JANUARY ....and part of February
What a month! 2011 began with celebrations! But soon after, I fell sick and spent much of the month sick and/or recovering. I continued with the English club, AED, and helping out at the hospital and began cooking with some Togolese friends. Like always, interspersed throughout the month were more random "only-in-togo" experiences.
NEW YEARS
Togolese love New Years. Everyone visits everyone else, and groups of kids go from house to house, singing and asking for candy. Unlike people in the US, New Years Eve night wasn't the big celebration. Instead, New Years Day is when the celebration really starts and continues for some days and nights after. I spent New Years Eve watching the movie Ghandi at Carla's house and then returned home right in time for midnight! Once midnight arrived, people in the neighborhood started hitting pots and pans and yelling and singing! I shared a celebratory oreo with my cat and dog, and went to sleep. I woke on New Years Day to a chicken screaming (if chickens scream) at 5am. I was a little confused, especially since I was half-asleep, but a few hours later, my neighbors knocked on my door to give me a meal of fufu, complete with sauce and a piece of the chicken, which I assumed was the one that had woken me up with its screams. Just when I finished eating this, the other neighbors arrived with a plate of their fufu! Meal number 2! I finished this second plate, and then took a walk through town to wish everyone happy new years and say hi to my friends. "Bonne heureuse annee! Happy new year!" Everyone in town was shouting to me and inviting me to eat and drink with them. Fufu, rice, pasta, meat, sauce, tchouk, and even salad! After visiting some of my friends and sharing in multiple meals, I somehow managed to waddle home with my incredibly full stomach, only to find that it was time for the family meal with my neighbors. This day was comparable to living at an all you can eat buffet! I was stuffed! After this meal, I could not move, so I took a nap. When i woke up, I realized I was llate for the big celebratory meal of the day! So, I took a moto across town to Akanto's gardens, where the about 20 people had gathered to celebrate the beginning of the New Year. We ate (again!), drank, sang, and danced. Eventually, exhausted and stuffed, I called a moto to return home. But before returning home, we drove around town, watching everyone celebrate. The town was full of lights and music and dancing. I arrived home, got into bed, and fell asleep to the sounds of celebration.
The next day, I road my bike to Travis's village to see how his village celebrates New Years. It was another day of eating eating eating! We first went to his friend's house, where Travis was given a knife and a duck and told to kill it. After some contemplation, he decided not to kill it, and his buddy arrived and gave us a detailed demonstration on how to kill a duck. We hung out there for a bit, then went to visit some other friends, where we ate, talked, and sat around watching the old drunk women who had apparently drank too much tchouk that morning. After hut hopping (going from hut to hut to say hi and eat) it began to get late, and I realized that I was facing a long difficult bike ride on a painfully full stomach. So, I started pedalling. What a ride! I will never bike again immediately after eating 10000 meals. When I finally made it home, I took a shower and lay on my couch, unable to move or think.
GOAT
Once when I was young, my sister Rachael left her tennis shoes on the roof of the family car. My mom, after getting the three of us in the car (and probably dealing with Rachael's temper tantrums..haha) started driving away from our lovely house, out of our little neighborhood, and onto the big bustling Miniville road. Our car sped up, but somehow, the shoes hung on and continued to stay unnoticed on the roof. Good times do not last forever, though, especially for shoes. And especially for Rachael's shoes. The turns and traffic caught up with them, and they fell off, onto Miniville road. Eventually everyone put the pieces together and realized what had happened, and we all blamed it on Rachael. A similar thing happened here recently. Except with a goat. I found a van going to Kara, and hopped on, expecting the normal bushtaxi ride to begin. Sure enough, once the van was stuffed with so many passengers that no one could move a finger, we started driving out of Kante. Our van was speeding towards the mountain, everyone in a good mood, reaching the base of the mountain and soon we were climbing slowly up the mountain, the van following the winding road. But suddenly, there was a noise from behind, and I looked around and saw two animal legs hanging off the roof. Everyone in the van started yelling as we watched, through the rear window, a goat fall from our roof . I don't know if the goat was trying to escape or if it was scared of heights and wanted a seat closer to the ground. Either way, it had no choice. The van stopped and a few guys ran out, grabbed the goat, and retied it more securely to the roof. We made it to Kara with no more goat issues, and I have one more memory to add to my memories of things falling from vehicle roofs.
MAXIMES ENCOUNTER WITH THE CRICKET/GRASSHOPPER THINGS
One day, I was in my house recovering from malaria, when I heard Maxime yell from outside. "Mary, come look!" I looked out of my door, and there he was, standing and holding two strings, the ends of which had been lovingly tied around the bodies of two cricket/grasshopper things. He proudly smiled and held up the strings, so that the cricket/grasshopper things were lifted off their feet, and forced to just hang or try to fly away. One was near death, so it just hung, while the other was in a desperate fight for its freedom, so it chose to fly. Fortunately for the cricket/grasshopper things, Maxime freaked out when the freedom-seeking one tried to fly, and he released the strings and ran away screaming. But, unfortunately for the cricket/grasshopper things, Blaise, who was not scared of their flying skills, grabbed the strings and brought them face to face with Buster the cat, who had been crouching in the corner of the terrace the whole time. Buster, however, is deathly afraid of little boys, and, instead of feasting on cricket/grasshopper things, he ran towards the doorway as fast as he could to escape the little boys. At this point, Maxime had recovered from his fright and returned and the freedom-seeking one was now near death. So Maxime, without having to worry that they might fly again, grabbed the strings and demanded pictures with them. So, I got out my camera, and we took pictures: Maxime, Blaise, and the two dead cricket/grasshopper things.
MALARIA, AMEBAS, AND SWOLLEN FEET, OH MY!
One night, I went to bed and went to sleep. But, in the middle of the night, I woke up because it was soooo cold! I put on my fleece sweater and sweat pants and tried to go back to sleep. Didn't work. I got up again, put on socks and grabbed two sheets to insulate myself from this strange cold weather that had suddenly gripped Togo. Still freezing cold. I didn't have any more warm winter type clothing, so i eventually fell asleep as i was. But not for long. Soon, I was awoken by my best friend: diarrhea. Ran to the toilet and then ran back to my warm bed. Freezing cold, but fell asleep again. Then another wakeup call: diarrhea again! Every hour or half hour! Finally it tapered off, and i got some sleep. Soon the sunlight shone, and I decided to sleep longer,; I was so tired and it was still so cold. Eventually i woke up, realized i was incredibly sore and had a high fever, and called the med unit. one thing led to another and soon i was sitting in the hospital lab, with the lab chief poking my finger to get blood for malaria test. after some time, he was on the phone with the peace corps med unit, saying that i was positive for plasmodium falciparum, the main type of parasite that causes malaria in togo. i got home, exhausted, took the medicine coartem and was soon feeling better.
the next day comes and i send a stool sample to the hospital, and soon find out that I also have amebas! Lucky me! Apparently parasites decided to invade my body. The next few days, I rest a lot and am soon feeling almost back to normal. I return to my normal "out and about type" schedule, but soon get tired and sore again. A week later my fever returns and I am calling the med unit again! "Come to Lome," I am told. So, within a half hour of hanging up the phone, I am on a moto, holding my breath because every bump sends pain shooting through my body. I get on the bus (there was luckily one seat left just 15 minutes before departure), and brace myself for the 10-11 hour bus ride over bumpy mountainous semi paved roads. Finally, that night, I get to Lome, and realize my feet, a leg, and hand are swollen and painful. My fever is starting again, I'm soo incredibly exhausted, I just want to pass out and/or cry. I finally arrive at the medunit and am greeted by the a wave of air conditioning. "Oh my God. This is heaven", I think. A note on the table informs me that my dinner is in the refrigerator and to call if i need anything. I am further convinced that I am in heaven. My room has a bathroom, with hot water and a bathtub, a bed with a comforter and pillows, and a remote control for the air conditioning. I rinse off all the dust and sweat from the bus ride, clean my painful swollen feet and leg, eat the most amazing dinner I have ever had in my life, and pass out on the comfiest bed on this side of the Mississippi. The next morning, I wake up, and am seen by the med unit staff who get an inventory and history of all my symptoms, take pictures of the weird swellings and bruises that have appeared on my legs, feet, and hands, and do some tests. It might be a different type of malaria, they say, and they give me medicine. I return to heaven aka my bedroom, and rest, read, sleep, and watch movies. The day passes and the weekend arrives. Every day I feel better, although I am sure it has something to do with the amazing food and air conditioning and just all around comfort and care you get at the med unit. Soon we are into the next week. I stay while they monitor my symtoms and finally, about a week after I arrive, I am allowed to leave. My release coincides with the start of a conference that I must attend, so instead of going home, I go to the Central Region for a few days to attend the conference. Finally, after the conference has ended, I go home. Home Sweet Home. I have never been so happy to return to Kante. My neighbors and friends stop by to say hi. I was so happy to see everyone and Poppy and Buster and see my house, even though there was an inch of dust covering the floor from Harmitan.
THE DAY POPPY GETS NEUTERED
One day, I had expressed interest in Poppy being neutered, everyone who heard immediately jumped on the idea, saying that this will cause Poppy to grow much more and prevent him from leaving our home and exploring the town. So, a week later, 3 men show up, saying they are here to castrate Poppy. I take Poppy outside and hand him over to the men. Two of the men hold Poppy down, and the third takes a razor blade and right then and there castrates Poppy, right outside my house. The neighbors heard the commotion (Poppy was screaming bloody murder) and arrived to start joking about Poppy. Poor Poppy, once free, ran away from the laughter and the pain and went into the corner of my house. He did not move for the whole day.
TAMBERMA VALLEY
The same day Poppy was neutered, a friend's parents had come to Kante to see the famous (relatively speaking) tamberma valley. I went with them and translated the tour guide's descriptions into english for them. I had never felt my french to be so useful as then! We drove through the valley, and entered the Tamberma people's land. The Tamberma people and the valley are famous for the "tatas", which are mud fortresses that were built to defend the Tamberma people from the slave traders. These small fortresses, are very traditional. Every man, once he reaches a certain age, shoots an arrow from his father's tata. Wherever the arrow lands is the location where he will construct his own tata for his own family. Each tata has a specific number of rooms that are laid out in a certain way, so that the family members can always be on guard and see potential enemies outside. All needs are supplied inside the tata. There is a place to prepare meals, to store food and animals, to shower, sleep, give birth, and hide from enemies. There are animist mud structures where the family makes sacrifices for protection and for their ancestors. I thought it was beautiful, and when you climbed to the top, you can see miles around (dust permitting), just as the people back in the day could see miles away and prepare for any potential attacks. After the family dies, the tata is abandoned, and slowly, the rain and wind take down the mud fortress. So, as you drive through the valley, you see both fully constructed tatas, where families still live, and other abandoned tatas, in different stages of dilapidation. It was interesting, and I definitely want to return in hot season or rainy season, when the harmitan's dust doesn't cover the view of the mountains. The return trip back to kante was a togo experience in and of itself. It was starting to get dark. and the car hit a bump, completely breaking something that seemed imperative for the wheel to be connected to the car (i have no knowledge of any car nomenclature). So, we got out, called a mechanic, and waited. Waited waited waited. Finally, a car arrived to take us back to Kante, and luckily, my friend's parents found another car returning to Kara. It was a long, but adventurous day.
THE NEW PUPPY
My neighbor Clarisse, who always takes care of Poppy and Buster when I am out of town, has decided to get a puppy of her own! So, now our compound has so many animals! Poppy, who is now about 7 months old, loves to play with the new puppy, who is about a month old. Buster, however, has not quite warmed up to the new puppy, and keeps his distance, especially when Poppy and the puppy are playing together. But that's ok.
LEARNING TO BE TOGOLESE
I became friends with one of the secretaries at the lycee. And, she is slowly but surely showing me how to be Togolese. I made pate, sauce, fufu, carried water on my head, and helped sell tchouk. Everything is so much more difficult than what I'm used to! Pate, for example requires you to hold and stir and super hot pot of cornflour-water mixture. The pot is really hot, and the mixture is very thick. you can't stop stirring, or it will burn, but its so thick that it feels like im stirring cement. After it has reached the correct consistency, you quickly scoop it into a bowl and turn the bowl upside down on a plate. You then take the bowl off, leaving the pate on a plate. You eat it with your hands, pinching it off piece by piece and dipping it in sauce. Making sauce is also difficult. First, you crush hot peppers, onions, tomatoes and ginger. And crushing these is an effort in itself. There is a large flat stone that you place the ingredients on, and then use a smaller stone to crush the ingredients. After initially crushing the ingredients, you need to make a fairly homogenous mixture, sortof the consistency of pesto. But, there is no food processor in Togo, so instead you use your rock to crush again and again, until the ingredients have sufficiently been all crushed. It is a lot of work! Then you cook this mixture and add additional onions, water, fish and hot peppers. I had help making it this time, and we all ate together. Next time, though, I am going to make the pate all by myself! I better start working out my arms more so I can stir! (Even though I thought I was already working out my arms with carrying water and doing laundry!)
