesn’t rain all day, but when it does rain, it pours! In Puget Sound it’s more of a continuous rain that can last all day long. Growing up, there were times when I hated the rain, like when it would mess with our spring tennis season. Nevertheless, I’ve come to love the rain, and I always enjoy falling asleep to the sound of the rain on my roof. The last few days we have received some serious rain in Kpalime, knocking out my power and making so much noise that it's hard to hear everything else around me.

The other day I went to the market with my site mate, Gracie, another volunteer here in Kpalime. Out of the blue, it started to pour, so we quickly took cover under a little roadside stand with about five other Togolese people. It was raining so hard we could barely hear each other. While waiting for it to slow down, all I could think about was the laundry I had done that morning, which I had left hanging to dry. Finally, when the rain lightened up a little, Gracie and I decided to catch motos home. Let me just say that there is nothing like a rainy, muddy ride on the back of a moto while there is thunder and lightning all around you. Yikes. When I got back to my house, I was completely shocked to see that my amazing, kind neighbor, Vera, had taken down my dry laundry and put it in a bucket on my front porch. What an awesome surprise!

When I was younger, my mom and I would sit out on our front porch during lightning storms; they fascinated me. It was so much fun! However, now that I’m living all alone, I have to admit that getting woken up by the crack of lightning and rain crashing down on my tin roof really freaks me out. On the flip side, the rain and the mountains are what keep Kpalime so green and beautiful. The storms might make me a little frightened at night sometimes and get my shoes muddy during my morning runs, but the view of the mountains and forest from my house makes up for it ten fold.

In other news, I’ve learned that school won’t be starting for another couple of weeks because of salary negotiations between teachers and the government. This means I have two more weeks to get settled at home and integrate into my community before my teaching schedule starts. 

Settling In

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

Confucius

These last few days have felt pretty weird. I’m slowly adjusting to living in Kpalime. Today I went for a run in the morning, bought some bouille for breakfast at the end of my street, and listened to French radio while I ate at home. The first few months at post volunteers are supposed to focus on integration into their community, making friends, and creating a home for themselves in-country. In Kpalime, Togo’s fourth largest city, I expect it to be difficult to integrate myself. The residents in Kpalime are used to seeing white people around, so I won’t be a novelty here like I would be in a village of only 700 people. I’m not complaining, because there are A LOT of perks living in a big city; I have power, running water, and access to a huge market, a bank, cyber cafes, post office, etc.

My first goal is to get my house together. Right now it is empty except for a table, two chairs, a bed, and mattress. I am replacing another volunteer at her post, but I couldn't afford the price she set for all her furniture, so she sold most of it before I arrived. This is okay though, because when I walked into the empty house, I smiled, and my mind started racing with all the possibilities. I’ve never lived on my own before. All my life I’ve either been living at home or in a dorm. Finally, I get the chance to decorate, paint, and create my own space!

First order of business was painting the main room of the house, which acts as a kitchen/dining room/living room. I’ve never painted before, and since labor here is pretty cheap, I hired a guy to come and paint the room for me. He arrived at 7am, finished two coats by 11am, and it only cost ten USD.  Because this is colorful Africa, I decided to go with a shade that I probably would never use in the states: light aqua. I love it! What a difference painting a room can make!  I already feel more at home. Slowly, over the next couple of months, I will continue to add extras like more furniture, pictures/maps on the walls, and make curtains, building my nest for the next two years. 

Sometimes I start to feel really stressed about everything like my job, all the stuff I need to buy for my house, teaching English, organizing clubs, integration with the community, Peace Corps’ household surveys, missing home, getting sick..... I just have to remind myself that I am here for two years, things take time, and I’m not going to accomplish all my goals in the first month.....so far, so good.

Oui Nous Pouvons! (Yes We Can!)

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics

is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

~ Plato ~

All my friends back home know how passionate I am about politics. WSU Political Science classes, the daily, free New York Times newspapers, The Daily Show, and MSNBC are some of the things I miss the most here. Not being in the U.S. for this election is killing me! I would love to be working on campaigns and waiving signs for Obama, but I know my work here is also important and valuable, so I’m not too bummed.

Moto driver who took me to the internet cafe today.

I’ve been addicted to MSNBC for years, but being in Togo means that, sadly, I can’t get my daily fix of Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow. I miss hearing the opinions of “How Fine” (Howard Fineman), Ezra Klein, and the smooth talking Eugene Robinson! Anyone who is a Facebook friend of mine knows how much I love The Daily Show. I used to go to the WSU Rec Center at 6am every morning because I knew that was the time The Daily Show would be replaying from the night before. Watching Jon Stewart tear into Mitt Romney and the Republicans, while working out, would make me laugh out loud, sometimes warranting some weird looks from others!

Arriving in Togo, I wasn’t sure what the Togolese would think about America or our politics. It didn’t take long to figure out that the everyone LOVES Obama. Obama products are everywhere...Obama t-shirts, Obama towels, Obama bowls... I’m still on the lookout for Obama pagne. One night at my host family’s house, the French news was on and the newscasters were talking about Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. I didn’t hear her speech, but it sounds like she hit it out of the park. Then the coverage changed to talking about the Republicans, Mitt Romney, and his V.P. candidate. My host family seemed to be thoroughly confused, and didn’t understand why anyone would choose not to vote for Obama.

All the Togolese I've met LOVE Obama. If you just say “Obama!” you will bring a smile to anyone’s face. How amazing is that! Think about it, would “Romney!” receive the same reaction from people half way across the world? I think not. Obama is special. I’m hoping that the rest of America realizes this before Nov. 6, otherwise we are in for a rough ride. The world thought we were idiots for re-electing Bush, I thought we were too. I can only imagine what they will think of us if we don’t hold on tight to Obama, and let someone like Romney take over. Ugh.

More Goodbyes

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

 

On September 14^th it was officially time to leave training and move to our posts. The last week leading up to this felt weird, knowing that we wouldn't be seeing each other until our In Service Training in November. Earlier in the week we had a little party with the host families at our training center. Each program performed a little American skit in French. EGE did field day. We played egg toss, wheelbarrow race, and tug-of-war. The host families loved it! The other programs did skits about Halloween and the Super Bowl, complete with a half-time show, including a Lady Gaga dance performance.

On another night, as part of our last hurrah together, EGE did a “last supper.” We made a delicious dinner, which included black bean burgers, chicken, rice, crepes, and a big batch of sangria. It was a very special meal and I will never forget the fun we had preparing it all. We’ve really become a tight-knit group over the last two months; sitting together and enjoying our small feast felt like eating with family.

Saying our goodbyes on the morning we left was so hard. My host sisters, Adzovi and Yayra, showed up at the tech house wearing the tie-dye t-shirts I gave them as gifts. It was not easy to leave them. They are the younger sisters I never had, and I couldn’t help but get a little emotional when it was time to say goodbye. I hope I will have a chance to visit these sweet girls again in the future. Leaving training was sad, but I think we are all ready for the next step and for our work in Togo to really begin. The next two years are going to go so fast; I can’t believe it’s almost October already. Time seems to be flying by.

New Neighbors

 “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”
–Jane Howard

When I returned to my host family after being in Lome for a couple of days, I discovered that a new family had moved into one of the rooms in the compound. There are seven rooms in the compound. When I first arrived, my host mother told me that she grew up here. Her father had four wives, and with them fathered 24 children. At first I thought I had heard her wrong, but no, no, she assured me that there were 24 and they all lived in this compound. Throughout my time here some of these siblings and half-siblings have stopped by to introduce themselves and say hello. It was sometimes hard to tell if these visitors were, in fact, her half-siblings or if she was simply introducing them as brothers and sisters, using terms of endearment. The concept of family is different here, and it’s been a little confusing to distinguish between exactly who are relatives and who are close friends.

The new family of four moved into the room two doors down from me. One obvious thing that is apparent here, and will probably make going back to the U.S. a little jarring, is the reality that people really don’t need much. In Togo a family of four is perfectly capable of living in one bedroom. It is hard for me to imagine myself growing up in one room with all my siblings and parents.

I quickly became fond of the two new little kids, Majua, 5 and Espoir, 2. Little Espoir is absolutely adorable. Espoir means “hope” in French. One morning I gave the two of them some extra oatmeal; my host mom always cooks too much and at every meal I end up giving food to the children. I’ve never fed a baby before, but I’ve seen people do that thing where they pretend the spoon is an airplane or a bee flying towards the baby’s mouth. I tried it out and everyone loved it. Little Espoir, who is hard to make laugh or smile, giggled every time!

This probably sounds trivial, but as someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience around babies, this was the highlight of my week! I’m going to miss these new neighbors when I leave, and I will always remember how perfectly happy and content they were in their tiny home. True joy in life isn't found in material things, but from the people who surround you.

50th Anniversary Peace Corps Togo

“When President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, he saw it as a bold experiment in public service that would unite our nation’s highest ideals with a pragmatic approach to bettering the lives of ordinary people around the world. He also saw it as an investment in our own future, in an increasingly interdependent world. In the years since, it’s paid off many times over.” –William Clinton

Last night I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer! It was awesome! This year our group of Peace Corps Trainees was a special one, because it is Peace Corps’ 50^th Anniversary in Togo. Volunteers first came to Togo in 1962 and have been working in Togo ever since, without any breaks. To mark such a special event, our swear-in ceremony was at the Palais de Congres in Lome, the capital of Togo. Usually the ceremony is either at the U.S. Ambassador’s house or the Peace Corps Country Director’s house. There were a lot of people attending the ceremony; current volunteers, all Peace Corps in-country staff members, members from all of our host-families, U.S. diplomats from the Embassy, and reporters with news cameras. There were also a few special guests, including a top Ministry official of Togo, the U.S. Ambassador to Togo, the first Peace Corps Togo volunteer from back in 1962, and the Peace Corps Regional Director, Dick Day, who flew in from D.C. just for this special occasion.

In the middle of the great speeches by these V.I.P.s, there was a part when all the new volunteers went on stage and, using local languages of Togo, introduced themselves and said which town they will be volunteering in. For my part, I spoke in Ewe, the popular local language of southern Togo and Ghana. “nkonye enye Emily Brown. Mawodo le Kpalime. Akpe na mi. Nunyuie wola fe ta meyi na to oo.” My name is Emily Brown. I will work in Kpalime. The last two sentences roughly translate into “thank you” and to a Togolese proverb meaning “One will never forget the work of the people who work to do good here.” I was a little nervous, but from the cheers and laughs I received at the end of my proverb, I knew that everyone understood what I said.

After the ceremony was over, a few of us were interviewed in French by a television news station. I was a bit nervous, but I think I spoke well, and I had fun with the reporter and cameraman doing the little interview. After the ceremony was over, we had a party at our hotel with all the current volunteers. It was great to meet these members of our Peace Corps Togo family and enjoy a night with American music and dancing. This was a special day and a landmark in my life that I will never forget.

Back to Reality

“The only thing constant in life is change.” –Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Today I’m headed back to training after my post visit week. I had a great time exploring Kpalime and getting acquainted with my new home. In just three short weeks I’m going to be back there for good. Even though I was only in Kpalime for a week, I already miss the city, my house, my morning running loop, my neighbors, the Belgian restaurant, etc. During our nearly 4-hour road trip to Atakpame yesterday, I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band for a solid two hours. This brought back memories of my road trips across Washington State in August, heading back to school at WSU.

It’s strange to think how different my life is now than it was one year ago. In August 2011, I was headed back to WSU for the first time since December 2010, because I spent the spring semester studying in Paris. I had just finished my interview at the Peace Corps offices in Westlake Center in Seattle two weeks before, and was waiting to hear about my nomination. Life was predictable, returning to school and my work as a barista, making coffees for all those caffeine-addicted Washingtonians. I was setting up my “room with a view” of downtown Pullman, making trips to the Bookie, and getting excited for classes to start. What a difference a year can make.

In Togo I will also be taking long road trips, such as today, with one difference being four hours of constant potholes. I am still faced with questions about the unknown, but my future for the next two years also has some certainties. I will be living in Kpalime, teaching English, and working to promote gender equality in my community. These are definite, concrete descriptions, but who knows what challenges I will encounter in the process of trying to achieve these goals. I can imagine that teaching will be rewarding in the end, but from the experiences I’ve observed in my sister’s classroom, I know about the unexpected things that are bound to happen during class. Working to promote gender equality will also be challenging. I expect that it will be difficult to introduce new ideas into this established culture, and I won’t be able to change the attitudes of people overnight. I plan to stay focused on my school community by working with the students, forming school clubs that will promote gender equality, and encouraging young girls to stay in school and reach for the stars!

My last year of college was amazing, filled with some of the best times ever, but I'm guessing that these next two years may be the most rewarding two years of my life. I already feel that I’m going to personally grow and evolve a lot during my time working in Togo. Fun fact: Except for my hometown of Gig Harbor, I’ve noticed that all  the other cities I’ve lived in have started with a "P." Pullman, Paris, Kpalime (the K is silent). This is a good sign! My life has changed so much in the last year; I’m excited to see what the next year will bring. To all my friends at WSU: I miss you! Have a great school year and GO COUGS!! 

Model Classes

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

 – Nelson Mandela

Today the EGE volunteers started our model classes; yikes! This morning I was incredibly nervous for class, and last night I couldn’t stop thinking and imagining all the things that could possibly go wrong. I’m hoping that this is the normal feeling that all teachers have on their first day ever. The lesson ended up being okay. I don’t think it was a homerun by any means, but it wasn’t a total disaster. There were some disastrous moments, like when I was asking reading comprehension questions and not one student could respond to any of the eight questions I asked. There were also a few great moments, like when students came to the blackboard to write the right answers, and when two young boys performed a dialogue in front of the whole class.

My favorite thing that happened wasn’t something that happened in class, but something that occurred after. As I was leaving the room after my class for our five minute break, several students called out “I love Emily.” Haha I couldn’t help but show the biggest smile when I came back into the room and saw that a few students had written on the board “I love Emily.” After being so anxious earlier, this really calmed my nerves and got me excited about the next class.

Becoming a teacher, writing lesson plans, and just thinking about teaching instantly brings my sister to my mind. School is going to start soon back home and I bet she is so excited. I’ve volunteered a few times in her class back home and I was in awe of how wonderful my sister is at teaching! Seriously, I hope that someday my children will have her as their teacher. She is calm, assertive, sweet, and can handle anything that is thrown at her. Whenever I have a hard time in class, I am going to think about her and what she would do or say.

 

After this crazy, nerve-wracking morning, I was SO happy to be flooded with letters and packages from my family. So many goodies!! Thank you SO MUCH!! I love getting letters from home about family, friends, America, etc. It makes me feel like I’m in the loop and not as far away as I actually am. The food items look SO delicious, but I’m going to try to save these yummy treats for when I get to Kpalime. I’ve learned that apart from oatmeal, smoothies, and rice, I can’t cook. So, these will really come in handy after I leave my host family and have to cook for myself.

Sometimes I can also get pretty sad when I get these packages because I think of all of the things I am missing out on back at home, but having a little bit of home sent to me is reassuring and makes me feel very loved. I’m sure it’s going to seem like a long two years for everyone at home, but so far time here has been flying by for me. Days seem to drag out, but the weeks fly by. I can’t believe that swear-in ceremony in Lome is next Thursday! It all happened so fast! Well, this blog is WAY too long. After I get my internet key I will try to make my updates shorter, but more often.