Christmas Phone Call

This is Ann’s mom Sally.  Andy, Sarah, and I had a great phone conversation with Ann and Nathan today—the day after Christmas.  We tried calling on Christmas Day but could never get through.  Ann reported that phone calls were half price in Togo on Christmas Day, so the phone lines were busier than usual.

               Friends Rachel and Pierre, and their four children, came to Ann and Nathan’s house for Christmas Eve dinner.  Rachel cooked a dinner of pounded yams with a green leaf sauce, while Ann and Nathan provided a treat of Crystal Lite and sugar cookies.  The children were delighted with the treat of cookies and lemonade.  Ann says that the children showed their pleasure by standing and clapping their hands.

               For Christmas, Ann and Nathan decorated a small baobab tree outside their house with construction paper ornaments.  On Christmas morning, they shared homemade cards that they had made for each other and enjoyed a breakfast of hot chocolate and oatmeal.  Villagers invited them to their house for lunch, and Ann says that they were served homemade tofu, spaghetti with a red sauce, and rice with peanut sauce.  Later they went to the village Christmas dance.  I asked Ann, if she and Nathan had danced.  Ann explained, “Mom, this is a tribal dance, not a middle school dance.”  According to Ann, the villagers did encourage Ann and Nathan to join the dance, but at this point, they are more comfortable sitting and watching.

Ann will begin lessons with a French tutor tomorrow.  Her tutor teaches English at the middle school and lives close enough for Ann to ride her bike to lessons.  On January 5, Ann will teach her first English class.  Ann now thinks that she will have 97 students!  That is 3 students for each desk in the classroom.

Nathan, meanwhile, has been busy with his rabbits.  Nathan bought 3 rabbits, which soon became 5 rabbits.  One of the rabbits has just had 8 babies.  The mother rabbit has hidden her babies in a large clay jar.  Ann says that she can’t pat the baby rabbits, until the mother lets them out of the jar.  Ann and Nathan will have to tell us more about the rabbits on their blogs, but my understanding is that the rabbits will be shared with village families, so that they too can raise rabbits to eat and to sell.

Ann and Nathan are excited that their new puppy will arrive at long last next week.  They have decided to name the dog Asher.  According to Nathan, Asher is the masculine form of the word Asheville!  Asher’s brother is coming to live with Pierre and Rachel, which means that Asher will have a playmate.

December has been very hot in Togo.  Daytime temperatures of 120 degrees are not unusual, and at night, the temperature seldom goes below 80 degrees.  But while Ann and Nathan did not have a white Christmas, they did enjoy a bit cooler weather.  Ann said that it was 70 degrees this morning.  She had to put on a sweater!

Ann and Nathan are off to Kara on December 30 for a short vacation.  They will spend Tuesday through Thursday nights in Kara.  Ann said that they are both ready for ice cream and good food!  Both are also looking forward to internet access.

Many thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers for Ann and Nathan this Christmas season.  Thanks, too, for your letters and packages.  Just a reminder--if you send a package, a great option is to use the “Flat Rate Box” for “domestic and international use”, which you can pick up at the post office.  The box itself is free, and you can fill it and then send it for a flat rate of $38.  The box has a high weight limit, and $38 is much cheaper than the cost of sending many other kinds of parcels.  As for what to put in the box, Ann and Nathan are grateful for all sorts of items, including magazines, paperback books, energy bars, dog treats, instant beverages and sauces, hard candy, nuts, school supplies, and stickers. 

Happy 2009 to all of you!

December 13, 2008 Phone Call

This is Sally, Ann’s mom.  I talked to Ann on Saturday, December 13.  She and Nathan have completed their first week in their new post, and so far, so good!

Ann was excited that “New Puppy” is arriving today.  On Saturday, Ann and Nathan had not yet decided on a name for the puppy.  The name “Boston” was one possibility.  They had considered the name “Asheville”, but Nathan had rejected that name as too feminine a name for a male dog.  J

Ann thinks that she and Nathan will have a full and busy Christmas Day.  Supposedly, lots of dancing takes place in the village on Christmas.  Several families have also invited them to come and eat at their homes.  Ann says that they plan to go to church on Christmas Day.  Big challenge is that the worship service usually lasts about six hours!

Ann and Nathan are thinking of ways to wish a Merry Christmas to their new friends, Pierre and Rachel.  One idea is to invite them and their four children for breakfast on Christmas Day.  Rachel has said that she wants to taste American food.  Ann may serve French toast.  (Is that American?)

While Ann and Nathan will stay in the village for Christmas Day, they are planning a trip to Kara, a nearby city,  for December 30-January 2.  They will both be able to access their e-mail at that time.  Ann hopes to get into Kara about once a month.

Nathan has purchased two rabbits and is talking with Pierre about other animals for the village.  Honey is a popular item in the markets, so one idea is to purchase honey bees.  Ann says that she and Nathan are moving very slowly in plans for their work.  Right now, they are getting to know villagers and are listening to their hopes and dreams.  Only later, will they help villagers with specific projects.  Big news from Ann is that she will teach English to seventy 8^th graders beginning in January.  The class will be held for one hour, five days a week.  Ann is already observing the class and is working on her class plans.  Ann says that teaching English will give her added experience in speaking French, and getting to know the students will be a help to future work with them.

Many thanks for the letters and packages you have sent Ann and Nathan.  Ann mentioned that she had received a box full of Luna bars and was enjoying one each morning for breakfast!  She and Nathan were also enjoying instant chicken soup for lunch.  Perhaps food from home makes it a bit easier to handle the new and stressful meal situations, such as Ann’s discovery of a chicken foot in her dinner bowl one evening last week!

              

Arrival in New Home

This is Ann Green's Dad, with news from a phone call this afternoon (12/6/08).

 

Ann Green and Nathan arrived at their new home in northern Togo today.  The unairconditioned van ride took 8 hours (with no restroom facilities).  For dinner they ate with their host family (and with their hands) some pounded yams and a beef broth with a few pieces of meat.

 

They are setting up their five-room compound.  The largest room, the bedroom, is about 15 feet across; the other rooms are smaller.  They swept out the rooms and set up their bed, kitchen table and supplies, and stools.  They have found small bats (not vampire bats!) in their straw roof.  They also put down 5 woven-plastic prayer rugs to add color.

 

Sunday is market day.  There are about 25 vendors selling tomatoes, onions, fruit, plastic cups and plates, and small tools.  No clothing is for sale in the village.

 

For the first 3 months, they will primarily meet people, observe the village, and listen to the people's needs.  They are not to act like Americans and come in with lots of new ideas.  Ann will sit in on classes, visit the health clinic on Tuesdays, and simply walk around the village and learn from their neighbors.  She will receive several hours of additional French tutoring each week and also learn the native language.  Her name is now "Naca."

 

Her spirits remain high and she is excited to begin her official time.

 

 

I'm a volunteer!

So Nathan and I are officially volunteers now!  We wore our new outfits - our host mothers made them for us - and raised our right hands!  Nathan actually gave the Kabye speech since he has been learning local language since the beginning of training.  He did great!  There was food and drink after and we mingled with everyone, including the Ambassador.  Otherwise, we've been busy shopping.  I got quite overwhelmed in the market, when a riot started...all is fine, but we shopped quickly!  Tons of people, cars, and animals.  We bought a bed frame, a mattress, a broom, kerosene lamps, and lots of food (canned hot dogs, mustard, soy sauce, rice, pasta, beans, ramen noodles...oh the life!), and a cute mou-mou-esque dress for me.  I realize as I write this, that my perspective has changed.  Canned hot dogs?  Gotta get the protein somehow!  Going to a nice event with semi-wet hair and no makeup?  I look great!  A mou-mou dress?  Yikes...no excuse for that!  The rest of the day we'll be packing and going to a beach party.  Suppossedly lots of good food and relaxing by the pool.  Much needed after the craziness of the last fews days.  We head to post tomorrow!  And Christmas is next.  No plans yet, but to stay at post. I'll keep you updated!  Much love!

I have been taking pics...You will see them someday.  I am learning to be calm...give up control...go with the flow...and have lots of patience.  All in good time!

Skype!

Hey Everyone!!  I just want to post about my recent experience with Skype in communicating with my sister and Nathan.  Skype is a free internet service that people can use to make phone calls or send texts or instant messages.  You just go to skype.com and register and get a free account.  I've used it in the past to video chat with friends or send instant messages.  What I didn't know was that Nathan's dad has been using it to communicate with Sister and Nathan! 

So here's what you can do: Unlike most skype services, calling Togo is not free-- but it's very cheap!  Sister and Nathan have a cell phone, so all you have to do is type their number into your friend list.  Then skype will help you set up an account that charges you per minute or per message.  I keep $10 on my account at a time, and then skype will automatically re-charge me when my balance goes below $2.  Once you have the phone number on your list, the rest is history!  By calling that number, you can talk to Sister and Nathan through your computer (as long as you have a microphone and speakers, which many computers have built in).  The video doesn't work, of course, since they don't have a camera, but it's an easy way to talk to them and keep track of your minutes.  Plus, you can send text messages to their phone through skype!  While they can't text back, they'll definitely receive the messages.  I've found this a great way to quickly let them know you're thinking about them or to relay a message without having to consider the time change (they're 5 hours ahead of eastern time) or making them check their e-mail.  For instance, when I saw that Debbie had gotten engaged I just texted that to them quickly (oh facebook!).

One thing that I am looking into: While I can hear Sister fine through my computer, she says that I'm not quite as clear.  Supposedly a relatively inexpensive headset will fix this, so I'll be looking at best buy for that soon.  Okay, so if you have any questions about how this works, or want me to correct some information, please feel free to e-mail me at sl2086a@student.american.edu!  Have a great day everyone!! =)

Swear-In

I, [state your name], do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, domestic and foreign, that I take this obligation freely and without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps by working with the people of [the host country] as partners in friendship and in peace.

That's what I'll be saying tomorrow at the Ambassador's house! Yay! We are excited to be done with training and are busy shopping in Lome (metal bed frame, aluminum trunks for clothes, mattress, american food at the large embassy grocery store, etc etc). We are staying at Mamy's hostel again and enjoying food cooked by the Peace Corps. We leave on Saturday morning for post...2 years here we come!

I wrote in my journal the first week here something I thought may still be worth sharing:
"If I told any of you before I left that I wasn't nervous, it was because I didn't know any better. Peace Corps is hard! (FYI, 8 people out of 30 have already left since we arrived in Sept). I had no idea what to expect...nothing the PC could have told me could have prepared me. At the same time I am thankful to be here and ready to learn a lot. Thank you to everyone who helped me get here...And everyone who will help me stay!"

FYI...
1) I promise to try and get pics up sometime in the next couple of days
2) We do have toliet paper (need to add that to the shopping list!)
3) No name for the dog yet...Any ideas?!
4) Now Nathan is talking about getting a donkey as well...AHH!
5) Come visit!

hi!

hi everyone! just a quick note and i will do a longer post on the blog in the next couple of days!! all is well and i am in lome. swear-in is tomorrow. we're excited and ready for the next two years! it is fine to send packages now...we have plenty of money...but spread out the love! and try to keep it under 5lbs! we love you all! xo