Togo Randoms: Boobies, Potted Instruments, Bikes and Doggie Raciscm

Boobies at the President's House
Ooo do I have your attention now! According to embassy sources (if Wikileaks can do it, hey, why not me?) the Prez-Man gave himself a Boobie Party on Friday night. Sadly for Joey, he did not receive an invite to said event, but our good friend did. He said he felt like a creepy 40-year-old man watching 20-year-olds dance topless all under the watchful eye of his boss. Awkward! The performance was supposed to illustrate the "traditional virgin's dance" that occurs in villages. Mind you, this dance is typically done in villages by girls aged 11-13 (actual virgins), but, hey. The Prez likes his virgins a little older. Let's hope. Can you imagine the hey-day if Obama threw himself a titty party and invited diplomats around the world to join? Ah Togo.

Dobet Gnahore: A Must-Hear Lady from Cote D'Ivoire
Since I already said "titty" in this post, I should refrain from saying "Badass" but what the h*&%. Badass Dobet Gnahore is. Her concert on Sunday night and it was everything you'd hope to get from a West African concert: raw vocals, awesome percussion (she played a clay pot!!!), and dancing that made me feel very white. It was incredible. See if she's playing in SF or NYC and go to her show.

Bike Riding Makes People Happy
I saw this on Oprah and thought, I should get myself a bike. So I asked Francis to find me a bike with a basket on the front of it and, voila, that afternoon I rode a bike around the neighborhood with Nala and felt like I was 10 again. The main benefit of this is that it makes it possible to visit the fruit lady and buy bread during hours other than 7AM and 6PM. It is SO hot right now that I would previously walk my errands and come home red, sweaty and cranky. Now, with my little red bike, I get a lovely fake breeze as I bring home all of the mangoes, avocados and baguettes I want. I am very happy indeed. Go buy yourself a bike and smile.

Is Nala Racist!?
I came home last week from school and Clara told me that she had been talking to Francis and the guards and they'd decided that Nala doesn't like black people. "Yes, we see Nala act all happy when your white friends come, but she is not like that with us. I need to have a talk with her and tell her that, Nala, you are black too!" This was all said with a smile and a lot of laughter, something that is an interesting thing to get used to. I was embarrassed of my dog's behavior (really she just senses a difference in our relationship because Nala doesn't act this way with our black friends, plus I think I read somewhere that dogs are colorblind) but Clara thinks it's funny. Even today at school my students were joking about painting their skin white to be European Colonizers for International Day. I am learning to laugh with them.

Nunchuck Skills

Boy I have really dropped the ball with this thing. I probably have no readers left after my dismal posting record so far. Jumping back in the saddle!

I recently recalled a conversation I had with one of Joey's friends about my good luck in developing what he called my "nunchuck skills." You know, like bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... skills! (Sorry for those of you who haven't see Napolean Dynamite...)

Jen's Newly Acquired SKILLZ: Speaking French - check. Becoming a yoga teacher - check. Teaching at an International School - check. Taking tennis lessons & Learning Bridge like the proper diplomat's wife that I am - check. Writing grants for NGOs - check.

The latter nunchuck addition is a recent development. I had the chance to go to Niger as a part of the grant research process. Here's a quick rundown of the experience:

- I had many internal chuckles re: the contrast of my life pre and post Foreign Service. Previous meetings consisted of serious debates over print ads and current ones entail strategizing how to lower birth defects in rural villages. Oh the curve balls life can throw!

- There are camels walking down the streets of Niamey. Huge, awesome camels.

- Almost as cool were the donkey carts everywhere.

- Camels + Donkeys = Love.

- The contrast between Egypt (palpable intensity around the Muslim faith resonating through the streets) and Niger (moderate influences of Muslim religion seen in clothing and prayer mats) was fascinating.

- Sadly, extremists are taking hold there, resulting in kidnappings of Westerners, a mass exodus of expats from the country, and a severe safety regiment for those who remain. We felt safe, but could not leave our hotel at night or visit the country outside of Niamey. Which is a total bummer because apparently there are giraffes and hippos nearby.

- How so many people can survive in the Sahara Desert is beyond me. No thank you.

- Visiting Niger made me very glad that I live in Togo. Who'd have thunk. Niger is only slightly poorer than Togo on the international ranking list of average GDP. But when you're THAT poor, those extra 50 Cents per person make a huge difference. You can't even imagine.

The grant I'm writing is for a massive program to prevent and rehabilitate people with disabilities (physical and mental). It involves everything from training more doctors to planting gardens and teaching families with a disabled child to feed themselves and generate extra income.

I used to have $2 Million to plan a Super Bowl ad and buy the media. Now I have it to save starving babies in Africa. I smell the makings of a very cliched memoir! Heehee.

This whole thing Joey and I are doing is not always easy. Not even close. For instance, the place we stayed at on Saturday night was flea infested with brown amoeba filled water coming from the faucets, and we recently had to tell our cook that, no, we can't give him a $600 loan so that he can get electricity for his daughters to study over more than a tiny lantern. (Don't judge too harshly on the last one - we did the math on his salary and were concerned that he doesn't have enough to pay us back plus keep food on the table and keep his daughters in school).

But it's opportunities like this trip to Niger that make me thankful for being put in what's quite often a difficult place. Don't get me wrong. I am seriously hoping for Spain or Argentina next post. In the meantime, I admit that it's a pretty cool thing to see a little bit of life from this lens.