And counting . . .

As of sometime this evening I will have been a PCV for 2 years.  My dad will be somewhere in his late sixties.  And so it goes

One thing, among many, that is different about northern Togo vis'a vis southern Togo is the number of women one sees on motos, or mopeds.  A friend of mine visiting from down south actually brought this to my attention when she was up here.  you see a lot more women driving motos here than in the south.  I dont really know why this is.  true, the majority of women drive mopeds instead of motos-- i assume because mopeds are easier to ride with skirts. i think there are more mopeds up here because they come down from burkina.  but there still seem to be more women driving in general up here.

ive been craving chocolate chip cookies recently.  a lot. 

the weather has finally changed.  a tan haze permanently rimes the sky.  i woke up this morning and thought it was foggy-- until i realized, again, that fog is soft and grey, not khaki and and crunchy.

vegetation is dying.  except for mango trees, they are sprouting leaves.  i can begin to see things in the distance again.  the kids play football in drifts of golden leaves under the neem tree by my house.  the air is dry and dusty.  my allergies, such as they are, have been noticeable.  D's allergies are so bad she has to drug herself to sleep at night.  benedryl is wonderful.

i found a roadkill viper on my way into town today.  at least i think it was a viper.  it was short, fat, and spotted.  what was left of it anyway. 

i was laying in bed one night last week about 1 am.  i couldnt sleep because of a bad reaction to something (dont ask).  anyway,  i was laying there and heard something in the other room.  that did not sound like a cat.  i shined my flashlight around the corner and a goat bolted out through the curtain that is my front door.  i managed to drift off to sleep until something woke me up again.  because i am smart like that i figured it was the goat again, so i waited until i actually got into the other room before turning on my flashlight.  sure enough, same goat.  only this time it got confused (blinded?) and ran into the corner instead of out the door.  i neglected my glasses but i could see well enough to grab my broom handle and start wailing on the thing.  i realized that this goat was apparently lacking in the brains department, so i stopped beating it and drug it out from the corner.  whereupon it missed the door again and jumped up on my lit picot, trampling a pile of books.  beating did not dissuade it.  i wound up having to wrestle the goat out of my front door and sent it on its way with a kick.  it hasnt been back.

another holiday season in togo.  i find that i do not really miss most of the crap that goes with the holidays.  like the constant jingles, ads, commercials, etc. 

N'tilabi and Adji dug up a basin of huge sweet potatoes from my garden last night.  it was a pretty sight.

beneath the wide blue empty sky

A week ago sunday was the last rain of the year in Nampoch.  Until it rained again the other day.

Rain right now is bad because the cotton is budding and corn is drying.  Rain knocks off cotton blossoms and rots cornstalks still in the fields.  If the corn hasnt been harvested yet, ears that fall on wet ground sprout and are thus useless.  Bt corn hasnt made it to Africa yet.  People shake their heads every time it rains now because it screws with their harvest. 

But, on days when it doesnt rain, the sky is usually empty like it is in harmattan and hot season.  It is this bowl that stretches forever.  Infinity looks like a wide blue empty sky. 

Rain now is such a weird contrast to everything else that is going on.  Trees are losing leaves.  Well some of them.  Mango trees are putting out new leaves.  But the undergrowth is dying off.  The seas of shoulder-high grass are changing from green to brown.  You can see the ground in my garden again.

Djiddah is finally getting better.  she's walking around and smiling again.  its scary how much weight, relatively speaking, that she lost.  i had to find her this one kind of medicine that is used to treat meningitis and autoimmune disorders in cancer patients .

Yesterday Petit and i were getting a calabash for Obama's eventual victory-- Petit was confident that he would win-- when a couple guys walked up.  One guy was like "american!  whats up with the election?  Romney and Obama are each at like 48% although some polls say that Obama is up by 3 points."  Togolese know as much about the election as i do.  This morning i was in at the poste and they started asking me about it.  The postmaster and i got in this discussion about why Romney didnt win.  He is of the opinion that Ryan could have beaten Obama because he is more fiscally solid and more likeable than Romney.  Its kind of humbling how closely people follow US politics when, at one point in my adult life, I could not have named one West African leader.

Petit is one of my favorite people in Togo.  he's in his early forties i think.  in many ways he's kind of a stereotypical farmer-- somewhat conservative, laid back, polite, even tempered, complains a lot about the weather.  he's one of the most easy going people i know. he likes a good joke. on fridays, when my host mom sells tchakpa, if i am gone, he drunk dials me to find out how Im doing.  one thing Petit is not very conservative about though is education.  yesterday he and i were talking about how this one woman is going to Kouka to be like an apprentice-secretary.  Petit was like "yeah, i wish that my daughters could do something like that but you need (the equivalent of your GED)."  I've always wondered why he is so adamant about all of his kids getting a good education when girls education is a problem in our area.  I started asking him about school and he said that he only made it through the equivalent of junior high because he didnt have anyone to support him.  it is interesting how some people strive for a better life and a better world for their children. 

I think its kind of funny what makes me happy these days.  stuff like getting new books for my nook. getting Angry Birds for my nook, a package of granola bars from my mom (food that i dont have to make/sterilize/kill/deep fry/chase/think about is so amazing). finding someone selling peanuts.

speaking of my nook, i find myself using my laptop as a nook charger these day. i love the thing but i wish it had more battery life . . .