Tiny Little Flags

Togo was the last place in the world we expected to hear on Flag Day.  As the Ambassador of Somewhere was up on the stage waving tiny flag after tiny flag of various countries, I sat in the audience going through each posting as it was called in my head:

Istanbul, darn it.  Ciudad Juarez, phew.  Athens, ah well.  Khartoum, thank god.  Kathmandu, bummer.  Caracas, hmm - I thought that'd be it.  Montevideo.  Bujumbura.  Mexico City.  San Jose.  Beijing.  Sao Paulo.  Colombo.  Etc. Etc. Etc.   

When Lome, Togo was called, I was barely paying attention.  We hadn't ranked that country.  I'd honestly never heard of Togo before we got the list a week prior.  It took a minute to register.  What?  Wait - Togo - I know that's in Africa - What? - Is that the country I Googled and saw pictures of cannibals? -  OMG I need to get to the internet.  

But we had to go to a happy hour with all the other people who received tiny little flags that day.  Some of you were kind enough to send more details as I downed a few vodka tonics:

Togo is a country of 6.7 million people.  Over 50% of the nation still practices tribal religions.  The southern Togolese were of the same people as Ghana before colonization, and cultural practices were influenced by Benin on the East as well.  It was once a German colony, so there's still some good beer.  And then it became a French colony, so there's decent wine.  

Voodooism is still commonly practiced.  Haiti was influenced by this part of West Africa when slaves came over and settled there, so many commonalities between the people exist.  It's one of the poorest countries in the world: people make on average less than $1USD per day.  

Beyond the basics, we learned that the Togolese are known to be incredibly warm.  If you walk past in the street without stopping to say Hello, it's considered to be rude.  And greetings can last 10 minutes before you can move on again.  We've heard them called the most socially evolved people in the world.  I liked that.  They'll remember your name when you tell them once and will open their homes and families to you.  

The music is supposed to be amazing.  The food some of the best in West Africa (although I'm wondering if that's a relative statement?).  The fabrics festive.  The fruit markets divine.  It used to have the best wildlife in West Africa but it's all pretty much poached now.  But there are elephant parks up North in Burkina Faso and some small game parks near the lake.  

There are only 2 paved roads in the country.  

Figured that needed its own line.  

We have 3 spare bedrooms.

I'll leave that one hanging for all of you to consider as well.