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.