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.