Cooking on Campus

University of Lome, American Corner cookout this past summer

Radio Metropolys

Tonight, I spent an hour at Radio Metropolys being interviewed about my program and activities here in Togo. They promised to send me a copy of the program which I plan to podcast later this week.

The whole experience was exciting, rewarding and nerve racking all at the same time. I'm not too sure how it came off - good or bad, that is. I'm looking forward to minimal fall out.

Peace and Kokolu Grease

I have decided to learn Ewe (pronounced eh-veh). Here is the Wiki blurb:

"Ewe (native name: Eʋegbe) is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana and Togo by approximately three million people. Ewe is part of a cluster of related languages commonly called Gbe, stretching from eastern Ghana to western Nigeria. Other Gbe languages include Fon and Aja. Like other Gbe languages, Ewe is a tonal language."

Yeah... it's tonal! People here get a real kick out of me speaking Ewe. A lot of people are so shocked they can barely respond or they start laughing and clapping! Which is a good thing because I currently only have about 15 phrases in my mental lexicon (brain dictionary).

Population Services International

More Information here.

Lebanese Cuisine

First Photo

Aha! Internet at home... at last! I'm not sure how long I will have connection and the speed is slow - but hey! here's my first photo. This is the street I live on. My building is on the right and I live on the third floor... second balcony from the left. More to come...

The Bats of Lomè

Nice. Slow. Easy. One cant be jumpy - or impatient - and maintain. The sun sets at 5:30. 5-6pm finds us sitting on the roof with our shades and a drink watching the sun set over the dusty city, waiting for the bats of Lomè to make their nightly soujourn into the blueish-orqnge skies. A light kicks on here and there and before long the nightly sirens (much like the friday afternoon tornado warnings) indicate to the population that the time has come once again to pack it in for the evening.

Elections went well. Rather peaceful, that is. And the hum of the city has relaxed. The dancing crowds of whistle blowing, drum beating, face painting democratic paraders have filtered back into the grooves. Ramadan is over, too. No longer are nightly prayers blasted from the mosques through speakers that have seen better days... days probably spent somewhere else. And while the pace rapidly slows in the streets -dusk is forever visited by the bats of Lomé.