This is a vast and, en general, a difficult subject to describe because one has to feel the emotions and the live experiences first hand in order to fully appreciate the typically 3rd world phenomena called the bush taxi. That being said, I'll start with one form of travel, and then proceed to the next, and hope that you have fun reading.
1) The 8 seater: This may lead one to believe that this vehicle would be classified as a minivan or even an S.U.V. Nay, this is actually a 5 seater, usually a hatch back or 4 door sedan built in the 1990's or late 1980's. When flagging for one of these bush taxis, you get a response that all taxi drivers give, no matter what the vehicle. moto, 8 seater, 11 seater, it doesn't matter. It's the flip of the wrist and the look as if they're doing you the favor. Then they ask you or tell you where you're goin, and if this coincides with the place they're headed, then voila, you got yourself a taxi. Because you're white, you have to ask before entering becuase they generally triple the price on you after the service has been given and will fight you for it ( For you, oh future tourist, it's a happy meal for you but for me, it's feeding me for 2 weeks. So don't mess up my economy by not hagglin' aiight?! Thought i'd let you know). Trust me, that's no fun and can be totally avoided. Anyway, you look into the car and you see that all the seats are full. Where will i sit? you may ask.
Within the crook of a person's armpits. Oh yea. You get to experience a part of true african culture, all cozied up in the armpit of a person that doesn't believe or know of deodorant. Yes, this is more cultural sharing than any center in the world could provide. Another option is straddling the stick in the middle becuase you're sharing a seat with a passenger in the front. Or better yet, sharing a seat with the driver himself. All in all, it's gonna be a really crappy ride. So you now count out that there are 8 people in this tiny 5 seater, hence the name the 8 seater.
Welcome to Togo, people.
2) The 11-14 seating van: Only here can I get pee'd on, pooped on, and then puked on, all within 15 minutes between the first event and the last event. Oh yes people. The pro's of this van is that you do get your own seat, or atleast there's enough space for you to trick yourself into thinking that you have your own space. The con is that anything, quite literally, anything can be placed under your seat, or the seat infront of you. In my case, a goat, a few chickens were placed infront of me. Yup. You got it. A kid puked on the floor and that splattered on my foot, the goat then pee'd on me, and the chicken followed suite and dropped a nice deuce. I couldn't even be mad. Like...really? That JUST happened, and it happened my foot. I'll remember this for the rest of my life.
3) The moto: Now, this can be a three, quite possibly a 5 seater. This depends if the driver is carrying two kids and a woman with a baby on her back, which I've seen happen way too many times. The way you get one of these death traps is if a moto driver says to you, "allons y" or "On y va?" which means, "we're going there?", to which you reply, yes. I can't even tell you how many times i've had fun with this one. You all have to understand that moto drivers are a dime a dozen here. They pass you and beep at you and ask over and over again. Even in the driver infront was rejected by you, the next one will beep and ask the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. The best is when you're in a group of 5 foreigners, and they try to pick you up. We're like... you wee little moto are going to take all 5 of us? Dude, stop dreaming. They even break their necks trying to pick up foreigners becuase they extort them. Anyway, you should never ride without a helmet, so you won't ever have to worry about riding one unless you bring your own helmet.
All in all, all these vehicles have no shocks. You feel every bump in the road, and trust me, there's a lot of them. Your butt hurts on every vehicle after the ride is over, and if you're lucky you won't stink. Next, there are no lines and people drive on the wrong side of the road. Very frequently. It's no wonder that car accidents kill almost as many people in Africa as AIDS. SO, moral of the story, you'll have an interesting time on the road, but is getting pooped on worth death? Quite possibly, yes.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
$4 to my name...
If you all visit, you'll all walk on unpaved pothole filled dirt paths and by all of these houses that are made of concrete with tin roofs, some homes with thatched roofs and even some adobe huts. Most these people can't afford to buy these homes so they go on leases. Most of the people never finished school, so really make what their businesses bring in, and generally, it's not a lot. So, you'll also see small crops of corn being grown right outside of their homes. Shoot, even I have a crop of something or another growing on the side of my house, though it's not mine and I have no clue who it belongs to.
Property rights here are really non existent, so you have to make sure EVERYONE around you know what's yours and what's not. In fact, you'll see chicken and goats running around being all free range (for all you P.E.T.A. members) competing for whatever food they find. With malnutrition being a problem, you'd think that you could just pick up a chicken and take it home.
Oh no my friends.
The owners know what chicken is theirs. Quite literally, the neighbors can look at a chicken out of dozens and say that it's not theirs, or even tell you who that chicken belongs to. I remember trying to kick a goat away from my meal that I put on the ground and the rice lady said that it was some dude's goat that lives across the street and that he'd get mad. I was like... really? he'd know if I kicked his goat? How well do Togolese know their animals anyway?? Apparently way too well. Anyway, the point is not to kick goats and chicken no matter how tempted you are to see feathers fly, because someone will find out, and tell on you, and they'll sic a sorcerer on your butt to place a spell on you...well maybe not a spell, but I digress. The point that I'm trying to make is that they're poor. Dirt poor in fact. So poor that they go to the measure of memorizing their flippin' live stock's face. The richest person in my village isn't me, because I'm flat broke (end of pay period anywhere in the world means being broke, especially for a volunteer). It's the government workers and his cronies that drive around in cars, have blackberry's and fancy suits paid for off the backs of the average villager. It's the military that walk around town with guns, as if they accomplished something more than extort the villagers by forcing a bribe system.
Anyway, in lieu of me finding out and being outraged at the corruption, coupled with having $4 to my name, I decided that I wanted to see if I could really live off of less than a $1 a day for a week. Well, more like forced, but I'd like to think it was a choice. The days still consisted of my regular activities of going to these places and talking with people about everything, and eventually getting nothing done. These seemingly pointless activities, however, made me walk around 10k a day. I started with the intent of not even using my fridge, and realllly going for the authentic feel. " HA. Stupid Mike," you would say, and you would be right. After the first day, I pretty much gave up on the prospect of adhering to a "no-cold-drinks" policy. Besides that, I really did live in poverty (besides the 6 rooms and stuff. I mean, can walls feed you? NO. So my mansion doesn't count either).
My diet consisted of rice.... a lot of rice. In fact, rice three times a day. If you're thinking that I should be used to that...i can't even get offended, because it's true. BUT, the difference was the protein. Most Africans can barely afford to eat meat, so I too deprived myself of the meat. This meant rice, with beans, spaghetti, gari(dried and pounded yam powder) and oily sauce. This was for about a small cereal bowl's amount for 100 F, which is about 21 cents. So that meant that I ate everyday for 60 cents a day for almost exactly a week. I think I lost around 3 lbs this week. I still had to walk that lousy 10 k a day and felt like dying every time, and i couldn't blame me being out of shape on it either. When I got home, I wasn't even able to function. Cold water with crystal light, and sleep kept me sane.
Mind you that most Togolese go through the same thing, BUT they not only walk the 10k but also have to work the Field for food, and they don't get cold crystal light lemonade. They eat a corn paste that has less nutritional value than the rice that I ate. They amaze me in every aspect of their physiological ability to survive. No wonder they sleep for 2 hours at noon.
Anyway, when you hear that people have to earn more than a $1.50 a day, they're absolutely right. I just was forced to experience that this week because of my brokeness. It stunk. Like really stunk. I saw meat and I salivated. I consider myself incredible lucky to be an American who has the option of going back to a country where I have the possibility of pulling myself from poverty. These people really don't. As a Togolese friend of mine put it. " You chose to be poor. We were born and will stay poor."
I hope that even in the midst of the economic crisis, you can still appreciate the endless opportunities and possibilities we have and don't have to live off less than a dollar a day. Also, appreciate that we all don't have to memorize the faces of goats, and that we don't have chicken running around that are tempting to punt. Take my word for it.
God bless the United States of America.
Next Post: Togolese Public Transportation
Property rights here are really non existent, so you have to make sure EVERYONE around you know what's yours and what's not. In fact, you'll see chicken and goats running around being all free range (for all you P.E.T.A. members) competing for whatever food they find. With malnutrition being a problem, you'd think that you could just pick up a chicken and take it home.
Oh no my friends.
The owners know what chicken is theirs. Quite literally, the neighbors can look at a chicken out of dozens and say that it's not theirs, or even tell you who that chicken belongs to. I remember trying to kick a goat away from my meal that I put on the ground and the rice lady said that it was some dude's goat that lives across the street and that he'd get mad. I was like... really? he'd know if I kicked his goat? How well do Togolese know their animals anyway?? Apparently way too well. Anyway, the point is not to kick goats and chicken no matter how tempted you are to see feathers fly, because someone will find out, and tell on you, and they'll sic a sorcerer on your butt to place a spell on you...well maybe not a spell, but I digress. The point that I'm trying to make is that they're poor. Dirt poor in fact. So poor that they go to the measure of memorizing their flippin' live stock's face. The richest person in my village isn't me, because I'm flat broke (end of pay period anywhere in the world means being broke, especially for a volunteer). It's the government workers and his cronies that drive around in cars, have blackberry's and fancy suits paid for off the backs of the average villager. It's the military that walk around town with guns, as if they accomplished something more than extort the villagers by forcing a bribe system.
Anyway, in lieu of me finding out and being outraged at the corruption, coupled with having $4 to my name, I decided that I wanted to see if I could really live off of less than a $1 a day for a week. Well, more like forced, but I'd like to think it was a choice. The days still consisted of my regular activities of going to these places and talking with people about everything, and eventually getting nothing done. These seemingly pointless activities, however, made me walk around 10k a day. I started with the intent of not even using my fridge, and realllly going for the authentic feel. " HA. Stupid Mike," you would say, and you would be right. After the first day, I pretty much gave up on the prospect of adhering to a "no-cold-drinks" policy. Besides that, I really did live in poverty (besides the 6 rooms and stuff. I mean, can walls feed you? NO. So my mansion doesn't count either).
My diet consisted of rice.... a lot of rice. In fact, rice three times a day. If you're thinking that I should be used to that...i can't even get offended, because it's true. BUT, the difference was the protein. Most Africans can barely afford to eat meat, so I too deprived myself of the meat. This meant rice, with beans, spaghetti, gari(dried and pounded yam powder) and oily sauce. This was for about a small cereal bowl's amount for 100 F, which is about 21 cents. So that meant that I ate everyday for 60 cents a day for almost exactly a week. I think I lost around 3 lbs this week. I still had to walk that lousy 10 k a day and felt like dying every time, and i couldn't blame me being out of shape on it either. When I got home, I wasn't even able to function. Cold water with crystal light, and sleep kept me sane.
Mind you that most Togolese go through the same thing, BUT they not only walk the 10k but also have to work the Field for food, and they don't get cold crystal light lemonade. They eat a corn paste that has less nutritional value than the rice that I ate. They amaze me in every aspect of their physiological ability to survive. No wonder they sleep for 2 hours at noon.
Anyway, when you hear that people have to earn more than a $1.50 a day, they're absolutely right. I just was forced to experience that this week because of my brokeness. It stunk. Like really stunk. I saw meat and I salivated. I consider myself incredible lucky to be an American who has the option of going back to a country where I have the possibility of pulling myself from poverty. These people really don't. As a Togolese friend of mine put it. " You chose to be poor. We were born and will stay poor."
I hope that even in the midst of the economic crisis, you can still appreciate the endless opportunities and possibilities we have and don't have to live off less than a dollar a day. Also, appreciate that we all don't have to memorize the faces of goats, and that we don't have chicken running around that are tempting to punt. Take my word for it.
God bless the United States of America.
Next Post: Togolese Public Transportation
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
McCain? Il est qui?
As I was walking around my town, just soaking up the Togolese, exhaust saturated air, I was approached by one of the younger people of my town. Probably no older than 21. He and I discussed how I was American and how things were different in both our backwards world. He asked if I liked hip hop. 50 cent and Akon to be specific. I asked if he knew or understood the meaning of some of his lyrics, and when he said no, I began to disillusion him from what he thought American culture was. Hey it's my job. I'm sensibilizing Togo. He then asked if I was voting for Obama.
Shoot, some people here think that he's already the president.
Me, being one of the few "conservatives" (more central than ascribing to any party) in a predominately "liberal" government agency, let alone being on the continent where the democratic candidate claims descendants, I said, "Bien sur!" ( of course!). I then asked him if he's heard of McCain. The response was , " McCain? Il est qui? Il est le Blanc n'est ce pas?" (McCain? Who's he? He's the white man right?). I then concurred and explained that he was in fact the candidate of the opposing party, the Republicans. This was approximately 2 months ago. Today, the day of the election, was an amazing sight. When my fellow volunteers and I were walking around, they chanted,
"OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!"
And of course, we chanted with them, not to offend. Well, most of us chanted because we genuinely loved Obama. We then continued to go to Al Sultan, a Lebanese restaurant and saw that even the Lebanese were captivated by the U.S. Presidential election. Whenever a news flash came across their television screen regarding the elections, silence fell upon the entire restaurant, and the hummus went cold. Obama must win. It wasn't said, but rather felt.
Whether or not one's political leanings is "left" or "right", we can not deny the rhetoric that these marketers have pushed on us regarding the "suaveness", "savvy" and the "forward thinking" of Obama.
"It's time for a change." And according to them, he's the only one who can provide it.
He, himself, never needed the assistance, as he was and is fully capable of captivating an audience. Regardless, we can not deny the infatuation of the nation, and more importantly the infatuation/biasedness of the media.
Even in Africa, people revere him as a demi-god, and hope for Africa itself.
I have to admit, I, though leaning ever so slightly to the right, had fallen under the spell of what is "OBAMA." Despite his view on abortion, despite his socialist views, I like him. I genuinely like him. This is why I'm happy that I never will have a chance to vote. This is why I'm glad that here, in Togo, I won't be able to choose a person based upon me "liking him." Because, honestly, I would have felt horrible for voting for Obama, when I know I don't agree with the most important issue that lies in my heart, and I would have felt guilty for not choosing the only African American that ever had a shot for the Presidency.
Either way, Obama is the president here in Togo, and it'll be difficult to explain why he lost, if he doubtfully does.
Either way, who ever wins, history has been and will be made.
Shoot, some people here think that he's already the president.
Me, being one of the few "conservatives" (more central than ascribing to any party) in a predominately "liberal" government agency, let alone being on the continent where the democratic candidate claims descendants, I said, "Bien sur!" ( of course!). I then asked him if he's heard of McCain. The response was , " McCain? Il est qui? Il est le Blanc n'est ce pas?" (McCain? Who's he? He's the white man right?). I then concurred and explained that he was in fact the candidate of the opposing party, the Republicans. This was approximately 2 months ago. Today, the day of the election, was an amazing sight. When my fellow volunteers and I were walking around, they chanted,
"OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!"
And of course, we chanted with them, not to offend. Well, most of us chanted because we genuinely loved Obama. We then continued to go to Al Sultan, a Lebanese restaurant and saw that even the Lebanese were captivated by the U.S. Presidential election. Whenever a news flash came across their television screen regarding the elections, silence fell upon the entire restaurant, and the hummus went cold. Obama must win. It wasn't said, but rather felt.
Whether or not one's political leanings is "left" or "right", we can not deny the rhetoric that these marketers have pushed on us regarding the "suaveness", "savvy" and the "forward thinking" of Obama.
"It's time for a change." And according to them, he's the only one who can provide it.
He, himself, never needed the assistance, as he was and is fully capable of captivating an audience. Regardless, we can not deny the infatuation of the nation, and more importantly the infatuation/biasedness of the media.
Even in Africa, people revere him as a demi-god, and hope for Africa itself.
I have to admit, I, though leaning ever so slightly to the right, had fallen under the spell of what is "OBAMA." Despite his view on abortion, despite his socialist views, I like him. I genuinely like him. This is why I'm happy that I never will have a chance to vote. This is why I'm glad that here, in Togo, I won't be able to choose a person based upon me "liking him." Because, honestly, I would have felt horrible for voting for Obama, when I know I don't agree with the most important issue that lies in my heart, and I would have felt guilty for not choosing the only African American that ever had a shot for the Presidency.
Either way, Obama is the president here in Togo, and it'll be difficult to explain why he lost, if he doubtfully does.
Either way, who ever wins, history has been and will be made.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Les chinois sont imperméables aux S.I.D.A.
For all you french speakers out there, you already know what the title means, to Spanish speakers, I'm sure you can muddle your way through the translation, and to those that just can't figure it out, I'll explain in a bit...or you could just google it. Anyway, this entry is dedicated to all the Asian American volunteers in Togo, which amounts to about...6 out of 100 people. The myths about the "chinois", which means "Chinese" if you haven't deduced that, is quite large here. Let me display these wonderful myths apropos the Asia man:
Myth #1: If you're Asian, heck if you just look different than white or black, you be chinois.
In fact, it's not much different from the States. If you look Asian, people think you're chinese. Plain, simple and frankly inescapable. It's to the point where my whitie volunteer friends, get chinois too. Shoot, my friend David got chinois, and he's like have british, half southern american. If you're realllly chinois and with a group of whities, they'll say "chinois" more times than they'll yell Les Blancs (Granted, I get " le blanc" as well, oddly enough). When I attempt to share the wonders of the U.S.'s cultural diversity by explaining that I'm a Korean American, they still don't respond and still think I'm chinese....that is until I drop the "foot ball bomb" on them and tell them to recall the last World Cup, when Togo was decimated by South Korea, first round. They remember that....quite easily, actually. Anyway, everyday, I get bombarded with, "chinois, viens!" or just plain ol' "chinois!" so they can grab my attention. Funny, once they grab my attention and walk away, they proceed to run away from me in terrifying fear. Even 20 some year old women run from me like the plague, which leads to my second myth.
Myth #2: All chinois know karate.
Yes. All chinois know karate, an ethnically japanese martial art. Oh no. It's knowing karate, before kung fu. Not only know it, but are experts. But you know what? That's not too different from the States either. In the States, they at least know it's Kung Fu and not Karate that "chinese know." Perhaps the women run from me because they believe I would judo chop them to the head for altering the course of my very important destination to nowhere. Perhaps it was my face, ironically, just like in the States. Who knows. I digress. This also, leads me to the third myth.
Myth #3: All chinois are related some how to Jet Li and Jacki Chan.
Okay, maybe they don't actually believe that, but I'm gonna try darn hard to perpetuate this one. "Why on earth would you go out of your way to try and perpetuate this ignorance?" you may ask. Well, dear readers, because it's fun. It gives me an outlet of practical joking, and perhaps, they have fun with it too. When people come up to me and ask, " Connaissez-vous Jet Li??", I say, " Mais, Oui, mon frere, Nous somme des cousins!" ( "You know Jet Li?" " Why, yes, my brother, we're cousins!"). Of course they don't believe me. I take advantage of their age old " All y'all asians look alike" stereotype and say, " I mean...look at my face. We look alike don't we?? He's my father's brother's son." They always want some proof, after saying that was chinese minutes ago, that I am in fact chinese, by asking me to say something. They first thing that comes to my mind? " Knee-how". They lose it. They, of course, start laughing and are astonished at my fluency in the chinese language. They begin to believe that I am in fact, the cousin of the legendary, Jet Li. I mean, really, I'm not lying. In the larger scale of things, I really am some how distantly related to him...like the orangutan is related to the chimp.Anyway, I could have pulled this stunt in the States too, and the people that would ask me if i knew Jet Li probably would have believed me. I know...childish Michael...childish... but you say that to my face, I'll get jackie Chan to come get you.
Myth #4: Chinese are impervious to A.I.D.S.
Yup. You guessed it. That's what the title of this entry means. I can't get A.I.D.S. Ever. It's probably something in my blood. Or some sort of ancient acupuncture technique that prevents me from contracting the deadliest S.T.D. They probably think that we want to keep it to ourselves, because the chinese aren't already providing 75% of what Togo consumes. This amazing statement was made on AIDS Ride, oddly enough, when I nor Ruthia (The other korean) weren't around. Not even once, but twice in different villages. We chinois got mad street cred. Of course, that's one myth I can't morally perpetuate. So the other volunteers put that one to rest. Oh, Togo....
Anywho, I'll update y'all on more myth's that I'll be conquering....or making, when they present themselves! I miss you all......again! And God Bless!
Myth #1: If you're Asian, heck if you just look different than white or black, you be chinois.
In fact, it's not much different from the States. If you look Asian, people think you're chinese. Plain, simple and frankly inescapable. It's to the point where my whitie volunteer friends, get chinois too. Shoot, my friend David got chinois, and he's like have british, half southern american. If you're realllly chinois and with a group of whities, they'll say "chinois" more times than they'll yell Les Blancs (Granted, I get " le blanc" as well, oddly enough). When I attempt to share the wonders of the U.S.'s cultural diversity by explaining that I'm a Korean American, they still don't respond and still think I'm chinese....that is until I drop the "foot ball bomb" on them and tell them to recall the last World Cup, when Togo was decimated by South Korea, first round. They remember that....quite easily, actually. Anyway, everyday, I get bombarded with, "chinois, viens!" or just plain ol' "chinois!" so they can grab my attention. Funny, once they grab my attention and walk away, they proceed to run away from me in terrifying fear. Even 20 some year old women run from me like the plague, which leads to my second myth.
Myth #2: All chinois know karate.
Yes. All chinois know karate, an ethnically japanese martial art. Oh no. It's knowing karate, before kung fu. Not only know it, but are experts. But you know what? That's not too different from the States either. In the States, they at least know it's Kung Fu and not Karate that "chinese know." Perhaps the women run from me because they believe I would judo chop them to the head for altering the course of my very important destination to nowhere. Perhaps it was my face, ironically, just like in the States. Who knows. I digress. This also, leads me to the third myth.
Myth #3: All chinois are related some how to Jet Li and Jacki Chan.
Okay, maybe they don't actually believe that, but I'm gonna try darn hard to perpetuate this one. "Why on earth would you go out of your way to try and perpetuate this ignorance?" you may ask. Well, dear readers, because it's fun. It gives me an outlet of practical joking, and perhaps, they have fun with it too. When people come up to me and ask, " Connaissez-vous Jet Li??", I say, " Mais, Oui, mon frere, Nous somme des cousins!" ( "You know Jet Li?" " Why, yes, my brother, we're cousins!"). Of course they don't believe me. I take advantage of their age old " All y'all asians look alike" stereotype and say, " I mean...look at my face. We look alike don't we?? He's my father's brother's son." They always want some proof, after saying that was chinese minutes ago, that I am in fact chinese, by asking me to say something. They first thing that comes to my mind? " Knee-how". They lose it. They, of course, start laughing and are astonished at my fluency in the chinese language. They begin to believe that I am in fact, the cousin of the legendary, Jet Li. I mean, really, I'm not lying. In the larger scale of things, I really am some how distantly related to him...like the orangutan is related to the chimp.Anyway, I could have pulled this stunt in the States too, and the people that would ask me if i knew Jet Li probably would have believed me. I know...childish Michael...childish... but you say that to my face, I'll get jackie Chan to come get you.
Myth #4: Chinese are impervious to A.I.D.S.
Yup. You guessed it. That's what the title of this entry means. I can't get A.I.D.S. Ever. It's probably something in my blood. Or some sort of ancient acupuncture technique that prevents me from contracting the deadliest S.T.D. They probably think that we want to keep it to ourselves, because the chinese aren't already providing 75% of what Togo consumes. This amazing statement was made on AIDS Ride, oddly enough, when I nor Ruthia (The other korean) weren't around. Not even once, but twice in different villages. We chinois got mad street cred. Of course, that's one myth I can't morally perpetuate. So the other volunteers put that one to rest. Oh, Togo....
Anywho, I'll update y'all on more myth's that I'll be conquering....or making, when they present themselves! I miss you all......again! And God Bless!
How I'm on the internet most of the week...
So, as most of y'all know, internet isn't available in my village and it requires me to be in Lome, the national capital, in order to do so. So, no I'm not in the Posh Corps, where I have wireless internet in a walled-in 7 bedroom compound with electricty. Well... actually, I just don't have the internet, the others I have. That being said, I've been in Lome a lot this week. By a lot, I mean, 4 days out of the week alot. I can't believe I'm being this honest over the internet when inevitably, my country director will read my entries. "Hi Country Director, and no I'm not in Lome trying to use government funds to post informative, entertaining but otherwise pointless blogs....I promise." Okay,with that out of the way, the reason why I've been in Lome is because of the following;
1) I went to Lome on Monday because I had to do some research at the Chamber of Commerce regarding the necesssary steps a small business should take to formalize and to start exporting, which by the way, was long and almost completely fruitless. These people try to charge 40,000 F ( which is $80 ) for a book full of tax laws that businesses have to pay to import. So, in essence, you have to pay for you to know how much you have to pay... right. All in all, for 3 hours worth of work to get there, get beauracratically slapped across the face, and have my PCV friend Matt dressed in a black, oversized, swedish tourist shirt with a heart and dagger, bright blue pj pants with green swirly whirlies and shower slippers translate for me to some director ( which was highly embarrasing because, well, who wears shower slippers to speak with a director at the chamber of commerce...which was actually 100% my fault:), I left the place with one photocopied piece of paper, which didn't even tell me what I needed to know. I do, however now know that swedish tourist shirts don't give you the respect you command in a professional setting.
2) I went to Lome on Tuesday, I went to Lome because my mom called me monday night telling me she hasn't been getting some of my student loan forms. Well, hot diggity dog that sucked. SoI took the first taxi down there the next morning to go online to fix some of the issues that were going on with that.
3) I came yesterday, Thursday, because my finger got infected where there were no apparent cuts... and then my right eye became swollen, watery and red, and I proceeded to get a 100 degree fever, which I wasn't even aware of. I love Togo and it's random acts of kindess and gifts... Anyway, I got antibiotics, and it ended up that my cornea was all nice and scratched up. SO, the medical officer told me to stay in Lome, so I can get checked on Friday.
4), Friday, today, I am in Lome writing to you with one eye open and the other eye closed, looking like I'm trying to score a date with the computer, while simultaneously crying out of my corneally scratched right eye because I know that even the computer will reject my advances, and with my left index finger swollen, near bursting on the keyboard. Yum. I'm also trying to see if I can get to village via the Peace Corps land cruiser instead of continuing the trend of spending half my living allowance on fattening the pockets of taxi drivers. Suckling off the U.S. governments teet. How un...republican. Anyway, it's to the point now when drivers see me, they screech to a halt and ask if I'm going to Lome again...and let me tell you about taxis in Togo... well that's an entire entry in and of itself.
So, those are the reasons why I was in Lome so often! Anywho, I don't think that my luxury of using the net almost everyday of the week will continue. That being said, I'll post entries around once between one to two weeks. I miss all of you! God Bless!
1) I went to Lome on Monday because I had to do some research at the Chamber of Commerce regarding the necesssary steps a small business should take to formalize and to start exporting, which by the way, was long and almost completely fruitless. These people try to charge 40,000 F ( which is $80 ) for a book full of tax laws that businesses have to pay to import. So, in essence, you have to pay for you to know how much you have to pay... right. All in all, for 3 hours worth of work to get there, get beauracratically slapped across the face, and have my PCV friend Matt dressed in a black, oversized, swedish tourist shirt with a heart and dagger, bright blue pj pants with green swirly whirlies and shower slippers translate for me to some director ( which was highly embarrasing because, well, who wears shower slippers to speak with a director at the chamber of commerce...which was actually 100% my fault:), I left the place with one photocopied piece of paper, which didn't even tell me what I needed to know. I do, however now know that swedish tourist shirts don't give you the respect you command in a professional setting.
2) I went to Lome on Tuesday, I went to Lome because my mom called me monday night telling me she hasn't been getting some of my student loan forms. Well, hot diggity dog that sucked. SoI took the first taxi down there the next morning to go online to fix some of the issues that were going on with that.
3) I came yesterday, Thursday, because my finger got infected where there were no apparent cuts... and then my right eye became swollen, watery and red, and I proceeded to get a 100 degree fever, which I wasn't even aware of. I love Togo and it's random acts of kindess and gifts... Anyway, I got antibiotics, and it ended up that my cornea was all nice and scratched up. SO, the medical officer told me to stay in Lome, so I can get checked on Friday.
4), Friday, today, I am in Lome writing to you with one eye open and the other eye closed, looking like I'm trying to score a date with the computer, while simultaneously crying out of my corneally scratched right eye because I know that even the computer will reject my advances, and with my left index finger swollen, near bursting on the keyboard. Yum. I'm also trying to see if I can get to village via the Peace Corps land cruiser instead of continuing the trend of spending half my living allowance on fattening the pockets of taxi drivers. Suckling off the U.S. governments teet. How un...republican. Anyway, it's to the point now when drivers see me, they screech to a halt and ask if I'm going to Lome again...and let me tell you about taxis in Togo... well that's an entire entry in and of itself.
So, those are the reasons why I was in Lome so often! Anywho, I don't think that my luxury of using the net almost everyday of the week will continue. That being said, I'll post entries around once between one to two weeks. I miss all of you! God Bless!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Don't mean to sound needy...
Yeah guys, I don't mean to sound needy...but I'm poor...therefore I'm needy. SO, here are some of the things I kinda need because I've used them up, or frankly, I've lost them...no surprise there.
Luckily... one of the items in NOT my passport...atleast not yet:)
1) SD chip for my samsung digital camera, because I lost that sucker full of pics i was going to up load:(...flippin figures
2) Pictures of you all! I miss all of you and could use some to remind me that I should write y'all! (Thanks Amanda and Daven:)...oh yeah..with your addresses....cuz I lost that too...but that shouldn't surprise y'all either.
3) Ripped DVD's and New music (hip hop, rock, pop, Christian)...I don't have my laptop yet, but I will in December/Jan!!!
4) Ramen...seriously. After the exchange rate, they're 50 cents!!! Remember that I'm po... so 50 cents is ballin outta control
5) Bumble Bees pre cooked packaged chicken breast ( sumi...you're genius)
6) More importantly, whey protein powder in ziploc bags. Sams club sells them cheap by the bucket for 19.95. I'm becoming emaciated faster than even I would like it. I hope that customs doesn't think it's coke.
7) Anything else that's "american" that you'd like:) like...drink mixes (which can be used like currency in the volunteer world), nature valley's, granola, swedish fish (thanks to max!) aunt jemimaaa's, you know...use you're imagination!
My address is:
Michael Kim
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 3194
Lome, Togo
West Africa
THANK YOU ALLLLLLL!!!!
P.S... I know the SD chip is a bit expensive, so if that doesn't come, I understand! Also,
For the protein powder, you may want to weight it out to see if it's cheaper just to send it in a regular box, or a flat rate box. Protein is pretty light.
Luckily... one of the items in NOT my passport...atleast not yet:)
1) SD chip for my samsung digital camera, because I lost that sucker full of pics i was going to up load:(...flippin figures
2) Pictures of you all! I miss all of you and could use some to remind me that I should write y'all! (Thanks Amanda and Daven:)...oh yeah..with your addresses....cuz I lost that too...but that shouldn't surprise y'all either.
3) Ripped DVD's and New music (hip hop, rock, pop, Christian)...I don't have my laptop yet, but I will in December/Jan!!!
4) Ramen...seriously. After the exchange rate, they're 50 cents!!! Remember that I'm po... so 50 cents is ballin outta control
5) Bumble Bees pre cooked packaged chicken breast ( sumi...you're genius)
6) More importantly, whey protein powder in ziploc bags. Sams club sells them cheap by the bucket for 19.95. I'm becoming emaciated faster than even I would like it. I hope that customs doesn't think it's coke.
7) Anything else that's "american" that you'd like:) like...drink mixes (which can be used like currency in the volunteer world), nature valley's, granola, swedish fish (thanks to max!) aunt jemimaaa's, you know...use you're imagination!
My address is:
Michael Kim
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 3194
Lome, Togo
West Africa
THANK YOU ALLLLLLL!!!!
P.S... I know the SD chip is a bit expensive, so if that doesn't come, I understand! Also,
For the protein powder, you may want to weight it out to see if it's cheaper just to send it in a regular box, or a flat rate box. Protein is pretty light.
First Entry
Just as the title portrays, this entry is not going to be that exciting. Not because I haven't done things worth writing, but because I just really don't have too much time at Peace Corps Head Quarters ( the bureau) with the queue at the computers, nor do I currently have a laptop I can pre type these entries with well thought out, clever and awe inspiring sentences...So that leaves me with telling you all the things that I've done, sans details. First, I swore in as an official volunteer August 25, 2008! It was an amazing night filled with semi-blurred memories. I then proceeded to do a lot of "cultural exchanges" with my village. I was assigned to a post city/village, called Assahoun/Keve , which is in the Prefecture of Ave. There is supposedly a population of 25,000 people, of whom I haven't all seen. In fact, I pretty much see the same people over and over again. I've been doing these " cultural exchanges" for the past 2 months, which consisted of eating the local foods and getting diarrhea, feeding them my own food and them getting diarrhea, and doing that all over again. You all may say, "Wow mike. This is disgusting that you'd write this on your blog!", but let me tell you this; bowel movements are a daily conversation starter for volunteers. You have a solid feces day, it's a good day. Besides eating the local food and getting sick, I've been doing a lot of research concerning business license for exporting Togolese made goods. That has been unfortunately depressing as it seems that the Togolese government makes it increasingly difficult for people to ship goods abroad through high tariffs and license fees. Even with AGOA (African Growth Opportunity Act), it still proves difficult.
I've also completed a national even called "AIDS Ride," where approximately 15 volunteers bike across their assigned region performing sensibilizations (sessions) about HIV/AIDS prevention. That, my friends, was gruelling and completely worth it. We biked average of 20-30 k daily in dirt, mud, sand pits, all while climbing hills. We even had accidents where volunteers were impaled my bike handle bars. I personally flipped over my handle bars, did a front roll and landed on my feet...ninjaaaa. I know. Anyway, across all the regions of Togo, Peace Corps has reached an estimated 20,000 people through these cross regional sessions!
On the personal front, I've made plenty of close friends, however, some of those friends have already E.T.ed (early terminate), which is always disheartening. I have an amazing cluster and hope that these new batch of volunteers will be as equally amicable. On that note, I better leave, as people are hustling and bussling around me. God Bless!
I've also completed a national even called "AIDS Ride," where approximately 15 volunteers bike across their assigned region performing sensibilizations (sessions) about HIV/AIDS prevention. That, my friends, was gruelling and completely worth it. We biked average of 20-30 k daily in dirt, mud, sand pits, all while climbing hills. We even had accidents where volunteers were impaled my bike handle bars. I personally flipped over my handle bars, did a front roll and landed on my feet...ninjaaaa. I know. Anyway, across all the regions of Togo, Peace Corps has reached an estimated 20,000 people through these cross regional sessions!
On the personal front, I've made plenty of close friends, however, some of those friends have already E.T.ed (early terminate), which is always disheartening. I have an amazing cluster and hope that these new batch of volunteers will be as equally amicable. On that note, I better leave, as people are hustling and bussling around me. God Bless!
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