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