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!