Le commencement

Dear Friends,
Salut de Lome! It was a long but smooth journey that got me here in the early morning hours. And although it's far from home, the pouring down rain (it's rainy season) on the day of my arrival made the transition from Holland to Togo a bit less strange. I'm living with a very nice family and especially the two daughters are incredibly sweet...I spent my first day sleeping and reading and resting but after that the only way to describe being here is intense. It's extremely densely populated, African french is also melanged with Ewe, the local language, which means I have to spend a lot of energy concentrating on understanding especially when all my colleagues start talking at once. It's very hot and there are tons of motorbikes which I've already have become acquainted with riding on the back of (a bit nervewrecking with all the traffic and people, but fun). And beyond one other volunteer who is also interning at an organization in Lome and who lives at the house as well, I haven't seen another white person yet. Luckily, the small group of people I work with (we're eleven people total at the office) are very patient and helpful in helping me get adjusted to their life. My boss at work is away and will arrive tomorrow so I have been at work but haven't really started yet with anything except acquainting myself with the projects, which mainly consist of solar oven promotion among women's groups in a region just north of the city and envrionmental education for Togolese highschool students. It's going to be slow but steadily I hope to get to know how things work in this city. Right now I'm content with mastering just the basic challenges of figuring out the currencey, getting my visa sorted out, and finding a bike.
I have come to this country, this job, and this experience with little expectations or preparation and I hope to be able to share with you what I learn and discover and hopefully come to better understand the political, social, and cultural sides. My motives for coming here and the terms on which I came were because of deeply personal desires to learn more of myself and what I want as well as intellectual desire to engage in West Africa...on verra.