Advertisement
Published: August 26th 2006
On Thursday my training group all swore in as Peace Corps volunteers and now the two year countdown begins! Not that I'm in any hurry to go home, although I do miss everyone. I'm excited to get started working in my village!
We left Adeta Thursday morning and after a sad farewell to friends and host families (as if I won't be in the same region for the next couple years!) we drove to Lome for some administrative paperwork. Then, Thursday night was the big ceremony. The American Ambassador was there to swear us in, and we all made speeched in African languages to introduce ourselves. Since I had been learning Ewe from the beginning, I was chosen to give the "big" speech in the most widely spoken African language of Togo, a huge honor. During my speech the audience participated loudly in the greetings and responding to the proverb I shared about combining our efforts tog et things done, so at least I know they understood me. Ewe is a very difficult tonal language, kind of like Chincese in that respect, so I had to learn the speech with a tape recodered reading by my instructor Kossi. Afterwards, reporters ruched up to ak me questions in Ewe, but in the end I just reread my speech for their tape recorders. The next day I was shopping at a market in Lome when the manger began reciting the speech to me. He said he'd heard it on the radio!!!!
It was an awesome event and everyone was impressed with our group. After 2 1/2 months in a small town, Lome seems like a pleasure palace, and it is burning a hole in my pocket. The artwork alone is beautiful if overpriced for yovos, and there are so many "luxuries" that we need to get here: a decent mattress, spices foods and tools for cooking, etc. The perks: free internet at the PC Headquarters, and awesome cuisine!
On Tuesday we will rent taxis in small groups to transport everything to our villages and then stay in our regions for the next 2 months or so, getting to know the locales and doing some small projets to integrate into the community. I've realized that a bridge is a huge project to start out with, so I might settle with helping to organize a priogue ferry system to transport people and motos acorss the river. It's a start, and then I can see Gabriel, the closest volunteer and a ood friend of mine, without traveling 40km out of the way! I also hope to start some clubs with the youth in Elavagnon, maybe Junior Achievement or even a soccer team.
I have to admit I grew very comfortable in Adeta, surrounded by my host family and friends as wella s the other trainees. This won't be an easy transition, especially since I'll have to get used to no electricity! But the independence of planning my own days and starting real work is alluring. ALso there will be plenty of time to travel within the region and "collaborate" with the other volunteers!
Everything is good health-wise. I had a brief bout with giardia, probably from drinking contaminated water, but it was easily curable with a few pills. The PC takes just enugh care of us to keep us from revolting! I'm gonna try to get some pics up on the site via a friend so that you can see the beautiful people, pagnes, and landscapes of Togo. It's a wonderful country simultaneously blessed and cursed by its anonymity and isolation in the world. And I'm constantly amazed at how I can have so much in common, on an emoional and human level, with these people whose culture is so completely different from my own.
Keep the support comig, it means a lot to me!
Steve
Advertisement
Tot: 0.098s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0575s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mom and Dad Mumford
non-member comment
Good Luck, Steve !!
Hi Steve, it's Mom and Dad. Good Luck on your new venture. It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. We are starting to plan our trip over to see you. I guess we can stay in your "guest bedroom". Will it have a mattress?? I hope Elavagnon is a safe and friendly environ. Your college experiences in New York City and Seattle should help a little now. It sounds like you have your goals laid out, and you seem to have a way of accomplishing them, no matter the obstacles. Best of Luck, and try to stay Healthy and Safe. Love You, Mom and Dad.