Two months in and further travels

 This is a picture of the ambassador's swimming pool that I spend a lot of time in each weekend day.  I was never much of swimmer before coming here but it's the most comfortable way to get some exercise outside but it's a nice place to sit afterwards when I've cooled off.  There's a tennis court too but I don't have a racket and I haven't found anyone who plays tennis thus far.

 Finally, a photo of a woman with a baby on her back and a large bowl on her head - quite a common site here.  This woman was delighted to have her picture taken  She is not typically dressed however - pants really are not that common on women here.

 This is a photo taken north of Kpalime in the mountains next to Ghana.  We were on the way to visit a volunteer who was posted at a higher altitude than most and had a cooler place to live.  It was a really pretty drive and I hope to return to this area some weekend when I get my car...

 We stayed overnight in a hotel in Kpalime arriving after dark and when I woke the next morning I discovered this compound across the street which housed about 7 goats.  They were taking turns jumping on and off the piles of concrete bricks.  I watched them, enjoying the morning air while I ate my delicious breakfast on my balcony.

Cafe au lait, orange juice, bread, butter, jam and cut up pineapple served in a boat.  It was heavenly!

I still have no pictures of me in my dress but I'll try to get that taken tomorrow.  Meanwhile I've bought 2 more pagnes of fabric and need to decide what to do with them.

The trip we took overnight to Kpalime was nice although the roads getting there were rough and the car exceptionally bouncy and vibrating.  It's hard not to feel a little carsick by the time you travelled a few hours to your destination.  But it was a pretty ride for much of the way cause you could see the mountains in the distance.  We ate pate for lunch in a local food stand.  Aurelia doesn't eat foufou out because she feels there's the potential for contamination in the preparation (which is pounding cooked yams and sometimes adding water that you can be sure isn't treated) but it was also served there. The pate (made from corn meal) is served hot with a sauce - mine was red with some tiny bits of vegetation.  You mold it with your right hand to be a little flat so you can scoop up the sauce.  I'm beginning to get the hang of it.  At the table (which you share with whoever is there) is a large basin and some cups and a little package of dry soap so you can wash your hands before you use them to eat.  If you're lucky someone will pour the water over your hands for you so can rinse well.  Of course you have to wash after eating too since your hand will be a mess.  The whole meal (about 2 cups worth of pate) was 200CFA (about 40 cents).
In addition to visiting some volunteers we also stopped at a hospital run by Baptist missionaries from the US.  Occasionally volunteers will end up there if they need emergent care.  Otherwise we try to get them to Lome and out of the country if they need surgery or something complicated.  Mostly the hospital serves the local population.  One of the doctors there offered me the chance to come and observe for a week to learn some tropical medicine which I hope I'll be able to do at some point.  There's a nice kind of a guesthouse to stay in right on the grounds of the hospital.
At our last site visit on Monday the volunteer we were visiting mentioned that there was a convent nearby where they bake fresh bread at the end of the day.  We drove over to try to get some but the sisters were in church.  Oh well, next time...
We tried to eat at a restaurant recommended by a volunteer but it was closed on Mondays (even in Togo many of the restaurants are closed Mondays, apparently) so we went elsewhere and had the best meal I've had out of my house - a delicious omelette with mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and onions (it was more vegetable than egg).  There's a greater variety of food available in this area of Togo as it's not so hot and dry as much of the north.
The hotel was also nicer than the ones I stayed in further north plus I had that great balcony.  Definitely a place I'd return to for a weekend away from Lome.
The main road that goes from Kpalime to Atakpame (here's a link to a basic map of Togo http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/togo/) was under construction so we were detoured off it quite a bit (luckily we had a driver very familiar with the area) on our visits to the volunteer sites. At one point we drove through Lavie - the village that George Packer was a volunteer in in the early 1980s.  He wrote a book about his experiences called The Village of Waiting which I enjoyed reading in the US before arriving but realize, now that I'm here, was quite negative about Togo.  For example, Lome certainly is not as bad as he paints it.  Other people I've spoken to here have also had negative reactions to the book.  I still think it's worth reading to get a flavor of what it's like to be in Togo and to be a volunteer.