In Lomé

Hello everyone, I thought that I put another post on here before but somehow it never seemed to make it. I don't have much time to be reflective right now, but I will in less than a month because I'll be at my post in a town named Vogan and I will have lots of time on my hand. The first step is to set up my house, study French, and really learn how to cook for myself. When I lived in Holland I was able to get away with buying lunch meat at the store and making a sandwich. But here it's a little different. I'm going to have to be a little bit more resourceful than I ever have before. Fortunately I have some friends nearby, we'll get together and be domestic from time to time. I hope to learn how to make Banana bread and Carrot cake with a Dutch oven. I'm really pretty excited about this.

But I'm also a bit concerned with all the excess time that I will have on my hands. I intend to spend a fair amount of time shadowing my homologue (my Togolese counterpart) and figuring out exactly what it is that he does. The language barrier is still huge, I feel like so much of these first few months will just involve getting down the basics of communication. There really isn't much work that I can do before I can speak in French. But I'm also lucky in this respect, my homologue studied for three months in Canada and is really well educated. He speaks French well and when I find myself searching for a word or a verb tense he is able to provide me with great feedback. He also reads English, and probably speaks more than he will let me know, so when I search for a word I can say the English and usually get the French translation on the spot. And he's a really great guy. I like seeing how he treats his family and friends. He's well respected in the community and has been a pleasure to work with thus far.

But time, time, time, so much time to sit around and think. This past week has involved a lot of thinking while in Vogan. It will be a struggle to stay busy during the beginning here, to stay sane, to find some work. Well anyway, I'll write more soon. I'm getting ready to head back to the training site where I will march through another three weeks of language and technical instruction. Sometimes I question how useful the technical instruction is, but then again it's impossible for me to know at this point. I'll just have faith for now. And language, I'm excited to start working on that some more. We took mid term language fluency tests before we left for our post visits and I am considered "Intermediate Low" I was "Novice Low" when I got here, so I guess that's an improvement. I have to be "Intermediate High" by the end of three weeks. We'll see. Time, lots of time.

Oh and I have another post saved on my computer than I need to upload. It might take a few weeks, but I'll get it up eventually.

Love you all,
David

Pre Departure Stage in D.C.

Hey everyone, not too much time to report here, but wanted to let everyone know that I made it to staging in D.C. and will be here until Friday. Looks like a great group of people. I'm looking forward to the next three months.

Itinerary

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

United Airlines Flight Number: 7924
Equipment: ER4
Depart: TULSA, OK 6:08 Am
Arrive: CHICAGO/OHARE 8:00 Am

United Airlines Flight Number: 606
Equipment: Boeing 737-300
Depart: CHICAGO/OHARE 9:05 Am
Arrive: WASHINGTON/NATL,DC 11:53 Am

June 6, 7, 8 Pre Departure Staging in Washington D.C.

June 8 Depart Washington Dulles via Delta/Air France # 8331 at 10:20 pm
June 9 Arrive Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport) at 11:50 am
June 9 Depart Paris via Delta/Air France # 8538 at 1:20 pm
June 9 Arrive Lomé, Togo at 5:35 pm

Less than 3 days

Only a few days remain until I blast off from the humble farming community of Tulsa, Oklahoma USA and find myself in the coastal city of Lomé, Togo this time next week. But really, what the heck does this mean anyway? I will stay in Lomé for approximately one week and then depart for a smaller city to the northeast named Kpalimé (pronounced with a silent k). My training will take part in a nearby village (like Tulsa), where I will acquire a basic foundation of French and receive a thorough safety and health rundown along with a measured dose of technical training to boot. Beyond that the story remains more or less a mystery. I will employ myself in the development sector focusing primarily on small business. After approximately three months of training, I will depart for my assignment where I will live and do my best to integrate with the community so that I may become an effective development volunteer. The objective is to provide assistance. But before I can do this, I will have to listen and observe. I am walking into an alien environment and have a lot to learn before I even have a chance to teach. I have to gain respect in my community and overcome my youth. We are officially given six months to orientate ourselves, adapt, and find a direction. The first three occur in an organized fashion, the next three occur at post where I must continue my education independently. Anything beyond this is pure speculation so I'll end here for now. I'm sure I will have many stories to put up here over the next several months. If for some reason I do not post for several days or even weeks at a time do not worry. It probably just means that I am doing something productive. It will be nice to have this space to unwind. So stay tuned.