Hopefully, I'll have time for another post this week before I go back to village, so stay tuned.
The Primary School in my village
A classroom, some have desks, other's don't. I'm looking in to what I can do about this.
My Kitchen
This storm hit our beach party the day after we swore in last december.
My bedroom
The view from atop Mount Agou, looking down on my training village Agou Nyogbo
Compost Bin I created in an attempt to improve soil quality in my village
Tree Nursery
One of the main purposes of Peace Corps is cross-culturalization. I thought long and hard one day about the staples of American cultures, and how best to integrate those into Togolese culture. I decided the only logically hilarious thing to do was to take pagne, colorful African fabric, and create overalls, the one-piece of choice of many American farmers and blue-collar workers. I bought pagne, went to a local seamstress, and embarrassingly described and drew pictures of what overalls look like."It's all one piece," I would say to her as she stared at me confused.
"With straps, like this," I said, pretending to bring them over my shoulder.
"And they connect here, with a button!"
A week later, I received my overalls, and unveiled them at a volunteer party. This picture is me jammin on my harmonica. Notice my Barack Obama jersey underneath, I think that adds a nice touch.
My closest PC neighbors and I taking a break from village life
My closest PC neighbors and I taking a break from village life
The view from atop the mountain next to my village
A door to a church on top of Mount Agou, the tallest peak in Togo
My garden, on planting day, right now I have romano beans, zuchinni, and sunflowers, with hopefully carrots, green beans and butternut squash still to come.
Looking down the street from my house toward the center of town
My adorable neighbor Joshua
9 comments:
Hi Grant,
It's so great to see more of your charming village and house. The overall story is hilarious, and I can just hear you explaining the style(in French). I hope your garden is successful for you....
The classroom is so bare. How can we help? Love Mom
Hey Grant,
I love the pictures. Are you going to try and make some log furniture for desks? I hope my packages made it to you. Have a fun summer.
Hey bro,
Sweet Joshua is darling. Your houseing conditions appear better than I thought. Glad to see you keep a tidy place, nothing like I remember growing up with you. Love and miss you lots!
Alexis
Hey Grant!
Thanks for the photos! Totally love the overalls! HA!
I'm trying to scrounge up some more gossip for you to send you a good long, dirt-y email.
Take care.
--Laura
Hi Nephew,
Photos of your garden and tree nursery give me the impression the soil is loaded with clay, so I bet you've been working very hard on those agricultural projects! Wishing you well on a bountiful crop, and success in keeping the regional garden pests away. Probably not slug country - right? I always feel queasy when reading about your meals - how do you manage? Brave lad. Love, Auntie Cathy
Hi Grant, lovely overalls, please join the international overalls day November 20th organized by myself and some other overalls lovers ! you really contributes to the art of overalls !
Hi...nice to meet you ... i'm a memorabilia collector ..hope u visit my blog to see my country collection tq
http://syilingperingatan.blogspot.com/
Hi Grant,
I am glad you are having fun up there in my native country Togo, and enjoying the foods. Reading your postings, reminds me “fufu” –pounded yam- with peppers soup (goat meat). I don’t know about you, but I love it. I never ate snake meat, but I am sure it tasted like chicken.
Have a great time up there.
Hyacinthe
Hey I want to see more pictures I check every week for new updates. What are you doing over there? Put up some new pictures and info. I use them in my class discussion over here in South Korea. All the best bud take care.
Jed
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