Wednesday, May 26, 2004  I'm starting to clean out my house and make arrangements to sell my furniture.  I just packed up the books that Peace Corps lends us for resource material for our work.  I feel better having made a little headway.  I also have put the word out about a moving sale and realized that it will be easy to sell everything from my stove, to my mattress, to small kitchen odds and ends.  I've gotten rid of some clothes that just don't fit anymore and some things I don't wear much and know I wouldn't take with me to Seattle.  I am almost done working on the revision of the PC Togo cookbook for the incoming group of PCVs.  I wish I weren't feeling sick again or I would want to try out some of the new recipes.  I just made matzoh ball soup for dinner thanks for sending a few boxes for Passover, mom and dad!  My latrine/mason training project is coming along.  We keep running out of sand for the cement and then it rains and the road is too muddy to transport more.  But regardless, it looks likely to be done in the next few weeks.  I hope it is.  Tomorrow I'm making banana bread with Akouvi to sell in the market on Friday.  I also have a meeting tomorrow with the regional chamber of commerce (Chambre Regional des Metiers) representatives.  My replacement will be working more with them than I did since they were just really getting set up out here.   

It's raining more often now and my veggie garden is doing well.  There are small zucchinis growing, if I could only keep bugs from getting them.  The broccoli are also getting bigger.  They'll be ready to eat the day I leave, I bet!  Tons of flowers are now blooming around my house.  It's hard to realize that I moved into this house just last April and it was surrounded by dirt and pebbles.  We just told my host family/landlord that Peace Corps is keeping the house for another 2 years for my replacement.  Hey, if any new incoming PCVs are reading this, if you're in the Small Business Development program, this could be your house that I'm talking about!  I hear there are 10 new SBDers on the way, 8 men and 2 women.  There are I think 11 or 12 Natural Resouce PCVs also coming at the same time, more women than men in that group.  I'm trying to prep my village to realize that I could be replaced by a man.  They tend to want another PCV just like the one they had, but quickly adjust anyway when they don't get that.  I'm down to about 2 months now.  I just have to go to Lome to look at flight info in a few weeks.  Hopefully book a ticket, too.  I'll feel better knowing it's taken care of and I can just focus on wrapping things up here in village. 

Hey, one good thing just happened here in village I helped get the hours of our electricity changed.  It was from 6pm til midnight from when I got here til April.  The generator was only installed in 2000 from what I hear.  Then in April they changed it to 8am-12pm and 3pm-11pm; 12hrs total.  Great for businessesin LOME!  But here in a farm town nobody is using electricity from 8-12 or 3-5.  They're all in the fields or at school.  Except for two or three individuals in a gov't office.  I just found out it got changed to 10am-2pm and 4pm-midnight.  Now people can use a fan during the hottest hours of the day. We just got a photocopy machine in village at the mini-poste so now I can make copies of things without leaving village.  If this had happened when I first got here I'd have considered getting a fridge or small freezer and a fan.  I'll just pass along the advice to my replacement when I meet them. 

Tuesday, May 18, 2004   They ate Lion.  I can't believe it.  Milo's first friend and he was eaten.  My carpenter had two dogs, Jack and Lion.  Lion used to come by sometimes to play when I first brought Milo home with me.  He always came up to me for a scratch on the head when I passed by their shop while walking through town.  Mawusi, the head apprentice carpenter was at my house yesterday fixing the windows that wouldn't shut (wood warps with the start and end of the rainy season every year) and I asked, "Where's Lion?" Last time he'd come with him to my house.  He tells me he was killed.given to the Kabye to eat.  Why?!  Well, it seems that there was a dispute between Lion's owner, Togbevi, and a neighbor about a dead goat.  Togbevi says the goat was sick and died.  The goat's owner says that Lion killed it.  All they know for certain is that Lion was found eating some of the dead goat meat.  Mawusi tells me that actually the goat was sick and another large dog in the neighborhood had started eating it, Lion just came along and found it like that and ate some, too.  Problem is that once a dog kills an animal and eats it, he'll probably do it again.  I don't know the details of the rest of the dispute, but it seems to have gotten more complicated and eventually resolved.  Togbevi had some work he needed done in his fields.  So, he gave his dog, Lion, to some men in exchange for the work.  They happened to be Kabye, an ethnic group from northern Togo.  Part of their culture includes eating dog meat but only the adult men do.  Women don't ever and young men have to successfully wrestle at the Evala festival around age 18-25 to be considered adults.  *sigh*  This is one actual reason I'm bringing Milo home with me.  I couldn't be sure that some day someone wouldn't steal him to eat him or that a family wouldn't sell him to the Kabye if they needed cash.  Every week I get mail from my office that is delivered to the gendarmerie (local military post in my village).  The vast majority of gendarmes are Kabye.  The President of Togo is Kabye.  They like to joke around with me that I should give them Milo to eat.  At first I was actually worried that they wanted him.  Then I realized they were teasing and even poking a little fun at themselves.  (Or, were they?!)  When Milo was little they'd say, no, not yet, after he's at least 6 months old, then he'll be big enough with enough meat on him.  Now I just ask them which sauce goes with dog meat. 

Monday, April 26, 2004  A big storm just blew through my village, but this time it spared my fence.  Rainy season is quickly approaching, but for the meantime we have a really hot day followed by a cold rainy day, really hot couple of days, quick nighttime storm, hot day, cloudy day, hot and sunny (good for laundry) day.etc.  Once the rainy season really starts it will rain torrentially every day and sometimes also at night.  Ironically when I get back to Seattle it will be the few months during the summer that it doesn't rain there.  

Speaking of being back in Seattle, I think I'm getting closer to a plan for heading home.  I will more likely than not go directly to my parent's new home in Vegas with Milo.  Then I'd like to visit my grandma and some other family and friends in NY/NJ after spending a little time with my parents but before heading up to Seattle.  Getting to Seattle may be tricky I think I'm in for a road trip with Milo.  Anyone else up for a road trip with us?  He's a really nice dog and he loves going in the car!  It'll probably be the end of August and may involve a stop in San Francisco for a few days.  My friend Amy from Michigan is going to be in Seattle over Labor Day for her cousin's wedding so I'd like to be there by then.  I just worked out a tentative schedule that would mean I would COS (Close of Service) on August 7^th, getting to Vegas the 8^th.  I'd spend the 8^th-13^th with my parents and then go to NY/NJ the 14^th-22^nd.  Then back to Vegas for a couple of days to see my parents again and to do some final re-packing of all the stuff I left at their house for over two years.  I have to officially get my COS date approved before I can book flights home, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be ok.  Next time I'm in Lome I'll go online and look up flight info or just stop by some of the airline offices in town.  I'm going to sleep on this tonight and see if I don't change my mind about anything in the next couple of weeks before I put in my request for my official COS date.  Am I really leaving this soon?!  Has two years already gone by?! 

March 20, 2004 Got my project approved! Now Im super busy organizing everything with the local clinic staff, the taxi drivers union members, the market vendor ladies, families that live by the market, and the area masons. People have been really receptive so far and have agreed to do their part in the project. I think the problem of confidence is what often deters folks from contributing financially to a community project. Too many times theyve been promised something, told to chip in, and then nothing ever comes of it. This time were able to tell them that the funding is already approved and that there are two other parts of the community also participating. Nobody seems to want to bear the load of the responsibility more so than anyone else. But with my involvement in the money management they seem to feel more comfortable that the funds wont get abused. Its sad that theyd trust an outsider more than a member of their own community. But now I understood how to work within that kind of context and I can use this opportunity to demonstrate ways to have open books for public scrutiny, hold people accountable for getting receipts and multiple price quotes for big ticket items, and maybe theyll be able to use this as a way to have confidence in future projects without me.

Funny thing just happened. Milos been playing with his little friend from next door a lot today. Shes been gone a lot more during the days now that shes big enough to go to the fields with her family. Without really thinking about it I realized that today must be "glou", the fifth day. Many ethnic groups have a traditional 5 or 6 day week that they still use for farming practices. Here in Akebou the glou is the last day and you dont go to the fields that day. I just checked my calendar and counted from earlier in the week and yup, todays klou. Ive never been able to figure that out on my own. I always have to ask when it is since I dont keep track unless Im about to try to schedule some kind of meeting and actually want folks to show up. Its little things like this that make me realize how far Ive come in getting used to things here.

Its just starting to pour right now. Its truly the HOT season now, but almost the cooler rainy season. Its been raining hard about once or twice a week for a few weeks now. My flowers from last year left seeds in the soil and theyre starting to come up, as are some new green beans that were just planted. If anyone has broccoli seeds, please send em to me!! Last year I managed to grow one against everyones better judgment and would love to try again before I leave. I tried to plant a mango tree last year, but Bandit dug it up twice and it died. I think Ill try again this year and some other PCV will profit from it after Im gone.

Friday, February 27, 2004 Well, I just re-read the last story a day after writing it I had ended up in the medical unit in Lome for a few days. I luckily got diagnosed correctly this time with amoebas and got the proper medication to treat it once and for all. It doesnt always show up in the tests and theyd given me medication for giardia (a parasite) just after New Years when Id had similar symptoms (dont worry, Ill spare you all the gory details). I am now one month amoeba-free and feel great! Some PCVs manage to resist succumbing to the nasty little germs here and can eat street vendor food w/o consequence. Im not so lucky and will now be avoiding a lot of the things I used to buy on the streets like salads and fresh grapefruit/lime juice mixed with water and ice (man, I really enjoyed the few opportunities Ive had to have ice), and fufu. Even rice with sauce b/c the plates they serve it on are freshly rinsed in untreated water and even a few drops remaining on my plate is enough to contaminate me again. Im tired of being sick and can wait a few more months for salad.

I spent a lot of time in Feb out of Kougnohou. But it was all work/grad school related official travel/work days. I decided on my topic for my degree project (DP) for my MPA at UW. Im going to write a case study on something to do with the difficulties that an international US-based NGO has run into here in Africa. I went to their regional office in Accra, Ghana for a few days and interviewed their staff, met with their regional director, read files, emailed professors at UW, and generally tried to just get started. Im at the point now where I have too much info and need to narrow the scope a bit. Im waiting on a report theyre working on to give me a more clear idea on how I will focus the topic and then Ill probably go back to Accra in April to do some follow-up research and try writing a draft or detailed outline to send to UW for advice. It feels good to be started on my DP finally. Time is flying and before I know it Ill be getting wrapped up and planning my return to the US.

I also just finished my proposal for a big project for my village. It will be decided on this coming week in Lome by my office. If its approved well be training masons to build cisterns to catch rain water off of the roofs of peoples homes. And also building a semi-private/public latrine by the market to be run by the taxi chaufeurs union (currently the only option by the market is to go into the bushes not far from the rivers which are a drinking water source). Ive been working with the local clinic staff to get this project developed as a result of an increase in cases of typhoid fever and other water borne diseases. If it gets approved Ive got my work cut out for me since well have to convince many people to chip in for the materials to be paid for by the community. There is a huge problem in Togo with lack of confidence when it comes to managing other peoples money. Its more often than not mismanaged or flat-out "bouffed" (eaten/stolen). Hopefully with my presence in the project and some checks and balances well be able to convince everyone that this will be a legit project and they wont be just giving their money for nothing. Ive also helped a local NGO and elementary school submit their proposal to the US Embassys "Ambassadors Self-Help Fund" to put up a cement building for their school vs the mud-brick walls they currently have. But that decision wont be made til June or so and I wouldnt be directly involved in managing the funds anyway.

Its felt like a very productive month for me. I got a lot of work done in putting together proposals on computers using Excel for budgets and just generally planning everything out to the littlest detail. I dont often have the opportunity here to feel so "professional". Its more casual usually for me, people show up to meetings when they can get here, or not, and reschedule if they cant make it. Most of what I do seems to come up at the last minute. Its a far cry from the life I lived in the US where I had meetings non-stop, managed details of 10 projects simultaneously, and had constant access to computers, electricity, phones, and my own car. And so did everyone I worked with. Oh, I just had a scary thoughtIm going to be behind the wheel of a car again in 6 months. I wonder if it will be difficult to readjust to driving again after over two years of being here and not driving even once! I think Im starting to think too much of readjusting to life in the US. Ive still got 6 months here thats a lot less than two years, but still quite a while to go.

Saturday, February 21, 2004 A long time ago I thought Id get around to slowly adding stories that talk about some of the things here that I deal with every day, but I never quite got that far. I mentioned once about my friend, Phynessas, website (www.phynessa.tripod.com) that does a great job of this. I figured Id try a little bit though, too. To start off with I cant think of a better bizarre experience that is more truly Togolese than the bush taxi. Heres a typical day of travel for me.(sorry, just realized how long this story is, but thats the reality of a bush taxi ride here they never seem to end!)

Ive got to go to Kpalime today. To look at the map, its not all that far. (Grandma Rene would say its just 4 inches away.) If I had a direct ride in a nice Peace Corps staff Land Cruiser (which of course I dont have) it could take 2 ½ hrs door to door. Its 10:30am. I head to the taxi station in Kougnohou to see if a car is there that is going to Atakpame. There are never direct cars to Kpalime from here. I can take the daily Atakpame cars though that head in the same direction and then change at Timedja before getting to Atakpame. Hmmm. Theres a car, but its a 9-passenger and Im the second passenger to get there. That means we need another 13 people before we can leave. Yes, I know math has never been my strong point, but here in Togo theyve defied the laws of physics and every bush taxi is like a circus clown car. 5-passenger car = 8 adults (and maybe a couple of small kids or babies); 9-passenger van = 15-17 adults; 15-passenger van = 24 adults. Plus a mountain of baggage including huge sacks of corn, or charcoal, or bananas, or dried corn kernels, and live goats or chickens. Often the baggage is piled into the back and the door is tied down so it wont fall out since its unable to be closed fully (or even halfway). Or it gets piled on top of the van, often so the van is now twice its usual height. So, its 10:30am and theres obviously no way Im leaving any time soon. Im friends with the chauffeurs and my house isnt far from the station so I leave my bag and tell them Im going home til theyre ready and to come and tell me when were really going to leave.

At 10mins til noon I go to check how close were getting to leaving. The chauffeurs can never say how long the estimated wait is even though they do this every day. You have to know how to ask. "Il rest combien des passengers?" How many more passengers are we waiting on? Hmmm, 4 more. That could be 10 mins or 2 hours. But I know were a lot closer to leaving than 13 passengers. But, its going on noon and folks dont usually leave at noon since theyre preparing lunch now and then its the sieste. So, I go home again and make something to eat for myself. *thunder* Its raining this time of year again so its going to pour in a little while. That means Ill have time to take a nap, too. I swear the Togolese think theyll melt in the rain. Everything just comes to a halt when it rains. Ok, granted, its usually a torrential downpour, but come on, it happens every single day. How can you just "stop" everything?! Oh, just like that. Ok. I guess I dont have to rush to get to any meetings on a rainy day either since even if I show up on time nobody else will have even left their houses yet.

After eating and dozing on my couch a while someone finally comes to tell me were ready to leave the station and I should hurry up "because theyre in a rush". Ha! I get to the station at 1:40pm, pile in with the rest of the passengers and were off in a flash. I wear grubby dirty clothes for travel because I rarely get out of a taxi feeling clean or without messing up my outfit. On the contrary, the Togolese dress up like its a fancy occasion when they travel. Ill never get it, but I guess they want to impress the folks theyre going to see. I usually get where Im going and shower and change. Oh, its raining again. Glad I brought an extra pagne with me in the car.its good to have a cloth when the windows dont close fully or the roof leaks. The driver flies down the road. The main road from my village is paved luckily, but full of many many many potholes that he swerves around maniacally to avoid hitting. And were in the mountains and the road curves plenty on its own. I prefer to sit smushed in the back row so I dont see as we almost go flying off the side of a cliff or come inches from hitting other taxis heading in the opposite direction or goats or children scattering out of the road. (Another perk of this is that when/if the side door flies off, I wont fall out Kacey can attest to this experience!)

It takes about an hour and a half to get to Timedja. En route we stopped several times to let passengers out and pick up new passengers and unload and reload baggage. As we approach Timedja I remind the chauffeur that I want to change to a 5-seater going to Kpalime. He nods and after the intersection commences to wave out the window at approaching vehicles signaling with secret chauffeur sign language that hes got one passenger to change to go the opposite direction. A 5-seater waves back with the appropriate signs and we pull over and stop. I pay my driver and switch my bag and get in the next taxi and we continue on our way, only backtracking about 2km. Because the Atakpame-Kpalime road has many large villages/small towns, there are a lot of 5-seaters that pick up and drop off folks along the way. Its more comfy than a large van, but stops more often. Again, I prefer the back seat, but thats because it sucks to share the front seat with another passenger for 2 hours. Even the driver shares his seat most rides for part of the trip so we can get another person and their money up there with us! At least with 4 in the back seat you dont have to straddle the gear shift.

Halfway to Kpalime my driver stops and tell me and the other three passengers to get out and switch to another 5-seater because of taxi union rules and the checkpoint just up the road. Hes not really allowed to be on this route and this other guy is. Ok, so we switch and were on our way again. Or, we were. Something just sounded horribly wrong with some part of the engine or tire and weve stopped. The driver gets out and checks the problem and discovers its only just a little snag with the brakes. Oh, great, not a huge problem. He removes the tire, takes apart the brakes by banging on it with a rock to remove a part, cuts a piece of spare rubber from a "tool kit", does something he looks like hes done dozens of times before, replaces everything and the tire and were off after not much more than a 15 min delay. Sometimes its more serious and they have to wait to flag another car to take them to the next town to get a spare part and then come back to fix the car. If thats the case, you just get stuck waiting, or if its not fixable that day (like the transmission completely dies or an axle breaks or smoke is inexplicably pouring from the gear shift box) they flag another car and transfer passengers and the drivers work out the difference in the fares amongst themselves and we just still pay one driver the original price.

Finally, we pull into Kpalime at 5pm. It took almost 3 ½ hours of driving time to get here, but I had tried to leave at 10:30am. I guess its like estimating travel time in NY. You can guess roughly how long it takes, but its always conditional based on traffic and accidents that can cause huge delays. Sure, the delays are unknown, but they happen so often theyve become somewhat predictable. I had told my friend in Kpalime that Id try to leave my village in the morning, but not to expect me til closer to 4-6pm. Thats when I usually seem to arrive, regardless of when I try to leave.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003  The past two weeks have brought home to me some of the realities of living here in Togo for a Togolese person.  The lack of job options for one thing imagine you just graduated from high school.  Youre 22 years old and live in a small town.  It took this long because of the way the exams are structured; few people can make it through without repeating a few years.  Now what?  University costs 50,000CFA per year and you have no way to pay that plus afford living in Lome.  So what else can you do to make some money?  Your family doesnt own a functioning general goods store.  If they did you could work there and still live at home.  You dont have money to get your own shop started and its rare that another shop owner would hire an employee thats what their family members are for.  There are no retail chain stores here so that means no companies like McDonalds, Target, Borders, Starbucks, Blockbuster, etc. that hire countless numbers of part time and full time staff.  Other types of work generally require a 3-4 year apprenticeship (tailors, carpenters, taxi drivers, hair stylists, masons, etc) which, incidentally, youd have to pay for, too.  If you really have no cash available, as is often the case, where do you even start?  Luckily if you live in a small town or village there are fields around where you can grow food like corn, cassava, yams, and beans and sell some of the surplus in a larger town.  But that puts you back as a farmer, doesnt it?  So, why did you bother with so many years of paying for and studying to finish school?  This is partly why so many people drop out before finishing. 

            Another reality of life here related to school is the high rate of unplanned pregnancies.  I was approached a few days ago by a friend who teaches at the middle school.  The previous week had brought 4 girls to him with the news that they were pregnant and didnt know what to do and were afraid to tell their parents.  What could he really do for them now?  He just told them that whatever else, do not try to abort a pregnancy by yourself.  This sometimes happens and the girl ends up at the local hospital, but she and her family dont have the money to pay for medication needed due to the complications (i.e. antibiotics).  This same teacher was found by a member of a students family in the middle of the night at his home to come to the hospital.  She needed 4500CFA for the medications.  He didnt have money that night either and had to go to the home of the school director.  Teachers are some of the better paid people here in Togoif they get paid.  Checks are supposed to be every month, but every few months or so they just dont get one.  Theoretically the money is owed to them, but really, when are they going to see it?  And how can you plan your life around that kind of unstable income?  Try to imagine if your monthly paycheck just didnt get issued 2 or 3 times a year. 

            I was talking with a taxi chauffeur the other day about his work.  (I was waiting for the taxi to Badou to fill up, he was waiting for more passengers going to Atakpame.)  I found out that his mom died when he was 9 years old, his dad when he was 10, and his grandmother when he was 11.  He was taken in by another older family friend, but he died 3 months later.  He was taken in by a driver and became his apprentice.  Hes now driving the taxi that belongs to another person, when its available for him to drive it.  He earns about 1000CFA per day of work.  Thats enough here to buy your food for the day, but doesnt leave you with much.  After occasionally buying new clothes, medication, rent, etc, you cant even save enough to think about the day you might own the taxi yourself and keep all the fares you collect daily.  This is why access to credit can change a persons life here.  But, unfortunately, with so little money in your life on a regular basis, you dont get much practice at money management and budgeting.  And everyone else in your family is pretty much in the same situation as you and will find out that you have money in your pockets if you do succeed in getting credit somewhere.  Then they come to you with a request for aid/assistance how can you say no when someones sick, school fees are due the next day, etc.  Lots of loans just never get repaid.  In the US were proud of our independence and ability to be self-sufficient.  Asking for money from family often makes you feel like you failed or did something wrong.  Thats just not a part of the culture here.  Everything else seems to come out indirect when people are talking, but asking for money is pretty straightforward. 

Monday, November 24, 2003  Phew, I survived my hectic vacation schedule and am now back home in Kougnohou with Milo.  It seems that in my absence Milo had a few parties or something because now his 2 friends from the neighborhood crawl under my fence to come over to play with him in my yard.  Hes going to love going to the dog parks in Seattle.

            Being home in NY was fairly surreal.  It now seems like months ago rather than just weeks.  I was surprised at what shocked me and what didnt.  NY still feels like home, but although I knew thered be traffic Id forgotten how shiny and new all the cars are.  I was somewhat overwhelmed by Barnes & Nobel and Best Buy, but even had a little trouble making selections at the drug store.  Thank you to all you guys who put up with my bizarre reactions. (Garlic knots!  I forgot entirely about the existence of garlic knots!) 

            It was amazing to see so many close friends and family in such a short period.  Im especially appreciative of everyone who met me halfway in NY.  Im glad I had the chance to practice coming home so now I wont be so worried about reverse culture shock when I finish up my full 2 years in Togo.  And my return to Togo with Kacey helped me see Togo with new eyes again and appreciate just how much Ive gotten used to here.  Special thanks to Kacey who, as Amy so adeptly put it, took one for the team and ventured far from the comforts of home in Seattle to spend a little time in Paris and then almost 2 wks in Togo.  She had the full Peace Corps Togo experience from broken down bush taxis (repaired with a rock, 2x4, spare piece of exhaust pipe and a large mallet), hand washing clothes, outdoor bucket showers and my latrine, tireless mosquitoes, biking on dirt mountain roads under the African sun, bush taxi doors flying off while driving, and all topped off with a scary case of food poisoning from some street vendor food in Lome.  Overall, she said shes glad she came I just hope she got home comfortably!

            So, Ive been here a year and a half and still no pictures on this site.  Most of you saw my photos while I was home, but Im still working on it for everyone else. 

            *Yawn* hmmm, must be time to get ready for bed. Yup, Im back on schedule again 7:39pm J

Wed, May 7, 2003 

I just went through a phase where I didnt feel in the mood to write letters or stories for my website.  Partly because Ive been busy our of village for mtgs and trainings, partly because Ive felt a little off  and very tired, and also because I just got a puppy who keeps me busy.  Last month I moved into my new house and am slowly rearranging and ordering new furniture.  I am much more comfortable now and theres even a crossbreeze in the front room and on my veranda which makes a world of difference.

            It took my a while to realize I may have some sort of bug in my system Just a constant feeling of fatigue, loss of appetite, and general rumbling once in a while in my tummy.  No problem with the runs (luckily, unlike most PCVs here), so I didnt consider it a problem, but Im getting it looked into now so well see what I have. 

            Other new things.  Milo (mee-lo) my new puppy is adorable and generally pretty well behaved (except right now hes run off to a neighbors house to look for bones and chickens to chase).  Having a puppy is fun here since Im home with him a lot, I have lots of unstructred time to spend with him so he knows me well, and he can follow me around town without any problems.  Good he just came back and I dont have to worry what trouble hes getting into.  He likes to chew on stuff, but has plenty of toys (old plastic bottle, metal can, sticks, mango pits, scraps of cloth, and even 2 US-style dog toys from another PCV whos dog sadly died).  He really likes sticks and bones he finds at other families homes.  Im working on teaching him to stay out of my new veggie garden beds. I just got some kids to come over and help set it up this week and hope soon to see carrots, lettuce, spinach, peppers, peas, pumpkins, tomatoes, beets, radishes and more !

            Rainy season has started again.  Mangos and avocados are back in abundance, yum!  Send me any recipes youve got for these Ive volunteered to work on updating the PC Togo cookbook with some other PCVs. 

            Im coming up on my 1yr anniversary here in Togo.  The next group of new PCVs are getting ready to head out to start training.  Ive seen a couple of notes from incoming PCVs whove found my site.  If anyone else sees this, WELCOME !!  Were all excited for some new faces to get here.  I know you get sent a packing list, but its a little outdated.  Heres what I wish I had known :  khaki pants and skirts are the official uniform for school kids, you can requisition medical stuff for free from the med unit (including dial soap and neutragena face soap, vaseline moisturizing lotion, sunscreen ; bugspray, EVERY over teh counter medicine, bandaids, dental floss, baby powder, vitamins, calcium pills, gatorade a little bit- for dehydration, SPF chapstick, and more), bring a couple of favorite style pants and shirts and skirts and dresses you can get copied in local fabrics, dont pack leather sandals (they get mildewy), you wont use hiking boots, a pair of Chacos or Tevas is a good idea, flip-flops are found EVERYWHERE here, bring your swimsuits, I LOVE having my folding speaker (about 20 dollars at radioshack) and the copies I burned of my CDs and the rechargeable batteries and charger I got at Costco.  Wish Id brought 2 sets of double-size flat sheets and not only one set, I was glad to have some stationary and envelopes on hand for the first couple of wks til I found where to buy more, bring a box of decent Bic pens, its ok for women to wear pants (and easier for biking), shorts are ok in your house and for exercise and sports, I love having this website, expecially the guestbook since I dont get online often and cant keep up with emails very easily and the site is free (tripod.com), and send a mass email out now to all your friends and family to get their current snail mail addresses so you can keep in touch.  I may or may not be online again befoer you head out, but drop me an email if you have any questions.See you soon !!

          Thats all for this episode of Jens Life J  Dont forget to write to me via snail mail everyone !!!

Sunday, December 29, 2002  "Work" has essentially come to a halt during this holiday season. Celebrating here in village involves a lot of sodebe (Togolese moonshine). I spent Christmas here with my host family in Kougnohou. I spent the morning by myself at home while families all around me prepared fufu for bfast/ Then they were off to church and came home for lunch. I joined one family for lunch, well, for the preparation of lunch, really. I watched them cook up rice, spaghetti, and a yummy, spicy, oily, tomato sauce with chunks of chicken, goat, beef and/or lamb (I got served chicken and am not sure what the other chunks were). Then they sent a daughter with me to drop off my personal serving bowl so I could eat at homeon my own. I think they might have thought Id prefer to eat there than with them. My neighbors eat meals outside in the outdoor kitchen area, sitting on stools strewn around the compound. They eat with their right hand more often than with forks. I havent eaten much with other folks since Ive been here and they all think I cant eat their food because its too spicy. People are always amazed when I tell them I like "piment". (Its the crushed up dried fish that often gets mixed in the sauces and the slimy okra that I am not a fan of and this they find incredulous.) Or when they do invite me to eat with them, Ive already planned and half-prepared my dinner or have vegetables that are starting to get old and need to be eaten right away. I made ginger garlic mashed sweet potatoes for the other part of my host family and ate at their house for Christmas dinner (same meal as I had for lunch, but goat chunks instead of chicken). Then we went off to the "ball" in our new clothes. It was like walking into a crowded club DJs blaring music, people crowding the dance floor, bars lined the sides of the room selling drinks. In reality, we were in an outdoor cement basketball court with crumbly cement walls and the "bartenders" were serving shots of sodebe or shots of boxed wine (very little wine lots of sodebe). And people of all ages were there. Moms with babies tied on their backs, young kids, teenagers, adults. Many folks also went to the other "club". Same idea, but at the outdoor video theatre around the corner. For New Years Ill be 12km away in Djon with the new PCV there so Ill get the see the celebrating without electricity.

Saturday, December 21, 2002  Wow, how do I describe yesterdays market? The last market day before ChristmasI somehow always forget about the last-minute shopping everyone does. Try to picture this; a combination of Long Islands Tri-County Flea Market, the Mall of America, Seattles Pikes Market on a summer day, Michigans Meijer, a NYC street fair and the Port Authority Bus Terminal all rolled into one and its the only place to buy anything and is only open one day a week for all the shopping needs of those who live within an hours drive of here.and nobody speaks English. I had 3 other brand new PCVs with me as we pushed through between stalls and other shoppers and tried to find what we were looking for. Luckily the heat has diminished a little in the past week or so. Actually, its quite cool at night up here in the mts. I even pulled out my sleeping bag for a blanket last night. First time in 6 months Ive used more than a top sheet. Up north the PCVs are melting in the high temperatures. Bizarre how the climate ranges so much in such a tiny country. Maybe Ill start getting more visitors now as they try to escape the heat. J

Thursday, December 19, 2002 Joyeux Noël et Bonne Annee! I have promised my host family and neighbors and friends here in Kougnohou that I will fête with them for Christmas. I hear New Years is an even huger deal in village, but I think Ill be heading up to visit another PCV whos having a party. This will be my 1^st New Years w/o a ball dropping in NYC that I can see on TV. Midnight NYC will be 5am here. Today I saw a group of men trying to recapture my carpenters recently purchased gigantic pigsoon to be Christmas dinner for quite a few families. It must have heard that Tues is its last day and got out of the fence by his house. Its going on 8pm and Im glad our electricity is back on so I can read and write after 6pm. I can cook, eat, and wash dishes by candlelight and kerosene lamp, but not read or write for too long before I want to go to sleep. We had 4 nights w/o power and I was worried it might be even longer since so much of life here goes on w/o electricity. Even the bar has a kerosene-powered fridge for beer and sodas since theres no electricity before 6pm. Im trying to figure out what Im trying to accomplish by writing all these little "stories" for you to read. Partly, I want to share what Im doing here and I am also trying to explain the differences btwn life in the US and life in Togo, but somehow I always feel like I leave out the things I want to say. I have a growing list of general things Id like to tell you more about, but never quite get to that. Im going to try sticking to just one thing for a while now that my life is settling into a sorta routine after almost 4 months of living in Kougnohou. Please, help me out and leave me a note in my guestbook with any questions you want me to address here and Ill have more of an idea what Ive managed to communicate and what Ive left out. Some future topics Ill try to cover: travel via bush taxi, marché day, getting clothes made, (mis-)communication, my water "source", funerals, Togolese cuisine, the "yovo" phenomenum, common names for people, and possible random maladies according to my Peace Corps healthcare guidebook (Staying Healthy in Togo S.H.I.T.). Let me know where to start and what Ive left out!!

Tuesday, November 12, 2002  Id blocked out half the day today expecting my director in town, but he had to reschedule at the last minute.  Well, he tried to get a msg to me yesterday and again this morning, but the phone lines didnt work.  After trying to call him for a few hours myself I finally got through.  Ive been up since 4:30 this morning.  Got out of bed after an hour of trying to fall back asleep and by 6:25am was out for a bike ride.  I finally made it up the hill to Adape.  5km isnt far, but its almost straight uphill from here to Adape!  The way home was much quicker :)  During training I used my bike every day, but not much since I got here to Kougnohou.  My PCV neighbors will be at their villages soon so Im trying to get back on my bike more regularly so I can visit them.  Im getting a little push from the PCV 36km from me who has biked here and tells me that next week shes coming back via bike again and together were going to Djon (12km each way) and a day later to Klabe Efoukpa (10km each way) to see the new PCVs while they are visiting their posts.  Ive only gone 10km in a day so far, but Im going to try a little further later this week before she gets here next week so I wont be thoroughly embarrassed!  Im flipping around on my shortwave right now and somehow seem to only find a Spanish station.  I feel like I should be able to understand what theyre saying, but of course, I cant.  The French stations are hard to understand, too.  Im getting better with understanding people when we talk face-to-face, but still struggle a lot.  I have realized how much Ive picked up that is brand new vocab.  Back in high school we definitely never learned words for harvest (recolt), flys (moucherone), malaria (paludisme palu), gas stove (rechaud), cockroach (carfa), roasted coffee (café torefié), can of tomato paste (boit de tomate), bleach (javal), box of matches (boit des allumettes), my taxi broke down again (mon taxi brousee a tombé en panne encore), etc. Im now more comfortable discussing project plans with associations and individuals.  Actually, does anyone out there want to look into something for me?  My region grows robusta coffee beens and the farmers cooperative would like to export directly themselves rather than continue to use an intermediary for-profit assn anymore.  Im looking for contact info and guidelines for US companies that buy fair trade coffee.  My internet connection is so slow and infrequent its hard to surf and there often arent printers available.  Any info you can find and print and mail to me would be great!  (Emailing links to websites doesnt usually work well.)  Thanks!  And, of course, keep writing regular letters to me and signing my guestbook!  :)  Miss you all!  Oh, random comment of the day (as if the rest of what I write isnt random)  Im about to chop off my hair.  Its been almost 6 months since a haircut and I havent left my hair down more than 10 mins a day since I got to post!

Monday, September 16, 2002  I just typed this whole thing and it was eaten by the computer here and now I dont have much time left to rewrite everything.  Heres the short choppy version of what I said originally Im in Atakpame, the regional capital by my post, for the past wkend with other local PCVs.  Just spent 2 wks in Kougnohou and things are going well.  Im getting house repairs done, am ordering more furniture to be made, have gotten to know lots of new names and am getting settled in in general.  Ive visited Badou, the large town west about an hour away to see Elisha (another volunteer) and met the Prefet (local govt official).  Ive also gone with my host mom to a market day in a nearby village, Djon.  Those of  you whove read or signed my guest book may know that Ive gotten in touch with Peter, via email, whos a former PCV in Kougnohou and had married a member of the extended family whose house I rent.  Hes also in Seattle right now, small world, eh?  Im relatively healthy, aside from the mysterious 102 degree fever I had the day I got into Atakpame that ran its course in less than 24hrs.  Life is surreal here at times, I can see how much Ive adapted to and am starting to imagine how bizzare returning to the US will be in 2 yrs.  Of course 16 people fit into a 9 passenger van, why didnt I think so before now?  An indoor, cold, running water shower is a luxurious thing.   Bleach is an essential item for food preperations.   Military checkpoints every  10 minutes down the road is not something to be concerned with.  Nothing is thrown away, its ALL reused by someone for something cut an old gas can in half the long way and open it up and you can use it to bake bread.  Those old school notebooks, well the pages can be ripped out and used to wrap individual pieces of street vendor food.  Ive got a million more things to say, but no more time left today.  I hope you guys write to me some more soon!!  Miss you!!