21 Questions

"My formula for living is quite simple. 

I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. 

In between, I occupy myself as best I can."

~Cary Grant 

I have so many people ask me questions about my life here in Kpalime. Here are a few answers for my friends back home. I miss you!

Do you live in a mud hut?

Haha No, I don’t live in a mud hut. I live in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house that is part of a compound with two other homes. We have a tall wall with a locked entry that separates us from the street and other neighbors.

Do you have electricity and running water?

Yes!! I am very lucky that I live in Kpalime, the fourth largest city in Togo, which has these amenities. The electricity is not always reliable; it shuts off for a couple of hours now and then. Inside the house my only water sources are my shower and a tiny little bathroom sink that you can barely wash a mug in. I get the bulk of my water for doing dishes, laundry and filling my water filter from a spigot outside.

How do you access the internet?

I access the internet with my Togocell internet key, which is a USB stick that contains a sim card. The sim card works just like a phone sim card. When I plug in the key to my computer I can get internet access anywhere there is good Togocell reception. Unlimited access for 30 days costs 15,000cfa, equivalent to 30USD.

How's the weather?

In Kpalime it is hot and humid. The southern part of Togo is very humid and it gets drier and drier as you head north. We are now in the hot season, and the combination of heat and humidity is not fun. I depend on my fan and I wake up every morning sweaty. The rainy season will begin in April and continue on until October.

How do you wash your clothes?

Ugh, this is my least favorite chore. I will never, ever again take for granted the wonderful machines we have back home that do the work for us. I usually do laundry once a week. I put my clothes into a big bucket. Then I mix in powder detergent, add a bucket full of water, mix up the water and clothes, and let the clothes soak for about an hour. The next thing I do is scrub the clothes, focusing on the stinky/dirty areas. Then I rinse the clothes twice, using two other buckets. Finally, I hang my clothes up on the lines and wait. Since it’s so hot here it doesn’t take too long to dry.

How do you cook your food?

Most volunteers cook using a gas stovetop. I have a gas tank that sits on the ground and is attached to a portable stovetop on my counter with a tube. Most Togolese people cook using charcoal stoves that are made out of clay.

What kinds of food do you eat?

I eat a lot of sardines, eggs, and beans. In Kpalime there are many vegetables and fruits too. Bananas are plentiful here. I also like to go to the market to buy cucumbers, green beans, and avocadoes. The only tricky thing is buying lettuce; unless you plan on eating it in the next four or five hours, it’s not a good idea because it wilts pretty fast in the heat.

What’s the strangest food you have eaten?

So far I have avoided some of the local delicacies, like dog, cat, snake, etc. I haven’t been very adventurous in that area, for obvious health reasons. Frankly, I’m not embarrassed to refuse something weird if it means preventing me from having lots of diarrhea. I think that pate is pretty strange to me and its variations. Pate is this white glob of carbs that you dip in a sauce. It’s made from corn flour and water, boiled and stirred into a thick, mashed potato consistency.  

What is a typical monthly living allowance?

Every month volunteers receive 140,000cfa (280USD). This is transferred to our Togo bank accounts that we set up during our training period. My bank is called EcoBank. Kpalime’s bank has an ATM machine, so that’s how I get my money.

What can you buy for one U.S. dollar?

For $1 you can honestly buy quite a bit. 1USD is roughly equivalent to 500cfa. Here are some examples of what you can buy for 500cfa: 5 eggs, 5 avocadoes, one (very large) beer, 1.5 liter water bottle, a hamburger, 10 large beignets, 5 servings of beans, and much more.

Have you been sick?

I was sick once during my training in Tsevie, which I mentioned in a previous blog. I have not suffered any illness since my arrival to Kpalime, besides a couple of really bad colds, which I think were due to traveling.

Are there clothing restrictions?

Placing restrictions on what I wear out in public makes life easier for me, to avoid harassment. As a white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, I do what I can to avert attention. I don’t wear sleeveless tops often, and I never wear anything above the knee in public. In general people here don’t wear clothes that expose their knees. With tops, sleeveless is okay, but spaghetti straps are not.

What language do your neighbors speak?

Since I live relatively in the south of Togo, where the major ethnic group is the Ewe people, most of my neighbors speak Ewe. I know a little Ewe, like how to say hello, goodbye, and to introduce myself. For everything else I use French, and I never have a problem. Growing up in Kpalime, a child’s first language is Ewe, their second is French, and their third is English, starting in middle school.

How often do you leave Kpalime?

To get from Kpalime to Lome costs 2,000cfa (4USD) and takes about 2 hours. I teach 5 days a week, so I don’t travel much. I don’t travel to Lome often, because things in Lome are expensive and except for foreign cuisine in restaurants, there isn’t much in Lome that I can’t find in Kpalime. I don’t travel north very often because the road that connects me to the Route Nationale is probably one of the worst roads in Togo and it can take 4 hours to get there.

Do you get lots of mosquito bites?

I don’t. For safety reasons, I don’t go out a lot at night and with my window screens and bed net I seem to be pretty safe. I also brought lots of bug repellants with me (thanks Mom) so that when I am out at dusk, I can be protected.

What "creatures" have you encountered?
Thankfully I don’t have a bat problem in my house, although I do hear them outside at night sometimes in the mango tree. I saw a small garden snake on my neighbor’s porch last month and her friend killed it with a machete, but it wasn’t much to freak out about. The one thing I have encountered is spiders, which are huge and can jump! Yeah, so that’s pretty terrifying. I usually don’t want to get close, so I drive them out my front door with my broom.

What do you miss the most from home?
My family! We are a very close family. I tell them everything, so the first couple of months were hard for me, but thank God for the internet. Since it’s the hot season right now, I miss the Seattle rain. I miss not having to be SO worried about my health, like not having to filter water, bleach all vegetables, and take malaria pills.

Do you have time off for travel?

Yes, over my two years of service I have 48 days for travel outside of Togo. I recently used some days to go to Hawaii for my sister’s wedding and I’m planning some trips for the future.

How far away are other volunteers?

I am fortunate to have a site mate in Kpalime who only lives about a 30-minute walk away from me. My two nearest volunteer friends outside of the city are both about an hour moto ride away. There are only four volunteers in my area of western Plateau. 

How do you spend your down time?

I keep myself busy with school and planning projects. I spend every morning at my school until lunch. In my down time I read, play lots of Sudoku, listen to the radio, watch movies or TV shows on my computer and do yoga. I am also a neat freak, so I spend time organizing and cleaning.

What projects are you working on?

Currently I teach English five days a week, run weekly Girls Club meetings, English Club meetings, and English Movie Fridays at our school. I’m also planning on starting a Boys Club.  I am working my way towards two large projects for the future: I will be involved in planning a two-year English Access program at our school in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy.  I also have plans in the works to create a library for our school.