It’s hard to place where my adventure really began, so I’m just going to brief the final [hectic] moments in the USA before I left for the chapter in my life in Africa…
Timeline recap:
June 29th:
o Sold my 97 Honda Civic that has kept me company for the past 2 years, even through my solo cross-country voyage from New York to New Mexico (just about a year ago)
o Last Day at the NE Heights Modern Dentistry & food/drinks afterward
o Serious packing begins
§ Also storing stuff away in Gretchen’s garage well enough for 2 years of PC service
o Furniture pick up (Alex bought my bedroom furniture—yay couching it for tonight with Gretch)
June 30th
o More packing/ cleaning
o Marie’s Rehearsal Dinner
July 1st
o Packing complete
§ Including separating New York/trip stuff from Peace Corps stuff
o Last minute cleaning of house (Gretchen’s renter moves in soon)
o MARIE’S WEDDING @1pm
o Drive to Santa Fe for last night in New Mexico
July 2nd
o Depart ABQ for PHL
§ Gretchen, Alex and Hunts all at airport =)
o Reunion with Liv and Jenny and spent the night at their house in Mannyhunk
July 3rd
o Train from Philly to Poughkeepsie
o Dinner and night at Gma’s house =D
July 4th
o Family BBQ in Pleasant Valley
o Church Service with Ostranders (God Family)
§ My old church (Faith Assembly) bought my old summer camp (Casperkill Country Club)!
§ Short speech in front of everyone and they all prayed for me: Love Pastor Jones!
July 5th
o Alyssa and Wawa pool time
o Dinner with Boss, Wawa, and Tephie
o Hang out at Tephie’s new apartment
o Sleep over at Alyssa’s new apartment!
July 6th
o Haircut @ Micheal’s Barbershop (Fresh Cloud Cut)
o Pizza at Lauren’s Italian Eatery
o Swimming at the Gnann’s (my old house)
§ Gma, Summer & kids, and Tony
o Bar night in Poughkeepsie!
July 7th
o Created CD with car $ (yay being responsible)
o Last minute shopping
o Dinner at Gma’s
o Movie with Gma and Lyssa (Chimp!)
July 8th
o Train back to Philly
§ Gma, Uncle Ron, and Alyssa all saw me off =)
o Food Shopping with Liv at the most awesome store ever
§ Forget the name though =(
o Movie night with Liv (Dirty Dancing, what!)
July 9th
o Repack luggage to shift weight
o Photo shoot with Liv (Liv Rothfuss Photography) and my new hair
o Philly Steaks- Pat’s and Geno’s
§ Liv, Jenny, Allie, and Joanna
o Barbary- Tiger beats with the girls
§ Hipster caricatures
July 10th
o FIRST DAY of ORIENTATION for PEACE CORPS
§ Crowne plaza- Philly
§ The anxiety I felt this morning was comparable to that of the morning I had to give my 15 minute Thesis Presentation in college. I had been so worried about my packing, my future homestay, and my new job that I hadn’t realized I was going to be meeting 37 other volunteers, who would soon become my first Peace Corps Family. My stomach and bladder were in knots, and my head was racing way too much to concentrate on what Fan Yang and the other facilitator were saying.
§ We pretty much did an overview of Peace Corps, our programs, and mutual expectations of service. We went over the Core Expectations, our anxieties and aspirations, basic safety precautions, and logistics of travel.
§ Did a few ice breakers, and skits even.
§ Also received traveling compensation for the next few days
o Last American Dinner @ Fridays!
§ Classic Burger, Fries and Beer =)
§ Started out as about 10 of us and then other Trainees who had gone to other restaurants, met up at Fridays for drinks, until just about all of us were taking over the place
§ Had my own room with 2 beds, so kinda lonely
ú Cousin Amelia called and talked me to sleep pretty much =) Thanks for that love
July 11th
o This morning, Before I left my hotel room, my Gma texted me a few time- worried and reminding/ questioning me on things before I departed the country, so I gave her a call when I got finished getting ready. I think it finally struck her that I was truly going through with “this Africa idea”. She tried to cover up her worry and grief by acting the grandma role, and I reminded her that I’ve been working my butt off before hand to get things done and ready for my departure. She was just worried in general and didn’t know what to do/say. And then, like my “leaky faucet” that she is, she cried. And she also thanked me. She thanked me for doing what I do, being crazy me, and for teaching her. Someone had told her that she had really changed my life for the better, and it made her think of how different I had actually made her life. I guess I get so busy be thankful for the people in my life, and thinking of ways to pay them back, that I don’t realize the impact I have upon them. So as I leave the country, slightly in tears, mostly in pride, I will keep in my mind the people back home who await my return home for their next turn in my crazy life adventure. Having people in your life, that love and worry about you is irreplaceable and priceless.
o 2-3 hour bus ride from Philly to JFK airport
o Check-in, Security, and then another 4 hour wait for flight
§ Last food ever on U.S. soil for the next 2 yrs: Chicken Parm and a Heineken
§ All of we Trainees took over a gate in the airport, and it turned out our gate had changed, so we spent over 2 hours at the wrong gate (poor attendants)
o Flight departs for Brussels, Belgium, 6:15pm
§ Pretty awesome flight mates
July 12th
o Arrive Brussels, 7:55 am
§ Weird security: no shoes off, I made alarm go off and they hardly touched me but they made sure I poured out my brand new bottle of water
§ 6 hour lay over
o Depart for Lome, Togo, 2pm
§ 1 Stop in Cote d’Ivoire
§ LoNgEsT fLiGhT oF mY LiFe!!! (esp. after already traveling for over a day prior)
ú But played games and such with new friend, Kevin
ú Mainly played the “struggle to stay awake” game
o Arrive Lome, Togo, 9pm
§ We had our own greeting team and special security measures (as in virtually no ordinary customs hassle)
§ Split for first time into our groups: EAFS, CHAP, EGE (me)
o Welcome reception at Amy’s Hotel
o BED and first shower in 2 days, yummy
July 13th- 15th
o Lome Orientation (PST Arrival Retreat 2012)
§ Every meal supplied to us (breakfast- Dinner)
§ Jet lag really hit in by 2nd day
ú Made the 4 hour Health sessions impossible every day- fighting the sleep was like fighting for air, it was ridiculous- never had so much trouble staying awake in my life
§ They taught us how things to prepare for our first host family stay and for general Togo Knowledge
ú How to filter our water using provided containers and bleach
ú How to bathe and do laundry
ú What to expect upon meeting/greeting our families
ú What not to eat
ú What not to do
§ We sized up for bikes, received a “walk-around allowance”, exchanged any USD we wanted, put important things in a safe, did French placement tests, met our APCD Rose, met our Country Director, Carolina Cardona (and had lunch at her fabulous house one day)
§ We purchased bathroom supplies: Buckets, bowls, “Papier Hygenique”, a bedside potty thing, and a “Panya” to walk to the bathing area in
ú Also purchased cell phone through TogoCell
§ After talking to our APCD and our PCV helper, Sarah Beth, we also got a better understanding of what our purpose is here
ú They have changed the program from GEE (Girls Education & Empowerment) to EGE (English and Gender Education)
ú At the end of service anyone in my group will be TEFL certified to teach English Abroad- anywhere
ú We get to actually hold classes in Togolese classrooms!
· I’m kind of nervous about the whole public speaking part of it, but I think once I get into a groove, it will be fine
§ Lots of Trainee bonding time
ú At nights we would play ice breakers like “speed meeting,” Trivia night, and the last night was music/concert on 1 roof then dance party on the other roof
§ My roommate was Kelsey (who’s also in my EGE program)
ú Slept under mosquito nets, and although we had running water, we began to get used to COLD running water and NO AC in HUMID heat (so the cold water was actually quite nice)
§ Also 2 SED PCV’s from a program in Cape Verde joined our team because their program ended where they were, so they will carry out the rest of their 2 years here in Togo
July 16th
§ After an ear-opening security session (I swear this training makes me more paranoid than I already am!), we did some last minute packing and then….
§ Loaded the trucks to our Training Sites
ú The 3 groups will now be separate: EAFS (Gbatobe), CHAP/SED (Davie), and EGE (Tsevie)
§ Fun and BUMPY rides to Sites
§ MET OUR HOST FAMILIES
ú Party/dancing then depart for home
· They had traditional Togolese music/drumming and we got to dance in a circle (like a donga line) around our new Tech House (where we will be having classes
ú My Family is named Adjanor
· Angel (Mama)
· Jeanne (21 ans)
· Feliz (19 ans)
· Daniel (17 ans)
· Eugenie (8 ans)
· Mark (25 ans- but lives in Lome)
· (Father is deceased)
§ First night in Host home
ú Trouble sleeping- head spinning
ú Family pretty nice though
· They even helped me unpack a little
ú Cut myself on bucket (1st instance of my clumsiness already- oh no!)
ú Broke bed thing
· So I had my clothes arranged on this bed/chair thing in my room and it was pushed to a corner, next to my bed. When I went to pull it out, it fell to one side; so I picked it up and it fell to the other side
· Mama and Jeanne were instantly outside my door and I felt so bad and helpless
· Got a new bed thing (less heavy weighted)
· I’m a mess
ú First real BUCKET BATH
· And demonstration on proper Panya usage
· Lovin the new short Doo for this reason exactly—so easy maintenance!
July 17th
§ Heir soir, j’ai eu un reve mauvais… (and may have cried out/yelled in my sleep, hope they didn’t hear me!)
§ Filtered my first batch of drinking water today
§ Come to realize the noises above my head are bats in the ceiling (yay)
ú But it’s cool because there is an entire layer of roofing between me and them [there are 2 layers of tin roofing to my house], and there is also patched fabric for looks [and function?]
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NOTE OF APOLOGY:
· So the date today is the 13th of August 2012, and although I have promised to deliver a smashing good blog to many of you folks back home, this is unfortunately my first chance getting it started. I worked on the above entries during my first few weeks in Tsevie but mostly have been scribing in my journal (given to me by the fantastic Tauni Hunt) to take note on all that’s been happening in my Togolese life. Since I have now been in Togo over a month, the task of transforming my written work into electronic seems daunting (mostly because I babble… a lot). One may ask why it’s taken me so long to get this up and started? Well good question!
· During my past month here, my fellow trainees and I have gone through 6 day a week trainings on so many mediums and subjects [well it’s more of a 24-7 process]:
Technical sessions
- How to teach English using TEFL guidelines, while promoting gender in and out of the classroom
- How to do this for a class size of over 60-100 middle school (or CEG) level Togolese students
- Still a little overwhelmed when I think about it but as each day passes, and with each new lesson, I am feeling more confident in my abilities
- If you think about it, some people take 4 years in school and go on for a masters to learn what I have to in 2 months… no pressure
- How to learn how to teach English as a Foreign language by NNEST’s (Non Native English Speaking Teachers)
- We have some communication difficulties sometimes but overall we all try to be patient
Language sessions
French
- We have to test [orally] at the intermediate level to begin service at our sights
- · I tested into intermediate so it’s less intense, but still have several classes a week in French for perfection/fluency
- · 2 fellow stagaires (trainees) in my class (David and Emily B)
- They broke us all up for more concentrated/ personal learning
- Class is a lot of dialogue
Local Language
- Recently I have continued my French classes and taken up learning Moba, the language that will be used in my town of Tami (in the North, Savannes Region)
- I have the same professor as my French course, Cyril but it’s only me and 1 other student, Katherine
- Cyril says its “La Plus Facile Langue De Togo” but let me direct you otherwise (the written form looks like hieroglyphics!)
Security Sessions
- Every so often we get to learn of all the ways to avoid getting into trouble in Togo
- Although I love and trust our head of security, his lessons make me more paranoid than I already am
Health Sessions
- See bullet 2 above, but sub PCMO’s (Peace Corps Medical Officers) for HOS
- They have pretty long sessions (and drive all the way from Lome every Wednesday for them)
- They always bring snacks!! (we stagaires are pretty easy to please)
- We recently just received our 3rd Rabies shot; thus last shot of training!
- Learn how to avoid getting ill
- And what to do if [well when] we do
Large Group Sessions
- EGE, CHAP/SED, and EAFS all get together (yay reunions every week)
- Learn about diversity, culture, adjustments, food, Gender norms (and how to change them)
Bike Sessions
- We received our bicycles and helmets first week
- We also received all kinds of gadgets, including tools to fix the bikes on our own
- We get lessons on how to fix all kinds of problems with the bikes when we are alone at our post
- How to remove both tires
- How to use gears
- How to fix a flat
- How to remove and repair the chain
- How to lube all of the gears
- Mainly how “not to die” when we’re on our own
· While cramming in all this useful information, I have also had to acclimate to Togolese life while living Chez un host famille (Adjanor pour moi)
- They supply 3 meals a day (unless we otherwise state we are going elsewhere) and have been slowly throwing in traditional dishes such as: Pates de Mais avec the sauce de rachides (a ground pasta that looks like mashed potatoes, usually served with a peanut sauce), Ablo de mais avec le sauce rouge (Ablo is a shaped substance similar to Pates and the sauce rouge is made of canned and fresh tomatoes and lots of piments, or hot peppers), and eventually I will have the pleasure of trying Fou Fou (another mushy substance with a sauce made from spinach with the consistency of snot).
- They are insulted if you don’t “bien Manger”, so we are all getting fat from abnormally large portions (and 3rd servings)
- I eat separately from the rest of the family and usually for dinner (and sometimes lunch) I am accompanied by my mama (Angel)
- They have taught me more about self sufficiency in Togo
- How to do laundry using your own 2 hands, a bar of soap, some water, and 3 basins
- THANKS to my patient sister, Jeanne!
- But I still suck at this and it’s still super hard and physically draining
- How to wash my dishes (and hands even) with no running water
- Note: if you come to visit me, get used to having your hands air dry, carrying around toilet paper like a spare tire, drinking warm beverages, and all the things stated above and below ;)
- · Okay, maybe not all—but you will be roughin’ it!
- How to carry things on my head
- Well this is a work in progress, thanks to my 8 yr. old sister, Eugenie
- One must tie a rag in a circle to buffer the object and your tete
- How to properly chew on this stick like object
- It cleans the dents
- · It’s similar to a toothpick and you see people around here with them in their mouths all the time
- · One must rinse out mouth afterwards
- How to prepare and cook using a charcoal stove
- The stove is pretty much a tiny grill on which you place your cooking pot and cook on
- One must fan the fire using these weaved fans to get it hotter quicker
- And just learning through every day interactions
- Greeting/ saluating everyone every time you leave and return/ see them
- Taking a repose in the middle of the day
- Watching Togolese (and French) soap operas
- Hanging out in the Boutique (where the family all works together as a family business)
- Not wearing anything that stops above the knee for ladies, even at home
- Not getting publicly drunk, but social drinking is acceptable
- To cover your food with a plate when not eating it
- Also- I am now a Togolese vegetarian and eat mainly Soja (Tofu- made here from fresh soy beans and readily available everywhere), veggies, piment (hot peppers), rice, pasta and cous cous. Oh and eggs!
- The meat and fish here don’t agree with me
- Getting used to instant (Nescafe) coffee
- After having an awesome friend [Ace] who worked at Starbucks, who gave you free coffee, this is kind of hard… but it’s the least of my [happy] struggles
- Dancing lessons and fun
- I pretty much dance to every song that comes on TV- Theme song, music video, or commercial
- And I get laughed at constantly but love it
- Taking me to church (token white person among hundreds of Togolese)
- Taking me to the Miss. Tsevie Contest
- Overall, I am happy to be their first American Stagaire
- I admire the patience it must take to train a clumsy, naïve, babbling American, into a functioning human in Togolese society
- I also hope that they will gain some kind of positive experience through my 2 months here in training
- Mainly I hope I’m not just some pain in the butt they feel that they just have to feed and potty train for 2 months then be rid of me
- Blandine (our Training Manager) tells us that these families are honored to house American citizens, so fingers crossed!
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