ETHOS Togo Immersion hosted by hasheman137.

Mood:  chillin'

Whoo Hoo!

 We made it to Kara. The drive was approx. 5 1/2 hours but the road condition was considerably better than the other roads we had experienced. This road and the main road in Lome are just fine, it was only when you deviate from these main roads that the roads become more like a Motocross XGAMES ramp park.

 We left about 7am yesterday in Bro. Max's 4x4 land rover. Leaving Lome was a neat experience. It was a saturday and saturday morning are when many Togolese "faire du sport" or exercise. There were lots of people running in the streets and some large groups running together for exercise. In addition to this was the regular beehive of traffic. Cars going every which way, often directly at us to avoid pot holes only to veer back into their own "lane" before colliding. I have to say I am used to this. You pretty much have to after the first day (Momma, one minute driving in traffic here and you'd never feel the need grab the safety rail in the passenger seat when you drive with me!) There are many downed trucks laden with goods coming or going (see pictures). But once we were essentially out of the big Capital city of Lome, traffic lightened and we could cruise off and on at about 100km/hr  (60 mph). Honking at other drivers here is not an act of aggression like in the state, it is an essential form of communication. It can mean anything from "heads up" to "stay in your lane" to "move out of the way" but is rarely interpreted as a mean.

We traveled throgh several towns and villages but didn't stop until we got to Sotouboua. There we stopped at another Marianist house where they farmed a great deal of crops (vegetables, corn, mangos...) There was an engineer there who we will connect with again and possibly set up some projects with. Ted and I will be staying with them for several days in the near future and hopefully setting up some kind of micro-irrigation experimental system. There were lots of lizards basking in the hot sun. They would scurry away as soon as you came close. When we left, they gave us some fresh mango upon my request. They tasted amazing. I started eating on in the car after sanitizing it. 

We continued on from there and made our way to Kara. We are about to go to Mass right now with the Marianist brothers so I will write about Kara later. 

Mood:  a-ok

Well; weve arrived safe and sound as the saying goes. Two flights totaling about 13 has landed me in Lome, Togo. I will not type long becuase it is hot and very humid, the keyboard is french so i keep mistyping, im tired, and we are sharing the computer.

We were delayed in Cinci due to tornado warning but caught our flight in Paris on time. We arrived in Lome about 6pm (-1GMT) and it was already dark. We drove to the marianst house and if you know me you know i like to drive in tight situations, but ive never seen driving like the 10 min drive to the house lol. Motos weaving in and out, no paint on the roads, cars going around each other in no organized manner. It like everything so far was very exciting.

We will stay here in the capital for 2 days and visit the US embassy, visit Nadia's parents, and meeting with the guy whos in charge of all peace corps activity in Togo. Then we will travel 5 hours north to Kara.

I will try to provide more names of people as i learn them better. Many use american names and i dont know their actual native names-but in time.

I sent out my first newsletter before i left. if you did not get it and would like a copy or added to the list, please let me know.

Ill fill you in more when i get to Kara

Well, I just added a chat box, and it shows up when I click "PREVIEW" but then does not show up when I go to the Main Blog Page !?!

SO, on the right hand side →

under "My Other Sites"

Click Say HI in Chat :)

Even if I'm not on, it'd be great if you'd write a quick little something to ME! =]

Also you can add comments to any of my blog entries ↓

-Ali 

Mood:  incredulous

Tomorrow, Monday, Memorial Day, I am having a "Togolese Night" at my house.

Ouboti, Nadia, Emmanuel, Abraham, Bro. Phil, Ted & Family and Me & Family will be there. 

We're going to have a camp fire, cook outside sing some songs, play a little volleyball possibly®...

Check for pictures!

9 Days!  

Mood:  not sure

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Mood:  cheeky

Hey,

I will blog here, but I think I will also keep a separate journal...the link is on my "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" web site. The blog will be much more informal and may be anywhere from one word to a full page to a single picture, quote or emoticon haha. 

I'll try to keep it entertaining and refrain from posting for the sake of posting...afterall, I'm not going ther to keep a blog..but for other reasons ;)

ENJOI

*and yes everything misspelled in here is intentional--like I said...informal =]