Il n'y a jamais rien sans rien…

 Rough translation: There’s never been something without anything… In other words, get off your butt and do something! And once again, I can’t remember who said it, why or when, but the quote stuck.

Unfortunately, this is how I started my week:

There are two more abrasions not shown, one on my thigh and ankle

Story:

So I was moto-ing back to village with my boyfriend Djato and at one point we were passing these dogs that were playing to the left side of the road.  We weren’t going too fast and he made sure to veer far to the right in order to pass safely (there are always animals of all sorts and children to be watch out for when driving around here).  Then, all of the sudden, they stumbled out (more like darted in full play-attack-mode) right in front of us! We hit both so hard, one of dogs pooped (it got on Djato’s pants and moto), and the moto fell to the left side, with my leg pinned under it.  My white leg showed the injuries well and made Djato embarrassed (he had apparently never fallen with someone on his moto before).  The huge hole in my skirt from road rash didn’t help his pride either.  He tried to get me to put on an extra skirt to hide the injury, so that no one in Tami would know what he did.  That didn’t happen because I wasn’t getting all my clothes covered in blood.  Luckily he’s a nurse, so when we got back, he used some of the products out of my Peace Corps issued medical kit and cleaned my wounds.  It took me until Thursday to be comfortable walking (i.e. not swell up past unpleasant pain boundaries).  They aren’t big wounds per say, but they are inconveniently located for walking (and wearing of pants) purposes.  The other annoying part is that the flies are back because of the rains.  So it’s too hot indoors to stay in to rest and then when you go outside, the flies try to eat your flesh and infect the wounds… Annoying buggers.  By now though, the wounds are scabbed over and almost healed!

DESK PROJECT

I visited the carpenter to check up on the progress! As pictured, all the wood is bought, dried and cut.  This week he starts to build! Apparently that’s the easy part? I’m typing up the list of names of donors/dedications for him to paint on the desks when finished.

The wood, all prepped for building!

SEMAINE CULTURELLE

On Monday, the morning of my accident, I wasn’t able to teach due to injuries (aka I couldn’t walk).  On Tuesday, I made the mistake of sucking up the pain and trying to teach.  The students wanted to learn just as much as I wanted to teach.  Semaine Culturelle, or Cultural Week, is supposed to be a week free of classes, replaced with fun, culturally-enriching activities.  But since we had too many days due to strikes, we were forced by inspection to at least do 3 hours of classes Monday- Wednesday.  Some teachers followed this rule, to say the least.  And then instead of helping Komi, me and the other Cultural Week organizers, they all just left.  Jerks.  Anyway, we did get some festivities in. 

On Monday afternoon, there were the finalist matches for both boys and girls for the school soccer tournament that’s been going on for the past two months.  Also this was the day for my class to buy the ingredients for the picnic, so I had students coming and going just about all day.  The boys, in charge of buying the meat, bought 4 chickens, one of which was sick and died the next morning.  They paid 2,500F for the thing, but the guy who bought the dead chicken to eat was only willing to pay 750F (at least it’s something).  Oh also! My gas tank for my stove ran out, right as we finished cooking dinner (Djato stayed over since he hurt my leg and wanted to help me).  Djato left at about 4am Tuesday to Dapaong to exchange it and get me a new gas tank.  What a sweet boyfriend, eh?      

On Tuesday, I attempted English Spelling Bees with the lower classes (6^th and 7^th grade), and in the afternoon there was a soccer match between the teachers and students. 

On Wednesday, I did Spelling Bees with the higher classes (8^th and 9^th grade) and it went really well! We got two rounds in for each class and the second round for the 9^th grade (3ieme) class got intense.  There were two finalists and a spell-off! Both boys did really well but one became the victor and got to choose the first prize (I had reserved gifts from my sister’s visit and from care packages to hand out).  We even invited some high school students to spell-off and win a prize.  The director Ayeva (word giver) and Komi (time-keeper) were my counter-parts for this activity and did a great job.  The director complimented my new game and said that he and the 3ieme class would be using this game to study (he’s the English teacher in 3ieme).  All I did was copy all the vocabulary words in each class (taken from the class cahiers), type them, print them, cut em out and then toss em in a black plastic sachet.  We then had each player come to choose his/her word without looking, hand it to the director, who read the word and each students had 15 seconds to correctly spell the given word.  I was the judge and said correct or incorrect.  So I may not have gotten to a regional competition but at least I got a local Tami competition going!

On Thursday, I woke up to help the boys buy a replacement chicken, and added money to buy a second (that makes my contribution of 2 chickens—5,000F).  Then we all started cooking at my house! The girls were in charge of the rice, pasta and sauce; the boys were in charge of the poultry.  By noon the food was about done, we cleaned up, they left and rested, and then the girls came back to get ready chez moi.  About 15 teenage girls were running around bathing, changing, and putting makeup on.  I decided to whip out the nail polish and they were super pumped.  Afterwards we all went over in shifts with the food, set up, ate, and danced.  I didn’t really stay long at the picnic because my leg was hurting and because I was still kinda mad at all the male idiots, I mean other teachers (they have been getting on my nerves way too much lately and cultural week was the pivotal point of driving me mad)… All in all, I really liked working with the students closely and getting to know them and hang out.  They were so awesome, cooking and dancing and having a great time.  That was celebration enough for me.       

 

 

VISA TO THE USA?

As stated previously, I have been helping my friend Emmanuel GOBINE get his American visa to visit the USA.  I was supposed to go to Lomé with him to be moral support for his interview but I pulled out at last minute due to financial reasons.  The cost to, from and around Lomé as well as food and hotels, would be way too much money just to sit outside the interview room (because I wouldn’t be able to enter anyway).  So I gave him some goodies from my American care package and sent him off on his own (like the big boy he is—he is at least 10 years my senior at any rate).  He called Monday morning to inform me of his rejection, and then Monday night to inform me of his voyage back up North.  I feel guilty for not going with him.  He said that they refused him because he didn’t have significant proof for returning to Togo after the visit (aka, they don’t want him to stay for good in our country), and also he didn’t have a letter of invitation from me (which was stated nowhere on the website in English or French!).  Maybe if I went, it would have made the difference? Ugh, I feel so bad… Am I a bad friend?? He’s still talking to me, or at least updating me, so that’s a good sign I guess…   

VISIT TO KOUMONGOU

 Aka, chez Margaret! Another PCV, Justin, announced he was going to visit our other PCV friend, Margaret, in her village before heading back to Lomé.  I expressed interest but no one seemed too thrilled, so I was set on just staying in Dapaong or possibly heading back to village for my spring break.  And then literally when a moto was waiting outside for him, I decided to join him and he was content to have a travel buddy.  Her village is pretty cool and would be great for a replacement PCV, besides the fact that you have to cross a river to get there… Luckily it’s dry season and the river was crossable by foot.  On the way back however, the water level had risen slightly and the motorcycle had to be put on a small boat/canoe in order to cross.  Justin stayed one night and left the following afternoon.  I stayed with her 3 nights and left late in the morning Thursday.  I got to see her house, meet some of her colleagues, girls from her girls group, women from her women’s group and random neighbors and village-folk.  We also set out her bee hive with her conference candidate, shopped in her market during market day, cooked pate together, and got to have some girl time.  She is definitely unique, that girl.  She is one of the best PCVs I’ve met, and really just cares about everyone, her community and has a way of talking so people listen (well at least they try to understand).  Her service as a PCV ended in November and she’s been here since, on her own dime and dollar to continue her projects.  Peace Corps rejected her proposal for extension but that didn’t stop her! She’s tough and probably the most integrated a PCV (or RPCV) can get.  I’m slightly jealous and self-doubting around her when Togolese are around (she always talks to them better and understands and they all love her), but that goes away and respect and appreciation stick.  Her last day in Togo is May 29^th (that’s when her flight leaves, so she plans on leaving village the 28^th), and her community is going to miss her so much.  She plans on taking some pre-med pre-requisites, going to med school, and then being an international doctor (so at least 7 years of schooling, aka at least 7 years before visiting Togo).  I call her mother Theresa now, which is ironic because people in her village call her “the mother of Koumongou”.

 

BOYFRIEND’S LIMBO

Djato has been in a job limbo for a bit, waiting on word from the government of where his new post is.  Since the blow-out with the Major, he hasn’t worked in Tami.  The whole reason he went down to Lomé, when the major broke down his door to give to an incoming “stagaire” (intern), was for a job promotion for the government.  He went down one week for the interview, two weeks later for paperwork, and then two weeks after for an official acceptance and ceremony.  That’s lots of time and money he’s spent for this “volontaire” position and no word yet on where he’s placed.  Apparently all other sectors, besides health, have received their posts and started work.  In the mean time, he’s just hanging out at his family house in Dapaong, complete with electricity and the wives of brothers who cook for him (both of his parents have died, that leaves wife #2 in the main household with Djato, and wife #3 in another compound on the other side of town).  He’s going stir-crazy because he’s kind of a workaholic.  It's also been a little stressful on me financially (like when his tire blew out last week and I had to front the money to purchase a new one)... So I too can't wait!   

 

IN OTHER NEWS:

House drama continues… I forgot to mention it in the last blog but just the other week, on a random market day, host mom #2 showed up! She’d been moved to Nanergou and banned from showing up in Tami until further notice.  And then, without notice (to me at least) she was there before my eyes.  And they were celebrating? Cooking up meat and drinking in her honor? I didn’t get the chance to talk to my host dad about it until one day this past week, host mom#1 starts tearing down her Tchuck (local brew) making station and packing up all her belongings… Based upon prior problems/conflicts, I resolved to stay out of the household politics, but this warranted an explanation! So I sat down with Francois and he explained that since host mom #2 moved out, he thought that there would be less problems but the problems in the house continued and so he banned host mom #1 to the same house in Nanergou with host mom#1.  That leaves host mom #3 and two kids.  Oh yea, I forgot to mention there’s a new edition.  She started out as the main bar tender at the bar and then started sleeping over a little after host mom #2 was gone.  It took me several weeks to figure out that she was sleeping in the same room as my host dad (actually it was Djato that pointed it out because I had already distanced myself from the family by this point).  Guess when I go back after spring break, we’ll see state of the household peace…

A broken Larba:

The week of “semaine culturelle”, I was pretty down.  Besides my leg being in pain and trying to still run activities, I had a lot on my mind.  And more than just work or finding a job after Peace Corps, etc.  I was emotionally drained by Tami.  Between the home situation (and wife drama), the major being an unprofessional jerk, and  the random stuff I can normally take but was over-sensitive to lately (like being called yovo or batoullie, or men refusing to greet me because I’m a woman, or people also asking me for stuff like I’m effing Santa Clause)… There were also the teachers.  At one point I considered them all my big brothers, but most recently, they’ve done nothing but test my boundaries, insult me, and anger me.  I don’t want to project blame, but it seems to have started after the arrival of our Plan Togo Volunteer, Komi.  I get compared to him now, which isn’t fair since he’s Togolese and a male.  And now, it also seems like a decrease in respect by all.  We have always all joked around and such but there are limits.  Like asking me if whether the hair on my head matched that of the hair below (I thought only gingers got asked this question) = verbal sexual harassment.  And the jokes about how attractive the young underage female students are have increased (illegal in the USA?).  And just making me feel alienated based on color as well.  One day I had a great day with one of the teachers who invited me to his house to greet the family, see his tree garden and such.  When he brought me home, I bought him a beer at our bar because I was thrilled to have been invited to another teacher's house for once.  Then the Monday after, when around the other males, he was a jerk and tried drinking all my water (which is filtered due to microbes in their well water), when there was an entire basin of water right next to him.  He said he wanted to drink the American water.  I tried to explain that I can’t drink the water straight from the well because I’d get sick and they all started making fun of me.  I don’t know.  I can only have so many come-backs, and can take only so much.  It feels like it’s all of them versus me and the director is never there any more, he’s always in Dapaong, and disinterested/busy with his own problems, so what can he do? I’m going to meet with them when I get back after break.  Boiling point came at a great time, because it was right before spring break.  I’ve been able to talk it through with Djato and Margaret and get some decent advice.  Plus, I only have about a month of teaching left really.  I think I can…! 

RPCV PLANS:

I’m currently working on updating the old resume and scraping together sample cover letters.  So the first baby step is rolling.  Then I have to seriously apply and look... It’s just so hard to get anything on the computer done here! Power goes out, internet stops working, other PCVs wanting to use the computer (there’s only one workstation computer, most PCVs use laptops but some of us don’t have one) all the time… Damn near impossible.  But I’m going to keep trying.  For example, today: I was waiting for the cleaning lady, Rosine, to finish up cleaning indoors and in the process I was organizing my bag from my trip, cleaning things, organizing paperwork and right when I was finishing washing my underwear collection, another PCV popped in and jumped right on the computer (I was alone prior to her arrival).  So I had to wait a few hours until she was done.  Then right when she was off and it was my turn, rain and wind started and the power went out.  When the power came back on, I had about 20 minutes of prime internet time before the internet stopped working.  So I as I type this, the internet is still not working.  Good part about blogging is that I can type everything off-line and then load it when I get access to internet.  I tried everything to get the connection back but no luck so far.

So the future of RPCV Larba waits another day…

P.S. Gretch, Valerie and I thank you for the drink chez Bar Mondo!

Hot [headed] Season…

Breaking news! It’s hot here in Africa… yea … Well at least particularly this time of year in this region of Togo.  I took a picture of my clock next to my thermometer one night… It was 9:54pm and 98°F.

Although to me it seems as though this hot season isn’t as bad as last year’s 2-month long scorcher.  That dubbed a nickname by we the group of 5 from 2012, “Savannes: Butt Sweat and Tears”… Now we must just look like woosies to the new crew of 2013.

Work Updates:

DESK PROJECT:

As stated in a recent update, the director and I put half down to start the building! The carpenter has already purchased the wood and it is currently drying.  Actual construction should start the week I’m in Lomé (the week of April 14^th), and so next weekend we plan to give the rest of the money to complete the project.  The carpenter decided to lower the price of the desks for us; so now, we have complete funding (PCPP + Community Contribution)! I plan to go and visit either later today or tomorrow to check out the wood and see how things are progressing. 

Also, we had a parent-teacher training at the school just the other day.  We wanted to be on the same page with everyone and also discuss important issues such as how to treat/protect the desks, how to replace if desks or parts get broken, and how to replant some of the trees used in the making of the desks.  If any donor has any questions or would like to see the meeting minutes, please feel free to email me! Thomsenk@gmail.com.

WELL PROJECT:

So there has been a forgotten project that went down in Tami-town… Well not exactly.  Gretchen and Mark, as a Christmas present to Gretchen’s mom, donated money to help finish a well in my village.  They donated enough money to help built the circular wall that protects children and animals from falling in! I had hoped to write Bev’s name in the well and send a picture (which is why it was kept a secret from my blog, as a surprise until proof of photo), but the man in charge is always in Ghana and we had some communication and scheduling issues.  So one day I gathered him and a few workers to take a photo holding signs of gratitude in the name of Bev.  The next step of this project is the metal closure.  The metal-mason (I’m not sure of the name of this profession- blacksmith maybe?) started the work but they are lacking funding to complete.  That is why he keeps going to Ghana for work, to build up the money. 

SCHOOL GARDEN!

So this was a project that I personally really wanted to do, although my thumb has never been very green (Gretchen can attest to this).  Mark brought to my attention that he had a family member who sent a check to donate money to the desk project (because of technical difficulties or confidence with the internet/computer), and asked if there was another project I had in mind that we might need money for in Tami.  The amount couldn’t have been more perfect for the school garden I’ve been wanting to do at my middle school.  The hardest part of planting here is the free-ranging animals (donkeys, goats, chickens etc) that come and eat and wreck everything! So the main thing needing funding was a good enclosure.  Oh, not to mention that I requested that Gretchen and Mark bring seeds with them when they came to visit (this was before I received word of the Garden funding).  They came loaded with huge bags of edible flowers and plants, some bought and some donated from a friend of Gretchen’s who has experience planting in Africa.

So I worked up a budget, Mark wired the money, we bought all materials and now we start! First step is the base of the garden wall, to stabilize the fencing we are going to use cement, so the bigger animals like donkeys can’t just plow it down.  Then the students will help us dig holes to anchor the fencing and cement.  After that we have a parent who is a carpenter donating a door that needs to be installed.  And then on Earth day (April 22^nd) we hope to plant!

WOMEN'S GROUP:

My candidate for the WWEC (Women’s Wellness and Empowerment Conference) went to the conference and seemed to be quite influenced by the experience.  She has already started helping me with the women’s group! I was a little worried/discouraged when she first came back because we scheduled a women’s group meeting for the Wednesday after and she was a no-show! She apparently had another meeting in Dapaong that went over the time that it was supposed to.  She made it up to us by coming prepared for our next meeting, complete with condoms and wise words from the conference! I wish my camera battery was dead at the time because the look on some of their faces when she whipped out that “femidome” (female condom) and started talking about family planning, was just priceless.  I hadn’t expected her to discuss EVERYTHING she learned but woman gave a good speech (or so I think she did—it was all in Moba and translated for me by Gobine).

We’ve started making soap again! Using some funds that PHI granted to Gobine Emamanuel, he bought a stock of liquid soap ingredients for Tami and Naki-Ouest, so that the women don’t have to travel to Dapaong for the ingredients.  This is important to me because it’s just been me buying the ingredients every time and that’s not sustainable at all after I leave.  Also, as of the last batch of soap, Larba the WWEC candidate has started taking note of the payments for soap production.  I hope to get her started on the micro-loans soon too! We created a board of leaders for the group, and both treasurers need to count and keep track of the money that Larba records.  This helps keep a balance of power.  Although Larba is the only one that can read and write, so she still seems to hold some power over the group.

Also! With the help of Gobine Emmanuel’s brother who works for “Affaires Sociales” (the social workers of Togo), we created a request to be a government recognized social development group.  He came and asked us a set list of questions in order to establish rules and regulations and put in the request.  We used the money from our liquid soap “caisse” (savings) to pay the fee of 7,500F.  And together we came up with a group name… But it’s in Moba and I left the notes in Tami! I remember the translation though: Together against poverty.

BEE PROGRAM:

There was a Peace Corps Togo FSTF (Food Security Task Force) sponsored bee training in Mango.  I sent one of the members of the Development Committee for Tami-Zongo.  He’s a nice guy that speaks, reads and writes in French and he just so happens not to be employed (so free to take a 3 day trip down south).  He came back and that same week did his own training! I was the guest of honor who probably annoyed the heck out of him with all my questions.  He went through the process of building the bee keeping box (which was gifted to them at the training), how to prep for attracting bees, and what to do after the honey is ready.  Then we went and set the box out near a tree housing some bees.  It had rained that morning (oddly enough during HOT season) so the turnout wasn’t too great but he hopes to do another training when his box is done at the carpenters.  He had a local carpenter take measurements to replicate the one given at the training.  So hopefully if his attempt is successful (or shall I say WHEN it is), other people can go to the same carpenter and get boxes made too! No pressure.

5ieme CLASS “TITULAIRE”:

I don’t even know how to translate titulaire really… I guess it would be responsible or coach? So in the beginning of the year when they asked if I wanted to be the titulaire of a class, I had no idea of the responsibilities that would accrue.  I fill out headings on permanent records (report cards), calculate class averages and rank the students (which is a lot more work without computers… doing everything by hand in village takes so much longer), hand out the report cards (and make corrections where necessary, even if it was another teacher that made the mistake), organize and control the students (arguments, cleaning, sweeping, raising money for picnics and soccer balls, punishments)… and now apparently I am their soccer coach?! I don’t even know that much about soccer! …. I just tell them good work and give them juice? Hey, that’s more than some teachers.  My class is apparently cooking at my house now too for the “Semaine Culturelle” picnic… Maybe I’m being too nice?

PROJECTS IN THE WORKS:

GRASS ROOT SOCCER:

There is a group of PCVs that put together a national program to promote health in Togo using soccer… And they are doing so while giving out free INDESTRUCTABLE soccer balls! With the rough terrain in Togo, soccer balls don’t seem to last long.  So let’s see how these new balls are going to work out! The tour starts soon and will be visiting one CEG (middle school) in each region (there are 5) of Togo.  They will be arriving in Tami the 8^th of May and leaving the 10^th.  PCVs from the south (the coordinators) and from all over the region are going to come camp out at my house and help facilitate the program.  We have chosen 40 students (approx. 10 per class) to participate, all of whom will be receiving a ball (that’s still a surprise though shhhh).  The program also will be donating 10 balls to the school too! I plan to distribute the balls amongst the 4 schools of Tami (1 CEG, 2 EPP, 1 Nursery).   

CAMPS:

I put in applications to send participants to each of the 4 national camps for this summer.  Trainers, students and apprentices were all nominated and wrote their letters of interest for me to send off to coordinators.  I, myself, didn’t apply to any camps but maybe one may be lacking numbers and I get recruited like last year.  I really enjoyed the camps last year, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I have a bunch of things programmed and none of the camps seemed to mesh well enough with my programs.  We shall see…

SAVANES BIKE TOUR#2:

The tour for nutrition in Savanes will be coming to Tami this June! There is still much planning in the works but I will keep you all posted!

SEMAINE CULTURELLE:

This coming week, the week before Easter break, is culture week! Because of the striking in the beginning of the year, we must hold classes during the mornings, but we are free to use the evenings to celebrate! I have my science class doing a volcano experience (we created the volcano last week), the Columbes Club doing sketches, some students doing traditional and modern dancing, soccer matches, and then a picnic on Thursday! I will try to take plenty of photos to share!

IN OTHER NEWS:

• The parents of the Middle school had a meeting to collect and raise money to welcome my new replacement PCV.  Previously the parents stated that they appreciated me and really wanted a PCV but that they couldn’t/didn’t want to pay for his/her housing.  Word got around that I was refusing to request a replacement and voila! Problem solved! So come August, Miss. Larba will be leaving and a new mysterious Batoullie will be arriving to take my place.

• There was a weird news-story about a man in Savanes that died and rose from the grave.  Many African people believe in sorcery, and mysterious unearthly happenings (like spirits etc), so of course it was a huge riot! Some people were afraid (saying he was the devil or evil), some people were in inspired (calling him the modern Jesus), and some just flat out didn’t believe the hoax (and cussed at anyone talking about the subject).  In other words, everyone was-a-talking! People were paying to see him but he and the family and neighbors were refusing to talk.  It turns out that it was a brother in law of the deceased that had just come back from working in Cote D’Ivoire for awhile, who looks almost exactly like him.  He had sat back in the crowd watching the whole funeral and then when it was over, the imposter approached the priest and requested all of the deceased’s belongings be returned to him because he has risen from the grave.  The imposter just wanted the deceased’s cell phone and such but ended up stirring much drama and ended up in prison! Rumor is now that the imposter may have mental issues… But who follows rumors anyway?...

• It rained the last week and was a bit chilly! Sooo weird… Last year, hot season felt deadly like stated in the opening of this post but this year, although it can get pretty hot, the season is definitely more mild.

• But… The title of the blog stated hot [HEADED] season… So back to village gossip…
• I had a run-in with one of the teachers at my school, who shall remain unnamed.  I was sitting in the teacher’s lounge one day and not paying attention to the testosterone around me, when all of the sudden a teacher starting singing the “yovo song” (white person song).  I tried my best to remain calm and politely ask him to stop and remind him that I have warned him I don’t like white/racist commentary/propaganda.  He retorted by saying “what? You mean you don’t like…” and started singing again.  So then, I got angry and ordered him to stop, telling him it’s my work place too, that it’s harassment and saying that I was going to the director… He yelled a bunch, called me a “salope” and left the school.  He didn’t talk to me for over 2 weeks.  Until one day, I put a granola bar in from of him, said “I don’t want any problems” and stared until he picked up the bar and agreed to hear me out.  We must of talked for a whole class period… How I am the first white person he has ever liked/trusted and god, all kinds of stuff.  We put everything out on the table and it felt really good to talk through it.  It was anything but easy to apologize but I’m glad I stuck my tail between my legs and rebuilt a broken bridge.

• On the other hand, I also had a situation with my major… I won’t get too much into detail about this situation because I don’t want to shed a negative light on my country of service.  He basically did something I thought wasn’t right (against my nurse boyfriend), I questioned him about it (against the boyfriend’s wishes), he got angry instead of talking about it, and then ignored me for two weeks… Seems like a common theme these days… Anyway, with him though, I had sent him a text asking to buy a beer and talk (no response) and then gifting him an apple for health (it was returned to me by the student I sent to deliver it).  I stopped trying for a bit and then one day, approached him head on while he was drinking at my bar with two of his friends.  I insisted on apologizing, and he insisted on having the audience of his friends stay there for it (first thing that annoyed me).  Without getting too negative of detail, he just made a mockery of my apology and insulted my nurse boyfriend in numerous ways on top of it all… In the end, I was the one angry, and he accepted my apology and said we have no problems.  I guess its better that way.  And I learned a lesson that I feel like I’ve learned previously the hard way in the past as well… Stay out of other people’s problems, even if it’s for a loved one/boyfriend.  

Positive and Random:

• I’ve been gifted mangoes a bunch of times from different people!
• My fellow English teacher shook my hand the other day, like I would shake the hand of the village chief… When questioned about it, he said it was because he had much respect for me.
• People help me all the time with random things, like walking my bike for me, transporting chairs or tables and carrying my bag… All signs of respect as well.
• If I lose all hope of a good job in the future, I can apparently sell my mixed babies here in Togo… They are in much demand although I have never actually created one yet.

Well that’s all for now, doc.

Gotta start planning my COS (Completion of Service) and post RPCV plans… While the internet is still working and the power is on...