Everything is changing
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2004
1
13
18
Trip End
Sep 15, 2004
Lomé,
Togo
Thursday, August 26, 2004
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The title is true, seriously so much stuff has hanged in my "Togo Life" over the last few days, firstly the rota has changed for the guards (every house has a guard who sits outside, he also invariably sleeps alot) So my favourite gar who I used to talk to alot now works 11PM to 6AM....so no more chances to discuss the intrickisies of general Togoliese life.
Also all the children who left the village to send the summer with relatives are trickiling back in, and so are the mothers who took there holidays over the summer too, Its strange as I vaguely know them all but I know those who where here for the whole summer so much better, and now there are loads more children begging to distract me!!
I took the children swimming for the last time this morning, it was really exciting as it was the first time they where all so eager to get in the water i didnt haver to tell them to change, and they all just poped in the pool, loads of people came to watch them and I could just see them thinking " White man, loads of black kids.....what??"
The swimming teacher assured me that to get them to overcome the fear of puttng the head into the water we literally had to throw them under....errrr....he then showed me and then the children giggiled and every time the childs head popped up and you could just see him torn between crying and giggiling....but as everyone else was laughing at their confused face they all laughed one by one.
Finally I went to the Grand Marche; this is a area of town surrounding one building where ll the stalls are meant to be i think but they have all spilled out into the surrounding area, Its massve, very easy to get robbed and/or lost, and by the end of a trip Im always dreaming of a cold beer n the beach.... I was on a mission to get lodaz of fruit and soap and other stuff I needed for the house, I was however totally stumped, theres one road I walk down to get the taxi home here I get most of my stuff. But well, eeverythng was different where the mango lady was there where fish, where the avocado lady was I now saw various parts of what I presume by the prescence of a cows head was a cow, all buzzing with flies, I had the sort of panic Ive only ever seen when before at Sainsburys when my mum realises that they've reorganised the store and she now can find her strange fruit bars. Except for this resulted in my returning home with only a pinapple and bananas and worrying Im loosing the plot slightly.
Oh and the monkey escaped today, there is a monkey I walk past everyday and he guards a furnitirue workshop, as I walked past today he somehow pulled his chain away from the wall...made a bid for freedom, oly to realise he was in the middle off a seriously busy road he then panicked kind of jumped over a car, well around a car and then ran full pelt back into the yard to see all the men laughing and now I think he just sits on the wall without a chain...scared
Seriously Im excited to be going home now, saddened by saying goodbye to the children and so many people I have really grown to care for and also by hugging people all day long, but I know Ive done alot here, and Im going to leave a good "souvenir" s the mothers say just in the form of memorie and hopefully swimming lessons!!!
Johnny
