From Togo Taken from the blog of: Amanda Walsh, PCV Togo
As of JuIy 9th, I have been living in Togo for one full month. Crazy! It really doesn’t seem like that long, but it seems like forever all at the same time. The trip here took more than a day. We stopped in Belgium and Côte d’Ivoire before arriving here in Togo at around 10p.m. The first difference I observed when landing in Togo was there are no lights. It felt like landing in a black pit, a very exciting and scary black pit. From the airport we headed to our hotel where we would be staying for a little less than a week. It had electricity, running water and sometimes Wi‐Fi. It was a nice way to ease into life here. Lomé, the capital, has American/European food along with a huge market that is open almost everyday. We didn’t really get to explore too much in Lomé, which was probably good since we were all sleep deprived and essentially zombies. The first few days in Lomé consisted of getting oriented, it felt like the beginning of summer camp. It’s impossible to explain. This city is like nothing I have ever seen before. There are so many motorcycles! The streets made of mostly clay or mud and are packed with motorcycles.
We spent a few days in Lomé and then we all moved into home‐ stays in three different villages: Tsévié, Gbatobé, and Davié. I’m living in Tsévié with a family. I found it surprising to not have a man living in my compound, since Togo historically has a patriarchal society. My family is great. We mostly speak French and as I start to learn one of the local languages, Ewe, they help me with that, too. One thing that is really interesting is the distribution of responsibility. My younger sisters do a ton of work, like get my water. If I tried to carry the container on my head I would most likely break my neck. They help me with my laundry, which, by the way, putting laundry in the machine at home should NOT be considered a chore. My knuckles were literally raw after my first attempt and I had help. Other things that are scary and different here:
thought I would not be using the bathroom for the next two years. Turns out humans are adaptable and I’ve become more and more used to it everyday. I don’t even need my flashlight every time I use the latrine at night. Goal accomplished. Bucket showers‐ I am pretty obsessed with bucket showers. First off, they are so much more practical. You only take the water you need and that’s all you use. There aren’t gallons of water just running off of your body. I’ll admit, after a game of soccer in the mud a hot shower sounds divine. Bucket showers are also great because the water is always cold unless you want to boil it. There is not a quick way to heat the water, which means cold showers in the morning to wake you up. I’m not sure I’ll ever be fully clean here and shaving is a pain in the butt, but hey, I’m only using a quarter bucket of water a day. Who says we have to use 20 gallons for one shower?
Latrines‐ I’m, for the most part, used to A while back, a few of us played using a latrine, but I’m not sure I soccer with a bunch of the will ever be fully comfortable neighborhood kids, which was with the idea. It’s kind of nice awesome. The kids here are so just pretending like that stuff comfortable in their skin and so doesn’t have to go somewhere. I ready to run around and play. almost threw up the first time I It’s great. Soccer here, as you opened the door to my latrine, may have guessed, is huge. Next which happens to be connected week we are going to Lomé to to my shower, aka a mudroom play/watch a match between the with a hole in the floor. I know American Embassy and the all of this stuff sounds really scary. To be honest, at first I (Continues on page 4)
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