Spelling Bee

“To have another language is to possess a second soul.”

~Charlemagne

 

Thursday and Friday we had our Kpalime English Spelling Bee! This is something I’ve been organizing for a while. To encourage learning English and to celebrate the amazing ability of our students in Kpalime, we decided to host a city-wide spelling bee at our school this year. We invited 5 schools to participate and each submitted 5 students from each grade level, so there was a total of 100 competitors with about 150-200 spectators. It was amazing to see the support the schools showed for their participants. The crowd really got into it, cheering loudly for each correctly spelled word.

The second day was especially intense as the words got harder and harder with the higher grade levels. I was amazed by all the participants. To be able to spell complex words out loud in your third language is pretty incredible. The winners of the four grade levels received tie dye t-shirts I made when I was home for my medical evacuation, and the rest of the participants received free pens. All four winners came from the same public school in the neighborhood where I live; one was even a next door neighbor of mine. It was fun to work with the English teachers from different schools and collaborate on a project that showcased all our wonderful students. On the last day they were already discussing their plans to continue this and make it an even bigger event next year. It's nice to know that some things I helped to plan here in Kpalime will continue on after I leave. It's also fun to know that four of these students will be walking around looking like part of my family in their tie dye!

Time Out in Dapaong

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment

is the only one you know you have for sure.”

~Oprah Winfrey

Back on the 19^th I took a mini-vacation in Togo. I’d never seen the northern region before, so I decided to finally make the long trek up. Instead of using the dreaded bush taxis, I used Peace Corps Togo’s convenient “Lome Limo,” a Peace Corps van that makes a roundtrip trip from Lome in the south up to Dapaong in the north, passing through all the regional capitals along the way. One way takes about 12 hours so the van goes up one day, rests the next day in Dapaong, and then returns to Lome on the following day. 

I caught the van in Atakpame and spent most of the journey as the only passenger, such a luxury not to be squished into a row with four other people. I will never take air conditioning for granted ever, EVER again. It was 9 hours of heaven! I didn’t even mind the potholes and the close passes we made along the way. 

traditional mud houses

Traveling up north is like venturing into a different world. Maybe it’s just living in Kpalime that made the contrast so drastic for me. After we passed by Kara, there seemed to generally be a lot less people and fewer villages along the way. The vegetation was sparse, with a lot more open and empty countryside. The rains had started up here earlier this month, so the ground wasn’t as dry and brown as it is during the dry season. Up in the northern most region there is a major road construction project underway on the national route. It was wonderful to see a road without potholes. I never thought I would think this was such a luxury but it really is amazing! 

Dapaong market

Once I reached Dapaong, I stayed at the Peace Corps work station with several volunteers from that region. We went out to dinner, went shopping in the market, and walked through a crazy wind storm that blew my hair so hard, I looked like Cousin It from the Adams Family! It was fun to see volunteers I hadn't seen in almost a year! Volunteers up in the north tend to hardly ever (or never!) travel down south. When shopping at their market, it was obvious how much geography affects your access to certain things and their prices. For example, 5 bananas was three times more than what I would pay for them in Kpalime. Certain foods I didn’t even see for sale, like apples, green beans, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, and grapes. Something that I LOVED about the north was how dry the climate is. It is very hot, hotter than Kpalime, but it was so relaxing to not constantly be wiping sweat from my face or feeling sweat trickle down my back throughout the day. This trip made it clear to me that no matter where you live in Togo, there is a trade off between the negatives and positives. It was a nice break, a change in scenery, and good times with friends. 

Peace Corps Dapaong Work Station

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

“Geography has made us neighbors.

History has made us friends.”

~ John F. Kennedy

Since I recently blogged about my amazing Mom, I thought I would blog about another woman I have come to know. This is Mama Agnes, or you can just call her Agnes. She is a nice old lady who sells banana beignets at the end of my street. She is always so kind and welcoming. Whenever I go into town, I pass by her house. I always greet her and we talk about our day. She has been trying to teach me some Ewe, the local language, but I’m still pretty awful at it. 

Agnes was born and raised in Kpalime. I’ve asked her a couple of times how old she is, but I got two different answers, so I’m not sure about that. I think she is in her 60s. She is one of eight siblings, four of whom have already died. She has four children. Her daughter Emmanuelle lives in Lome, but I don't know where the rest of them live. Agnes takes care of her darling granddaughter, Samsia, who is really timid whenever I visit. Right now Agnes has a bunch of puppies and kittens that are SO adorable. I always gawk at how cute they are when I see them, but I stay away from the kittens because I have a terrible fear of cats (I don’t know why, I can’t explain it, but they really freak me out). Agnes is one of my favorite neighbors and I’m not looking forward to our final goodbye.

Thank You Mom

"All that I am, or hope to be, 

I owe to my angel mother." 

~Abraham Lincoln

Since this is the last Mother’s Day I will spend in Togo, I wanted to take the time to tell you all about my amazing, beautiful, unbelievably supportive Mom. She has always been my biggest cheerleader in life and these last two years are no exception. 

Ever since I got my Peace Corps nomination, she has been actively participating in this adventure I am on. She helped me go shopping, helped me pack my bags, and repack them again and again. She has sent me countless letters and a TON of packages, way more than a volunteer could possibly dream of receiving. On days when nothing seems to be going right she is only a phone call away to remind me that what I’m doing here IS incredible and to not be so hard on myself all the time. She even traveled all the way here and sacrificed being at home for her first grandson’s first Christmas to spend time with me. I’m thankful she did, because I wouldn’t have gotten through the accident in South Africa so well if it hadn’t been for her. On top of donating money, she’s donated dozens and dozens of books to my school’s library project. I really don’t know what would have happened without that help. 

I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my wonderful Mom. She always encourages me to be who I am and to follow my bliss, and I feel like I’m doing just that. Thank you Mom, for being such a kindred spirit.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. 

They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, 

and contribute to improving our quality of life. 

Libraries change lives for the better.” 

~ Sidney Sheldon

Over the last week we have been finishing the library. All the textbooks finally arrived. There was a small hiccup when some things came in our order that we didn't ask for (like soccer balls, a cord, tape measure, etc). So we had to send them back to Lome and exchange them for the textbooks we asked for. The man who works for the bookstore was sick and unable to go in for a couple of days, but he finally delivered the last of the books on Tuesday night. There always seems to be something that happens like that when you execute a project here, but in those moments I just have to remind myself to be patient and that This Is Africa, T.I.A. (If you've seen the movie Blood Diamond, you should get that reference; if you haven’t, I urge you to go and rent it right now!)

Wednesday was my birthday and I spent it at my school mostly. I gave a quiz in my class and had to give two of my students zeros because they were blatantly cheating right in front of me. I hate doing that, because I’m the kind of teacher who wants everyone to succeed and learn, but I have to be strict otherwise they will walk all over me. Then I worked in the library with other teachers to recheck that we got the correct number of books we ordered. 

Later I went to the market and bought myself a birthday present, two yards of fabric. My best present of the day was when my mom called me that night and we talked for an hour! Even though it only felt like we talked for 20 minutes, it was still such a treat. After living in Togo, far away from friends and family back home, I’ve come to find that I don’t even miss some of the Western amenities like hot water and washing machines. What I miss the most is long chats with friends and family, just sitting around and talking for hours about everything.  

This weekend I plan on spending many hours at the library, organizing and cataloging the books. By early next week it will be completely finished, and after my class on Thursday, I will take a mini vacation, finally getting a chance to visit Northern Togo. Road Trip! 

I surprised Light with a Hello Kitty ball