First Full Day

5/16 (A typical day in Africa where you never know exactly what will happen next)

Woke up to a rooster!  Good Morning Africa!  We got up around 9 and had le petit dejeuner avec du pain, le confiture et bien sure, le café au lait (J’ai ajoute le chocolat, le poudre NesCafe).  Traditionally, one would have a hot soup made with corn.  It's very sour and you would have to grow up with it to like it.  After breakfast, we went to see the colonial, who is in charge of the transportation in Lome.  No big deal, but he was formerly the  body guard of the president.  In his office, we toasted and talked for a little while.  He commented that women have more courage (les femmes sont plus courageux) and are seen more on study abroad trips to Africa.  

We then went to Dr. Adewui’s brother-in-law’s house.  He wasn’t there, but we toured his house and talked to the kids.  The house was very nice-9 bedrooms!  This is an example of an upper-class house, but usually houses are small concert buildings with a tin roof, or traditionally a round wood and clay house with a thatch roof.  The son, Edward, helped us with getting Dr. Adewui’s phone.  Then we went to Celestine’s pharmacie where she works and then back to the hotel to each lunch (fried chicken et les frites).   Next stop was the U.S embassy where we verified our passports.  Edward was outside so we picked him up and went to the Universite de Lome cultural fair where we were the only 3 blonde white girls in a sea of all Togolese students.  However, there were a few English speaking students who were more than happy to walk us around.  It was interesting to see the different cultures from each region.  After, we stopped at Dr. Adewui’s sister-in-law, but she was not there, so we went o Dr. Adewui’s sister’s brother’s (Frederic) office to say hi.  Then, we went back to the hotel for dinner that night (le poisson, le salade, l’anana et le riz ), discussion, and finally headed back to our rooms and called our families (on the phone, phone card, and charger we progressively worked on getting throughout the day).

Every day there are lots of people to meet, places to go, and food to eat!  Formalities and visits are an important cultural norm that help keep relations.  Plus, everyone was excited to see us and thank us for coming to their country.  We felt very welcomed and definitely experienced the Togolese hospitality.