Time has gone by so fast already and since I am not in month 9 of bring in Togo I can see how quickly it will be until I see you all in a year plus....well after Wil and I decide to wake up from our COS trip (Close of Service) we may be eternal vagabonds...I think of how funny it will be...and who I will be
will I eat with my hands..not question the age of foods that may have spoiled and eat them anyway..like the time I noticed that on the third bite of bread there was an ant colony living in it...didn't phase me..protein?....ration a bag of goodies like it was the only one in the world and the CVS wasn't across the street...go out in the backyard forging for Tamarind pods and funny looking beans to eat...to my great suprise finding that the bush in the front has produced pomogranate fruits and I have a citron tree as well as cherry tomatoes and mini peppers.....discovering new street treats....raising my brows in interest when a girl in village tells me that it's possible to make cheese from plantains???....is it possible?
missing the little goats that cross my path and dodging the poo pellets...doing the runway walk when leaving the house through my village where everyone now knows my name as they scream it out..."Adjovi...Adjovi" and I throw a complimentary wave or "bonjour, bonsoir"...while the theme song to "Cheers" plays in my head.....knowing what it is to be famous....or are they just taunting me.....waking up to the sounds of rooster crows and muslim prayer calls at 3am-4am-5am-6am-and all other times of the day..or what sounds like pig calls coming from the woman selling bread door to door.....this is Togo....
...living off beans and rice and using one of now 15 different ways to flavor black eyed peas (think lettuce wraps with cumin flavored-cayenne beans, onions, veg) but knowing that the will never be as good as the ones here that sit in the kettle all day and get mushy so I will start to cook beans in a crock pot to mimic the ones I get from the bean lady that gives you a full cent franc worth....spending the better part of my morning peeling apart a grapefruit section by section and eating the meat while enjoying the crisp tart taste (slow down and try it sometime)..amazed at how much hot pepper I put on my foods...I love me some cayenne!!!...when I never could handle it in the states...having time to play in the kitchen..
..sealing everything I own in ziploc bags....garbage bonfires....using toilet paper one square at a time...sometimes waiting to use the toilet three times before I flush...finding a use for every bit of garbage so I don't have to burn it...recycling...spending all day at the marche wondering around and doing "stall (window) shopping"...asking questions..learning....hangin out with the marche mamas...and sharing my time with them...
...to be continued....ohh but there is so much more....
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