Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Adjustment redux

Greetings all! A lot has happened since my last update, mainly I went on VACATION. After 11 months, I left Togo and visited my family in Germany. My mom and brother were able to meet me there and together we had a fantastic two weeks just spending time together. The trip to Düsseldorf (the city close to where my family lives) was spectacular, and even though I had to travel to Accra, Ghana in order to fly directly to Germany, I was reveling in every minute of my voyage. I guess I'll give some of the highlights of my trip in chronological order:


  • Ghana is a strange place. As soon as I crossed the border, EVERYTHING looked exactly the same expect people were speaking English with me. I was amazed by how much more developed it was than Togo, considering they were neighboring countries. I took an air-conditioned van all the way to the airport and had a chicken sandwich for lunch at the airport. It was a good start to my trip.
  • The flight from Accra to Frankfurt was relatively uneventful, except for that I couldn't get over how extremely excited I was to be going back to the western world. I gobbled up everything the flight attendant brought with relish and I unashamedly stashed away packets of butter and cheese for later. It had been so long since I'd had some of these things that I think I got a little crazy.
  • When I arrived in Frankfut I immediately went to eat breakfast at a restaurant my family and I often frequent when flying to Iran. They have a pretty good full breakfast and the restaurant overlooks the air field, which I love. I ended up ordering the largest breakfast available, eating all of it, and then subsequently getting a bit ill. I think my body was just not used to eating that amount of food in such a short amount of time. I had to rest for a bit before leaving for my connecting flight, but again, it was worth it.
  • Seeing my family after so long was FANTASTIC! I really missed them and I while I was a bit overwhelmed at first to be around them every single minute of every day, I think I handled it well. We spent most of the trip just hanging out, visiting cool places, cooking, and catching up. I talked a bit about Togo and it was great having the opportunity to better explain a bit about the things I was doing in the Peace Corps.
  • In terms of my observations while in Germany, I was often struck by the small things such as the way people in public reacted to each other. NOBODY in public really spoke with anyone else, which was strange for me coming from Togo where you are almost expected to greet everyone you walk past on the street. Also, the ease and convenience of travel really amazed me. Whether it was a car, train, or airplane, getting around in the western world is a billion times easier and safer than traveling anywhere in Togo. I do remember though a feeling of slight panic the first time we got on the autobahn, everyone was driving SO FAST. I had to close my eyes for a bit.
  • Before I left Togo, I wrote a list of all the things I was hoping to eat while abroad, and I'm happy to report that I was able to cross of almost everything on my list. My main goals were to really eat as much cheese, strawberries, and chocholate as possible and my gracious family helped me achieve these lofty desires. I had cheese at every breakfast and my awesome aunt always had some yummy treats for after every meal. After my initial faux pas at the restaurant in the airport, I had to be careful not to eat more than I should. Apparently Togo has made my stomach more sensitive to everything. I guess that's what I get for living on a diet of mainly eggs, lentils, and rice. One thing I did notice in terms of food, was how much better the fruits tasted in Togo than in Germany. I mean, in Togo we don't have fruits like berries and grapes, so those tasted just fine, but things like mangos, pineapples, oranges, and avocados - I almost couldn't eat them in Germany because they tasted so much less like what they should actually taste like. I don't really remember how these things tasted in the US, but I'm almost positive they taste better in Togo. I'll definitely miss eating an abundance of delicious tropical fruit after I leave this country.
  • Even though I had been to Germany plenty of times before this trip, it was the first time that we were going solely to visit Germany. Each time before, it's been in passing via a 10 hour or week long connection between Iran and the US. In many ways, it was the perfect vacation because I was able to get a short break from Togo but still not have to deal with all the readjustment of being back in the United States. People were still speaking a language I didn't understand, the foods were all slightly different, and the weather was 180 degrees different than both Togo and Texas (seriously, it did not get dark until around 10PM every night and it was nice and crisp every single day...)


I'd say that coming back to Togo was also a highlight of the entire trip. I realized as I was driving from Ghana to Lomé that I was really looking forward to being back. As soon as I crossed the border, I was relieved to be speaking French again (a language that I have come to understand and speak quite well) and to be in a culture that I somewhat understood. Ghana was off-putting because I still had a hard time understanding what people were saying, even though they were speaking english. Upon returning, I was greeted by friends and a fair amount of work so it all made the transition easier. I realized that I actually missed my life in Togo. I missed my friends, my independence, and in many ways my work. I was glad to finally make it back up to Sokodé and be at home. Being back was also hard for a few reasons; I recently celebrated my one year anniversary of being in country and so it was a big reminder that my time here was limited and that I needed to get my goals and future plans in order. 


In terms of work, last week I ran a computer camp that I organized along with my site mate at my post. We invited 40 of the top 10th grade students in the region (2o boys and 2o girls) to come to Sokodé (the regional capital) for a 3 day camp about using computers. The theme of this year's camp was HIV/AIDS and so we incorporated different activities and lecture into the existing computer classes. This was one the most fun projects I've done since coming to Togo. Seeing kids who have never touched a computer before learn how to use the internet to research topics like antiretrovirals medications and their implications for the treatment of HIV was amazing. It was also fun to hang out with the students each night and get to know them. Togoelse high schoolers aren't really any different than high school students in the states. There all a bit awkward, goofy, and hormonal. I had to confiscate a few phones to keep people from texting during the sessions and entertaining them after the sessions meant doing a lot of silly renditions of popular Togolese dances and teaching them how to play twister. All in all, it was a really great time and it definitely got me excited about this summer during which I'll be a camp counselor at two Peace Corps camps. The first is a youth leadership camp for girls and boys called UNITE (Unification de la Nation: Initiative, Travail, Education) and after that is Camp Espoir which is targeted for kids living with HIV/AIDS. All our camps are held at a Peace Corps owned center in a village called Pagala and it's basically an American style sleep-away camp, but for Togolese. I'll be in and out of post for the next couple of weeks for camps and other activities, but I'm really excited for this summer!


I think that's all I really have for now. Until next time!!


Love love.