On Being Back in Togo

Ah... Bon!

As usual with my updates, much time has passed. When we last left off, I was one foot out the door back to the USA being "medically evacuated". After one long week of waiting in Lome, I was off to my home away from home, Washington DC. Health is a top priority when you're in Peace Corps, and when something scary happens to you in an underdeveloped country, chances are you will have to travel for treatment/analysis. In my case, I was shipped off to DC to undergo analysis for what the medical staff here feared might have been a seizure. After two weeks of terrifying MRI machines, getting wires glued to my scalp, and hearing my own blood pulse through my veins, I was given a clean bill of health and it was concluded that the petit mal seizure I experienced would probably not happen again and I was cleared to come back to Togo. So, after a week and a half more of waiting for a flight back (darn that Icelandic volcano!), I returned to Togo five pounds heavier with a suitcase full of crossword puzzle books, snacks, nail polish and new clothes.

Since coming back, almost a month ago, I have been very busy, without completely meaning to be. While I was away, I missed a couple trainings related to my position on the GAD committee and about a month's worth of planning for Camp ESPOIR, so on the work end I have been playing a lot of catch up. I am still having trouble starting GEE work in my village, thanks to the ending of the school year, my homologue's church committments, and repeated health issues and outside work obligations on my end. I am hoping that in the upcoming weeks, when we are all a little more free, things will go smoother.

Another big change that has happened in Togo since I went away - I was first excited, then annoyed, that the rainy season has finally started in the Maritime region. Rainy season has its perks and its downfalls. The most positive thing about rainy season is that the rains have cooled the temperature down significantly, especially at night, making it bearable to sleep indoors. It also brings a bounty of delicious fruits and vegetables, my favorite being avocadoes and mangoes, at ridiculously cheap prices (imagine paying 25 cents in Super Stop and Shop for a mango the size of your head!). But, with the rainy season also comes mosquitoes (to be expected) and of course, tons of rain (also to be expected!). Rain in Togo is nothing like any rain I experienced in the states, with the exception of the 15 minute daily downpours I got stuck in during my time in the Tobacco Root mountains of Montana. When it rains in Togo, it pours, and the whole village stands still. Meetings are cancelled, fields are left unplowed, and the roads... well, the roads are just impassable. I had the unfortunate experience the other day of getting caught in a rainstorm while riding a moto back to my village. The road between my regional capital is a 35k long dirt (half sand, half portruding rock) road that takes anywhere between 45 minutes and two hours to travel. During the rain, this road becomes a river of mud and water rushing at high velocity downhill to collect into lakes at the bottom of every hill. I have learned my lesson when travelling home - always get there by four.