Bless the rains

Well I have been in Togo for almost three weeks and training is going well so far. We have been bonding well as a group and I have been getting along well with everyone. I was very excited to leave Lome for the training village, and It has been much better here. When we first arrived to the training center out host families were already waiting for us. There was music, dancing and food. It was obvious from the beginning that I can’t dance and have no rhythm. I’m pretty sure I was a pretty good source of amusement for the other trainees as well as our host families. I found my host mother right away. It was a little awkward at first, but she is a nice woman and great cook. I meet my host father the next morning because he was away on business. I think I lucked out with my host family because they do not push food on me and they respect my privacy. They are very nice and I have been eating some wonderful food. (To mom and dad, yes I have been getting enough protein). I eat with my family for every meal and they are always helping me with my French. Michael Jackson is loved here and some times during dinner they will play a DVD of all his music videos, and other times we will watch Lion King II in French….great film.
The training days are long, but we get a lot out of them. I usually wake up around 6:15 to get ready and eat breakfast, and then I get on my bike and head to the tech house. Along the way I hear little children singing the Yovo song. Yovo means white person here in Togo, and it’s probably the first word that the Children learn, and they are always excited to sing the song. We stick out here and we hear the song all the time, mostly from the 3 to 6 year old children. I get to the tech house around 7:30 and we start training. We either have sessions on the realities of girl’s education in Togo, or French lessons. We also have health sessions about staying healthy in Togo and how to repair our bikes. I have been fine so far but a few people have gotten sick but nothing major, except one girl who was medically separated after being in country for only a week. I felt terrible for here because she really wanted to stay here and it was sad to see her leave.
At noon we head back home to eat lunch and take a break, and we return to the tech house at 2:30 for more sessions and then we head home at 5:00. Sometimes we go out for a drink. We don’t get much money as trainees but luckily the local beer is cheap and not too bad. I usually get home around 6 and dinner is at 7. After dinner I usually go to my room where I will watch part of a movie or read a book on the terrace in front of the house. We have been advised not to go out late after dark until we are more familiar with the area. There is not much to do here at night anyways and I think we are all pretty tiered at the end of the day anyways. We have played ultimate Frisbee on Saturday afternoons and have a free day on Sundays. Yesturday some of us watched Arrested Development on someone’s laptop. I’m excited!
Well I hope this answers some questions about my life in Togo so far. I miss and love you all and I hope that you are all ready for the cold weather. Its pretty hot here, but nice in the shade and I really miss air conditioning. It has also rained pretty hard for about twenty minutes the past two days as well.