Papparazzi en Afrique?

Bonjour Tout le Monde!!!

Before I get into my storytelling mode, let me first say a few
things…
#1- An EXTRA special SUPER SIZED THANK YOU to everybody who has been
writing me and sending me packages, pictures, and such positive and
inspirational letters… You can’t even imagine how much mail
brightens my life these days!!! THANK YOU!!!
#2- To those who have been emailing me and haven’t yet received a
response, I APOLOGIZE… Please understand that I do receive your
messages and I love to hear from you, but my time is always limited when
I use the internet because the computers here are so slow and it’s
expensive… It’s just a very frustrating ordeal most times because
often I wait in line to use the internet, only to have the computer
crash or the electricity cut out as soon as it’s finally my turn to
sit down… Trust me, it’s not a pleasant experience especially when
you’re halfway across the globe, you’re homesick, and email is the
only thing that provides some type of link with you and the world so far
away that you used to belong to… Please keep emailing me, I will
reply… eventually… or I will at least write you a letter in
response!
#3- To those who have been emailing me at my hotmail account… I no
longer check this email because it’s become too inundated with junk
mail, so please reply only to this yahoo email account from now on…
it’s the only one that I have now.
I think that wraps up the housekeeping business for now, so here we go
with the stories….
As I was saying, I cant remember how long it’s been since my last
group email, but so much has happened in the past couple weeks!!! Some
of you already know that this whole Peace Corps experience has been a
complete emotional roller coaster ride for me, the highs and the lows
have been coming and going in waves, but for the most part, this past
week has been ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS for me!!! Im feeling so much more
energized, and refreshed, and motivated now… Here’s what
happened…
The week of November 6-November 14 all the new volunteers in training
went to visit our villages where we’ll actually be living and working
for the next couple of years. We have all been assigned a
homologue/counterpart by Peace Corps. This person is basically a
Togolese professional living in our village who will work with us on
developing projects and locating resources, and simply establishing
ourselves in village. Our homologues came down to the training site to
meet us on Friday, and on Saturday morning we left together to go back
to the village. I can’t say anything else without first saying that my
homologue, Emmanuel, is AMAZING!!! WOW!!! I can’t even describe his
excitement and enthusiasm about having a Peace Corps volunteer in his
village!!!
My village, Datcha, is only about a 2 hour ride from the training site,
and I was the first one out of the group of people in my van to get
dropped off. Even though I was incredibly tired because I had been up
all night packing, I was forced to stay awake for the entire ride
because the scenery along the way was spectacular. My village is located
in the plateau region of Togo, which is known to be the most beautiful
region in the country. There are mountains, waterfalls, butterflies,
lush flora and fauna, just simply natural beauty everywhere you look.
The exciting part came when we finally arrived at what will soon be my
own HOUSE here in Togo… MY MAISON!!! I had no idea what to expect, but
I knew that this was IT- this was the beginning of the beginning of a
new life for me. At that moment, I realized that as soon as the van
pulls off with the other volunteers I’m gonna be on my own in Togo,
with only myself and own inner strength to rely on… scary thought when
all the new volunteers have been depending on each other for support for
the past two months. I found myself wanting to latch on to the other
volunteers there and force them to stay with me! There is always a
feeling of being overwhelmed simply because I’m still trying to learn
the language, but now I was facing that fear, along with anxiety, and
nervousness, and excitement, and doubt, and any other thing you can
think of that fits, BUT all in all, I was pleasantly surprised at
everything! We pulled up to find at least 10 women in the yard preparing
a HUGE feast for me for lunch. They, along with the millions of kids
that seemed to be in the yard, all welcomed me and the other volunteers
that were next to be dropped off, and we went on to unload my baggage
and explore my maison together. I have a small, but cozy 3 room
compound, with a huge, empty yard (that Peace Corps is going to pay for
me to build a patio on!!!) and outdoor latrine. One of the highlights of
my trip was discovering that my latrine is actually brand new and it’s
more of a modern style than what I’ve been using here at my host
family’s house!!! It basically looks like a regular toilet, the only
difference is I don’t have running water, so I have to throw a bucket
of water down the commode after using it, and the water pressure pushes
everything down. It’s clean, and smells fresh, and I was so excited
about it!!! All the other volunteers there were already envious of my
huge yard, and then they discovered the bucket flush toilet!!! (It’s
crazy how little things like having a bucket flush latrine is cause for
celebration now!) The real celebration didn’t come until later that
afternoon though… My homologue is the director of the CEG in my
village (CEG is the equivalent to junior high/high school, and director
is principal). This is the only CEG is my village, so his role in the
community is dynamic, and everyone knows, loves, and respects my him!
Saturday afternoon, he ‘pulled a few strings’ and arranged a HUGE
welcoming reception for me… HUGE… Even before we pulled up to the
school I could hear the music and the crowds of people. I arrived with
two other Peace Corps volunteers who’ve been working in a larger
village outside of mine for the past year. My eyes must’ve stretched
wider than they ever have before because I was completely overwhelmed
and amazed at the gathering there waiting to welcome and greet me. There
were easily at least 500-600 people there, and they all started singing
as soon as we stepped out of the car. My homologue arranged to have both
of the chiefs of the village there, all the pastors of all the churches,
all the different women’s groups and organizations, all the choirs
from all the churches, and various other people who live in the village.
Every group got up and gave me a welcome speech, always followed by a
song and dance. Of course after all that I had to stand up and introduce
myself and thank the village, and when I finished I said merci beaucoup
and then "Agbe ca-ca-ca" which in Ewe (the local language) means
thank you very much, and they LOVED it! Cheers and applause roared, and
then they started music and dancing, and immediately pulled me into the
middle of the dancing circle and taught me- or attempted to teach me-
all the popular Togolese/African dances. I had never felt so much
positive energy in one place, at one time before!!! It was great! And
the good times kept rolling throughout the entire week!!! Everyone in
the village knows my name now, and it’s so funny to hear my name being
shouted by a million kids when I’m riding my bike down the road in
Africa! I’m definitely feeling like the village celebrity, all
that’s missing is the glamorous life!!!
On Sunday, unfortunately my excitement about my latrine abruptly ended
because, you know what they say, when it seems too good to be true, it
probably is, and, yeah, just as I was beginning to think my latrine fear
would soon be over, something did happen to snap me back to reality… I
was about to leave to head into the nearest town, so I decided to use
the bathroom first, and when I was about halfway to the latrine I
realized the door was slightly ajar and it looked like there was
something shiny on the floor. I took a few more steps and then I stopped
dead in my tracks because for a moment I was paralyzed with fear and I
couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was a huge long, slinky
snake crawling on the floor around the latrine! AHHH!!! I had never been
this up close and personal to a wild snake before and for a minute I
couldn’t even move… It started to approach me and that’s when I
realized that I had to keep it together and remain calm… There are 12
types of poisonous snakes in Togo, and I know I’m not trying to
discover which ones they are the hard way, so I walked away slowly, and
as soon as I was out of its sight I ran out of my little enclosed
compound to the front where another family lives, and I yelled
"SERPENT"!!! Immediately, they all came running in with sticks, huge
stones, and machetes, and in less than a minute they totally destroyed
the snake (such an awful sight, but what else was I gonna do?). Then of
course they picked it up like it was nothing and flung it over the wall
outside of my compound, and started laughing hysterically- as people
here always do when you let them know that you’re scared of these
crazy tropical insects and bugs and whatever else is lurking in the bush
out here! Hopefully I won’t have another incident like that again, but
my homologue promised me that he’s going to chop down the bush
surrounding my compound and make the environment as unsuitable as
possible for snakes before I return. J
I’m starting to understand why most Peace Corps volunteers say its
harder to adjust back to life in the states than it is to adjust to your
new life overseas. Part of it definitely is because you’re a superstar
in village and people adore everything about you no matter what you
do!!!
We swear in as official Peace Corps volunteers on December 9, 2004, and
I’m already counting down the days!!!
I’ll write more soon… I hope everyone is having a great holiday week
and Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving
here but we’re organizing a party at the training center Thanksgiving
day since we can’t be home… It should be good times!!!

Peace and Love