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

Wonderful World

“Even before you understand them, your brain is drawn to maps.”

~Ken Jennings

This morning we finally finished the world map inside the library. Things were moving a little slow at first, because not many students were motivated about the drawing step of the process, and because we were going on Spring Break in a couple of days. I ended up doing a lot of the drawing myself, but when it came time to start painting, the group was very excited. They even came after school hours and on the weekend to work on the map.

I know the map isn’t absolutely perfect, but it’s better than nothing! This is the school's very first world map! I loved listening to my students discuss geography while they were painting. Comments like, “Togo is so small!” and “Is that really a part of the U.S.?” (referring to Alaska) stand out in my mind. 

Furniture was ordered last week and some  arrived yesterday. We also have already received one shipment of textbooks from Lome, and another should be arriving today. Things are finally coming together! I hope everything will be finished by the end of this week (fingers crossed). 

On a completely random note, I have watched West Side Story a lot lately and I can’t stop humming all the songs today. 
La la la la la America! 

Spring Fever

“Though we've not been here long, it seems like a lifetime. Africa has a way of imposing its own time scale, reducing our busy western lives to its own pace, its own stately rhythm. In Africa the concept of the eternal seems much more meaningful. It also allows you more time to take things in. Events become clearer and impressions sharper and memories more indelible.”  ~Michael Palin

                           

 

Today I went downtown to run some errands and shop. Since tomorrow is Easter, there are lots of people in town and this made the whole city even livelier than it usually is on a typical Saturday market day. 

While I was buying peanut butter from my go-to peanut butter lady, I noticed there was a finish line set up on the main road. I had forgotten that today was race day for an annual biking event that starts up in Atakpame and ends in Kpalime. As I was checking that out, I visited with my favorite artist and Rasta in Kpalime, Anani. I love his bright and beautiful paintings and have bought quite a few since I’ve been here. 

 
Next I went into the market, where I bought bananas, a cucumber, and avocados. Since it is almost Easter, my fruit lady was extra giving: She gave me two free avocados and some free bananas. I might not have any chocolate eggs or candy for Easter, but I have lots of avocados and bananas!

Being around all the food in the market made me realize that I hadn’t eaten yet today, so I went to my favorite fufu bar for lunch. The place is called Mama J’ai Faim, which translates to Mama I’m Hungry. Mama has lots of sauces available and I like that she doesn’t mind that I never order meat. I explained to her that I am a vegetarian and she is very generous, giving me onions and veggies in my broth and, surprisingly, she doesn’t charge me extra for it! So I get a mound of fufu with veggies and broth for 40cents. Not bad for one meal. Mama is also impressed that I like piment (the green peppers in the picture) and today I ate three of them. This is a SUPER, SUPER spicy pepper; even just one makes your mouth go numb. I know lots of Togolese who can’t handle piment, but I love spicy food. After finishing my meal, I walked home and cooled off with a nice cold shower. Happy Easter tomorrow!