Lost in Translation

A week ago I was in Atapkame for Easter/Passover weekend to spend the holiday with volunteers and to go to the bank. I decided while I was there that I wanted to do some baking since we have a toaster oven at the maison and I had been craving cookies. So, there I was in the marche looking for the needed ingredients. I knew where to find all but one, flour. I entered the building and went straight to the women who sell dried goods (like rice, beans, and gari) thinking they were my best bet to find some flour.

After asking the first woman how she was doing and how was work and the family I asked her if she had “la fleur” and proceeded to describe flour as white powder used to bake bread. Her blank expression told me clearly she had no idea what I was asking for. However, Togolese people are extremely helpful so she called over another marche momma (this is a term volunteers use to call women who sell at the marche). I repeated the process to the new comer who also did not know what I was searching for. The two women conversed in local language for a few minutes before calling over a young man and I explained again that I wanted “la fleur” to bake with.

Somehow he thought I wanted bread (since I said flour is used to make bread) and he escorted me to the bread ladies. I told him that I wanted to prepare the bread myself. He was very sweet and offered to walk with me until we found someone who knew what it was or had it. I thanked him and said that it was not a big deal that I would look for it another day. Still, I was very touched at the lengths the women and the young man were willing to go through to help me.  

As a final last ditch effort I went to the local yovo store, Parmare’s, which is run by an Indian couple who speak English. I asked the woman if she had flour and luckily she did have a bag in the back. All the hard work had finally paid off and now I could make my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I purchased all the other ingredients and went back to the maison to start baking.

It wasn’t until much later that I realize that I had been asking for “la fleur” which is the French word for flower as in a rose is a pretty flower. What I should have been asking for is “la farine” which is flour that you bake with and what I should have been saying. I wonder if any of the Togolese thought it strange that I wanted to bake bread with pretty flowers.

Updated Packing List

Now, I posted my packing list and said that I would update after I had been in country for a while. Instead of going line by line listing what was useful and what was not. Instead I’ll give a general discussion. I will list the items I have found are absolutely necessary as well as the items I wish I had brought more of with me.

I remember packing and preparing for Peace Corps. It was a stressful experience to say the least. I was entirely convinced that I needed to bring everything. I kept thinking “I’m going to be in Africa and won’t be able to get any of this stuff.” I also think that obsessing over packing was a coping mechanism. Preparing for Peace Corps was scary and packing was a way to control the situation and way to funnel my fears into sometime productive.

Looking back now having been in country for seven months now, I realized that I over packed. It wasn’t like I didn’t read the journals from other volunteers cautioning about over packing. I believed them, but was unable to make the tough decisions on what to get rid of from my bags. Everything seemed important and something I couldn’t live without. There is a big chunk that I haven’t even touched since getting here.

Though it is true that I can buy most things in the capital, I have found some items to be difficult to find or very expensive. Here is a list of things that are hard to find, impossible, or expensive:

-Conditioner (shampoo is easy enough to find, but conditioner is next to impossible)

-Disposable razors (can find by they are not very good quality and are expensive)

-Deodorant (I have never been able to find any even in Lome other than the spray kind . . . bring plenty)

-Sauce packets for pasta

-Unusual Spices (you can get the basics here but any unusual spices you like bring plenty)

-A good quality but small book bag (I’ve bought two marche bags and both have broke)

-Maple Syrup

Here are items that have been invaluable to me here:

-Solar charger

-Battery operated fan!!!! (There is a small one called O2 Cool that uses D batteries)

-Solar battery charger

-Good frying pan

-My two good kitchen knives

-External Hard drive

-Headlamp (love this thing)


-Nokero Solar light bulbs

-Bug Hut 2

-Exficio underwear

-My Eagle Creek Bag

-Nice pillow

-Fitted queen sized sheets (you can get the flat sheets, but not fitted easily)

Things that I didn’t bring that I wish I had:

-Hammock

-Nail polish (You can get it in marche, but it’s not the same quality

-More cotton tee shirts

-More Capri pants (you can have pagne skirts made really easy)

Things that didn’t work out as planned

-Nalgine bottles (I got two with wide mouths and they don’t work for bush taxi rides. Love them but buy one with a smaller mouth unless you want to be wearing your water).

For any perspective volunteers, remember to not over pack. Your back will thank you.  Don’t wait to the last minute to pack your bags. Pay attention to the weight of your bag (you’re going to be lugging it around).

Update on life

Probably one of my favorite things I’m now doing in village is teaching at the high school, or lycee. I am teaching four grades: 6eme, 2^nd, 1ere, and Terminal. The 6eme is the first grade at lycee and terminal are the seniors. I’m teaching roughly one hundred and fifty students and have been given free reign from their principal, or provisor, to arrange the class how I want. The course covers the two manuals that are the bread and butter of the GEE program, which are the Life Skills and MAP (Men as Partners).

It’s a bit of a rush for me to stand in front of forty students and teach in French. It gives me a lot of pride that I am able to keep control of high school kids in a language that is not my own (trust me it’s not easy). It makes me realize how far along my French has come since my arrival at Lome six (almost seven) months ago, and also how much I’ve grown as a person.

The students are great and eager to participate and learn which I find remarkable. My 2^nd class can be a bit high energy and hard to rein in, but overall they are great. The boys can be bit of a handful too (I’ve had a lot of proposals from them). I plan on continuing next school year as well with teaching this class at lycee. 

Life in village is finally starting to pick up for me. Asrama has been a challenge and full of bumps along the way, but that’s pretty normal. I feel that I am well integrated with my community. People now know my name, which is a vast improvement from being called yovo everywhere I go. I’ve come a long way and am eager to meet this to the finish line.

This summer I am going to be a part of Camp Unite up in Pagala. Unite is a Peace Corps operated camp where volunteers are trainers and nominate local students and apprentices to be a part of a weeklong Life Skills crash course. There are four sessions in total: girl apprentices, boy apprentices, girl students, and boy students. I have nominated several apprentices and students and hope that several of them will be selected to go to Pagala this summer. I will be a trainer for the apprentices boys week.

I’ve got more training coming up as well myself. I will be going to Pagala with the lycee teacher I work with Mr. Bikore the week after the next. I will be going again in June for Mid-service training (Peace Corps loves training). I also would love to be a trainer for the new stage coming to Togo this July.    

As hard as it is living here, in Africa, I think making the decision to do Peace Corps and to come here was the best decision I’ve ever made for myself. Here I  learn so much and experience so many remarkable things.  

Swarley and Me

This is a little ode to my Peace Corps dog, Swarley. I’m the third volunteer to have this dog and he’s something else. What can I say about my lovable and slightly neurotic dog? The name originated from the TV show “How I Met Your Mother” and at first I wasn’t too sure about the name for a dog. However after spending time with him I realized how well Swarley fits him.

He’s a bit tall for a Togolese dog (about three feet to the top of his head) and he’s a skinny thing. I’m working on fattening him up a little bit. He’s red brown in color with some white markings. What does he eat? I make him rice and mix that with dried fish flakes and typically one raw egg. He loves the stuff.

Swarley is an excellent guard dog. He loves me and likes my host family, but he hates everyone else. I feel very safe with him. I always know when I have a visitor before they have the chance to call out my name since Swarley always alerts me to their presence. He’s a bit on the aggressive side, but I appreciate that because I know he will protect me and my home.

He loves terrorizing chickens and goats. Always great entertainment watching him chase them out of the yard. He’s also great about chasing children out of the yard as well. This came in handy when I first got to village and had children camped out at my house either staring at me washing dishes, chanting the yovo song, or asking for money. Now when I’m doing work in the yard Swarley always accompanies me.

Don’t know what I would do without him. He helps fight off the loneliness especially in my first few months at post. He’s always making me laugh with his crazy antics from eating stinging ants to sleeping in my latrine when I’m gone. I love coming home from a trip to Atapkame and getting off that moto and having him practically jump into my arms.