La Norriture Togolese

Youki

Le pate

Making Fou-Fou

Making Yam Fries

Les mangues

Youki is a product made in Togo that I would compare to various flavors of Fanta.  My favorite is Youki Moka.  Le pate is a churned corn mixture that is put into a mold and served with a vegetable and fish sauce.  Fufu is similar but is churned yam served with sauce.  The fruit here is so good and fresh since it is picked and served right away.  Mangoes are the group favorite and we are eating as many as we can because they definitely don’t taste the same at home.  When in doubt-fry it.

White/Blanche/Yovo

"A multitude of nations, but one family"

That is how I am mainly identified here in English, French, and Ewe.  The three white girls in Africa are definitely getting a firsthand experience in what it is like to be a minority.  Most people stare, some will say how they wish to come to America one day, some invite us over for dinner, and others are not quite sure what to do.  Also, it is assumed that if you are white, you have money.  As soon as the girls and I are seen, the price of a souvenir, food, or even gas goes up.  Dr. Adewui often has to explain that we are students and don’t have the money.  It is an interesting experience for both sides.

Landa Elementary School Visit

“Bon soir la classe!”

 One of our first afternoons in Kara, we went to visit a local elementary school (college en francias) that had several hundred students, but only a few classrooms.  The school had some locals perform a traditional dance only done in their area.  We also got to introduce ourselves to the school and answer some questions they had about the U.S.  The students were very well behaved and liked hearing us talk in English (of course I couldn’t resist talking in French though).

La Vue du Nord

Les montaignes

Up north is much more scenic with mountains and lots of trees in comparison to the maritime region down south that is more developed and flat.

Safari!

L’elephant et moi

In Kara, we got to go to two animal reserves.  At the first, we saw zebras, water buffalo, ostriches, tortoises, monkeys, and various antelope-like animals.  Don’t worry, I wore my khaki shorts.  Later that day, we went to another reserve to see, pet, and feed elephants!  They were fenced in, but it was still really cool.  There was also a donkey walking around too…

Sight Seeing in the South

Le Lac du Togoville

Example of Catholic influence:

Togoville is the city that Togo was named after (meaning water coast).  Pope John Paul II visisted here and built a bridge from the water to the Catholic Church that is now used like a seminary.  The legend is that a former pagan went out on the lake, saw the spirit of Mary, and rushed back to tell the village of his conversion. 

Slave Trade Memorial

The slave trade memorial we visited was out in the middle of a grass plain near the ocean.  It had a simple brick boarder with a plaque and a well.  The well was used to purify returning slaves and wash them clean of their memories abroad so they would not want to go back or be influenced by other cultures.

Virgin Forest

Example of traditional African belief in voodoos, or mystic gods:

Here, there is a blocked off area of land where people live according to very primitive and traditional African lifestyle.  We did not go into the forest, but walked around the outside village to see how they live, where they keep their voodoos, and observe the food sacrifices they make for their ancestors. 

The two most common religions are Muslim and Christian.  There are mosques and churches everywhere.  The influence of colonial missions can be seen with prevalent catholic churches, however many Christian Africans may still go to see a traditional priest in crisis.

Time for School!

French Class

I got to sit in on a French class for two days and check out what the advanced level is like in Lome.  We also got to go to an African American Lit class at the Universite of Kara up north which was cool.  They were discussing themes in Purple Hibiscus and how to structure a paper.

French students, what you can expect in classes at Universite de Lome:

·       Classes run 8-10 and 10:20-12 M-Th and just until 10 on Friday.

·       Each time period, a different professor comes in for a different class.  They all have their own teaching styles, but basically there is some lecture, examples, and note taking.

·       Classes are posted on a weekly schedule on the door and include grammar, writing, etc.  There are no history or civilization courses.

·       The only exam taken is the Delph exam at the end which is optional.

·       Most of the students in the class did not have French as their first language so you are all on the same page.   (Many of the students were Nigerian as English is their official language.)

·       There are no books, only handouts.

·       There is two of each level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Le Chambre

Lome

Kara

Here’s proof that I am not sleeping in a tree (which some tribes used to do if animals where a threat to the area)…but the mosquito net in the Kara hotel up north was appreciated for a of the few bigger, unidentifiable bugs that crept in the room. 

Cultural Events at the Universite de Lome

Cultural Fair

Miss Universite

Nigerian Culture Event

At  Universite de Lome, there was a cultural fair we visited where students came from all over the country to display what traditions their region has (with a  Mainstage layout).  Later that night, we went to a Miss Universite pageant where contestants modeled outfits, answered questions, and danced the traditional dance of their region.  A few days later, we stopped by a Nigerian culture event that included singing, dancing, a drama, and serving local food.

Free Time

A la plage

Art Market

Our number one free time in activity in Lome is definitely the BEACH!!  Yes, Lake Michigan is nice, but the South Atlantic Ocean is pretty cool too.  The beach was sandy and the water was really warm.  Our professor overheard some people arguing who thought we were Belgium which we thought was amusing.  Although Togo is right on the coast, there are only a few spots to swim because of all the ports.  When we weren’t at the beach, we were at the art market, streets lined with people selling jewelry, woodwork, fabric, food, and more.  Also, we had a chance to go to a Discotheque at Hotel Palm Beach one night.  Luckily, there were lots of newer songs in English playing.  Yup, Nikki Minaj is in Africa too.

In Kara, up north, we like to go to the pool at Hotel Kara, walk around with our friends me met at the Universite here, and go to the Cyber Café because we don’t have wifi here!!

Scenery

Outside my bedroom window

Outside the car window

La nourriture

Le petit dejeuner

Here is our typical breakfast and a great example of the French influence in Togo.  Togo's two main resources are cocoa and coffee that they export.  Historically, this was good for the economy and people could then buy more material things and adapt a more developed lifestyle.  However, this is still a very noticeable contrast here between traditional ways of an African lifestyle and modern lifestyle.  While you can have a three course meal in a restaurant, you can also stop at the side of the road and get a mushed corn mixture that you eat with your hands.  However, the northern regions remain more traditional and will eat mostly with their hands and cook African staples like the mushed corn deal (le pate) that tastes like grits/cream of wheat.

Cultural Fair

Les etudiants nigerians

Here are some Nigerian students at the Universite de Lome who were putting on a cultural event.  They did a traditional dance (every tribe has their own), sang, and performed a skit.  We are going back here tomorrow for French class.  There are students from all over Africa that attend this university and not all African countries speak French.  I will get to be in a class where students are in my same level and do not have French as their first language.  For example, Nigeria's official language is English so there are many Nigerian students here learning French, so we're all on the same page.

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.

Flight and First Impressions

5/15 Lome, Togo

Wow! I can’t even begin to process what just happened in the last day.  Detroit to Paris was about 8 hrs.  We left at 9:50pm our time and got to Paris about 11:30 their time.  There was only a slight misadventure leaving Detroit.  As I checked my carry on for some gum, I realized my laptop didn’t get put back in.  So, I went into instant panic mode, but we eventually found it.  The flight wasn't too bad, but there was some turbulence towards the end and we all felt a little queasy.  But wait!  Let me tell you about the crazy lady I got stuck next to-Theresa.  She was, no joke, just like a brunette Kim from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  She was a nervous wreck, but I think I did a pretty good job of distracting her.

We finally got to Paris, landing in the Charles de Gaulle airport which you have to shuttle around to go to the different terminals.  We only stayed a couple hours and were off again around 1:30pm and got to Lome at about 7pm Togo time.  I’m not even going to explain the time changes, but all you need to know is Togo is 4 hrs ahead of Detroit.  On the Paris to Lome flight, I sat next to Emmanuel, a Togolese who was coming back from Illinois, where he was getting his masters.  He was very informative about his country, but also praised the U.S.

We eventually arrived in Lome and got to walk down the steps out of the plane-so Pan Am!  We then rushed on a bus to take us inside where we were introduced to Celestine (Dr. Adewui's former student who now owns her own pharmacy) who gave us the VIP security/luggage check free pass and led us out the back to a Land Cruiser that took us to our hotel where we had dinner (fried chicken, baguette, pasta, salad, and pineapple) and settled in for the night.  Togo gets dark around 6 so we will usually be in by 8. 

As we were driving from the airport to the hotel, the girls and I were culture shocked like deer in headlights as we obvserved the Lome streets at night.  We knew we were going to Africa, but this was AFRICA, the unedited, national geographic, travel channel, real life version.  

There are few paved roads, lines, signs, and lights-so driving is crazy.  Mostly, everyone has motorcycles.  Lining the streets are people everywhere eating, talking, carrying things on their heads, and selling.  The hotel we are staying in, Amy’s hotel, is directly in Lome, the capital city.  Electricity and water is limited here because of so many people in one area.  The lights take a while and flicker before going on and the shower may or may not turn on...

Departure

Togo Visa

I'd like to update the last sentence of my first post and say, today is finally May 14th and departure is only several hours away!  We depart from Detroit at 9:50 PM, arrive in Paris at 11:30 AM, depart Paris at 1:50 PM, and arrive in Lome (the capital of Togo where we will be staying) at 6:05 PM (not 6:00, 6:05).  I just googled "time difference between Michigan and Togo" and found this awesome website called happyzebra.com (coincidence?  I think not) that says Lome, Togo is 4 hours ahead of us.  So, I will be in Africa tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:05 PM our time or 10 PM their time.  I hope that means I can go right to bed when we get there after trying and failing to sleep on a plane.
Packing and planning has been quite the process.  You have never seen so many lists, trips to Target/Meijer/Walmart, or lists.  Did I say lists?  I have packing down to an art, but I'm glad to finally be on my way!
I would attach my pre-departure essay on what I will be researching while in Togo, but I'm not sure how so I'll spare you that and give you the thesis: "I hope to explore the influence of Togo's participation in the International Organization of the Francophonie through the politics, language, and culture in order to broaden the insight and perspective of Africa as a whole."  Basically, I'm observing Togo as a French speaking country.
Well, the next time I write, I'll be in AFRICA!  I don't know how good service will be, so don't be worried if I don't respond right away.