Lome, Togo

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  Lome, Togo
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I have arrived in Togo. I wish I spoke French. That was my first thought when I arrived and two hours later, after getting lost, it is still the most prominent thought in my mind!! I want to write more about Ghana before Togo though.

Ghana lost the soccer game yesterday. It was very sad, because anyone who saw it, knows that Ghana was the better team and the officiating was atrocious. Yesterday in Accra was crazy. You could feel the tension in the city before the game. I was in town to shop and to get my Benin visa. Emma, Saeed's sister, lives in a suburb outside of town. We left at 2pm, giving ourselves an hour to get home for the start of the game. People were driving fast, of course. The traffic was worse than normal. But surprisingly, taxis were taking shortcuts and not going on normal routes (therefore they couldn't pick up passengers to make money) in order to get people home in time. That really surprised me because in Lesotho, taxi drivers will do anything for their money and I cannot picture them looking out for their passengers' soccer desires at the expense of their pockets. Speaking of taxis, the customs of the taxis here and the behavior of the drivers is a lot more civilized than in Lesotho. They still scream and shout to get passengers and drive like crazy, but they follow the rules, such as wearing seatbelts all the time and ensuring that the passengers in the front seat wear theirs. They also don't squish many people into the seats. In Lesotho, where they would put four people, possibly five, in Ghana, they only put three. It definitely makes for a more comfortable journey. Back to soccer....Ghana has so much to be proud of. Their team beat the #2 and #4 countries in the world and sadly lost to the #1 country. This was only their first time in the World Cup and performed wonderfully. After the game, the streets were filled with people singing and dancing. I think their reaction to their defeat was a perfect example of the African spirit- When confronted with hardship and sadness, smile and move on. I know there will be a huge homecoming when the team arrives in Accra.

I am amazed at the level of English Ghanians have. Their English is so good. Saeed's niece is 5. She speaks better English than some of my Form E students who are 20. Emma's son is almost 2. He understands English and can say a few words. Yesterday after the soccer game, the reporters were interviewing random people on the street. The reporter spoke to all of them in English and they all replied in English. Of every person that I have spoken to in the last 5 days, there was only one who could not carry a conversation with me in English. The Ghanian education system is definitely doing something right.

I am jumping to Lesotho now. I flew out of Maseru. The plane flew right over my village. I could see my mountain. I could see the road and the local taxis on it. I could see my school and I could see my house. I thought that was very cool. I followed the main road from Maseru and I was able to identify every village we passed over until Kolonyama, where we crossed into South Africa. I have never had that experience where I could identify things when in a plane. Just wanted to share that.

One of the more interesting of my observations over the last few days is how all of my Ghanian and Nigerian friends in Lesotho have spoken the truth about how different West Africa is from Lesotho. There is such a social atmosphere here. It is very relaxed and you feel like there aren't many worries in the world. You can do what you want and be who you want to be without being judged. (I guess I should say this is from the urban Ghanian view point.) I am still amazed at the lack of harassment I have gotten. West Africans in Lesotho complain about the lack of traditional food in Lesotho. There, it is papa (maize meal) and moroho (cabbage). The only spice is salt. Here, there are so many more food options. They coof banku, which is maize meal, but it is fermented for three days. There is fufu, which is cassava and maize meal. People eat fish, chicken, beef, goat,eggs....Food is spicy and has flavor. Granted, I have not been a big fan of a lot of the traditional food I have eaten, but at least there are options.

I left Accra today for Aflao, the border town. I was the last person on the taxi, so it left as soon as I got on it. It took about 2.5 hours to get to the border. We were unintentionally playing chicken on the road for about a good hour as all the cars were trying to dodge potholes at 80 kph. Was interesting, if not a bit scary to say the least. I crossed the border with no problems. I don't know why every single border town I have been to is awful. But this one is no exception. The border is right on the beach. It is a pretty cool setting.

I got a taxi to the Peace Corps office. I am going to a volunteer's site tomorrow. She knows Mary Lu, a PCV in Lesotho, so I am connected with her that way. I met a few volunteers and they told me where to stay here. I got lost finding the guest house and walked 20 minutes through Lome trying to ask directions to people who don't speak English. I finally decided to go back to the PC office to get help when I saw the signs that I was looking for. So, I am back at the office now. There isn't a transit house in the capital here so volunteers stay at one of two places close to the office. One guy is staying there, so I am going to dinner with him and the country director of PC Togo. I will explore Lome tomorrow and then head to the village where Amanda is.

Mosquitoes...I am being eaten alive. Strangely, the mosquitoes here are small and I have never seen one and most people don't see them. Also, the bites on my body are really small...they look like pimples; not the normal way bites look from my experience.

I am off to have drinks with Americans who speak ENGLISH!!!

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