Sorry for the delay.....!

Hello everyone!

First off, I want to say sorry for not writing for a few months.  I've been busy in my village, adjusting to life there and haven't had as much time to write any blogs.  Things are going great however.  I've started an Envionmental Club at the middle school in my village and also started work with women's cooperatives.  The kids in the Environmental Club are great, really motivated and hard working.  I am really looking forward to work with the women's groupments, as I have really come to admire the women here and want to learn as much as I can from them.  In the cooperative, we will be doing PACA, Participatory Analysis for Community Development, which is a method for figuring out the needs of a community by drawing a community map, making a seasonal work calendar or a daily schedule.  Hopefully with this, we will be able to work more specifically with the communities needs.

Apart from work, life in village is great.  We are nearly at the end of dry season so it is very hot, but it rained for the first time the other week.  Kids were dancing and playing the rain and to be honest, I felt like doing the same, so I did.  It felt really great.  The well in our compound has been nearly empty for about a month.  There is water early in the morning, but it is dirty.  Yesterday, my host brothers went down into the well and lifted out a whole bunch of earth.  There is more water now, but it is a murky brown color.  Farmers and everyone are anxiously awaiting the rain.

Transportation in Togo is interesting to say the least.  If you want to travel somewhere, you can go to a larger city where there is a car station, and as soon as you enter someone will say,  C'est où? C'est où? Where are you going?  Maybe you will be lucky and find a car right away that is about to leave, already packed full with bags, goats, baskets, and people sitting in their seats ready to go.  But maybe you are not lucky, and you are the first one to arrive.  Cars usually don't leave until they are full, as drivers want to make sure they will make enough money, or make the trip worthwhile.  In that case, (my case last Thursday) you will sit in the car and wait.  And wait.  Then you will see the driver and ask him, when are we leaving?  And he will say, right now, we are leaving right now get in the car.  Twenty minutes later, you are still sitting in the car and you don't know where the driver has gone.  Then a sheep, which has been sitting behind you, will try to escape from the car and jump into your lap in the process.  Of course, everyone around thinks this is hilarious and will be laughing hysterically.  Finally, the sheep put in it's place, the driver is back and the car is packed, four people in the back, four in the front for a two door car).  Even though it's uncomfortable and kind of frustrating, it is one of the things about Togo that is exciting and well, you never know what will happen.