Down in Lomé

So I am in Lomé right now. More specifically, I’m at the Peace Corps bureau. And even more specifically, I’m in the med unit. I’m here for ten days because my feet are really nasty. If you don’t want to know about it then don’t read the next paragraph.

My feet have this bad fungal infection all over them. This led to the skin breaking open, and now I have a few open sores that have bacterial infections. It is worse on my right foot, which is pretty swollen. I am supposed to stay off my feet and today I have to stay in the bureau. Hopefully tomorrow they’ll let me venture out a little and explore the capital. I have four different types of anti-fungal and anti-bacterial medications to take now. I’ve only been here one day, but already I’m feeling antsy and don’t know how I’ll make it for the next week and a half out of Sotouboua.

Not too much of anything else has really been going on lately. Last week I visited Kara, which is the best city in Togo! They just have so much cool stuff. For example, I found a store that actually sells cereal. So when I get back to post I’ll get to enjoy some generic chocolate rice crispies with powdered milk!

This actually reminds me of an article that I read the other day talking about how most grocery stores in America and Europe have over 40,000 items on their shelves. Right now that blows my mind. When I think of the little boutique around the corner from my house, it might have about 50 to 75 items. I know they have two types of powdered milk, about five different types of soap, toilet paper, pasta, flour, sometimes bread, phone credit, a few different sizes of tomato paste, some vegetables(but they aren’t good, I always go to the marché for those things), boxed wine, and some other random stuff. It is just one small room. There are no grocery stores in Sotouboua, or in anywhere else in Togo, except Lomé (and maybe Kara).

OK, on to other things. I have become a fan of a public radio show called “This American Life”. There are copies of it floating all around the Peace Corps Togo volunteer community. I wonder if it is popular with PCVs in other countries too. Each episode has a theme in which stories are told based on that theme. The stories are often personal and funny and are normally sent in by others to be on the show. It really reminds me of home and that normal life I had back there.

At the end of most episodes the host, Ira Glass, lets you know that you can always buy copies of it if you want. It’s only ten dollars. I feel bad, because I have all these episodes for free and haven’t given public radio anything. Maybe I’ll give a little back in the future when I’m making more than ten dollars a day.

This show has also introduced me to a writer named David Sedaris. I’ve been reading a bunch of his books lately, which there just so happens to be all of them here within the PC Togo volunteer community. He writes short stories that have to do with his life (family, work, random everyday things). They mostly turn out to be funny, but there are a few sad ones. But they all remind me of that place I use to live (I’m talking about America). I believe “This American Life” and David Sedaris are so popular in Togo because they take us out of our now ‘normal’ lives here, and temporarily place us back into that crazy bizarre place we were once use to (again, I’m talking about America).

One other thing. A man was put in jail the other day because he supposedly murdered his son in Sotouboua. They believe he used Grigery. This is what people call sorcery and witch craft in my part of Togo. So he is in jail now because his son died and people believe he is a sorcerer. It is just weird to think this happens here and that I’m not too surprised by it.