Hotel Equateur Lome

... to mind the heat until 9:30. So, when it got to be 9:30 and none of us had had both breakfast and water that morning we got kind of freaked out about it. We hadn’t passed any towns or huts since Tsevie essentially. The landscapes were pretty amazing, though. The countryside of Togo is a very vibrant green and we were in the maritime region technically I think so you could see out pretty far. This was the one day when we went up ...

... and any recognition of the english language was lost entirely. At the time, i still don't think it occurred to me how little i was prepared for speaking french. I haven't seen any french since freshman year. And even then, i never spoke very much. But I knew a word here and there and could use gestures to help out too. The hard thing was--once we got walking, we knew we had a turn to make...we just didnt ...

... I was going before we left, but unfortunately Togo has an issue with its internet connection at the moment and quite often there's no internet access ANYWHERE for a while. The problem is, apparently, that there's something wrong with the cable, somewhere under the ocean...

Anyway, all sorts of stories from Badza (or Badja) village will be appearing here soon, but for now I've got several hundred e-mails to sift through!

... while travelling. The first step was a motorcycle trip through the bush. Then we were the hopped on a huge bus that was going to Accra, and we were the only two passengers. After watching French Kung Fu movies for a couple hours, we arrived in Accra and took a tro tro to Ledzi's house. That night, we went to a 'jazz’ concert in Osu. I quickly learned that a ‘jazz’ concert in Ghana means a live band is playing, no matter what style. We watched some the band play ...

... the next morning, we continued our studies with Kwasi. This week, we learned the drum parts, lyrics (in Ewe), and dances to three West African pieces: Gahu (a greeting song), Borborbor (recreational), and Agbekor (for war). I found learning the lyrics (which are never written down) was the hardest part. I realised that the more familiar I am with Ewe, the easier it will be to sing (and understand) these pieces. On Tuesday, Dagbamete hosted a music ...

... morning, as well as a barrage of texts. Seriously? Do African men not know about being A BIT TOO EAGER?! I eventually replied with a quick ‘je suis au travail’. That evening, the enslaught began again, so I, already being uncomfortable, informed him I was going into town to go the ATM and buy some water. Well, during the moto rides there and back (ten minutes each way) I received a grand total of, I kid you not, TEN missed calls, from a combination of ...

... and we may be able to.

The border to Togo is only 200km away and we hope to get there before dark. We do not know how long it will take to get across the border as we do not have a visa. Sanga and Van Damme can cross with just identification so it is no problem for them. The car and us is another matter. Again we come to construction. This time it is only 40km but it still takes time. At the border Sanga is ...

... they HIV/AIDS cases or social cases or disadvantaged kids), BUT is it really necessary to write them out then read them out then copy out selected chunks into dossiers that it seems no one ever reads? Is it REALLY necessary to write reports when the people we went to visit weren't there? Surely there is a more efficient way than writing reports for each child in a family, EVEN WHEN THEY AREN'T THERE?! My writing/reading of the reports the ...

... Burkina and Mali, and the first night there was no mosquito net either. I had my own, but it wasn't big enough (I have a double bed!). There's not many mosquitos in the room, so, I thought, it'd be fine.

Oh how wrong I was. Lying on my bed in the dark the first night, worrying about whether I should've stayed in Ouaga and counting the days til I go home (it's 41, now, by the way...), I felt something crawling on my leg. It's not a mosquito. I hit it off. I hear ...

... me if I could ditch Uncle Sulley and the group to hang out with him for a while. It totally creeped me out. I told him “no” and I stayed with my friends. Later on, before we left, we went to say hi to my friends, and we left, very very quickly.

On Tuesday, I came back to Abelemkpe. Aunty Beatrice left to go back to the US. It was really sad. I wanted to hang out with her, but I know that I’ll have plenty of time with her back in LA, and that ...