Life, now.

Visiting or Moving to Togo

2012-01-23T18:55:00.011Z

The past few weeks we have been getting random emails from people asking about life here in Togo. After doing a quick google search we figured that maybe we should post some of the answers to common questions here so people contemplating moving or even visiting Togo will maybe be able to get a few answers here.

What is the weather like in Togo?

I arrived in August of this year, so have not been here during February -- but I have heard that it is brutal in terms of climate at that point in time. The heat apparently last until April. That being said, with climate shifts the seasons can be off by a month or two. (The costal rainy season, which we're told takes place in October, didn't show until late November) It is quite humid in Togo, especially along the coast, to which means you start to sweat about 2 minutes after getting out of the shower.

Some places have AC or fan access but don't count on it. For clothing, 100% cotton is the way to go, but not the thick knitted stuff the light woven kind (like button up dress shirt material.)

Shorts aren't really worn here by women. You will see them mostly in dresses, some in skirts and pants maybe even capris. I wouldn't recommend wearing short shorts as it will attract the wrong kind of attention, especially if you are working with local men. Tank tops are not a problem. Spaghetti straps are generally ok too. When bringing a bathing suit you can wear a bikini but wearing board shorts with it cuts down on men problems. Here one can't really swim in the ocean as there is a strong under current. There are hotels with pools and one at the BSL club in La Caisse/ Residence du Benin, so you can swim there for a fee.

What should I pack?

It's probably best if you bring your own hair and beauty products like shampoo, deodorant, makeup, etc. Bring sunscreen too as here it is crazy expensive. That and bug spray. You can get it here but it's cheaper from home. Just remember to put it all in ziplock bags in your luggage!

You may want to bring your own mosquito netting to sleep under. You can buy nets here but it is one less hassle if you bring one with.

When it comes to electronics, bring your own power surge protector as power blips can kill any electronics and make sure they are rated for 220V. In Togo, All the plugs are European round prong style. iPod chargers and memory cards are really expensive here so bring your own from home.

If you can't live without Kraft peanut butter, Stash chai tea, aloe vera lotion or iced tea powder you will need to bring it from home.

Do you need to know how to speak French in Togo?

My French is minimal but the Lonely Planet phrase book comes in handy. If you can speak any amount of French you will get a lot more out of your Togo experience. That being said out in the villages surrounding Lomé people speak tribal languages more than French.

I'm worried about the food, what can I eat?

We were pleasantly surprised by the variety of 'recognizable' food available at restaurants and markets in Lomé. We were a bit concerned prior to our arrival, especially as most expats consider this to be a 'hardship post.'

There are German, French, Ethiopian, Lebanese, Indian and Italian restaurants around Lome. You can't find a McDonalds here but we hear the local fast food joint Al Donalds gives you the same feeling in your stomach.

Most 'staples' are available in the veggie markets, just remember that it's all local produce. You can buy what is in season. Right now, cucumbers and tomatoes hard to come by, and are more expensive. Last month, you could get a half a dozen perfect tomatoes for 20 cents. Now, half a dozen sad looking worm eaten over-ripe tomatoes costs 40 cents.

Squash, lettuce, parsley, dill, celery sprouts (not stalks), beets, potatoes, onions, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini and most any fresh herb can be found at ridiculously cheap prices.

We buy our meat from one of the 'expensive' stores (meat is refrigerated!), but meat markets are plentiful if you fancy meeting the rest of the cow that you get your steak from.

I am a vegetarian what options are there for food?

Meat is generally reserved for special occasions in village settings. We know vegetarians who live in Lomé and they seem to be doing just fine. Most western restaurants have non-meat options. (Double check what you're ordering, as non-meat options do not mean vegetarian. It will likely be cooked in the same pot as meat, they just don't give you any.) 'Western' These restaurants are usually higher priced -- approximately 4-5,000 CFA ($8-10) per main plate. There is plenty of fresh fruits and veggies in season at all the times.

How safe is Lomé? How safe is the rest of Togo?

Now in terms of safety, Lomé is generally considered quite safe, as long as you stay away from the beach after dark and use common sense when dealing with pickpockets, dark alleys and such. Villages would likely be even safer as in about 2 minutes the whole village will know that a foreigner is there and they will look out for you. No matter where you are, people will ask you for money, gifts (cadeaux) and some are bold enough to ask for cars or laptops. Some will ask for your hand in marriage. If this thought is unnerving, wear a fake wedding ring!

Internet access in Togo- is it easy to come by or quite difficult?

Internet, depending on where you are, can be spotty or nonexistent. In Lomé, Internet cafes exist, but may be out of commission given a variety of factors -- power dropping, Togo telecom ( the Internet monopoly here) arbitrarily pulling the plug for no reason, or someone accidentally cutting the cable...

If/ when you find Internet, it will be slow, but it should be fast enough to Skype with, check email, etc. There are also a few restaurants in town including Casa Asia and Eiffel that have reliable wireless connections.

On occasion the Internet at our house is fast enough to stream TV shows from North America but they can take a long time to load (more than 2 hours for a 20 minute show).

Getting to Ghana

2012-01-18T12:06:00.001Z

While plans are made to be broken, sometimes, just sometimes, it would be nice if plans actually played out the way we envision. But as the saying goes: TIA. This is Africa. And that means plans -- even the most simple, basic ones -- will never play out the way we want them to.

With that in mind, we set out on our 'vacation' to Ghana...

The main border crossing at Lomé/Aflao is crazy. Nuts. And seeing that we wanted to visit Kpalime (a beautiful town 120 km's north of Lomé) it only makes sense to cross to Ghana from Kpalime. We heard that the border was quiet and calm, unlike the chaotic madness playing out to the south.

So we drove to Kpalime, eager to get our 'new' Land Cruiser on the road. We stayed at a fantastic hotel, Chez Fanny, which also serves a mouthwatering dinner.

After a leisurely breakfast, we filled up the tank and rode off toward the border crossing. As the road got narrower and narrower and the potholes became larger than the rest of the road, we wondered if we were on the right track. But sure enough, eventually the border post came into view.

And sure enough, the guards were relaxed, friendly and smiling. We were stamped out of Togo with remarkable ease and made our way to the Ghana entry point, where the guards were equally casual.

As we were filling out our Ghana entry forms, the guard in charge of vehicle entry meandered up to us and asked if we already had our entry stamp in our passports. No, we had not yet gotten that far.

"Good. I'm sorry, but we can not let you enter."

"Um. Excuse me, could you say that again and elaborate? What do you mean you can't let us in? Is there something wrong with our papers?"

"No, all your papers for the are in order, except the Ghanaian Government has changed the procedure for out-of-country vehicles entering Ghana. We used to take down the C59 temporary import information and send it to Accra, but now everything must be done by computer, and we don't have the computer. In fact, the only crossing is at Aflao. You'll have to turn back."

"That's a 3 hour drive -- and we just came here to AVOID that."

"We really are sorry, and we wish the government would give it's own workers the tools they need to do their job, but we can't. Please tell everyone you know that the Ghanaian government is not taking care of their own workers. It embarrasses us that we need to turn people away. Please tell everyone you know."

With that unfortunate news, we turned back to the Togo border post, and got stamped back into Togo. (Upon closer inspection later, it turns out they used the exit stamp and stamped us out a second time.)

And so, what was supposed to be the most easy, relaxing border crossing of all was beginning to turn into a quagmire.

About a kilometre before you reach the border crossing at Lomé/Aflao, you can sense the chaos about to unleash itself. People are everywhere. Lorries waiting for their paperwork to be processed line the already narrow street. As soon as you step out of the vehicle no less than half-a-dozen people offer to be your handler.

A handler at a border crossing? How hard can it be? Stamp this, sign that, paperwork this, and exit -- right?

Wrong.

No building is labelled. And so, we did indeed need the help of a handler to find out where on earth to get our passports stamped. And then, while money changers hissed at us, we navigated our way to the vehicle registration building.

A lady who was stuffed into a uniform much to small for her stature rolled her eyes as we entered the stuffy office. The male officials were off watching football on TV. She took our entry forms, took our photos and mumbled something incoherent.

"Excuse me? Could you say that again?"

She sighed. It sounded like she was saying 'such a bother, working.'

"Go ... office ... wait there."

"Uh. You want us to go to that office and wait there?"

Another sigh.

A few moments later, an imposing dishevelled looking middle aged man with lots of stars and bars on his rumpled and unbuttoned uniform entered the office. Without a word he grabbed our passports, and was fumbling through the contents of his desk drawer, presumably looking for a stamp pad, when his mobile rang.

He ignored it at first, looking determinedly for the stamp pad, but the customized tune won out, and he frantically groped himself looking for his phone.

He found it just as the caller hung up. Speaking for the first time, the border guard, who knew we were North American decided to show off his Westernized English using a vocabulary comprised of four-letter words. You'd have thought he just shot himself in the foot, not a missed call.

He then proceeded to drop the phone. And let loose again.

Passports stamped, we exited the no-name office. It was now that we realized that money sellers have no memory, either that or all pale skinned folk look alike. TSSSSSSSSSSS! You need Cedis? We have Cedis. You buy.

"We already said no. Why are you asking us again?"

It can't be that we all look alike, we were the only two Yovo's in the area. With the money changers still in our faces, trying to push wads of Cedi's up our nostrils, we made our way back to the Land Cruiser. We noticed that our handler had gained an accomplice.

Though she wasn't so helpful as he was. She quickly insisted that it would cost 1,000,000 CFA ($2,000) to register the vehicle and that we should give her the money so she could begin the process.

We asked a bored official where to go to register the Land Cruiser.

Go past this building, walk past the next one, you'll see a road, walk down that road till you see a sign to the revenue office, look right and you'll see a building with big flags. That's the one.

Are you kidding me. This is THE border crossing. Why are the offices not in one logical straight line?

We did find the office, and managed to lose the handler's shady cohort -- we left her with the bored official, who was giving her an earful in Ewe after we happened to mention, with a directional nod, that someone told us it they would take 1,000,000 CFA to register our vehicle for us.

'It's only 10,500 CFA ($20)-- a far cry from one million -- and we are to do it ourselves,' he informed us. A helpful, kind person. Little did we know how rare those were at this border.

We step up to the counter and hand over all the paperwork -- still in the same order as when the guards looked at it in Kpalime earlier that day.

"Where is your insurance card," the guard barked.

"The insurance sticker is in the window, where it belongs."

"NO, WHERE IS THE ECOWAS BROWN CARD," he hollered. There was no football game muted on the TV here, a TV preacher was blasting as loud as the poor speakers could handle.

Why did the other border guards say we had everything in order, if the brown book was missing? We called Robert, and asked if he knew anything about such a book. Indeed he did, it's a document that he forgot to give it to us when he gave us all the paperwork.

"I'm sending someone to the border with it right now. But you may have some explaining to do, even with this. I hope you get across."

Great. It's dark now. IF we make it across, we'll be driving in a strange country at night. And what did Robert mean, we'll have some explaining to do? We waited, mulling over our options. Maybe we should just give up for the day and go sleep in our own bed. It's only 20 minutes away. We've been at this border for over 2 hours already, if we give up now, we're liable to never come back, because it is such a hassle.

The ECOWAS BROWN CARD arrives, and the potential problem is glaringly evident. Insurance in Togo sticks with the vehicle -- it's more of a useless formality than actually providing insurance -- and while the insurance company knows the car has been sold, they won't give out a new booklet until the old insurance expires. But plastered all over the brown card booklet is the previous owners' name.

Confidently we stride up to the counter and pronounce that the Brown Card is here, and we're ready to go. The guard painstakingly analyses the contents. Great. He's seen the name.

"Who is this," he demands, jabbing his finger at the name.

"It's the previous owner of this car," I say, jabbing my finger at the line that shows the licence plate number. "See, it's for this car. And it's valid," I reason, jabbing at the expiration date.

"But it's not you."

"But it's for this car."

"But it's someone else."

"That someone else used to own the car, and the insurance is for the car, not them."

"But it's not yours."

"The insurance company won't give us a new booklet until this one expires," I say, jabbing at the date again.

"It's done differently in Ghana."

"I know. We're Canadians. We think Togo's way of doing it is strange, but what can we do.. we have to follow their rules."

"I'm sorry, I can't let you in."

And round and round it went, until Natalie -- who had been unnervingly quiet -- piped up.

"We're coming to Ghana to buy plane tickets so we can see our families. Do you want to keep us from our families? This is Christmas time, and we're all alone," she proclaimed, her lip trembling and her eyes watering -- capitalizing on the fact that family means a lot culturally.

His eyes narrowed, he sucked in his breath and with one last sideways glance at the name on the brown card, he stamped the C59 form and sent us off to the revenue office.

We sat at the revenue office for 20 minutes before anyone noticed we were there. Oh, there were plenty of border officials, but they were all eating dinner. Guards of a lower rank were busy delivering flats of Coca Cola and Fanta to their superiors.

One man finally took us to his office and typed the particulars of the C59 form into his computer (this is the part of the process that kept us from entering Ghana from Kpalime) while regaling us with tales of great Ewe cuisine.

We waited another 20 minute in a mosquito infested room surrounded by massive columns of ledgers. Upon closer inspection, these ledgers contain all the vehicle and driver information of people travelling to Ghana -- including licence plates, passport numbers, occupation, and contact info. Good to know it it stored safely.

The cuisine expert hands us the form with a bill, which we take to the ECOWAS bank building next door, pay up and then take the receipt from that transaction back to the building with the flags and the grumpy hollering guard.

Grumpy stamps the form once again, and says the words we've been waiting to hear for four hours -- "OK, you can proceed to the exit now."

We race to the exit before anyone can change their mind. But Ghana won't let us get in that easy. Turns out grumpy lied.

"Where is your vehicle inspection stamp," the guard queries, shining his barely functioning flashlight into our faces. "You must go back and have your vehicle inspected."

"The officer at the customs office told us to come here," we plead.

"No, you must go and get your vehicle inspected. Turn around and go back to the beginning."

It sounds disheartening, and our hearts did sink to our toes. But what the officer was saying in African English was that the inspection office was back at the beginning. As in, the beginning of the border chaos, back where we got our entry passports stamped. A fine testament to the insanity and incomprehensible lunacy of whoever designed the border crossing.

At the inspection office, we are greeted by a friendly, familiar face that is twisted in shocked confusion.

It's the friendly guard who pointed us in the right direction earlier and saved us from dealing with the handler's corrupt cohort.

"WHAT are you still doing here," he queried empathetically.

"Your border is a mess. We've been here for four hours, and while all our paperwork is in legal order, we're dragged from office to office and denied and delayed to the brink of insanity," we honestly tell him.

Without moving from his wicket, the guard breathed an apology for his incompetent colleagues, stamped the form one last time and bid us a safe journey into the warm Ghanaian night. Little did we know the adventure was just beginning.

Multiple Choice

2012-01-16T09:27:00.005Z

Here in Africa, one often encounters situations that are 'out of the norm' and the scenarios that run through a mind often resemble a multiple choice test question. Any given strange situation can be handled a number of ways.

Take our trip to Ghana over the Christmas break for instance...

What do you do when told by a grumpy power-tripping border guard that while your Togolese vehicle insurance is valid, you will not be allowed into Ghana because Togolese insurance is filled out differently than Ghanaian insurance. (Togolese insurance stays with the vehicle, not the owner. Even if the vehicle changes hands, the old insurance -- still under the old owner's name -- is valid for the new owner until it expires.)

A) Give up and try again tomorrow. It's already dark and it's been a frustrating hair-pulling experience just to get to the border anyways.
B) Reason with the official and explain that you would do insurance differently too, but you're not the one who makes the silly rules.
C) Burst into tears, tell the guard you just want to have the chance to see your family.
D) Demand to speak to his superior, as this guard is a serious piece of work. And you can see his boss blissfully eating dinner in the next room.

Check back on Wednesday to find out what happened!

The Vehicle Hunt - Part 3

2012-01-09T18:41:00.009Z

It didn't take us long to say yes -- there was no way we were going to let this car escape us again!

We agreed to look over the Land Cruiser one final time and, should everything go well, hand over the cash that very day at 10 a.m.

Hastily, we scrambled to scrape the money together and eagerly awaited the call from Robert that the vehicle was being driven over.

10.

10:15.

10:30. It's OK, it's Africa. There's traffic, delays. Things like this happen.

11.

12. We call Robert, and ask him what is going on.

"Oh, the owner's wife needed to do some shopping, so they took the Land Cruiser into town. They should be there very soon."

1.

2. Pins and needles. Waiting all day now. We call Robert again.

"The owner remembered that he still has the other man's deposit, and doesn't feel right about selling the vehicle while he still has the other man's money. He's called the other man, but he is not picking up. The owner has gone into town to look for him, so he can give him back his money."

3.

4. Nothing.

4:45. Robert calls. Good news, the deposit has been successfully returned!

But as it is now nearly 5 p.m., it is time to go home. Work for the day is finished, the man has gone home. What time can we meet tomorrow?

We agree to meet at 9 -- SHARP -- and hoped that the days events would not repeat themselves.

After many frustrated phone calls from Robert to the owner of the Land Cruiser, the chariot finally arrived. Each time he called, they were 'only five minutes away.'

They arrived at 9:45.

At 10:10 we made a list of repairs to be made -- all minor, thankfully -- a new mirror, new belts, pull some dents, make sure the hood stops sticking shut, rear seat belts, etc...

At 10:30, we handed over the cash to Robert, who, as the middle man, took the car to the government offices to start the paperwork.

At 1:00 p.m, we received word that the car was clear to be sold (ie, not stolen, not on any Interpol lists), and the transfer paperwork process had begun.

On Friday morning, the paperwork was all but complete, and most of the repairs were already done.

On Monday, with the new paint over the now-dentless surface dry, we rode off on Togo's windy, bumpy roads to Kpalime, a breathtakingly beautiful town surrounded by picturesque hills, cascading waterfalls and flurries of butterflies.

From there, we -- with quite a detour (stay tuned!) -- rode off into the Ghanaian sunset for what turned out to be one crazy, crazy trip to Ghana.

The Vehicle Hunt - Part 2

2011-12-28T18:08:00.001Z

Sold. The vehicle we had wavered back and forth about and finally decided to buy had sold just when we made up our mind. Ripped from our grasp.

We were disappointed but figured that there must be a reason this vehicle was taken from us -- perhaps there was a better one just around the corner.

So we kept looking for this better car.

We looked at a late 90's Rav4, which looked nice, but upon closer inspection we became convinced that this was not the car for us.

Keep in mind that in Africa, cars are not considered in need of repair until they will no longer move. So strange banging and clattering noise emanating from the engine compartment are of no concern whatsoever. In fact, the seller may dutifully inform you that the angry sounds show that the car is really, really powerful.

Labour is cheap, and paint is nearly as cheap. So often times you will find freshly repainted cars for sale. This Rav4 had been painted, of all colours, black. We asked the man why on earth he would paint a car in Africa black. He muttered something sheepishly and declined to comment, but the consensus we have reached is that black equals luxury, even if you will roast alive under the scorching blaze of the sun.

While a fresh coat of paint is nice to look at, we found you're probably better off getting a vehicle that has not been repainted, as paint is also seen as a way to hide any critical blemishes. Like rust. Most cars we looked at suffered from serious rust issues, but rather than dealing with the rust and plastering the problem spots, the rust had simply been painted over.

As mentioned before, details are not the forte of the locals. We were informed that this Rav4 was 4x4. It wasn't even all wheel drive. A quick look at the dash or under the rear wheels could have shown that. Either the seller thought that we would be blissfully unaware or was somehow ignorant of the matter himself. Sort of a scary thought.

So we declined the Rav4, lurching us back into the realm of no vehicle and no leads.

We racked our brains all weekend and after a good dose of kicking ourselves for not buying the Land Cruiser when we first had the chance, we decided to go back to the Port first thing Monday morning.

To our surprise, we did indeed find several candidates, including Land Cruisers, right off the bat. But just as with our previous Port experiences, what you see on the outside doesn't always reflect under the hood. One of the Land Cruisers, an 86 LJ70, had a decent engine, but lacked a single VIN number. All VIN plates and numbers were removed and scratched off. Hmm. But the price was right. Too right...

A second Land Cruiser also had the right price and looked great from far away. But the magic of paint only works from distances over 10 feet. Upon closer inspection it became very evident that there was lots and lots and lots of rust that had been simply painted over. The interior was also infested with black mould. No idea how that happens.

Looks good? Step a little closer and you'll see loads of rust and an interior covered in black mould. Yeech.

The prices we were being quoted were considerably less than in previous weeks -- and I'm sure it was because Natalie was along -- but with all the work that would still be required to make these vehicles safe, the cost was rapidly increasing well above the cost of the now-sold '87 Land Cruiser.

I'll admit it, old Land Cruisers are not the most attractive of vehicles. They're boxy, uncomplicated, and don't have power steering or air conditioning. So naturally, Natalie started paying more attention to the other prime candidate for us: a Rav4. Far more curvy, a lot newer and quite a bit more comfortable.

But one mishap with a Rav4 in one of the Port lots made Natalie, who was completely hooked on the idea of a Rav4, refuse to buy one.

One of the dealers was proudly showing Natalie the comfortable drivers seat as I listened to the engine. Unsatisfied, I told Natalie, who was sitting behind the wheel to turn the car off, which she did. After she got out, the dealer put the car into first gear, since the e-brake did not appear to be functional. We continued to look at the car for a few moments, just to be polite.

The dealer, who was now sitting in the passenger seat, reached over to remove the key, which became stuck. Instead of cautiously wiggling it, he recklessly flicked the key back and forth -- into the on position, causing the car -- which was still in first with the faulty e-brake on, to leap forward. Several workers jumped to safety, narrowly avoiding crushed limbs, but the car proceeded to plow into another parked car. The polished plastic bumper splintered and cracked, the hood bent out of shape and the red-faced dealer frantically explained that the damage was no problem and was easy to fix and the car was still a good deal for us.

Natalie turned to me with a solemn look on her face and said, "we are never going to get a Rav4. If a 5km per hour collision does this to the front end, imagine a highway collision."

I agreed wholeheartedly, making sure to mention that Land Cruisers have a real steel bumper.

Even though the Land Cruisers we saw were real pieces of work, we called Robert and asked him to look over them with us, and he agreed to do so on Tuesday.

Frustrated, but optimistic that one of the lemons we saw may turn out to be OK after all, we fell asleep knowing that Tuesday would be another day with many more cars to look at.

I awoke to my phone ringing. It was Robert.

"Hello," I mumbled, expecting him to say he could not make it to the Port after all.

"Remember that Land Cruiser I showed you? The one I said was very good, but you did not like because it was too old and too expensive? The one that you then decided you would like, but it had just sold?"

"Yes Robert," I said. What I meant was, 'really, you don't have to rub it in. We get it. We missed a great opportunity.'

"The man who bought the car could not find all of his money. The car is unsold."

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:51:00.001Z

Well, Christmas is nearly over.

But to be honest, there were only a few glimpses of Christmas for us. Everybody here in Togo gets all decked out for Christmas with laser beam artificial Christmas trees, way too many strings of lights, inflatable life-sized santa's sold by street vendors and BoneyM's 'Mary's Boy Child' playing on repeat day and night.

The Column du Paix, all lit up for Christmas. And we wondered why there was no power to our street lights...

Despite the festive atmosphere, there's no smell of the Christmas tree, none of Oma's amazing pastries, no turkey, no way to sit on the couch and just hang out with family..

Thankfully, there is Skype, so we've been able to stay in touch, but of course, it's still not quite the same.. So until we can spend a Christmas with you all again... know that we miss being near to you all. You mean the world to us. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and know that we wish we could celebrate with you!

Just so you know we're not entirely wallowing in despair: we are super grateful for some dear friends we've made and were able to spend Christmas with. Furthermore, to our surprise, there were some great Christmas concerts and even a German Christmas eve service! And the wonderful parcels from family and friends that arrived just in time for Christmas were also wonderful.

The Vehicle Hunt - Part 1

2011-12-23T13:38:00.005Z

You may remember we were dissuaded from buying a motorcycle after a series of not-so-nice motorcycle related events.

So, the hunt for four wheels began.

First off, it is important to note that here in Togo there are no online classifieds -- or reliable old-fashioned classifieds either, for that matter.

And as we soon found out, used car lots are not the place to buy a car.

One afternoon, Natalie, another teacher at the school who speaks French and I trekked out to a conglomeration of vehicles parked outside the vehicle registration office. Dealers will buy cars from the port, register them and sell them right outside the office.

We made several observations rather quickly.

Firstly, cars here are EXPENSIVE. North American or European blue book values mean nothing. Don't blink twice if asked to pay 10,000 USD for a rusted, battered mid-90's Toyota 4runner. Car values are determined by the availability of parts and how easy they are to repair. For example, Toyota is more expensive than Ford, Mercedes or BMW because parts are readily available and mechanics know how to fix Toyotas.

Secondly, dealers don't only avoid telling you faults; they will bold-faced lie when you show them a problem. The smoke pouring from the engine compartment moments after you fire up the vehicle? It is only because they changed the oil just before you came, and happened to spill some. There is oil/other engine fluids seeping and bubbling from engine block orifices? No problem, the vehicle will be just fine. That is normal. Stupid American knows nothing about cars. Trust us, this car is very strong and will last forever. But for you, special price. Only 3,800,000 CFA (approx. $7,500 USD.)

Needless to say, we enjoyed the experience of looking at the car conglomeration, but vowed not to buy one there.

Which left two options. The Port and Robert.

Now, The Port of Lomé is full of vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Numerous dealers (most who happen to be Lebanese) have massive storage lots crammed full of Mercedes', Reneaults, Peugeots, Fords, and most any other brand imaginable. These cars, I am told, are often the 'rejects' from North America and Europe that have failed emissions testing or were police seizures. I've even seen a few with VIN plates removed and any identifying numbers scratched off.

And should you find a vehicle you like, the price you will be quoted will likely be quite lucrative. But there is a catch. Cars in the port lots have not had their import tax/port fee paid. And at 52%, the tax makes the price of a car quickly skyrocket.

Furthermore, the mechanics at the port are even more crafty than those selling cars outside the registration office. We've been told that several people have had experiences where they will pour some sort of syrup in the engine to mask any rattling sounds. Of course, it will hold together for the test drive around the small lot, but once you pay up and take it out of the lot and drive a little faster -- the engine seizes. And there is no Better Business Bureau. Your loss.

The last option we had available to us is a mechanic named Robert. Over time, many of the teachers at the school have asked him to help them find a car, and he has developed a reputation for being able to find the car you want at quite a good price. As a bonus, he guarantees the vehicles for 6 months and takes care off all the government paperwork to boot.

So we consulted Robert and asked him to find us our vehicle: a two-door 4x4, preferably Toyota. Preferably mid-90's.

A few days later, with our lack of French and his limited English, he informed us that he had found us what we were looking for. He described it as being very much like another teachers' vehicle -- which was a 94 Land Cruiser Prado.

It was at this point we learned another quirk of local culture: prices are not discussed on the phone, at all. But we were told it was within our requested price range.

So the next afternoon, we agreed to meet at 3:00 at the school. At 4:45, he showed up with the vehicle. It was definitely not a 1994 model. This is another cultural quirk. Car models and manufacture years mean nothing. If it looks sort of like something else, it is.

In fact, this one was a 1987 Land Cruiser LJ70. Despite the age, the kilometres were low, and the engine was in remarkable condition. But Natalie had informed me that in no way was she interested in a vintage vehicle. Besides, the asking price was at the top of our range -- and this was a really, really, old car.

Disappointed, we looked a few other cars in and around town, but nothing but a bunch of lemons showed up. We reassured ourselves that surely, by Christmas we will find something.

Robert informed us that he had bargained the price of the vehicle down nearly a million CFA. It was lucrative, but still felt a little too much for our naive taste.

I went back to the Port with Robert to look at some of the other Land Cruisers we had seen, but all had either serious mechanical issues or were even more expensive than the Land Cruiser LJ70 he had shown us. We began to rethink our decision. Maybe the oldie-but-a goodie was the way to go.

Besides, Christmas was just over a week away. And we had another complication to consider: the potential devaluation of the currency, rumoured to take place on January 1. If we were holding on to millions of CFA, we could stand to lose a lot of money. Furthermore, the cost of cars would skyrocket.

And after discussing it with many of our friends one evening, we decided that though the price was still a little uncomfortable, it was in our best interest to buy something now. And a vehicle that was easy to fix, with very few electronics (the radio is the most complicated thing in it) and a great track record was the way to go.

So we called Robert and informed him that we would like to purchase the 1987 Land Cruiser after all.

"Oh, Mr. Daniel. The Land Cruiser was sold in the last hour."

Unique

2011-12-11T15:32:00.002Z

There are certain things we experience on a daily basis that are very much uniquely Togolese and definitely 'African.'

Supermarkets playing hits from the last decade with polished flooring and polite cueing at the deli counter are a far cry from the public 'marche's' here. You need vegetables or a bolt of fabric? Go to a market. You need electrical sockets or overpriced tourist trinkets? Go to a market. Used underwear or wheel barrows? Go to a market. Films still in theatre but somehow being sold on DVD? Go to a market. Live sea crabs next to a place selling used luggage? Go to a market. And you can do it all while being crushed alive by 2,000 strangers and just as many insane moto drivers eager to take out your knees. And whatever you do, don't step in puddles -- remember, there are no public washrooms.

African time. A concert is slated to start at 7:00pm? It probably won't get underway until 8:00 at the earliest. Church is supposed to end by noon? Maybe you'll get home by 3:00pm because the service doesn't end until 2:30pm.

Storms sneak up on you. What you thought was on the horizon will be on top of you in 2 minutes flat. And then it will rain sideways for good measure.

Night guards that sleep all night instead of guarding. Here the houses are assigned one night guard each. Many of these night guards are university students who are working to pay their way through school. Because of that if you drive around at night you will see many of them sleeping. Not napping but full out horizontally sleeping in front of your house.

Huge lines of ants in your kitchen or bathroom or living room or in the electrical sockets of your house. Just to comfort you, you may find out that they also live in the walls of your house.

Little children. Everywhere, all the time. Here they shout out 'yovo, yovo bonsoir' when they see you. Or they run away screaming because they have been told (usually by a parent in a moment of admonishment) that the Yovo will kidnap them.

Siesta time. Usually reserved for 1-3 in the afternoon when it is the most hot out, but given the chance, anyone will sleep anywhere. Even if they are the gas station attendant, selling veggies or are supposed to be building a road. Just chill and take a nap.

Substitutions for real things

2011-12-03T21:23:00.006Z

When packing the 6 suitcases of our earthly belongings in preparation for the move to Togo, there were a few things we really thought we would miss. But, thanks to technology, great supermarkets and some pleasant surprises, here are a few things we actually don't have to live without.

Family & Friends - Going a long time without seeing friends and family is tough, but having Skype sure makes a whole lot easier! The other night we had the chance to talk to both our sets of parents and even the grandparents all within 1 hour, even though they live in different provinces and were on the other side of the world.

Current North American TV programs. We are able to stay up to date by accessing streaming TV thanks to websites like sidereel and watchseries. Due to the slow internet connection shows take a few hours to load but we can usually watch them the day after they have aired back home. Some of our favorites right now include Canada's Worst Driver 7, Glee, NCIS La and The Mentalist.

Oma or mom's homemade canned peaches. Here peaches in a can taste gross. They are almost salty tasting. At omas house or moms house canned peaches are available even throughout the winter months and they taste great with ice cream. The other day we went to the import grocery store and found this peach compote in a can. Not having high hopes we bought one can of it and one week later, it was empty! It tastes almost like home and goes great on toast in yogurt and in smoothies. We'll have to try some of the other fruit compotes from this company.

Cheese. Since Togo is a former French colony there are many French foods one can find at the import grocery stores called Ramco and Champion. Smoked Gouda, cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss, parmesan, it's all here.

Nutella. D loves this stuff and I have weakness for it as well especially on freshly ripened finger bananas from the market.

Fresh bread. White bread, whole wheat bread, baguettes, flat bread, rye bread it all exists here. There are bakeries that sell this stuff as well as bicycle riding vendors who will drive by your house every morning with fresh bread in the boxes on the back of their bike.

Root beer. Its one of our favorite types of pop. While there are rumours of its existence at the US Embassy, we found it locally! The other day we were in Ramco and noticed this can of pop which claimed to be Sarsi flavour. It was imported from Malaysia and Sarsi turns out to be Short for sarsaparilla -- root beer! We are not ashamed to admit that we are hoarding quite a bit of the stuff.

Swimming. The strong current in the ocean makes swimming impossible or very, very dangerous at the beach. But there are plenty of places with swimming pools overlooking the ocean. You have to pay about $2-$5 but it is worth it. At the club the school owns D and I get to swim for free and, yes, it's lovely.

In Canada

2011-11-30T21:10:00.003Z

When we lived in Canada, there were a few things that we really did take for granted...

Kraft creamy peanut butter. We brought along one jar but we have already used a third of it. I know this type of peanut butter is all fake and mostly made of sugars and additives but it is my favorite type of peanut butter. Here one can get all natural peanut butter but I don't really like nuts and natural peanut butter is really really nutty and crunchy. With time perhaps I will adjust.

The first dusting of snow. I don't like cold and I really don't like winter but there is something magical with the first sprinkle of snow on the ground. Looking out in the winter to see the hills covered in white. Here the closest we get to having something resemble that first snowfall happens when we do not dust the house for 3 days.

Fast internet. Here Internet is slow. Painfully slow. pages with flash or many pictures take a long long time to load. There is slow internet or even slower internet here. We are grateful to have internet but should we ever have faster internet again, I hope I never complain about having Internet that takes less then five minutes to load Facebook.

Road rules. Some people may think traffic rules are in place only to irritate drivers. I would invite those people to come to Togo to see what happens when there are no real rules on the road. Turning signals are optional and can mean a variety of different things such as 'it is safe to pass, or don't pass me.' Usually you can stay safe if you remember the crucial rule: 'he who drives the largest vehicle will always win.' That and not all taxis are safe and their drivers aren't always sober. Even in the middle of the afternoon.

Two detentions for the price of one

2011-11-14T19:33:00.002Z

Homework detention is something that I don't have to deal with too frequently because I give very little homework to students. In fact, my middle school students have only had to do one small homework assignment and one project for music this entire term. So what happens if students do not hand in their homework? Well...they get a homework detention.

Homework detentions happen at lunch to give the student extra time to work on the homework that was due. So I usually assume if students haven't handed their homework it can only mean they want to spend their lunch hour with me. A few weeks ago one student didn't want to spend lunch with me, so he told me he was Muslim student and had to go to the school mosque for Friday prayers. Since this must have been a recent conversion (he had never said anything about it previously and his friends seemed as surprised at this announcement as I was) I decided to wait outside the school gate on the street near a few parked cars to keep an eye on the mosque. When students came out of the mosque and he didn't show up, I knew we had a problem and I began trying to figure out what my next step of action would be. When one of his friends yelled from across the school yard 'why are you hiding behind that car?' and the offending student took off running down the street, I knew this was a huge problem. Unfortunately for him (very fortunate for me as this happened within 2 seconds of the student sprinting full speed) his 6 ft something tall and football built form tutor (form tutors are similar to homeroom teachers here) was walking up that very street. The football built form tutor yelled out the offenders name so loudly that even the birds stopped singing out of fear. After a harsh talking to from the tutor, the student followed me to detention with his head hung low in despair. Not only did he get detention with me for the remainder of lunch, he also had to serve another one after school with his form tutor because of his actions.

TP

2011-11-12T15:50:00.001Z

Part of N's agreement with her school is that they provide housing. Very, very, nice, impressive housing. But just like all houses, things break or need repairing. The school takes care of all the maintenance at all 25+ of their houses and we must fill out 'work order request forms' whenever something needs repairing. And then wait.

Ever since we moved to this house, there has been a long list of things that need doing due to the previous tenant's lifestyle. Screens for the doors. Doors that actually close. Cupboards. Cupboards that don't fall over as soon as you put something in them.

The list has been getting shorter much quicker than we expected, but one thing that has been neglected is the toilet paper holder. I never knew how much I missed a simple fixture that holds a roll of chaffing, itch-inducing poorly recycled paper (now including bits of plastic for your wiping pleasure!)

After over a month of asking, one of the school's repairmen came over, and five minutes later, we finally had a toilet paper holder!!! No more twisting around, trying to find where it has rolled behind the toilet, only to find that the ants and cockroaches found it first...

Hopefully this month we can resolve the dozen dead power outlets, the bedroom door that won't stay shut, and maybe find a shower hose that doesn't leak all over the bathroom floor (leaving you ironically dry).

Two wheels or four?

2011-11-06T15:08:00.004Z

As many of you know, we packed along two motorcycle helmets in our luggage. We planned on purchasing a motorcycle to zip around town on. When required, the thought was D could use it when off on assignment as well. Small, cheap, blend in with the crowd, good on gas, easy to fix -- what could be wrong with that?

But our plans have since changed. We are now looking for a car -- here's why:

While vacationing in Benin, we got caught in a sudden torrential downpour. (Trees across the roads-wind pushing the rain sideways-roads turning into rivers-can't see five feet in front of my face rain.) Thankfully we were in a vehicle. Watching motorcyclists scramble like drowning rats for any semblance of shelter planted the first notion that perhaps a motorcycle might limit our travels.

About a week later, we had some shopping to do in downtown Lomé, so we hailed a cab here in 'la Caisse' (literally, 'the cashbox' -- an affectionate nickname for our neighbourhood.) Within two minutes we had veered into oncoming traffic a few times, nearly side-swiped some very expensive SUV's and almost taken off a few motorcyclists' legs.

Turns out our taxi driver was not only drunk out of his gourd, but one of his front wheels was about to fall off. We calmly asked him to pull over at the earliest opportunity. As we tried in vain to hail another cab, two thoughts crept into our minds. Firstly, not all taxi drivers (or their cabs) are reliable. Secondly, I wouldn't want to be a motorcyclist when that cabbie is still on the loose.

Eventually we made it to the Grande Marche, finished our shopping and caught a cab back to 'la Caisse.' The drive was uneventful, until we came up to the entrance to the neighbourhood. A car had struck several motorcyclists -- injured people laying on the ground, motorcycle bits strewn across the roadway, etc.

Before that horrifying scene had a chance to sink in, a clap of thunder and a smattering of rain reminded us to hurry the last block home.

We didn't make it. Just as in Benin, the rain which we thought was at least 15 minutes away was upon us in a flash. Crazy downpour. Again. Now we were the absolutely soaked rats.

As we stood on the flooded street, trying not to think of all the goodies mixed in the rain water swirling at our ankles and over D's nice Josef Siebel sandals, the last nail struck Mr. Motorcycle's coffin.

And now, the search for a car begins...

The street after the five minutes of rain that changed our mind.

Togo Tummy

2011-10-31T19:45:00.001Z

Well, it has finally arrived.

At first I figured that I had made it unscathed -- that somehow my innards were more fortuitous than the rest.

But thanks to some suspect prawns cleverly disguised in a scrumptious coconut-tomato sauce -- Togo Tummy has arrived.

At first, it was just a rumble in the distance followed by some awkward squirming.

But by this evening, I was sprinting toward any porcelain pot in sight.

And internal events can be influenced by external surroundings...

Whilst making my way toward the neighbourhood supermarche, Ramco, I began to notice the rumbling once again.

'It will be a quick shopping trip, nothing much -- just some deli meat, cheese and some cereal,' I reasoned.

I can control my functions for five minutes, right?

But unfortunately, Ramco has bone-chilling air-conditioning, which, as I found out immediately, speeds up time.

Three minutes later, Natalie was left to do the shopping on her own, whilst I bolted for the door.

Once outside in the sticky heat of the night, things settled down long enough for me to march home.

Also, Pepto Bismol is a great invention.

Half term break - Mini vacation in Benin

2011-10-21T12:04:00.001Z

Since it was half term break (a week long break similar to spring break except in the fall) Daniel and I decided to head to Benin for a few days.

We left on Sunday for the Grand Popo resort town where we walked along the beach drinking fresh coconut milk.

We would go for the occasional swim in the salt water pool, dry off and eat a delightful seafood meal on the veranda as we watched the sun set ober the beach.

Sound like something off a postcard? It truly was.

And if you are thinking hey that's sounds like my sort of vacation, Grand Popo is only about 2.5-3 hours drive from Lome, so if you are ever in the area we could head there for the weekend. :)

Since I come from a family that has difficulties just relaxing on vacations, we also took a few day trips out to a few different places including the stilt village on the lake called Genvie also known as the African Venice.

Genvie is a 20 minute motor boat ride from the outskirts of Benin's captial city Cotonou. The town of Genvie has a population of 18 000 people and was established because of the slave trade. Since certain slave trading tribes were afraid of the water, hiding in a stilt village became a way to avoid capture.

The trip would have been quite lovely, unfortunately, a man tried to appoint himself as our guide and rudely demanded we pay him an obscene amount of money. This sort of took away from the atmosphere of village life as he was on the boat with us the whole time.

It was still a beautiful scene to watch villagers dart between buildings on their pirogue boats.

The market in Genvie consisted of 20 women sitting in their pirogues selling fruits, vegetables and poultry.

Stilted schools held large audiences of children who would be picked up by boat and ferried to their various forms of houses.

There were three tourist shops in Genvie that we stopped at along with one hotel and two restaurants.

Instead of eating at the restaurants in Genvie we tried fried manioc balls (they look like a plain timbit but are salty and spicy instead of sweet) and finger bananas.

They held us over until a pre dinner snack at one of the most expensive resorts in all of West Africa.

The Casa de Papa in Ouidah is at the end of a road marked only by rows and rows of palm trees along the beach.

At the end of the sand road, you reach the resort, which costs $200 per night, has 3 swimming pools and the most expensive sandwiches we've encountered in West Africa. But they were good.

We headed back to our much cheaper accommodation in Grand Popo (with no TV at all, no swimming pool and more mosquitoes) for the night.

The next day D and I returned to Ouidah to explore the city some more, as it is home to relics of the slave trade and even some cool tourist traps.

We returned to the resort that night and began packing up. We ate one last seafood meal on the beach. After a dip in the pool the next morning as well as the chance to release 5 day old sea turtles back into the ocean, we began the relatively short trip back to Lome.

Overall it was a lovely trip. It was wonderful to get away to do some sightseeing, hang out with new friends and just relax on a beach. We both felt rested and refreshed ready to take on new adventures or return back to old ones. Here are a few pics:

Photos!

2011-10-15T18:19:00.001Z

It's been two weeks since I arrived in Togo, so I figured it is high time I share some photos on the blog.

It is now half-term break, so Natalie and I will be enjoying a much needed rest one country over in Benin!

When we get back, Natalie will be crazy busy preparing for all the Christmas performances, etc. while I work on a few stories for several clients. More on those at a later date... but rest assured I am very very busy and not at all bored!

For now, enjoy the photos!

We hung out with this young girl outside the local photo lab as we waited for some visa photos. Not a word from her, just a big smile.

The beach. You can't safely swim, but it is nice to sit and watch the waves.

It seems that every street is under construction.. massive detours everywhere!

Deep fried baby barracuda. Tender and tasty, mmmm.

This is our street.

One block away, the street to the president's house. For some reason, his streetlights always work!

The ice-cream man comes around on a bicycle here.. A good way to cool down for 30 cents. Unless it is the ice-cream vendor who comes by our house honking his horn at 7 am ... every morning. Who wants ice-cream that early?

'Hedzranawoe' is the 'dead white man' market where you can get any second hand (and some new) clothes or shoes you could possibly want. Most comes from Europe or N. America, and the nickname 'dead white man' is because the locals don't believe there is anything but death that would separate a white man from their clothes.

Lastly, enjoying Canadian Thanksgiving with friends at our place. Chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. mmm.

Religious controversy?!

2011-10-07T17:59:00.000Z

I have students that come from many different backgrounds and religious persuasions (real or perceived).

Today, a student told me that singing Bob Dylan's 'Blowing in the wind' was against their religion.

This sort of comment might not have come as such a surprise except for the fact that they were saying this while listening to American rapper lil Wayne's Ta Carter III album on their iPod.

6 weeks

2011-10-02T13:23:00.000Z

Well, after 6 long weeks, I arrived in Lome.

The plane touched down on the remarkably smooth tarmac, and the passengers began cheering, clapping and some even burst into song. I suppose a good landing deserves some praise!

After gathering all my carryon, which I believe weighed close to 50 lbs, almost all passengers were ushered onto a bus and driven to the arrivals terminal.

I say almost all passengers, because apparently if you are a dignitary, you can walk off the plane, and hop into your fancy sedan that pulls right onto the tarmac!

The doors to the arrivals 'hall' opens directly into the customs control area, which becomes instant chaos.

One must first find the one poor customs official handing out visa forms, which are exactly the same as the customary customs card filled out on the plane. But you must fill this one out as well.

Then, you must find the 'line' for customs, which does not exist.

So you shove your way to the front of what may or may not be a line and wait for a customs official to gesture in your direction.

If you beat all the others who think the official gestured at them, then you get to hand over your passport, vaccination card, boarding pass and of course -- cash.

Then you try to claim your baggage, where you will be promptly asked to show your boarding pass.

Another security officer will ask you to produce your visa, as you wait for your visa.

Two hours later, as you vie for a position in front of the single miniscule air conditioner (which shows that it has cooled the dark arrivals hall to a chilly 28 degrees), a customs official calls your name.

Then, just when you think you can leave, the security officer who asked you for your visa earlier now needs to verify that your baggage is indeed yours.

You may then proceed to the exit, where your baggage is screened.

Here you will find that you are carrying 'tres cher' of something and I must pay duty. My guess it was the 100 pack of dvd-r's and 25 pack of CD-R's in one of my bags.

Thankfully, the school representative is able to convince them that I will not be selling them illegally.

A 25-pack of DVD's would sell for around $50 US.

After a quick 10 minute drive, I am -- home.

Now just last week, Natalie was asked to move to make room for some incoming staff, so it has been crazy busy for her as well.

So, without further delay, here's a few photos of our new place (and some others..)

One more day...

2011-09-29T18:20:00.000Z

Tomorrow Daniel arrives in Togo. It will have been 6 weeks (44 days to be exact) since we waved goodbye to one another as I headed through security in the Vancouver airport. Since then, we have talked on Skype every 2 or 3 days depending on if internet was up in running. We have also written emails and the occasional text message, but, it's not quite the same as being in the same place at the same time.

I am so excited he'll be here at this time tomorrow. I am excited because he is my soundboard and I can bounce ideas off him about teaching, about learning and adjusting to life here in Togo. I am excited because this house won't always be empty when I come home now. I am excited because he will see this place through new eyes and not be stuck in the house-work-house-work rut I seem to be in these days. I am excited because he'll be bringing a taste of home with him in the form of maple fudge. I am excited because he will have pictures with him that we can put up on the walls of people back home. I am excited because 44 days is a long time to be away from my best friend.

The past few weeks have reminded me of a quote I heard sometime in a place somewhere that goes "the days are long but the years are short." Some days have felt very long the past 6 weeks. Some days have felt like weeks. And I know just like today, tomorrow will feel like a very long day but it will get here as soon as it can... So until tomorrow I wait and I whisper "only one more day..."

Cute things they say

2011-09-26T18:47:00.000Z

"Ms.Kober that flower in your hair is lovely and you are lovely." 5 year old girl in my year 1 class

"Ms.Kober I still remember what you taught us in class and I taught it to my brother too. If he is too noisy I say 1-2 he goes eyes on you. I say 3-4 he says talk no more." older sister in year 3

"Ms. Kober my foots just had to dance." 4 year old preschooler describing what happened while he was walking into the music room and I had fiddle music playing in the background.

"I didn't know which song to pick because there were so many good ones, so I brought 5 of them" year 8 student for music analysis project

"Ms.Kober why do all Canadian women have a different last name than their husbands? That doesn't ever happen in Nigeria!" year 9 student after he found out I was married and my husband had a completely different last name.

Caught you!

2011-09-22T22:32:00.000Z

Ther are somethings in life we can look back on and laugh though at the time they may not be very funny. Case and point comes from one of my junior high classes this morning. I had given an assignment for students to give me a blurb on who who Bob Dylan was and about the music he wrote. Today many of them handed in the assignment neatly typpictures few pictures. I was excited to see they had taken the project so seriously. then I began reading. I was very impressed with one students writing style in particular as I read the assignment. I hadn't been aware that they were able to write so well. That was until 3 assignments later I found one of the exact same sentences word for word. Then in another assignment. Being the sleuth that I am, I typed the sentence into google and wouldn't you know it the biography I found at biography.com had all the same sentences as this assignment. I then had to check the other handwritten assignments only to realize that students had copied out entire sections from the Wikipedia article on Bob Dylan. So tomorrow we were suppose to sing and get a start on the big assignment that is coming up, but now I have to spend it talking about plagiarism. *sigh* so goes life I suppose.

In other news, I had a student come up to me and ask if he could design a web site for the music department. I was thrilled of course as I haven't gotten around to setting anything up myself yet and there was nothing in place from previous years which had meant I would have had to start from scratch and with evring else going on i wasn sure how I was going to manage adding yet another thing to my plate but now all is taken care of. Since it is a project for school I will get to be his client for the entire year so if any changes need to be made or anything needs to be added, I just have to ask and it will be done :)

Battle with the ants

2011-09-18T12:24:00.000Z

Ants here get in everything! This morning I woke up to find a hundreds of tiny ants in a huge line crawling out from the close lid garbage can, across the tiled floor, up the wall and out a small hole near the window. The craziest part to this story is that I had just thrown away a cookie wrapper not even 30 minutes beforehand...

I can't leave dishes out on the counter for any length of time as the ants will come marching in to tidy up all my crumbs. I don't want to declare war on these creatures as they outnumber me by at least 1000 but may not be left with any other option... I already store my sugar, cookies and peanut butter in the fridge to keep them out!

A fantastic Friday

2011-09-16T21:00:00.000Z

Today was a fantastic day. It was a day where I was reminded about how much I love teaching. Since the beginning of my week holds all my prep times Thursdays and Fridays are my longest and busiest days. By the end of the week I am exhausted but not today. Today was a fantastic day. It seems that my connection with the middle school students is really starting to take form. The students are becoming more interested in music which makes my job so much easier. We currently are working through a unit which draws on numerous musicians throughout history including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Stravinsky, Wagner, Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga to name a few. How will it all come together? We will see. Since there is a serious lack in musical instruments in the music department at this moment in time, we are currently working on analyzing different types of music as well as singing. what will the final product look like? We will have to wait and see.

The day finished with primary movie night where I had the chance to watch the movie Rio with a bunch of primary students. If ever you want to see a kids film make sure you watch it with kids around. Their giggles of delight, gasps of horror and running commentary can really add to the atmosphere of the film. Watching it made me miss someone though... Dearly!

Daniel will be here in exactly 1 week, 6 days, 21 hours and 9 minutes from this point in time. I will say that this six week separation feels more like ten years than a mere 44 days. Absence may make the heart grow fonder but it sucks! I can't wait until my best friend arrives and walks off that plane. Life isn't quite the same without him here. Skype helps a bit but it is not the same.

If there is is time I will update more later this weekend on how things have come together in the music room storage closet, how I spend my weekends and life outside the after community.

First week of school

2011-09-10T10:01:00.000Z

Job description of this week in my own words:

Teach students music between the ages of 3 to 15. Sometimes this may mean having a class of 4 year olds follwed by the lass of 15 year olds with no time in between to prepare the room. Sign up to run one club a week after school. Teach year one students science, art and geography 3 afternoons a week. Show up for evening homework prep with the boarding students. These students may require help with their homework in any subject including chemistry or physics, so if they ask a question regarding anything maths related, smile and tell them good luck with that. Meet up with the private music teachers to discuss after school lessons. Attend weekly staff meetings two mornings a week. Remember to meet with the entire primary department and then run to the arts faculty meeting to discuss music timetable. Plan with lower primary teachers after school the following day. When timetable begins feeling normal, receive a new timetable which switches all the teen students lesson times so now they come to music first class every morning of the week. Clean out the instrument storage closet mourning the loss of many vandalized instruments. Leave school at 5:30 on Friday to go home and collapse into bed.

It was a very busy first week. Teaching is tiring but overall it is pretty great. I get a constant supply of hugs from the little preschoolers and hellos/ high fives from the elementary students. I had the chance to empathize with a few of the older primary students who were feeling huge waves of homesickness. Thursday evening a bunch of my junior students came by just to say hi because the light was on in the music room after 5:00. Two senior students even came by to practice their guitars while I was cleaning out the storage closet bringing music into my silent music room (my cd player broke on wednesday and I have not yet received a replacement). It's these moments that help me remember why I decided to become a teacher...

The Kittens!

2011-09-04T15:00:00.000Z

Originally, I was just going to send this to Natalie (yes, this is Daniel posting again... You thought Natalie had lost it already and was talking in third person due to cerebral malaria or something, right?) but since everybody loves kittens, here you go.

These are our old landlord's fairly new kittens, which Natalie hasn't seen since she left. Last she saw them they could barely walk. Now they're prancing about and showing off their cute belly spots. Awwwwwww.

Music room Makeover

2011-09-03T12:02:00.000Z

Here are pictures of the music room following it's radical transformation. Thirty hours later and 5 huge recycling/garbag bags later this is what was left. There are only 2 shelves buried in one of the closets that I need to sort and organize now, but, in the meantime those can wait for awhile.

Music room makeover before

2011-09-03T11:50:00.000Z

So here are a few pictures of the music room before I got it ready for day one. To be fair I didn't find it like this. Instead I found it with piles and piles of paperwork stacked almost a meter high on every table and paperwork/instruments crammed into every possible inch of shelving space. I ahd one week to prep it. See the transformation after 30 hours of hard labour.

Internet and interesting computer quirks

2011-09-03T09:07:00.000Z

Today I am very thankful that the Internet problems were all sorted out yesterday and now we have wireless Internet at the house. After living 2 weeks without it, it feels like quite a luxury to use my IPad to talk to from the comfort of the couch in living room, as oppose to the concrete step outside the ict room at school at 11:00 at night.

My Dell laptop has been acting up these days though. Whenever it is plugged into the wall (via the charger, surge protector, adapter/converter) the touch mouse acts up. It acts as though the left mouse button is stuck so my mouse arrow will click on everything it passes as I drag it along the screen. For the first few days I didn't make the connection that it only happened when it was plugged in so I was ready to throw my Dell in the rubbish bin as it was so frustrating to try and get anything done. But now that I know I just charge it at night and use it with only it's battery during the day when I need it.

Goodbye, old house

2011-08-31T02:06:00.001Z

Hello, Internet world. This is Daniel here. So far, Natalie has been doing the posting, and so as to not startle and confuse you too much -- I thought it prudent to let you know who was typing. You've been warned -- er, notified.

So yesterday I went back to our 'old home' in Kelowna one last time to hand back the keys to our wonderful landlords. They truly were the best close-proximity neighbours one could ask for. From the baskets of fresh garden produce left on our doorstep, to the hours spent playing with their cat (and now kittens!) it really was a blessing to have lived in such a great place. Not to mention, the view from our front door... and the fact that we were next to rolling cherry and apple orchards as far as the eye could see.

But when I was there yesterday, our old home was just an empty house. I can't wait to head on over to Togo to turn our new house into a home.

The first night

2011-08-28T16:04:00.002Z

As promised here is an update of what happened after I got off the plane, gathered all my luggage and was dropped off at our new 3 bedroom house. There is a green gate that is covered with a variety of vines that mark the front enterance. When you walk through the front door you enter the living room and dining area of the house. To the left there is a hallway with three bedrooms and the main bathroom. To the right you,ll find the kitchen. Inside the fridge there were pinapples, oranges, tomatoes, lettuce, eggs, milk, bread, drinking water and Gouda cheese!

I spent the first night unpacking until about 10:00 when I tried to sleep. Of course the 7 hour time difference is quite large so I was unsuccessful for most of the night. In our back yard there is a group of animals that like to party until the wee hours of the morning. Some of the animals I hear were fruit bats the others I still have not figured out. Unfortunately that first night I was convinced they were rats. As many of you know I am terrified of rats. This is not helped by all the stories I have heard coming from other parts of Africa where rats snack on human ears, feet and noses. Needless to say the next morning I looked terrible.

On a side note in the villages bush rat is quite a delicacy. Bush rats can grow to be as big as house cats here! I wish I would have gotten a picture of one that aman was trying to sell at th side of the rd but he was looking to sell it not have tourists takes pictures of his prized catch.

More to come...

Update

2011-08-28T16:04:00.001Z

With Internet down at the house this whole week, I have only able to update and check my email from school. this entry will be short with a long one to appear in the next few days.

I made it to Togo safely with all carryons and luggage pieces. Nothing was lost or misplaced though it was close because a week before I left Canada I forgot a folder of very important documents on a connecting flight from Vancouver to Edmonton. Thankfully the flight attendants were able to track it down and run it to us before we took off.

Here is a picture of what the front entrance looks like at our new house.

Happy birthday to me

2011-08-27T11:15:00.000Z

A week after getting to Togo I had the chance to celebrate my birthday here. It didn't really feel like a birthday at first as there were meetings all day long. After leaving meetings at 3:00 I still had to go to the music room to tidy up. By around 6:00 I went home exhausted. I hadn't told anyone it was my birthday so I was quite homesick to be at home celebrating with family and friends. Maybe heading to kelly o!s or doing a free birthday day (this is when d and i circle all the places that offer free birthday meals or birthday drinks or birthday gifts)
Later that evening I headed to the jazz club with all the new teachers. I let one person know that today was the day I was turning 26 and then everyone began wishing and congratulating. Happy Birthday was then sang a number of times even in various musical styles by the jazz band. Overall it was a nice evening.
I had the experience of eating frog legs and barracuda for dinner with fanta and chocolate mousse for dessert.
Now I am 26. I still feel like 25 but celebrating a 26th birthday in Africa was not so bad at all.

Travel status

2011-08-18T16:50:00.000Z

Currently in London at an internet cafe with other travellers sitting all around me from various parts of the world. I am pretty tired as I am unable to sleep on flights, unless I have a window seat to lay my head against otherwise I am unable to get comfortable. I think I slept 1 hour on the plane in total. Since I have been carrying my 3 suitcases around the airport and up the stairs in the hotel, I am really tired! After I get to the final destination I will have D post a picture with me and all my luggage. It is quite amusing or embarrassing depending on who you talk to. My siblings keep insisting that travelling with a fanny-pack is never cool. So I am not travelling with one fanny pack no instead I have two fanny packs for this journey!

Tomorrows day may start off more hurried and difficult than today did unless I meet some people who are going the same flight path then it may be a bit simpler. The morning begins at 5:00am. I'll arrive in Togo tomorrow at around dinner time...

A goodbye tribute

2011-08-14T11:55:00.000Z

I wrote this next piece on the way back from my hometown while sitting on the bus in the Okanagan. There are a bunch of goodbyes I have had to say over the past couple days so please bear with me and the drama.

Goodbye house. You have been such a great place to live. We have many memories that we will hold dear to our hearts because of you. Thank you for being spacious and accommodating when we had people over. Thank you you for having all that cupboard space in the kitchen and a bath tub in the bathroom. We were so happy to live above ground and bask in the light from your many windows. You not having air conditioning has actually helped prepare us for Togo's climate. We will miss you.

Goodbye car. You were such a good car! So good in fact, that, it was hard to see you get towed away (even though it was by that good organization that helps people). You were my first car and you were given to me by opa. For seven years you drove me around to all the places I needed to be. We went everywhere together from the pacific ocean to the prairies, the north okanagn to the south, in winter and in summer. You drove others around to the places they needed to go and even experienced a few road trips with good friends. Thank you for all those memories.

Goodbye cabin. Every time we were together I knew that summer had officially began. Leaving you always meant that fall was fast approaching along withball it's changes including school, relocating etc. I have so many memories with you that I treasure. You welcomed so many people onto your dock over the years including dear friends and aging family members. The sleepovers with the cousins in the pink room and on the covered deck were something all of us looked forward too. The stories we will take with us are numerous. Know that we are looking forward ito a time when we can come to you again.

Goodbye Toby the dog. I never got to say a real goodbye to you or hug you one last time. You are the best dog a girl could have asked for even for a girl who is more a cat person than a dog person. Thank you for always being so excited to see me whenever I came home to visit especially after a hard day somewhere else. Please Keep mom & dad company while we are gone. You are a good dog Toby and know I will miss you a great deal.

Goodbye Tommy the cat. Alas you were the landlord's cat but, you became our cat too while we were at the house. You were so friendly & playful. You also did a fantastic job keeping the mice away which we really appreciated. You make a great mommy and know we will miss your two kittens too. They provided endless hours of entertainment these past few weeks.

Goodbye violin (also known as my baby). Dearest violin where will I be without you? We have played so much music together over the years. You were with me through symphonies, orchestras and all around the world You know that I would love to take you with me but I can not. It is safer for you here than it would be there's especially with the climate and humidity differences. You will not be forgotten. I know that my fingers will still know how to play when I get back as I am taking your cousin along. Take care of yourself dear friend.

Goodbye fast Internet connection. One doesn't realize what they have have until it's gone and that is how I feel about you. Over time we have become so comfortable with one another. I rely on you everyday and you almost always come through for me which is why I am having a difficult time imagining life without you. In Africa things just won't be the same without you. I won't be able to load YouTube videos at the same speed as I could before, streaming movies will be out of the question as well. The good news is those very annoying video ads will no longer be able to work where we are going.

Bittersweet

2011-08-02T20:12:00.000Z

The countdown is drawing to a close fairly quickly here. In exactly 17 days I will be landing in Togo. That being said there are only 15 more days before I leave Canada and only 9 more days until I leave the Okanagan.

How am I feeling about this? Well it really depends on the day.

A majority of this past weekend was spent out at the cabin with family and friends laughing, speaking german, eating junk food by the handfuls, sunathing til we all turn red and swimming in the freezing cold water to cool off. I treasure this time.

I find myself trying to take snapshots with my mind so the memories stay with me for the next two years. Its interesting that I say this now because years ago I would not have really made an effort to remember all these little moments.

Sometimes we don't know how precious life is until we are faced with it not being quite the same way it always has been. What I am trying to say is that as time carries on I appreciate how important family and friends are.

Up until recently you would have never heard me say that I experience homesickness. In fact when I left for Africa the first time I did not feel sad at all. Perhaps that was I knew that 3 months was short term and quite temporary so not too much could change in that amount of time. I would get to see everyone again soon enough. Fast forward to Christmas 2 years ago when I was away from home for the first time during an important family time, I felt so homesick it almost hurt to breath during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I was close to tears because there is comfort in familiarity and community and I really missed the community that has been apart of my life
since I was small. Now it wasn't that I was in a place with no people, there were people there just not all the people I had grown up with or felt familiar with. Will I expereince the sme feeling in Togo? I would imagine yes whenever there is a wedding/anniversary/birthday/celebration I can't be at.

I will miss those familiar faces and the traditions that come with such events. As time goes on I realize that those events are also changing. When I come back things will not be the same as before I left as change is inevitable. This makes me sad too. Like I said earlier there is comfort in the familiar. As much as I love adventure and I can't wait to get back to African soil where I will have the chance to experience new things and make new friends a part of me can't help but feel sad.

Leaving is really bittersweet...

Exhilified

2011-07-18T22:44:00.000Z

I have been trying to come up with an exact word that describes how I am feeling about moving around the world to Togo, starting a new job as a teacher in one months time.

Today I found that perfect word when I was at the university talking with someone in the education faculty. I had been saying that I felt a mix of emotions like excitement, fear, happiness and sadness. She asked if perhaps the word I was looking for was Exhilified a combination of exhilarated and terrified all at the same time. Indeed that is the word I have been looking for. Leaving Canada will be bittersweet but I can't help but feel exhilified!

Small Group Thank You

2011-07-16T04:55:00.001Z

With help from our small group D & I were able to purchase an iPad to help lighten our suitcase load. How is it helping? Well it currently holds 35 books on it. That is at least 20 lbs of extra weight we can cram into our suitcases.

Besides the extra added space in the suitcase, this gadget will also be able to help me in the music classroom by acting as an accompanist while I teach. I can also record students voices on it and play it back to them. As to what else it can do I -- am finding out more everyday.

Mock Pack #1

2011-07-13T15:44:00.000Z

So the other night D and I did a mock pack trying to see how much we could fit into my 2 suitcases. We have 5 rubbermaid bins full of stuff we are trying to take in only 4-5 suitcases. The bins are divided up into different categories:

Music teaching resources/materials which includes a few music instruments as well
Kindergarten resources/materials mainly kids books, stickers, art supplies and a book on art projects
Clothing all durable 100% cotton (or as close to that as possible) & good quality shoes
Comfort stuff which includes food items like Sheriff lemon meringue pie filling or our favourite Shampoo from Lush
Tech & Camera equipment
Miscellaneous items including small dolls for little girls, motorcycle helmuts, thank you cards and Canadian flags

We only packed 2 suitcases one was already 16 lbs overweight while the other was 6 underweight. Due to the airlines I am flying I am only allowed 2 suitcases. I am trying my best not to be overweight on any of them as I will be charged an arm and leg for doing that. So how are we going to fit everything? I have no idea. We already had to sort out things that we don't really desperately need from things we can't live without. Do I really need Kraft peanut butter? I guess not but I still would like some.

Another Blog

2011-07-12T15:59:00.000Z

Came across another teaching/Africa blog worth mentioning. The writer has since moved on to other places but I find myself relating to what is being said even though I have never been to Malawi. Here is my most favourite thought which comes from one of her last blog posts entitled Home. The last post has been written 5 months after her return back to the States after being in Malawi for a year.

Now that the dust has settled, my year in Malawi feels dislocated in my memory. It is as if my brain compartmentalized itself into American life and Malawian life... With the benefit of hindsight, I now recognize that when I left Malawi I also left behind a part of myself, a part that I hope to, with time and due diligence, incorporate back into my life.

http://jessemcv.blogspot.com/

Pack lists

2011-07-05T23:29:00.000Z

I am a list person! I make lists while I am waiting at appointments or in restaurants. I use scrap pieces of paper, notebooks or posterboard if the lists require more room. Right now on our fridge there is a large posterboard to help us figure out what we still need to do before moving day in 40 days.

The pink poster holding 6 sheets of legal size paper is appropriately titled "To Go to Togo" it takes up the entire front part of our fridge. Since D and I are both visual learners, it helps us see just how much we still have to do before we leave. Some days I get to check off one or two items on this gigantic list. Other days I only add things. Whenever I add more than two things I get frustrated because the list seems to be growing as oppose to shrinking. It is during those times that I need to remember a wise piece of wisdom someone once told me:

make a list full of things you have already done so as not to get overwhelmed with all the stuff that still needs to be done.

I agree wholeheartedly with this statement which is why you will see certain things penciled in and checked off after they have already happened (such as graduation or go to the mall to check prices or plan goodbye parties).

So how do we know what we need to do and how can we make sure we don't forget anything? I came across this website here www.helpiammoving.com

It breaks down tasks about 12 weeks before an international departure down to moving day. It has been really helpful in giving us an outline of what needs to happen when. Since Daniel is staying here an extra month to wrap up the business he can also take care of any miscellaneous items that come up. We vacate our place at the end of August so there will not be too much for him to have to take care of.

Resources

2011-06-19T22:29:00.000Z

One of the most valuable resources in my quest for a job was a website called International School Review. It costs $30 a year but the information on there was/is very helpful. With the help of ISR I was able to narrow down some of my options after interviews when the job offers came in.

I was given the chance to talk with one of the founders of the website in person over coffee. The person's stories and experiences were memorable. The advice I was given was fantastic. Some of it as basic as "Buy good quality 100% cotton clothing for the hot and humid climate or you'll regret it. Make sure it's good quality so if it is handled by roughly by someone washing your clothes it won't end up in shreds after being worn 3x" and "Pack picture books. Regardless what the language capabilities are of your students everyone will be able to understand with the pictures" or "Does the school have an evacuation policy in place? Make sure you ask before you go." The person also looked over the sample contract the school sent me. With their help additions that may need to be added to the contract and what questions I may want to ask the director before I accepted the job.

Another Ending

2011-06-16T05:54:00.000Z

Today was my last day of teaching violin here in Canada after 10 years. It was a day of mixed emotions that stirred many meories from two years ago.

Two years ago I was twirling around on a swing in a park after year end violin recital picnic with my violin students and their families. Everyone had left so I was all alone with my thoughts. I remember feeling deep sadness. I loved teaching violin. All the families I taught were fantastic but it was time to move into the next part of life-finishing my teaching degree. Even though I was excited to go back to school I questioned if this was the right decision. Music was my life. I had been teaching some of these violin students since they were little ones and now they were entering their teen years. I had poured my heart and soul into these students and now it was time to let go of many of them. While sitting on that swing I learned that letting go can be really really hard.

During my teaching practicums I was positive that it wouldn't be hard at all to leave and let go. I told myself that it would get easier every time but at the end of the practicum I would realize it's still not getting any easier. I still feel sad. Sometimes I am envious of people who are able to separate themselves and not get attached to their students but in other ways I know that I won't be like that no matter how hard I try. That's why today is hard for me.

I am so glad I get to live out my dream and teach. My job is the best in the world as I have the privilege of watching little people grow and learn. But they are not the only ones learning. Even though I am the one teaching I still learn from every one of my students. I have learned so much from every single one of them.

And for that I must say 'Thank you'. Thank you to all my violin students. You are all amazing and you have helped me become a better teacher. And it must be said as well thank you parents. Without you none of this would be possible. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...

How to pack for Africa- When people want to donate & you have an extra suitcase

2011-06-15T22:35:00.000Z

When I went to Uganda the people I was staying with sent along a list of items that would be helpful or good to bring along since I was working with kids. Since I knew a lot of people with big hearts everyone wanted to give something along (even my little violin students went around their neighbourhood doing a bottle drive to raise money for the kids in Uganda) I was very touched by everyone's generousity. So what did I ask people to donate?

Items that are very useful & helpful if you are working with kids
-scissors
-pens
-pencil crayons
-felt pens
-stickers**
-hats for children
-bubble wands/bubble containers
-construction paper
-card stock paper
-pencil sharpeners**
-single and long skipping ropes
-deflated small size 3 or size 4 soccer balls**
-individually wrapped candies (not suckers or gum)**

Any of the starred items are fantastic. Stickers are light and easy to pack. Kids love them. Pencil sharpeneres are alot safer than the machetes or razor blades that some of the school aged little ones use to sharpen their pencils. Soccer balls are loved by all. Bring a few of these and make whole villages/schools happy. They will be even more excited when you give a pump to go with the ball. Individually wrapped candies are always a treat for adults and children alike. I know they may not be the healthiest of options but as long as kids don't eat them everyday their entire lives their teeth should be okay.

Grad & Goals

2011-06-10T06:31:00.000Z

In my grade 7 Grad writeup I penned one Future Goal: to graduate from university. I decided that I would be a teacher when I was 10 and had already looked into what I would have to do to become one, so this is where this goal was born.

Seven years after starting into the post-secondary world it is finished! I graduated with my B.Ed in hand today at 3:00. While walking into the gym where they have the ceremony I felt a tear trickle from the corner of eye because I had finally made it. I could have finished my degree sooner but I took a year off after high school to be sure of what I wanted to do. Then once I entered university I decided to only take 4 classes instead of the normal 5 per semester so I could continue to teach violin on the side while going to school. It was a good choice for me that led to me taking a year off in between my arts courses and the education program. This is why 7 years later I am finally finished.

I have learned much both in school and out but am looking forward to the next chapter in life where I get to teach in my own classroom...

Here are a few things I have learned from university
-All-nighters are not fun especially when spent on English papers due at 8:30 the next morning
-Profs can make or break an interest in a certain subject
-Taking a three hour class in the evening after a full day of classes from someone who is extremely monotone should be considered a form of torture
-When taking classes that are exceptionally boring remember to file the experience away in the how not to teach category in my brain
-Having an excellent proof reader is a HUGE asset during essay season (Thank you Daniel, Dad and Lenna)
-Waiting to do projects or papers until the last minute stresses out me AND the proofreader
-The library has DVD's you can rent when your brain feels to overwhelmed to study
-It is not wise to rent more than 5 DVD's a day before a final exam worth more than 60% of your mark
-Park at the mall and take the bus to school. You will save tons on parking!
-When riding the bus to school read your text book right before class. It will help you during class discussions and make you sound really knowledgeable
-Popcorn can make for a great dinner if projects are due at midnight
-The best way to learn a language is through immersion
-Too much stress will cause you to get sick more often
-I won't get sick during school usually but almost always get sick during holiday time or long weekends :P
-A strong support group makes all the difference!

Things that I am looking Forward too

2011-06-05T04:17:00.000Z

So with the last post ending on a bit of sad note I am going to pick things up by talking about things I am looking forward too when arriving in Africa.

-The excitement that comes with bartering
-Conversing in French (meaning my speaking skills would have to improve)
-Learning how to drive a Moto
-Finding postcards to send home to family and friends
-The warm weather (average 32 degress Celsius)
-Living near the ocean
-Eating lobster and crab on a regular basis
-Getting to teach in a classroom
-Eating ripened papayas right off the tree
-Getting to teach music
-Exploring a different place every few weekends or during the holidays
-Meeting new people & making new friends
-The long growing season which will enable us to get into gardening
-The slower pace of life
-Getting to go to a village (or 10) again
-Kids being everywhere
-Spending time with D (here because of work it seems we have very different schedules quite often)
-The smell (some people can't stand it but there is something familiar about it)
-Learning how to play the drums better
-Getting to wear bright coloured clothing all the time (I know I could do that here but its not quite the same)
-The potential for traveling
-Having a 3 bedroom villa to call home
-Getting care packages in the mail :)
-Seeing all the amazing projects D will get to be a part of
-Wearing my new clothes that have been packed away in my suitcase until I get to Togo

Those are just a few I can think of right now. I will add more as time goes on.

Things that will be Missed

2011-06-03T04:06:00.000Z

D started making a photo album on facebook called 'Reminders.' The album is full of a series of pictures that remind us of what we are going to miss from here in Canada. I won't attach the pictures here but will just list off a few of the big ones:

-Meeting up with friends
-Long chat with Opa
-Visiting various coffee shops the small town ones and the bigger names too
-Certain fruit/veggies- cherries, plums, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, nectarines, peaches, apricots, apples, asparagus
-Being a pretty close drive away from family
-Cheeseburgers
-Small group meetings on Thursday
-Sub sandwiches
-German Potlucks at church
-Symphony concerts
-Libraries full of English books
-Tea with the omas
-Family birthday parties
-Teacher resource stores or the 50% off Scholastic days
-The beautiful beaches with water that is swim-able
-Red licorice
-Tobey the dog
-Tommy the cat
-The little black Honda
-My Chevy cavalier
-Purdy's cream eggs (only available during Easter)
-Ice cream sundaes from DQ
-Fast & steady internet connections
-The times spent at the cabin on the lake
-2nd hand stores
-Weekend getaways with the brothers and sisters
-Snowshoeing
-Drinking water straight from a tap or water fountain
-Garage sales
-Birthday dinners at Kelly O's

Lists

2011-05-28T20:20:00.000Z

Right now on our fridge sits a large poster paper detailing all the things that need to be done before we leave. The list grows longer by the day and a part of me worries about finding time to get everything done.

I came across a website online that broke down week to week of what should happen if you are planning an international move. Right now looks something like this:

Organize, sort, sell, pack or throw out items that you will not be taking overseas.

We had a garage sale last weekend to sell most of our furniture and items we were not using or going to be needing for much longer. The house looks like a hurricane went through it a now we are sorting everything from inside out. It is a long arduous process. We need to have everything organized by June 10 as we have a Goodbye/Grad Party here on the 12.

Give the house a good thorough cleaning so that when D moves out it isn't as tedious a chore.

Take care of all the necessary paperwork (passports, banking, billing, cellphones, cars, etc.)

Spend as much time with family and friends as possible before leaving. Get those family projects done and clean out room at the parents house.

Purchase items needed for time away. Get packing materials together.

Observe various teacher teaching to get ideas to bring to Togo.

This is a sample of the list. It looks quite short as all of it appears quite vague in reality it is taking up an entire poster board and then some. I love checking things off and will admit that if I do something for Togo that is not on the list I will add it to the list just so I can see another check mark and feel slightly more at ease.

The dust of Africa...

2011-05-27T04:51:00.000Z

"The dust of Africa never leaves the soles of your feet..." Angoni tribal proverb

These days when people ask what draws me to Africa and in particular Togo I don't really know what to say. But then I remember the quote above. The dust of Africa never leaves the soles of your feet...

Africa was etched into my heart when I was 10. This happened after hearing an older man speak about his adventures all around Africa one Sunday night during a church service. His stories about courageous people inspired me, his tales of adventure captured my restless spirit and I became hooked from that moment on. In 2006 I had the opportunity to go to Uganda for 3 months to volunteer my time with various childrens' programs. My experience there can only be described as amazing. I met many new friends and got to live through adventure after adventure day in and day out. Whether in the village or in the big city there was so much I could do. I would go home every night with a sense of fufillment and purpose because what I did mattered. There was never a dull moment. Leaving Uganda to return back home was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do and I cried the entire 30 hour trip home.

"It was only my second night in Africa, yet something had began to grow inside me, as if my childhood dreams had finally found a place where they could materialize. I had arrived where I was always meant to be. I was certain without any shadow of a doubt that it was here I wanted to live. I was in love with Africa."
Kuki Gallmann, I Dreamed of Africa

Since my return it is as if my heart stayed in Africa while I had to contiue on with life here. It has been so wonderful getting the chance to spend more time with family and friends here these past few years, but I still eagerly await my return to African soil. Perhaps I am still in the honeymoon phase in my love affair with Africa and one day reality will come crashing down around me, but until that day comes I go back to savour every moment, every new friendship and every expereince I encounter.

Blogs and Books

2011-05-22T20:08:00.000Z

Just finished reading a book called Letters from Togo even though it was written back in 1983-1984 reading it brought me back to Africa. I enjoyed the descriptions of life in Lome from the perspectives of an expat university professor from North America. The whole book can be found at this link below. I didn't find out if the author ever returned to Togo after 1991 as she passed away last year.
Letters from Togo

I have been reading quite a bit these days trying to glean as much information as I can on Lome and the rest of Togo. I have also been following a number of bloggers all around Togo. Some are working with missions organizations, others are working for NGO's, a few from the peace corp and several international teachers. I was talking with D about having a blog party once we get to Togo. The party would sort of be a thank you for those people out there who blog about daily life and living that I can read up on before I get there.

Lome, Togo

2011-05-10T17:54:00.001Z

Here are two maps to help answer the questions where on earth is Togo and what city are you moving to again?

The purple rectangle outline where Togo is located on the African continent. The red star shows you what city we will be residing in during out time in Togo.

And the answer is...

2011-05-07T22:54:00.001Z

Yes!

We accepted the position in Lome, Togo. I just signed the paperwork on Thursday. Did you know that there is only 104 days before I need to be on the ground in Lome, Togo? That is very soon. Just over 3 months to completely pack up life, get paperwork in order, visit with people, observe other teachers teach, have a garage sale, say goodbye etc. Crazy!

What I don't get done D will be able to finish as he will be staying until the beginning of October to wrap up things with work.

Togo here we come!

How to Apply for International Schools

2011-04-30T21:59:00.000Z

The past few days quite a few people have asked how I applied for teaching positions overseas. Was there an agency involved? Did I go to a hiring fair? Did I know people who were in international schools that were able to tip me off on potential jobs? The answers to all those questions are no, well sort of no. Let me explain.

I did not involve an agency due to the fees associated with signing up with one. That and the countless horror stories I heard in signing on with an agency being placed in an awful school and having to suck it up or break contract only to be blackballed from many other schools. I did however use quite a few agencies websites for the list of schools they worked with. With those lists of schools in hand, I began looking up each potential school's website. Some of the schools directly post vacancies on their websites in a specific section. If that section didn't exist I would send in an inquiry email to find out where they posted their information. Sometimes these emails were answered and other times they were not. This method was often time consuming as I had to to check the websites on a regular basis (at least 1x a week) just in case they posted any openings.

Another method I used was coming across second party websites that updated themselves daily with new teaching positions. Some of these websites only posted about specific regions or specific types of schools while others just posted a variety of jobs that needed to be filtered through to find the teaching jobs. It was through one of these websites that I managed to apply for my teaching position in Togo.

Though I do not currently have many contacts overseas right now in teaching positions I made sure I tracked down people who had taught overseas. Though some of the profs of my university I was able to meet some very knowledgeable teachers or administrators who had taught in a variety of different places all around the world. Since I also had quite a few connections through friends/neighbours who had gone overseas to work in a variety of different positions I was able to gather valuable information about working and living in a different country/continent.

Though I had intended to go to a hiring fair due to school this year it was not a possibilty. I have heard that fairs can be a very great place to find a position.

Next time I will talk about a few things to do once you have been offered a position. The advice I am giving comes from a number of different poeple as this will be my first teaching post internationally. I will also make sure I write a bit on travelling and moving overseas as the time draws closer.

Sooo...

2011-04-13T22:43:00.000Z

I had my interview with the one school today. We had to rearrange this interview numerous times due to terrible internet connection, no internet, no phone and then a broken mic. The buildup leading to this school was quite intense.

Overall the interview went pretty good. I was asked similar questions to other interview like 'Tell me about yourself' 'Tell me about your music background' etc.

At the end of the hour long interview I was offered the job. I was taken a back as usually there is a bit more wait time involved but the offer came anyways. We have until May 1st to answer. Right now I am still in a daze. Africa really could be a reality this upcoming year. It would be in West Africa which would mean I would need to improve my french. A music/ primary teacher position would be an ideal choice wouldn't it? Being as music is something I love and being in a classroom part time would be fantastic as well.

Decisions, Decisions. Now begins the research. Well not quite right now as I still have to finish my final presentation for university in the next few days...

And more news

2011-04-11T00:15:00.000Z

Remember how I said that I applied to a school in a place we didn't have any intention of going? Well... this past week I got an email from the one school there requesting an interview.

Would we go? I would like to say yes just because then we are a step closer. Sure we would not be on the continent of our choice but we would be somewhere. But if the goal was to just be somewhere then that would mean there are numerous schools I could apply to not just a select 25. Is it in Africa? No. Would we be able to make or save money? That is yet to be determined. It would not be as ideal on a few fronts but we shall see what happens.

Funny Story #2

2011-04-08T01:10:00.000Z

Another school which shall remain nameless and countryless led me to experience the 2nd most interesting experience with the application/interview process.

It all started when the school wrote me and asked if I was available for an interview. The time here would have been 1:00 am. I told them that unfortunately that time would not work a sit was 2:00 am here. They replied with a second interview time 3 hours later. This would put the interview at 4:00 am. I told them this was not possible and suggested another alternative perhaps one at 7:00 am my time. The response was positive. We were all set.

The day of the interview D had to work at 5:30 in the morning. As soon as he signed on his computer there were 10 skype messages flashing on the screen asking if I was ready for my interview. They began attempting to call at 5:45. Then again at 6:00, 6:20 then at 6:30. I was ready (awake and preapred) for the interview by 6:40 when I sent a message saying I was ready on my end. There was no response. In fact there was no response until 7:15. The interview got underway 30 minutes later.

It makes me laugh as there is Africa for you.

Woke up this morning

2011-03-29T17:54:00.001Z

and found two emails in my inbox for interviews. Just when I thought the outlook was looking quite bleak.

There is no guarantee I will get either of those jobs but, now I know there are at least a few places that think I could have potential.

What happens if...

I have also started applying somewhere we had no intention of going. Adventure beckons and I am afraid if we don't answer we will be stuck here wishing the days away.

What ifs...

2011-03-24T06:18:00.001Z

Sometimes I have difficulty sleeping because I fall into the what if while I am trying to drift off. The what if game goes something like this

What if I don't get a teaching job overseas this year?
What if I have to work here this year?
What if I don't even get a job here? What will I do?
What if I had gone to the international recruitment fairs? If I went would I have gotten offered a job overseas?
What if I had graduated two years sooner or even last year? Maybe I would have a job or at least a bunch of prospective offers for employment.
What if I never finished school and just stayed overseas way back when I first went?
What if...

I know its bad to get stuck in this game as it messes with my head and even my heart to some extent. It makes me loose sleep. It makes me feel ill. It makes me mad. It makes me sad.

I try to remain positive but the window of overseas opportunities continues to shrink at an alarming rate. I wish I had better news. All I can say is there are only 7 countries left. Only 8 more schools. And then I have the answer is it there or here this year. Then I begin living in some of those what if's...

Funny story #1

2011-03-17T01:00:00.000Z

After sending a resume/cover letter to one school in a time zone 11 hrs ahead of ours. I received a response about 30 minutes later. The email said:

Please come and meet us with a hard copy of your resume in person on any working day between 1200pm to 0200pm. Please check the address at www.**********.org or you can call us at XXXXXXX for confirmation.
Thanks and Wishing you all the best!!!!

Unfortunately it was not possible for me to travel 24 hrs with a few stop overs to make it to the school.

The End of Era or another check on my Bucket List

2011-03-06T21:20:00.000Z

Practicum has now finished except for the looming pile science projects that still need to be marked (only 23 has 4 students were absent). The last days were almost surreal passing by at quick speed. And now it is finished. Only one more hoop remains before graduation.

A few months ago after speaker's corner my students asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up? I confidently replied 'A teacher of course' the responses came back 'So you get to be what you've always wanted to be' 'yes' 'You get to do your dream job' to which I could only respond yes again.

This has been the dream that started as a small seed back when I was 9. Now I am find myself here with a small seedling. But the dream doesn't stop here in fact in some ways it is just beginning.

During one of my classes the professor told us he had accomplished all the goals he had set out for himself. Every single one of his goals and dreams had been accomplished. I asked him how long his list was to which he replied 20 things. My list has about 45 things on it currently and it just seems to keep growing as I get older, so much so I don't see how I will be able to accomplish every single one of those dreams before my time on this earth finishes.

Lately I have been thinking about what happens with dreams over time- some shift or transform to become something more grand in scale, some become more important where as others lose meaning entirely. Or dreams will begin to conflict with one another. What happens when the dreams conflict? In the end which dream will win out or will they both die and be replaced by something else?

And the answer is...

2011-02-27T16:29:00.000Z

No. I did not get the job in Kenya.

We were quite disappointed to hear that but when things are meant to be they happen and when they don't they weren't meant. Now the waiting game begins with the other schools I applied to. Two have already written back to tell me they have filled the vacancies for this upcoming year.

Have we considered the option we may be here for a year? The answer to that question is yes. This answer saddens us as we have been working towards Africa for so long. Timing is everything though...

In the meantime I am focusing on completing my practicum as I only have another 5 teaching days left. I will miss my grade 4/5's tremendously. I have learned so much from them about teaching, homework, classroom management and life in general. When I think back to my grade 4/5 teachers I don't remember much about them negative or positive but one thing I hope is that I made a positive impact on these students-that I inspired them to reach for the stars and beyond, that I encouraged them to try their best and that I made them work hard. A professor at school said that as a teacher, students may not remember much about their teacher but they will remember if the teacher cared and how the teacher made them feel. I hope these little guys could feel that I put my heart into teaching them and helping them to the best of my abilities.

Criteria for a school

2011-02-10T23:28:00.000Z

So what is the criteria D and I are using to choose a school? Should there really even be a criteria?

To answer the second question first, yes there needs to be a criteria otherwise it becomes very difficult to navigate. That, and the fact that by deciding that we would settle for just anything would impact our future in numerous ways. All that being said the criteria looks like this

Is this school in Africa?

Africa is a place that has been on my heart since the age of 10 and a place I have wanted wanted to return to since 2006. D having been there 3x as well can not wait to get back and fully embrace the role of documentary photographer/photojournalist and explore the infinite video possibilities.

Can Daniel come with me?

We want to go somehwere together not seperately. In interviews this question comes up all the time. "Will you be coming alone or will your partner be accompanying you?"

Does this school pay or provide benefits?

Certain schools require you to pay or fund raise in order to teach at them. While this may seem like an ok way to do things, it is not very practical. We could easily work with one of these schools as they are always in desperate need for someone to teach at them but at this current time it does not suit our future plans/goals.

Is this an accredited school? Or a school in the process of seeking accreditation?

This also is something that needs to be considered when applying for shcools overseas. Will this school be recognized if I were to leave it and attempt to gain employment elsewhere. If not then that could be a wasteful few years.

Is there any literature on this school? Have they been reviewed on International School Review? If so what do the reviews say?

I was made aware of the ISR website through a seminar at school. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of working overseas as it helps give a clear picture of what certain schools are like.

There are a few other considerations as well but these 5 are the major questions that we are asking before we seriously consider the possibilities.

Where in the World is Moses?

2011-02-07T07:23:00.000Z

Since we are getting ready to embark on an adventure halfway around the world we figured we would adopt a mascot who would come with us. The mascot's name is Moses and he is a sock monkey. I received Moses as a gift from one of my violin students. He came with a different name but we have decided to make it his second name so Moses the Jazz monkey he is.

Over the next few months we will be taking pictures of Moses in some of our favourite or memorable places. Then when I have my own class we can make up stories about Moses and his travels around the world.

So here is picture #1 taken during a snowstorm that left 10 cm of wet snow outside of house and blanketed the rest of the city as well.

Life in a Nutshell

2011-02-06T02:30:00.000Z

School is going well. I am really enjoying my grade 4/5 class. The kids are so much fun to be around and at times it feels like I am learning mroe from them then they could ever learn from me. They challenge me constantly to think in new ways and present information differently so they remain engaged. I love the challenge of it. I love how each day is different. There is no getting bored as the day flies by to quickly for that. In fact, it's hard to believe how quick this practicum is moving. In less than 4 weeks I will be finished practicum with only one large research project standing between me and graduation! The date for university grad is June 10th.

Still waiting to hear back from Kenya. Will let you know as soon as I know what's going on.

Skype Interview

2011-01-26T02:14:00.000Z

A few weeks ago D & I received word that I had an interview for that school in Kenya. We were both super excited about the news and then spent some time gearing up for it. I was getting over a nasty cold bug and getting used to being at a 60% teaching load at school. It was a crazy week leading up to it. The day of the interview I had the faculty adviser come in from the university to observe me in the morning followed by the school district psychologist in the afternoon. By the end of the school day I was exhausted. So exhausted that when I came home, I took a 2.5 hour nap.

When I got up I had 1.5 hour to go before the interview. I spent that time brushing up on key teaching words/ phrases. D practiced asking me a few questions to help me get in interview mode. The interview was keyed to start at 9:30 in the evening (this is due to the timezone difference. Kenya is 11 hours ahead from where we are located) over Skype.

I don't think I have ever been so nervous for an interview before. Even though the interview was conducted over Skype it didn't help settle my nerves. When the ring tone came in for the interview to start my throat closed up. D got me a glass of water which helped alot.

The questions they asked for the interview had to do with the following:

What do I know about the school & how I heard about the school.
Why Africa? Why Kenya? Why Nairobi? Third culture aspect of the school.
What grade was I willing to teach?
Longevity-how long could we see ourselves spending there?
How did we feel about living on campus?
Extra curricular activities-what would I be willing to get involved with?
Work Permits-have we looked into the details of getting one?
How do our families feel about us moving overseas?
How would I manage as a new teacher in a country in a different culture?

Overall the interview went quite well. There was only one answer I wished I could have answered differently as it caught me off guard. The interview concluded with them saying they would be in touch within the next 2-3 weeks.

So in the meantime we wait.... and wait....

Sent away...

2010-12-07T02:05:00.000Z

Sent off the application to one international school in Kenya. The application itself was like a mini interview asking me questions like:

Why do you feel called to be a teacher?

Describe your professional growth in the past 2 years.

Why are you interested in teaching at ________ School?

What positive qualities do you bring to our school? What extra curriculars would you be willing to get involved with?

Describe your personal and professional goals in the next five years.

Describe a typical lesson plan format you might use.

How do you assess student learning?

This application took quite a bit of time to write an perfect. There were only about 10 typed lines per answer so every word had to count.

Now its a matter of waiting to see if I managed to get an interview.

In the mean time this semester of school wraps up. D & I will be heading to Edmonton for a weeks time to visit his family. After that we come back to the Ok area to spend Christmas with my family. School starts up again the first week of January but instead of sitting in classes taking notes I'll be the one teaching. I am in a grade 4/5 class at a school some might describe as 'inner city'.

Projects & Applications

2010-11-21T03:51:00.000Z

I started off with 33 at the beginning of the semester and am now down to seven. Seven over the next ten days of school. Hard to believe in ten days the university classes part of my life will be finished (well for now anyways). D has been so good to me. I feel quite stressed out because of the lack of sleep and mental exhaustion of plowing through these remaining projects.

I will be sending off applications throughout this upcoming week. Some of them have been quite intense having mini interview like questions that have required quite a bit of time to formulate the best answers. Other applications only require a cover letter and resume.

If I get accepted into one of the schools it would mean I would have to leave for Africa in mid July at the latest. So we will see what happens.

Changes and Transistions

2010-11-14T19:07:00.000Z

This blog will be undergoing a state of construction over the next few days. It will be semi replaced with something better and more current to our current life situation right now.

Why?

The blog that was here before talked about life before the wedding and was occasionally updated afterward to let you know about the goings on in our lives. Now things are changing in full force.

I am starting down a path of many 'first of the last's. The biggest of which being university. School for me is drawing to a close in April (after only about 7 years of it including a couple year offs and part time years throughout that time too). I am currently in my last semester of school with only 12 projects left to go (at the beginning of September it was 33!), my last practicum is just around the corner starting in January and finishing in March and the entire program concluding with a mini research project presented in front of a panel of judges. Then I will have my degree and be a certified elementary school teacher!

The other bunch of firsts include applying for a job. With the job situation here in the valley being as it is (50 job openings and 3500 applicants for those jobs) I am currently applying to international schools around Africa. There is no word yet as to what will be happening next year but as we find out we'll blog about it on here.

Summer in a nutshell

2010-09-20T18:36:00.000Z

Whoa summer has just flown by. Hard to believe September is approaching it's end already, the summer months have just flown by at rapid speed.

What happened this summer? Summer started for me at the end of April so we'll start from there.

April
Practicum #1 finished for me
We moved to our new place
I got a job as a nanny (it was temporary and lasted for only 2 weeks)

May
Hung out with Daniels family over Mothers day weekend
Roadtrip to Rossland BC
Went to Seattle with my family for the folk festival

June
Daniel got a job as a reporter/photographer at the online news agency in town
Melissa came back from Europe & we got to drive home together from Vancouver
Melissa graduated from University!
Nick graduated from High school

July
I went to Calgary for two weeks for an Orff music and movement class (Daniel stayed back home)
One of Daniel's grooms dudes got married in Ed so we went there for the wedding
Family reunion-got to hang out with all the cousins and sleep at the cabin with all the cousins. It was awesome!
Daniel's family was here for the fest-we saw them a few times

August
Vince and Karla came to visit
Cabin week at the cabin
Krista got married
Went to last week of the bible course in Chilliwack
Opa B passed away

September
Opa B's funeral
School started

Overall it was a very full summer. I loved all the time spent with family including all my siblings, the parents, all the grandparents and cousins. I will treasure this time close to my heart. Though the summer seemed to end of on a sad note with Opa B leaving this world to enter the next, the family time right after the funeral was sweet and beautiful. I miss Opa B of course and am still grieving but know I'll see him again...

Update on our lives

2010-06-23T07:56:00.000Z

Today I just registered for my last year of school. The last year of many years. With my younger sister having graduated as a Civil engineer a few weeks ago, I have to admit I am slightly envious. I have learned alot this past year in school especially during my practicum, don't get me wrong, I do enjoy school especially now since it is directly related to what I want to do with my life, but, I am ready to get started on the next chapter of life.

I will talk more about my practicum experience as well as school another time.

In other news Daniel got a part-time job with the local online news site here in Kelowna. He is happily writing, reporting, photographing and updating almost every weekend. I am very excited he is back in a news room. Only drawback is the police scanner is on more often then before and it accompanies him everywhere! One day I will learn to love it right?

Oh can't forget one last tidbit-we moved. We have gone up a step in life from basement suite to a ground level suite. The place is surrounded by orchards and alot closer to the university. The landlords are sweet and quite friendly as well which is an added bonus. We are still trying to organize the place but on a related note, we have done well with our goal to downsize. We are having a garage sale this weekend at my parents to get rid of a bunch of our stuff. We'll see how it turns out.

That's all I can think of for now. Stay tuned. I know I have been really bad about updating this blog but I will get better. For a while I was toying with the idea of dismanteling this blog as well as my other blogs but decided against that. In the next months I may privatize the blog or just work towards becoming more annonymous. Why? Well I will explain that on Thursday or Friday.

Two memories from Africa

2009-04-08T07:29:00.001Z

One day we'll go back... until then we will pray and we will remember...

Pics from a Day

2009-01-27T06:49:00.000Z

We're back!

2009-01-14T07:13:00.000Z

And we are now MARRIED! (We'll post a few official photos soon)

One of the cool things I just had to tinker with at the reception was a photobooth.

Enjoy!

cheers-
/daniel

Daniel's New Photo Blog

2008-08-20T00:21:00.000Z

So after much anticipation, Daniel has his new wedding/portrait blog up and running. It is absolutely amazing. Stroll by and take a look when you have a chance. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

danielhayduk.blogspot.com

If you are looking for a wedding photographer for the remainder of this year or 2009 he's your man (well actually, he'll be my man but you can borrow his talent for your special day). You can contact him by phone at 780-270-9591 or by email dhayduk ((at)) gmail ((dot)) com