Bon arrivee

OOOh Togo….Ooh Togo… I sing our theme song to our journey thus far with as much endearment as I imagine John singing Oh Yoko. I hope that this letter puts everyone whom we love at ease. I’m going try my best to only talk in first person, but I know I can speak for Trace when I say that all is to the nth degree of well. The scenery in the villages that we live in here is absolutely divine. The plateau region is lush with banana, orange and grapefruit trees. We are nestled against Mount Agou, which is the highest point in Togo. Its hot and its oh so ever humid, but we get a nice rain shower almost every day which cools things down about fifteen degrees.
The people in our training village have been very welcoming to the flood of Americans that have suddenly appeared in their homes and streets. When we first arrived at our training site, I had no idea what was in front of me. Before I arrived at the airport I thought that Lome, the capital city would have been more modern than it was, while in fact it was far from any other city I had ever seen. With this in mind, I had no idea what a village was going to be like if Lome was a city of 700,000 and supposedly quite “booming.” As I and about a dozen other Americans stepped out of the Peace Corps land-cruiser we were flooded with African sounds. It was all so overwhelming. About a hundred villagers met us upon our arrival all dressed in their finest fabrics while a drum line and chanting men and women marched us to the “town square.” Many volunteers began crying as they showered us with their welcoming gifts and as the chief made an emotional speech in their tribal language.
Since those first few days, things have been much less emotional thus much more clear. My host family is incredible and they do everything they can to cater to all my needs. I definitely live in the nicest house of the volunteers (I have electricity and indoor plumbing), but I have been told after training, Trace and I do not have such amenities although many volunteers do. My first few days I had a bit of a gastrointestinal problem, but since I’ve felt as good as ever. I have officially become a vegetarian in Togo (which is much easier than being a carnivore here!). Tofu and other soy products are readily available in this region as well as a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Our days are stacked from 7:30-5:00 with classes. I feel like I’m making leaps and bounds with my French each day. Most of the other volunteers already know the language, so I’m working extra hard to catch up. Other than French, we have technique classes to prepare us for the Girls Education and Empowerment assignment. The teachers we have here are amazing. They are all Togolese and are all very passionate in the work that they do to prepare us for our two years alone. I’ve been exhausted at the end of everyday from producing gallons of sweat and trying to differentiate if my family is talking to me in Ewe (the tribal language) or French. Luckily, it is the norm for people to go to bed at dark.
To wrap things up, I want to give thanks to everyone’s support that helped Trace and I get here. I love and miss you all. Please be patient for word from us. Communication is definitely going to be a challenge for a while. If anyone is interested in sending anything, do not use a plain envelope because there is a good chance it will not arrive. If sending a letter, put it in a bubble envelope. The best way to ensure the arrival of a package safely is to put some sort of Christian symbol or message on the outside (e.g. draw a cross, address to Sister Katrina, write “Dieu te vois” meaning God sees you in French).
Okay, until the next post.P.S. If anyone is curious, the side effects to my malaria medication are nothing short of fascinating! I didn’t know my dreams could get more vivid than they were.