I speak Lamba, what do you bring to the table?

The land in Togo is undulating. It must actually undulate because I fell. Twice. I have the most ridiculous bandage, and I dont even have a cool story to go along with my scar.

"I was walking down the street and I fell"
"how did you fall the second time?"
"I was walking down the street and fell".

So life moves here in Togo, at its own pace. Stage (what we call training, and we use a neat little french accent: soft a) is going by faster than I thought. Big news is we are planning a World AIDS day extravaganza in Govie. We met with the community development committee and we all agreed to make it a big event (will fill you in later). Very diplomatic, very Peace Corps.

I read now, so there is that.

We leave tomorrow for Post Visit, a week long visit to the place I will call my home for the next 2 years.

I will be posted in Kante, a northern town in the Kara region (i will be in between Kara and Mango if you reference my little map below). They speak Lamba in Kante, and I had my first class this week, so I think I am hot. I am very excited to get to post. I will tell you all about my post next time I update.

for now you can all send me lovely letters at:

My Name
Corps de la Paix
BP 3194
Lome, Togo
West Africa

or call my cell phone from US 011 228 995 21 21

For now I have to say I am doing well and am just impressed that I could update this thing in beautiful Kpalime. Hopefully I will be able to write something a little bit more concrete later, probably of little relevance.

There you go Remix, I am back on track.

Blogingtons

My big return. Aqui yo soy. Rock you like a hurricane. That song was written before that whole global warming thing took off. In case I forgot to tell you, I will be heading back to West Africa in September. This time, I am going to make Togo remember how sweet I can be. Remember those nights Togo? I never meant to leave you, I even commented about how beautiful your 56 km coast can be. Well all is forgiven, as I have accepted an invitation to serve in the Peace Corps. Excited? Yes..Togo better get ready for some volunteering.

Fond memories of Togo include, but are not limited to: Moto-ing around the University of Benin, looking at hippo feet in the marche des feticheurs, buying dried up bats and monkeys in the marche des feticheurs, going to the top of Hotel 2 Fevrier, hearing about the end of the world from an "end time" believer (no clue) from France, who then proceeded to sing "On Bended Knee" by Boyz II Men.

Starting December 7 I will be working as a Community Health and AIDS Prevention (CHAP) volunteer. Before that I will be going through 3 months of training where I will hopefully start remembering how to speak French. I do not know where in Togo I will be placed, but I should know about a third of the way through training. Never heard of Togo before? It is all around you, you just have to open your heart. Two of the most simple yet useful words in the English language come together forming the coolest francophone country to hit Africa since Decolonization. But where is Togo you ask?! It is on the Bight of Benin (agua) squished into a little country-cito by my boy Ghana, Benin, and Burkina...Do they have fufu there? You bet your little bippy they do. The real question however is do they have some Omo Tuo, and if so, what do they call it there? MMMMM Omo Tuo.

My job is winding down and it is starting to hit me that my last day is quickly approaching. My medical clearance took so long, that I have relatively little time to get ready for the Peace Corps. I work until August 31st, and then it is off to New York to see family and pack, then down to Philly, where I hope I will get to see some of my friends for a last round of partying before departing for el Togo. On another note, Togo is not named after the band Toto. That is a good song though Marisa.