she's back!

ck!Hello everyone!! My sincere apologies for not updating my blog since December. I will try my best to sum up the last two and a half months without boring you all to tears.
So December started off kind of slow as I was just getting used to the new city, new people, lack of training friends, new house, etc. As I am in a pretty central city in Togo, I did see a lot of volunteers who have to come into town to do banking, shopping, and internet. That was really nice since work was really slow when I first arrived.

Then Christmas and New Years came and went before I knew it. I spent Christmas here at my house with a few of my volunteer friends. We made dinner, listened to Christmas music, had a white elephant gift exchange, and I tried not to miss my family. I then spent New Years with a couple of my good friends here which was pretty fun. All in all, I was just really glad when the holidays were over. They were definitely not as bad as I had anticipated, but I still really missed being around friends and family in Texas. I guess it became ever more apparent to me how great my family and family traditions are, and how it didn’t really ever feel like the holidays without that.

In January things started to pick up a little bit. My Togolese counterpart and I have been planning a lot of activities that are going really well. I have started working with a womens’ group, an after school club, and I recently began teaching! The first day of teaching was pretty terrifying, but it went much better than I anticipated it would. I am teaching a class called Life Skills. The curriculum consists of a wide variety of topics ranging from Self Confidence, to Good Communication skills, to Reproductive Health, and then I teach how to effectively apply that knowledge to their lives. I guess I never realized how much of these things I was taught throughout school without knowing it. The teaching methods here are so different from those of the United States and these topics are not usually covered throughout the school system. So, it’s pretty fun getting to introduce these new subjects to my four middle school classes.

As far as daily life goes, I have pretty much settled into a routine. I get up every day sometime between 6:00 and 6:30 and make my breakfast: one egg omlette with tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers, and a cup of instant starbucks espresso (thank you so much to all of you who have sent me those…they are the reason I wake up in the morning). Then I go over my list of things to do for the day: some examples would be teaching class, going to the post office, going to the internet, going to talk to the NGO that I work with, leading club, meeting with various people…you get the idea. I also plan what I am going to make for dinner so that I can get what I need at the market while I’m out. There is a pretty consistent selection of vegetables here which is awesome, so I usually cook something with a lot of veggies. So, my day will then consist of whatever is on the list, and sometimes a friend will come through for lunch or to stay the night which is always fun. At night I listen to the BBC or music while I cook. Then I will usually read for a couple of hours and go to bed.

I am continuously amazed at how normal things here have become to me. It’s only when I talk to someone from home and relate a seemingly normal story to them that I can see that my life here is actually very different from what I was used to five months ago. I will give an example. About two weeks ago, I was leaving another village, and waiting for the normal transport for trips here…the bush taxi. So I show up at the taxi station and tell the five men who just seem to be milling about that I need to get in a car to Sokode. They mumble something in the local language that I can’t understand (side note: there are an infinite amount of local languages here, so while I am trying my hardest to learn Kotokoli, the local language spoken where I am, it becomes completely useless if I travel one hour to the north, south, east, or west). So they then tell me the price and that I am the ninth person so we still have to wait for six more to fill the car so we can leave.

So, three hours later I am sitting in the car thinking we are getting ready to leave when I hear a loud popping sound (kind of like a firework) come from under the driver’s seat. Of course we all have to get back out of the car while they take apart the front seat to figure out what the deal is. Another forty five minutes pass and they say everything is good and we can leave. Oh, and while we were waiting for them to fix it, approximately five more people have shown up that will also be getting into the car on top of the fifteen passengers we already had.

I got in the car quickly so that I could snag the window seat which is crucial when there is no air conditioning in a car filled to the brim with people. I immediately turn to see who I am going to be squished up against when a woman slides over. Someone then passes her three giant bags of yams which she has to put on her lap and then one more bag comes over. Naturally she has no room for this final bag so she just places it on my lap. I look in the bag and sure enough there is a chicken in it staring up at me panting. So, I spent the entire hour and a half ride in this burning hot car filled with about twenty five people with this chicken on my lap that kept jumping out of its sack and onto my feet.

This all seemed very normal to me at the time, as this is not an uncommon occurrence here. In fact it is very common. There was nothing strange about this situation. It only occurred to me when I was talking to Jaclyn on the phone that I have gotten really used to some very funny things here in Togo. I truly think that the most important quality for volunteers to have is a sense of humor. I find myself laughing constantly, but if I couldn’t laugh at things like this I think my life as a volunteer in Togo would be infinitely more difficult.

So, that being said, I am really happy here. Yes, I get frustrated, confused, sad pretty often, but I think all in all I am doing pretty well. I still love hearing from everyone at home. Your letters, phone calls, and emails are always so exciting for me as I feel kind of disconnected. I promise to update my blog more frequently again now that the computer issues have been straightened out. If you all have any questions or things you would like to hear about, I am open to topic suggestions. And for those of you (if there are any) who are still reading this, I congratulate you on getting through that painfully long post.

New Address!

Hey everyone! So, I apologize for the lack of recent updates. I have been experiencing some computer difficulties which will hopefully be resolved shortly. BUT, in the meantime, I thought I would let you all know that I got a new address! If you already sent stuff to the old one, that is still fine, but this new address will hopefully get things sent to me faster since they wont have to go through the Peace Corps office in Lome. So, the new address is:

Katherine Kienitz
B.P. 224
Sokodé, Togo
West Africa

I miss everyone, and promise to update you all on my life as soon as my computer allows.

Wow, so a lot has happened in the last month! A few weeks ago we took a field trip through Togo to see some projects that current volunteers are working on. The first day we went to Amlame where we saw a girls mentoring center. Then we went to Sokode to talk to ADIFF, one of the NGO’s I will be working with to talk to them about some projects that you can do with NGO’s. We stayed the night at Hotel Central in Sokode which was really nice. I got to take my first hot shower since leaving America! I have to say, it was hard to make myself get out. The next day we drove to Kadjaloua to see a village savings and loans project. It’s a group of women who have a lock box where they can keep their savings and give loans out to eachother. We then headed to Tchamba to see a science club that the volunteer there runs. The next day we went to Pessare where two volunteers are working with the students to create a garden so they can sell vegetables. Since this village doesn’t have a lot of vegetables, this group of girls decided to start this garden so they can make money to pay their school fees. We spent the last night in Kara where we got to go swimming, and we went to a restaurant that made pizza! Bit of a fiasco at the restaurant with such a large group of people, but the pizza was well worth the two hour wait. It was really great to be able to see some projects that were actually being worked on, and it made me even more excited to get started with my own work.
After field trip, we only had one week left of training until we swore in. One of the activities of the week was something called “Free University.” Each trainee had to choose something to teach to the rest of the group. It’s an activity created in order to get more practice talking to a group in French. I decided to teach how to be a Texan which was pretty humorous to some of the group.
Later that week was Thanksgiving which all the trainees celebrated together at our training house. The Peace Corps chef came to our training site to cook Thanksgiving dinner for us, and it was fantastic. Apparently he has been cooking this dinner for about twenty years, so he has it down. I have to say it was pretty sad being away from my friends and family for Thanksgiving, but it was really great to be with my friends here who were also going through the same thing. We have kind of become our own little family which is really nice.
So that leads me to last week. We all went down to Lome for a couple of days to SWEAR IN! Yes, people, I am an official volunteer now. The swear in ceremony was at the US Ambassador’s house which was really nice. All trainees had to say a few sentences in their local languages which was pretty cool. Then we took the oath to swear in (same oath as the president!). I admit I got a little teary-eyed when I said it. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment after the long process it has been to get here. So then we had a big party after swear in which was really fun. For those of you who are familiar with my love of dancing, you know I had a great time.
After swear in, we were in Lome for one more day so people could by some things for their houses that can’t be bought in small villages. Then, they dropped us all off at our respective posts and that’s where I am now. I’m trying to settle into my house here so it will feel like my home. I am actually doing way better than I expected. I figured leaving all my trainee friends and starting over again in a new place where I knew very few people would be lonely and hard all over again, but so far I am great!
Oh, I also got a kitten today!! He is a brown and grey tabby cat and he is precious. He is still so tiny he can fit in my hand. I named him Ziggy Stardust. He is asleep on my lap right now, and I think it’s safe to say I’m in love. So that’s all for now. I know it’s Christmas time there now, so I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season. I am going to try to respond to all your emails soon. As the last month has been super busy, I have kind of fallen behind. I miss you all more than words can express. Your phone calls, letters, and packages are so great. I couldn’t ask for better support from home and for that, I love you all.

Hello everyone! The last month has been pretty busy, which is why I haven’t written anything in a few weeks. So, I’ll try to give a quick overview of what I have been up to.
Two weeks ago I had my post visit. This is when all trainees go and spend a week at their permanent sites in order to get acquainted with the area and some of the people we will be working with come December 5. It’s a nice time to see if you will like where you will actually be living and working. Some people say that this can be a make or break time for many trainees. I am happy to say that I loved my post and the people there.

My house is really nice by Peace Corps volunteer standards. There is a large living room, my bedroom, and guest bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom with running water. It is in a really quite, secluded compound with one other Togolese woman. I have a really nice porch to sit on during the day when it’s too hot inside, and there are a bunch of red and yellow flowers growing around it. The one downside to the house is that it is really close to a mosque, so needless to say, I will be waking up everyday around 4:00AM for the daily prayer call.

The people I will be working with are also really nice. They all seem to be really motivated to work with me, and to get a lot of great projects started. I think I will have to be careful not to take on too much right off the bat, but I’m happy to have the option of a lot work. I also really liked the other volunteers that will live close to me. They had a party for the new volunteers the last weekend of post visit which was a nice way to end the week.

So, after the party, me and the three other new volunteers in my region took our first bush taxi ride back to Tsevie. A bush taxi is a small van that would fit 15 people normally, but we had about 22 people in ours. Aside from being pretty hot and crammed, not to mention we had to stop about ten times along the way out of town, it wasn’t all that bad. However, I started feeling a little nauseous about half way through the drive. I kind of just figured I was car sick, and I would feel better once I got back to Tsevie. So, I got back, and while being a little cooler, the nausea continued to get worse as the night progressed.

So, by about 3:00AM my body had effectively rid itself of everything that could have possibly been in my stomach. I will spare you all of you the intimate details, but let’s just say that was by far the worst I have ever felt…EVER. I started to freak out a little when I couldn’t keep any water down and I called the medical unit in Lome. So, they had me come to Lome to get checked out. Fast forward a couple of days, and the results came back that I had an intestinal parasite. The good news is, I survived! The medical unit gave me a load of medicine, and I am happy to say I am feeling much better now, and am back in Tsevie.

Other than all of that, everything else is pretty normal. We are going on a little field trip this week which I’m really excited about. Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails and packages. I couldn’t make it here without your love and support. I miss everyone so much and hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Eat some pie for me (but don’t tell me about it, unless you want to hear me weep with jealousy)!

Hey everyone! So, here I am in my fourth week in Togo! The weeks are starting to go by a little faster as we get further into our technical instruction and my French progresses. In the past two weeks we have been to observe a few classes in the Togolese schools to see the ratio of girls to boys and watch the participation of the girls in class. Tomorrow two other trainees and I have to go teach a club activity to a group of about 80 (gasp!) middle school students about setting goals and how to achieve them…oh and did I mention it’s in French! Eek! We have also had many hours of French instruction, and we have a mid training test in two weeks to assess our progress.
The kids around the village are starting to grow on me. Everywhere I walk, I have about twenty kids following me and wanting to hold my hand, and they are all just precious. They are all starting to learn my name too, which is better than being called “yovo” (means white person) all the time. Sometimes, though, there are the kids who are just terrified of me. I went to buy a coke the other day, and the baby behind the counter saw me and just starting screaming and crying with terror, haha. I guess the white skin freaked him out a little. His mom thought this was hilarious.
I am now very comfortable at home with my host family. I really enjoy coming home and spending time watching them cook, eating dinner with them, and just generally asking them a billion questions about Togolese culture and families. Today my host sister made me this awesome peanut butter candy (think Butterfinger) since she knows how much I love it. She also showed me how to make it, so hopefully I will be able to make it for myself at post. After living with Fernanda in Italy, I didn’t know how any host family was going to compare to her but I must say, they have stepped up to the plate.
In more exciting news… I found out my permanent site today!!! I will be in a large city in the Central region of the country. It is actually the post I wanted, but didn’t think I would get so I am thrilled! I think I will have the opportunity to work with several schools in the area, do some teaching, and there are several NGO’s in the area that I could work with. Our site visit is in a couple of weeks, so until then I won’t know specifically what I will be doing, but I have a rough idea.
Thank you to everyone for leaving comments! I love hearing from you all. The turnaround for emails from me looks like about two weeks. I go to the internet once a week and take the emails off of gmail and write responses during the next week. So if you have emailed me, fear not! I will get back to you in two weeks. Let me know if there is something you are curious about, or would like me to write about. Life here is starting to seem more normal to me, so I know there are things I am forgetting to write about! Also, as some of you know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays so I would love to hear about/live vicariously through all of your awesome costumes this year! Send me your pictures please! Okay, no more exciting news, but I miss you all so much!

I made it!

Okay, so I apologize to everyone for the infrequent blog posts so far and I promise I will try to do better in the future. I had a lovely post all typed out on Sunday, but of course the computer wouldnt read it, and then I ran out of time and money to try to re type it. So, I will try from now on to type the posts on my computer and post them more frequently.

So, I made it to Togo! The last couple of weeks have been somewhat exhausting with all of the information I have been getting from Peace Corps and my ten hours of class per day. I am slowly adjusting to life here, and although I cant say it has been easy, its coming along day by day.

The first few days here were spent at a hostel in Lome with all the other PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees). IT was pretty much like summer camp except that instead of fun games and horseback riding, ze learned how to not get parasites and take a bucket bath. Then we moved out to our homestays a few days later and the real cultural adjusting began. My host family is really nice, and they are trying their hardest to teach me how to be Togolese. Needless to say, there have been some awkward moments, but I tend to just laugh at myself in order to difuse the situations.

I wake up around five thirty every morning to the roosters crowing and African music blaring outside my window. I then go to the latrine and take my bucket shower, then I eat breakfast, and go to class. Every day I have language and technical training, which is all coming along pretty well. My French gets noticibly better every day which is very exciting! I then come home, eat dinner, and hang out with my host family. I get in bed and read every night around eight and go to sleep.

So, that is the simple version of my current life. Every day is full of surprises and challenges, but I am just taking things one day at a time.

I really appreciate all of the emails and support I have gotten so far. I hope that once I am done with training I will be able to respond to everyone in a more timely manner, but right now I have very little time and money. I love you all and miss you every day!

Oh, also, I have a cell phone! If you would like to call me, email me and I will give you the number and instructions. Its kind of expensive for you, but free for me so I would love to hear from everyone! I also got some advice about packages from a current volunteer. She said that in her experience the flat rate boxes are more likely to make it here than the padded envelopes so keep that in mind when sending things (sorry, I know that is contrary to prior advice I had recieved).

okay blog post to come... maybe tomorrow. I have to figure out this internet.