Arrival in Lomé

We’re now in Lomé, Togo, and have been here for a few days at a hostel owned by Mamy, a little Asian woman. She has a nice cat named Milo who loves the volunteers because they like to pet him, and she cooks excellent food. Spicy and good! It’s a little weird living with all these people after living on our own for more than ten years, though. But everyone seems to get along really well, so we’ve been having fun so far. We’re up to six shots with more to come, and have gotten educated on malaria and other maladies, and have gotten instructions on the basic day-to-day stuff. Our language tests were an individual question and answer session in French. We find out at stage what level we’ll be placed at. Yesterday was, I think, the most helpful training session so far – all about how to wash clothes, take a bucket shower, use the lanterns, etc. We also went to our Country Director’s house for a reception last night – une grande maison! We also met the U.S. Ambassador to Togo. This afternoon, we got to go shopping and buy shower buckets and supplies and cell phones. I’ll post our number tomorrow – we likely won’t be calling anyone in the States, but incoming calls are free for us.

Granda will be disappointed to hear that my only encounter with bugs so far has been flies (it’s fly season here), and a few mosquitoes. Once we get to our training site and live with our host families, I heard we’ll have all kinds of interesting things living in our latrine. So more soon on that front.

The kids between Mamy’s and the Peace Corps office a few blocks away seem pretty used to seeing the volunteers around, but they like to wave at us and giggle. This area of Lomé has lots of chickens along with a few goats and dogs wandering around. You can hear the Togolese playing American music from their homes and from local bars (I’ve heard Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, and Tina Turner). Lomé is interesting (and living conditions are much better than we expected), but I think we’re a little impatient (and a little anxious…at least I am) to see what life with our host families. Tomorrow evening we head off to meet them.

Also, for a fellow volunteer’s mom named Elizabeth T., your daughter loves you, and is telling you not to worry. She’s very happy, excited, and making a lot of friends (she’s one of my favorite people, so I promise to stay in touch with her as much as possible!).

To my own Mom, and to Joe’s Mom and Dad, and everyone else (family, friends, and ex-coworkers), we’re feeling good about everything so far. Please send us news of home (via the blog, email, or letter)!