And I'm back in Bambey! It's good to be back, although I'm sick with a fever and after just one rain Bambey has sitting water. Why am I sick you ask? Seriously, my best answer is air conditioning for almost a week! Geez... what is going to happen to me when I move home this fall?
After I wrote that last entry, I went back to the airport and borded my flight from Togo to Cote d'Ivoire where I had a lay over. I soon found out that they weren't running on time. They said it would leave at 3am rather than 11pm. I was kind of upset since that shot the whole idea of sleeping but I would still make it to my conference. The company bought me dinner (burnt tuna sandwich, but better than nothing) And then 3am rolled around and no plane was in site. I couldn't sleep since the air conditioning was on full blast and the chairs were all metal. I paced back and forth the empty terminal until 5am when we heard the engines of the plane. We boarded shortly after and I saw sunrise from above the clouds.
I arrived in Dakar around 9am and walked into my conference to all my stage-mates clapping. "Yeah, Togo! You made it!" I was exhausted and zoning in and out but so glad to be there. The COS conference was overwhelming, to say the least. We discussed how to write a resume and all about job shaddowing and networking among ReturnedPCVs. Good news is they say PCVs don't have too much trouble finding a job if we are dedicated to searching. We also talked about the readjustment and how, it seems, all you people back home aren't going to understand me. Hmm. So I have a lot of adjusting to do but if you're patient, I swear I will learn how to be an American again!
Which will happen the end of September! I got an Early COS approved for Sept 23 and will fly home shortly after. (I have decided not to travel after I COS but simply come home to red, orange and yellow leaves rather than snow!) I have plenty to do before I can think about it: accouting and marketing trainings, outplanting of my trees, closing up of my compost project, and a possible start up of a city-wide collection system with the mayor. I will start it all when my body temperature is lower than the heat outside! I'm sure the fact that I'm on meds that lower my immune system, I'm a bit stressed about the future and that I didn't get as much sleep as I am used to also played into a cooler temperature that caused such a bad head cold. But I'll live. Nap time. :-)
PS Enjoy the new pictures I put up from my vacation!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Traveling in West Africa
I flew out of Dakar on the 8th and went from the Togo airport north to Kpalime. I didn't feel comfortable speaking in French and really prefer the edge I get from speaking the national language in Senegal. Togo is beautiful, tropic and green but humid since I am used to the desert heat. I took a day trip outside the city to see a couple waterfalls - one huge and impressive, the other small but with a wading pool. That afternoon I bought pottery from artisans and enjoyed my first electric lightening storm in a while.
After 2 nights in Togo, I went to Ho, Ghana. A sudden switch at the border and everything is English - now I really wish I spoke a different language! Wierd though right? I guess I just really hate being a tourist in Africa. In Ho I met a few PCVs. One has been here about8 months and works at an NGO who make clothing for Global Mamas, a fair trade store. Very cool. The other volunteer is actually just a trainee, since it was her demyst week. The next morning I went to meet up with another volunteer in his site that is a Kente weaving village. It attracts quite a few tourists hoping to buy the traditional woven artwork.
Later that afternoon, I went to Accra to meet up with my friend Meghan at the USAID-WATH office. It was nice to check email and catch up with a work partner. Meghan's boss and I exchange emails often about exportable artisans' products. And going to Meghan's apartment was wonderful - air conditioning and direct satalite tv! The next morning, I went to the Aburi botanical gardens - amazing! And since Meghan is far too busy preparing for an expo in NYC, I went to the beach for the weekend.
The Green Turtle is an eco-tourism site and beautiful. The food was incredible and I roughed it the first night in a tent, damp from the close proximity to the waves and without a ziper to close off the mosquitos. The next day I was upgraded to a dorm. There is a beautiful beach but it rained all day so I enjoyed the view but don't have tanlines to prove it. After 2 nights, I was ready to get back to civilization so I went to Cape Coast with high hopes. I saw a castle one day and went on a hike in seach of elephants the next. There is a national park about 30k north of Cape but since it rained all morning I got a later start than the elephants. They were long gone but we saw where they ate breakfast and I learned a lot about trees from my armed guard. He made sure to explain to me that the gun was not for me, it was for the animals in cas ethey attack. A stressful carride back made me contemplateleaving Africa NOW but I stuck it out... lets just say the driver and I had our differences that attracted attention of 50+ people. My problem is that I feel since I am a development worker that I know Africa and shouldn't be cheated. Well, in Ghana I am just another foreigner to take advantage of.
So I left Cape Coast for Winneba and got a sea-view room with a balcony big enough for a huge bbq. I took a long walk down the beach since several kilometers is a lagoon. It was peaceful and empty! A long walk while talking to my mom was exactly what I needed. And the next 2 nights made up for that nights' mice infested room! I went back to Meghan's and enjoyed a bubble bath, homemade dinners and the style network! I was as happy as can be!
Yesterday I traveled across the border where I am now stuck: Togo. I showed up nice and early at the airport since you never really know what the african airlines will throw at you. Surprise surprise - Air Ivoire cancelled every single flight today! So much for making it home... I will now miss my first day of the Close of Service Conference. This is the first time since Feb 08 that my stage has gotten together. We all have come a long way and have plenty to talk about to plan our lives post-PC and I get to miss 1/3 of that and couldn't be more upset. It's one thing to miss a flight home from Paris when it was MY FAULT. Its another when I havent really enjoy my2 weeks of solitude and just crave what I know is normal. Just for me, please appreciate where you are today and don't take for granted the simplicity of travel and life in general.
After 2 nights in Togo, I went to Ho, Ghana. A sudden switch at the border and everything is English - now I really wish I spoke a different language! Wierd though right? I guess I just really hate being a tourist in Africa. In Ho I met a few PCVs. One has been here about8 months and works at an NGO who make clothing for Global Mamas, a fair trade store. Very cool. The other volunteer is actually just a trainee, since it was her demyst week. The next morning I went to meet up with another volunteer in his site that is a Kente weaving village. It attracts quite a few tourists hoping to buy the traditional woven artwork.
Later that afternoon, I went to Accra to meet up with my friend Meghan at the USAID-WATH office. It was nice to check email and catch up with a work partner. Meghan's boss and I exchange emails often about exportable artisans' products. And going to Meghan's apartment was wonderful - air conditioning and direct satalite tv! The next morning, I went to the Aburi botanical gardens - amazing! And since Meghan is far too busy preparing for an expo in NYC, I went to the beach for the weekend.
The Green Turtle is an eco-tourism site and beautiful. The food was incredible and I roughed it the first night in a tent, damp from the close proximity to the waves and without a ziper to close off the mosquitos. The next day I was upgraded to a dorm. There is a beautiful beach but it rained all day so I enjoyed the view but don't have tanlines to prove it. After 2 nights, I was ready to get back to civilization so I went to Cape Coast with high hopes. I saw a castle one day and went on a hike in seach of elephants the next. There is a national park about 30k north of Cape but since it rained all morning I got a later start than the elephants. They were long gone but we saw where they ate breakfast and I learned a lot about trees from my armed guard. He made sure to explain to me that the gun was not for me, it was for the animals in cas ethey attack. A stressful carride back made me contemplateleaving Africa NOW but I stuck it out... lets just say the driver and I had our differences that attracted attention of 50+ people. My problem is that I feel since I am a development worker that I know Africa and shouldn't be cheated. Well, in Ghana I am just another foreigner to take advantage of.
So I left Cape Coast for Winneba and got a sea-view room with a balcony big enough for a huge bbq. I took a long walk down the beach since several kilometers is a lagoon. It was peaceful and empty! A long walk while talking to my mom was exactly what I needed. And the next 2 nights made up for that nights' mice infested room! I went back to Meghan's and enjoyed a bubble bath, homemade dinners and the style network! I was as happy as can be!
Yesterday I traveled across the border where I am now stuck: Togo. I showed up nice and early at the airport since you never really know what the african airlines will throw at you. Surprise surprise - Air Ivoire cancelled every single flight today! So much for making it home... I will now miss my first day of the Close of Service Conference. This is the first time since Feb 08 that my stage has gotten together. We all have come a long way and have plenty to talk about to plan our lives post-PC and I get to miss 1/3 of that and couldn't be more upset. It's one thing to miss a flight home from Paris when it was MY FAULT. Its another when I havent really enjoy my2 weeks of solitude and just crave what I know is normal. Just for me, please appreciate where you are today and don't take for granted the simplicity of travel and life in general.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Expo - 3x the fun!
Success! We just finished our third artisan exposition in Dakar. We got funding for this expo and had a training before hand taught by our Peace Corps trainer. The artisans learned all about networking among themselves and about quality control, product development and the importance of accounting. They all got so much out of it and I have plenty to work on now that 2 of my work partners want me to teach accounting and online marketing. Its nice to have motivated work partners!
Life in Bambey is slow work-wise. I am happy to start up accounting and marketing classes but I am hesitant to start other new projects at this point in my service. My compost project with the mayor is on hold. Politics...
I moved into a new neighborhood that is under sea-level from what I remember from last rainy season. So honestly, I don't anticipate wading through the water! That was a new verb I learned just last week talking to people about it. Hoos: to wade through deep water. Wonderful. And sitting water in this country isn't the cleanest. So in order to stay healthy, I'll check in with my work partners often by phone, but I plan to find projects elsewhere so my time there is limited.
Well, I am off on vacation for the next 2 weeks! I fly to Togo tomorrow and will see the waterfalls there for a few days before heading to Ghana for a some more waterfalls, chateaux and beaches! Should be a good time! I'll get back with a few stories and pictures to share with all of you!
Life in Bambey is slow work-wise. I am happy to start up accounting and marketing classes but I am hesitant to start other new projects at this point in my service. My compost project with the mayor is on hold. Politics...
I moved into a new neighborhood that is under sea-level from what I remember from last rainy season. So honestly, I don't anticipate wading through the water! That was a new verb I learned just last week talking to people about it. Hoos: to wade through deep water. Wonderful. And sitting water in this country isn't the cleanest. So in order to stay healthy, I'll check in with my work partners often by phone, but I plan to find projects elsewhere so my time there is limited.
Well, I am off on vacation for the next 2 weeks! I fly to Togo tomorrow and will see the waterfalls there for a few days before heading to Ghana for a some more waterfalls, chateaux and beaches! Should be a good time! I'll get back with a few stories and pictures to share with all of you!
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