Voodoo everywhere

The head chief being fanned while watching the festivities

I'm on a row here.  Second post on the same day.  This is a record for me.  Anyway, same day as the photo exhibit, there was also a festival, "Festival des Divinités Noires" or Festival of Black Divinities.  It's a celebration of voodoo.  Now normally this stuff would freak me out; however, people were so excited about it that I couldn't help but be intrigued.  I decided to be an amateur photographer and take in the activities of the day. The festival was in this huge open field with stadium style seats.  As I sat down I noticed everyone bowing down to great a man dressed in white.  Wasn't sure who he was at first because the chiefs were sitting in the front row with their crowns.  But this man was sitting in a nicer chair and had two women fanning him.  So apparently he was someone of importance.  However, all I could think about was that I would hate to be one of those chicks fanning him.  I mean they were doing that for hours...must be tiring.  Nonetheless, I asked my homologue who the mystery man was.  Apparently, he's the chief of all chiefs...well he's the chief of most of the villages along Lake Togo (and there are several), so he's a big deal.  

The magic show

Anyway, first there was a bit of a magic show where a dancer got his costume to move without him in it.  That was pretty cool.  There was so much going on at the time that I couldn't get a clear picture...you know I am an amateur.

After the magic show there was a series of performers.  A few stood out to me.  First one that stood out was this group of male dancers.  The head dancer was this older man that looked to be between 65 - 70 years old.  This man was awesome, he moved better then the rest.  I was very impressed.  

Photo Exhibit in Aneho

I got to tag along with my homologue (work counterpart) as he was aiding a french photographer in a photo exhibit in Aneho.  Besides Lomé, Aneho is the closest city to Agbodrafo.  It also is the prefecture for Agbo.  Coming from a smaller village, I had no idea stuff like this existed in Togo.  Well, at least outside of Lomé.  


Anyway, the experience was WONDERFUL.  The photos were taken last year in Agbodrafo and Aneho.  It showcases everything from the slave houses to voodoo traditions to the spectacular beaches.  I enjoyed it so much I thought I would share a few photos.  

Pierre (photograher), Claude (friend/assist), DJ, Dieudonne (my homologue)

The exhibit was held at the library in Aneho (and I might add, it was a pretty nice library).   We (the french photographer, his friend/assistant, my homologue, and two other people assisting my homologue) arrived in Aneho 10am to set up and prepare for the exhibit. The showcasing was to start at 2:30pm.  So after setting up, we headed to the local radio station to advertise a bit for the event.

Work wise I didn't do much.  However, the experience did give me a few work ideas.  I'm hoping after the holidays to create a website that showcases the attractions of Agbo to help increase tourism.  Hopefully I can get the ball rolling after the holidays.  On va voir.  Anyway, here are the photos....enjoy!

The good and bad of Agbo...

Okay, so anyone who knows me know that I'm deathly afraid of bugs.  So of course being in Africa makes sense, right?  Yeah, I know.  Anyway, I'm officially starting to go crazy.  I've been living in Agbo for about a week and have seen countless spiders, a mouse, a roach and a scorpion.  All in a week.  Every night when I get in bed (before tucking in my mosquito net) I'm shaking my sheets making sure I don't have any visitors.  It's getting pretty ridiculous, and this is just the beginning. At least in Kabou, there was spiders and the occasional frog on my porch.  Being that I love taking pictures, it sucks that I don't have any bug pics to show.  I get too freaked out.  


Anyway, on a brighter note, the street food in Agbo is GREAT.  I've never really cared for street food before, mainly because it's so unsanitary.  But you tend to get over a lot of things living in Togo.  I love my bissaps, which are made from the Hibiscus flower and normally mixed with sugar, citron, and/or sometimes ginger.  It could be served hot or cold but normally in Togo it's cold and served in a bag.  Another favorite is beans and gari.  I don't know much about gari besides its made from cassava.  However, when finished it's white and grainy.  I know...not much of a description.  I will take a pic one day.  Oh, I also love my meat man.  Normally every evening you see the meat man grilling meat on a stick and dipping it in pepper...DELICIOUS.  Oh the list goes on but I'm starting to get hungry so I'm going to stop now...

Here's me sucking the life out of a bissap drink

My friend Lucian drinking a bissap too...he loves it too, can you tell?  LOL

Making changes...

So a lot has happened since my last post.  I had to leave my beloved Kabou.  I moved south of Togo to a town called Agbodrafo.  Peace Corps made me leave because I was being harassed by a neighbor, unfortunately.  It was definitely a bitter sweet move, I pretty much spend 2 weeks trying to convince Peace Corps to let me stay.  Didn't work.  Anyway, Agbo (Agbodrafo is just too many damn syllables) is a beautiful town, just a different environment from Kabou.  Kabou is more of a community: everyone knows everyone, you literally can't walk 5 minutes without greeting at least 10 people, and people tend to be nicer.  In Agbo, people aren't necessarily mean, they just don't go out their way to greet you.  It's different.  It's also a tourist town so it has wonderful hotels, a great beach, a lake where you can swim, canoe, or even jet ski, and a slave house where a lot of tourist come to visit.  Only problem is, I'm not sure what I can do as a volunteer to help a town that seems pretty developed.  Except, there's a great computer lab so I could possibly teach some computer courses.  I don't know.  Hopefully the work will find me.  On va voir.

frolicking on the beach

Enjoying the scenery, there's also a nice bar on the beach ;-)

Lake Togo

Just thought this was a pretty pic - it's an unfinished church , that's been unfinished since1986

Tabaski

Me and my friend Danielle celebrating Tabaski

Last Sunday was Tabaski.   This is one of the biggest religious holiday for Muslims and is celebrated greatly in Kabou -well greatly in most of northern Togo.  Being a Christian, I knew very little about Tabaski or any Muslim holiday for that matter, so I was very curious.  Apparently, Tabaski is the "Festival of Sacrifice".  From what I was told, it celebrates the almost sacrifice of Abraham's son, Ishmael.  Without going into too much detail: Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son and his son was willing to be sacrificed because it was the will of God.  When God saw their obedience he stopped Abraham and told him to sacrifice a goat instead.  When the goat was sacrificed, God gifted Abraham with another son, Isaac, as a reward for his obediance.  So, Muslims celebrate this ultimate sacrifice each year during Tabaski.  Now, I can't speak for Muslims or even Togo but celebrating Tabaski with my Togolese friends was a great experience.  The family I celebrated with, chose the animal they wanted to sacrifice like a week before and they decided on a goat.  Early Sunday morning, everyone was dressed in their best clothing to worship (I wish I could describe how that went, but I didn't attend, but I heard it was beautiful).  After worship, the goat was cleaned then slaughtered, then prepared.  After that, it was a lot of celebrating and eating the entire day.  It felt like the entire town was celebrating with us.  I don't plan on converting, however; it was a wonderful experience.

Finally

After almost 5 months in Togo, West Africa, I finally decided to start a blog.  There has been too many exciting, uncomfortable, embarrassing...interesting experiences that I had to write about it.  Even if no one reads it, I can't wait to look back at this experience in 5, 10 years.  


Joining Peace Corp I had no idea what to expect.  I had no idea how difficult it would be living in another country without close friends and family.  The first 2 months was the hardest.  I was going through a long, intense training and living with a host family.  I truly felt alone.  Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful host family, great trainers, and awesome volunteers going through the same difficulties as myself.  However, as nice as everyone was, I was still meeting these people for the first time and feeling like no one really understood me.  I must say, I had a new appreciation for family and real friends.  Anyway, my first 3 months weren't completely bad.  I formed a special bond with many of my fellow volunteers and has been introduced to a whole new culture.  I learned how to pound fufu, traditional dances, how to speak French (though that's still a work in progress), how to greet in my local language of Bassar, how to pee outside without showing your business, how to eat rice with my hands (I'm working on doing that gracefully) and many others.  


So after 2 months of training, I have moved into my house and have now been here for almost 3 months.  I must admit the months have passed by.  Settling in have been an interesting experience as well.  I had two months where I was never alone and constantly busy with work, then one day I'm by myself.  I replaced another volunteer so moving in was easy.  I didn't have to buy furniture which was a blessing.  Buying furniture in Togo is no easy process.  You have to explain what exactly you want built to your carpenter (in french), pray that you get it like you wanted it AND on time, then figure out how you're going to transport it.  It's a hassle.  Needless to say, I spend a lot of time reading and watching movies.  Also, I got a dog, Monte, which was such a great idea.  I was always too busy in the states to have a dog so I'm so happy that I finally have time to take care of one.


Okay, so I just came back from a week long of in-service training (IST) in Pagala which is located in the central region of Togo.  Oh, I forgot to mention where I live.  I'm in the Kara region which is Northern Togo, in a small town called Kabou.  Togo is a very small country (about the size of West Virginia), however, because the roads are so bad it takes a long time to travel to other villages/towns.  It took around 5 hours to get from Kabou to Pagala.  Anyway, training was good.  Productive.  It was nice seeing other volunteers and hearing about their experiences thus far, and having free food.  However, by the end of the week I was more than ready to leave.  I never liked camping growing up and Pagala is like summer camp.  Bunk beds, shared bathrooms, crappy living space, and bugs, bugs, bugs.  Right after Pagala, I had to go to Kara (regional capital) for a post party.  I had to greet the new trainees (which feels weird since I still feel like I just got here).  So I'm happy to finally be back to Kabou.  I missed Kabou, Monte, and just having my own space.  First night in, I popped some benedryl and slept for hours.  Felt good :-).  Hopefully, I don't have any unscheduled visitors today.  Tomorrow I will put my game face on.


Anyway, that's a brief recap of my experience thus far.  Hopefully I won't get lazy with this blog thing.

Swearing-in ceremony to become official Peace Corps volunteers

At the Peace Corp office in Lome

On my way to meet my host family for the first time

My village, Kabou

Nearby village, Sara

 Dancing with our host families

Kids in my village...love posing for pics

Monte...my beloved dog

Great view near my house

During training at my host family house

Neighborhood kids near my host family...these kids were a riot

Me at my house in Kabou

Obviously I have a lot of time on my hands

fete d'igname - yam festival...awesome dancing and food

Women dancing at fete d'igname

xoxo