Unique

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.