Going to the Bank--Only in Togo!!

Yesterday was the day I decided to conquer the bank on my own. I was armed with a French to English dictionary and my account information, and not to mention my very LIMITED French vocabulary. I had two reasons for going to the bank; #1. Deposit my pay check and #2. Transfer funds from my Togo account to my Bank of America account in the US. The first goal was acheived with minimul effort and a whole lot of pointing and gesturing. In order to achieve the second goal, however, I had to go to the main bank on the other side of town and meet with the ONLY lady who could help me. So today I go and meet with the lady who can transfer the money for me and it went well, despite the language barrier. Once again, a lot of pointing and gesturing. So far this sounds like just your average Togo bank visit...do not make that assumption so quickly. While I was sitting in the office with the ONLY lady in the entire bank who can help me, in walks a woman with a huge bag... To my surprise her bag was full of bootleg designer purses that she was attempting to sell to the bank lady (whose name I will not use for confidentiality reasons:-). These two women proceed to have a 10 minute exchange about the purses and their costs. Well...being the retail expert that I am I had to had my input, in French of course. So here I am at the main branch of a Togo bank, in the office of the woman in charge of international transfers and I am haggling the price down for this purse:-) Only in Togo.

2 Doctors in 2 Months

So here it is almost the end of my second month in Togo, an I was off again to see the doctor. The first time I saw the doctor he made a house call to the school... it turns out I had malaria. Before I continue, let me clarify soemthing for those of you who know me very well...YES !!I was taking my malaria medication, but I got sick anyway. It turns out that malaria is treatable and the drugs are very inexpensive (keep in mind that the average monthly take home for a teaching assitant is less than $200 US dollars). Where it may be afforable for me...it is not necessarily affordable for the average Togolese. Malaria only becomes life threatening when left untreated.

So today I was off to see a doctor in a clinic around the corner for doctor visit number 2. During the visit the doctor did what doctor's usually do: temperature, ENT check, and blood pressure...the normal routine...except she speaks French and I speak English. What a visit!!! Between our limited vocabularies I was able to understand what medications she prescribed and the dosages. So now I am on some medication and feeling much better.

Let's get down to the real question: How much did this cost, since I do not have health insurance... the fisrt visit (house call...yes there are doctors that still make those) cost me 13000 francs, which is about $28 US (this included a blood test for malaria). The second trip cost me 5000 francs, which is about $11 US. Crazy huh???? US health care is through the roof and you get the same treatment and medications (I m referring to primary healthcare). Last but not least, the prescriptions today cost about $15 US dollars. Total I spent $26 dollars to have this sinus infection diagnosed and medicated...I love Africa!!! I can afford Africa!!!

My Babies and Me

So these are my babies. Please do not tell them I refer to them as babies...they would be so offended. Being a baby is so not COOL!!! Right now I have nine students, that range from the ages 2-4. These children are from all parts of the world: Togo, Nigeria, India, and America. The interseting thing about them is they see no racial or cultural differences between them. The differences they see are height, weight, hand size, etc. When do we condition kids to recognize cultural and racial differences??? I have a little red head girl from America, who has come to Africa and obtained two husbands (aren't kids funny...they immulate whatever they see at home) one husband is Indian and the other is Togolese. If only we could be children and see deeper than race, religion, and culture...maybe LOVE WOULD CONQUER ALL. And this is why I love children.

Outside My Bedroom Window

When you look out your bedroom window what do you see???
I see:
A boy retrieving water from a well
A mother bathing her daughter in a metal bowl
A woman chasing chickens to preapre for dinner
A clothes line covered in freshly washed clothes

What do you hear outside your bedroom window???
I hear:
A father speaking with his son
An Alicia Keyes song blaring on the radio
A group of kids laughing and playing
A rooster that crows from 4:30 AM to 8:00 AM (Mother natures most reliable alarm clock)

Things We Take For Granted

Imagine this...You just get out of bed and you have 45 minutes until you have to be at work. You stagger to the shower with your eyes half shut and get into the shower. Mid way through the shower just when you are good and lathered...the water stops flowing through the spout. You start turning knobs, but nothing seems to work. What do you do next???? This is my life in Togo. It is very common for the running water not to run at any point during the day or night. It is also common for the electricity to stop electrifing (I know this is not a word, but it works here). You are sitting at the table enjoying a nice meal and the next thing you know... pitch black.

Rolling blackouts and limited water are very common here. I realized how much I took running water and electricty for granted (as long as a paid my bills). Very few things in life are guaranteed; water and electricty are not on that list (at least here in Africa).

Public Transportation... or NOT!

Well, my time here in Lome has surpassed a month and guess what... I am still here and loving it. But in true Shelley style I have had a few close calls. My biggest issue has been with the public transportation system here, or shall I say lack there of. There are 4 modes of transportation here in Togo: by foot, by personal vehicle, by taxi, or by moto-taxi (motorcycle). This my seem very normal to the average person, but Lome has forever changed me. I have no desire to EVER own or drive a personal vehicle here (and I consider myself a pretty good driver) because traffic signals and signs are of mere inconvience here. The way in which people drive here is so amazing it is a wonder there are not more accidents. I would say traffic laws are obeyed about 50 percent of the time. The only reason they are obeyed the other 50 percent is because the police are in the area. But do not be alarmed... if you get pulled over by the police very rarely will you receive a traffic violation because in true Togo style you can buy your way out of it for a whopping 500 CFA, which is a mere 1.20 or so :-) Only in Africa... I love it. My personal perference for public transportation is the moto-taxi!!! The cost for transportation is very inexpensive. For example to catch a taxi to the US Embassy from where I live is about 2000 CFA (about 4.50) and to catch a moto-taxi it is about 500 CFA (about 1.20). These prices inclde the general price inflation for Americans with little to no French vocabulary.