Well I am finally a Peace Corps volunteer. Since I submitted my application in December of 2007, it has taken me almost 2 years, but it has been well worth it. I have moved into my house in Adjengré and I still am getting used to general house maintenance in Togo. Various roommates who I knew not of have kindly salued me (note: 'salued' is a franglais' word that has seeped into my everyday speech which is pronounced sal-you-aid and it is inspired from the French verb saluer meaning, to greet) or have alerted me to their presence in the twilight hours by some times softy scratching and scrabbling in the shadowy corners of the ceiling or other nights, galloping heavily above, adding their noise to the deafening cacophony of the nighttime insects. Oh and I mean a deafening cacophony. However, apart from battling a few termites and (during the evening hours) avoiding the roaches in the latrine that seem to be planning some kind of assault either upon my personage or my house, I have had minimal contact with undesirables. Though I must admit there were some tense moments like when I noticed the overabundance of spiders who stowed away in the nooks and crannies of the loot Lorena and I had plundered from a volunteer’s house in Sokodé had ended her service but was not being replaced.
Through that expedition into Sokodé I was able to obtain quite a lot of furniture. Click here for some pictures of the adventure. It involved having to louer (pronounced lou-a meaning, to rent) a van to go to the ex-volunteer’s house, load everything into and on top of the van and then drop some off at Lorena’s house in Lama-Tessi then 20 minutes away at my house in Adjengré. The driver and his apprentice helped bring the items into the house. Essentially it was a moving van Togo style, which in our case meant that there were actually parts of the vehicle literally stitched together with thin wire and places in the floor where you could see the road sliding beneath you. Every day is an experience, wholly unique, but with undercurrents of familiarity whether you have been here one day or 4 months as I have.
In the morning I have French lessons with a really cool teacher named Jean-Claude with whom I am reading Le Petit Prince. After I tackle the pronunciation and general reading comprehension of each chapter we discuss the complex philosophy obscured by the expectation that it is only a children’s book. Once finished with that book we are moving onto another by the same author with a similar feel. I am glad Sam introduced me to him. It is difficult in Togo to find people who are interested in such things. I believe that is due in large part to the lack of the availability of books here. I will keep everyone posted, but a potential project that I see on the horizon is helping the library here in Adjengré. It is an exaggeration when I use the term library as it is composed of two small book shelves loosely stacked with worn out, old books faded by the sun. It is kind of sad.
I observed the Bibliothèque two days ago when I attended my first meeting at the cultural arts center. The meeting was half in the local language and half in French. The traditional drum makers of Adjengré are worried because the knowledge of how to construct drums will disappear when they themselves do. This subject was expounded upon and the community expressed the fear that the Togolese culture is rapidly vanishing because the youth are emulating the United States and other western countries. This is totally true. If you watch any music videos here all of the rappers copy the attitude and clothing of the rappers in America. One can even see it in the bush taxis here. Every taxi may or may not have a Togolese flag, but almost always has an American flag. The meeting concluded with nothing much being resolved, but at least the drum makers and community have come to realize that there needs to be some change.
Besides learning of their cultural crisis I was pleasantly surprised to find myself sitting at a really well made, large table at the cultural arts center. For some time I have been in need of such a table and soon after the meeting Nayo, my homologue, and I went to the menuisier (carpenter) and ordered a table and two chairs to be made to the exact specifications of what is in the cultural arts center. The menuisier started the price 30,000 but Nayo was able to lower the price to 27,000 CFA which is about $60. If it turns out ok I intend to buy another table and 2 chairs. One table will be used for preparing food and the other as a work desk. I will upload pictures of the menuisier, his shop and the outcome. He said that it would be finished in two weeks. We shall see.
It was a great idea for me to bring my guitar and I would suggest anyone who is going to Africa to bring an instrument. Music here is so essential. I know I have mentioned this in a previous post, but the longer I am here the more that becomes apparent. The level at which people embrace music here leads me to connect with quite a few people based at first entirely on the fact that they either want to learn or hear my guitar playing. Just a few weeks ago, through my homologue Nayo, I found a musician who built a recording studio in his home. It is actually pretty good and he has a lot of quality equipment. He was incredibly nice and wants to start recording music with me as soon as possible. In addition, my neighbors next door really want to learn how to play the guitar and even the kids come over to watch me play.
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