how do you explain 'sleigh' to people who've never seen snow

11 December 2008

The AIDS sensibilisation at the lycee was supposed to happen on 1 December – International AIDS Awareness Day. It was pushed back due to the week of composition – kind of a mid-term exam – it’s administered regionally; all the students in the region take the same test at the same time. I offered to do the sensi the Friday before the test week, but the proviseur told me to leave it until the Monday after mid-terms, 8 December. No problem. Imagine my surprise when on Saturday, 6 December, at my chorale rehearsal, one of the girls in the peer educator group I’ve been forming told me that Monday is a Jour Ferie – a holiday due to a Muslim Holy Day. I showed up early to school on Tuesday and asked the Proviseur how he didn’t know about the holiday? Grr. So we moved the sensibilisation again – to this Friday. It WILL happen. No matter what. Come rain or shine (I might back down if it miraculously snows).
{Speaking of snow – it’s very difficult to explain what a sleigh is to people have never even seen a picture of snow.}
I’ve started teaching conversational English classes at the CEG Kovie. The CEG is new – a state-created school that doesn’t actually have any buildings yet. They only moved out of their temporary lodging at the Catholic primary school this week. They now have three little thatch-roofed “classrooms”: packed-dirt floors, thatch roof supported by thick branches buried into the floor. The design of the roofing makes a lovely little microclimate that keeps the classrooms several degrees cooler than the surrounding area, and the roofs are so severely slanted that I imagine any rain will slip right off and away from the room’s occupants without problem. There are enough wooden benches that only a few students have to be three to a bench.
I’m starting my English classes with easy stuff – introducing myself and getting the students to do so, talking a little bit about where I come from and why I’m here in Togo. After the introductions, I’ve been teaching them Christmas songs – Jingle Bells and Silent Night. They seem to already know the melodies at least a bit, which helps. I almost sang myself raw today, though – two hours of teaching songs was surprisingly hard on my voice. I guess I need to work on some vocal exercises to keep up my endurance :)
I’ve decided to head to Lome tomorrow to do internet, but more importantly, to get to the bank. I’ve got to get some money – and start being more careful about how I spend it!
Last time I was in Lome, I was standing on a street corner waiting for some friends with a bag of watermelons between my feet when a man came up, chatted to me, and upon learning my name was Rose, promptly bought me a pretty pink rose. It was bizarre but not creepy, which is nice – he didn’t pressure me to give him my number or anything. Huzzah.