A Funeral and a Marathon

OK, so let me start by appologizing for the delay in blogging. I was talking with a few second year volunteers the other day and mentioned that I just don't feel like I have anything interesting to say. Being bloggers themselves they sort of laughed; they explained that I have reached that point in my service where Togo has begun to lose its shock value. I realized they were right, my day to day life in Togo has actually become (gulp) normal. When I first got here and everything was new and exciting I didnt feel like I could say enough about my experience, but now that we are nearing 9 months in country (again, gulp) I have trouble thinking of what to share with all of you. However, since my parents have begun to receive concerned phone calls at their place of residence, I figure I better hop to it and reassure you all that I am indeed alive and well. That being said, I do have a few stories to share.

I was on the phone with my dad a couple of weeks back and I said something along the lines of, "Lama is a really happening place right now. There is a lot of activity since February is funeral season." I am guessing you are all having the same reaction he did, which was: "did you just say funeral season?" Yes, I did. Now allow me to explain. It's not that people are dropping like flies because it's February, but rather that February is when all of the families get together to honor and remember those they have lost over the last year. Also it is a time to honor the anniversaries of the deaths of important people in the village from as much as ten to fifteen years ago. Because February is in the midst of Harmattan people dont have work to do in the fields; all of the crops have been harvested and it is not yet time to plant, therefore people have more free time and more money than they do throughout the rest of the year. Let me be clear, bodies are buried as soon as the person dies (in case you were picturing some graphic storage scenerio), but the funeral itself is posponed. Funerals are probably the most well organized events in Togo. They are planned months in advance, family members come from all over the country, and they are at least three days long. I am sure you have gathered at this point that funerals here are nothing like those in the States. Instead of wearing black the entire family buys the same brightly colored pagne (fabric) and everyone has matching outfits made. Instead of being held in a church people gather at the home of the family. While funerals in America are usually somber, sad affairs here there is music and dancing and food and lots and lots of alcohol. In short it is more a celebration of life than an mourning of death and I have to admit I much prefer it. The funeral I attended was to honor my neighbor's grandfather who passed away ten years ago, but was somewhat of a big-wig in village. His first wife (I believe he had three, but I only met one), who is still living, bore eleven children all of whom now have families of their own, so there were hundreds of people in attendence. The funeral began friday evening and was still going strong by monday morning. I, of course, took breaks to sleep and sober up, but many people, mainly the immidiate family, did not. Drinking and eating at traditional celebrations, especially if you are white, is not optional. From your past vocabulary lessons you should remember that the local brew is called tchouk, it is served in gourds called calabashes, and the main dish is made by pounding yams into a gooey consistancy called fufu, which is served with some sort of very spicy sauce and eaten with your hands. Normally after one calabash of tchouk I'm already feeling fairly warm and fuzzy, but at a funeral one calabash is not only unacceptable, it is downright insulting. In America I am pretty good at holding my own, but in Togo the eight-year-olds can drink me under the table, so I spent three days straight being uncomfortably full of fufu and working very hard not to make a complete ass of myself infront of my entire community. In general I would say I succeeded in never being the drunkest (drunkest?) person in the room. I think the highlight was when this little old lady wearing reflective sunglasses and with leaves stuck on the forehead came over, sat on my lap, told me she was my grandmother, forced me to dance in the center of a huge group of people, and blew a kiss in my ear so loud I was partially deaf for the rest of the evening. I ate, I drank, I danced and I had probably the most fun I have ever had in my village...at a funeral.

The other bit of exciting news is that I have begun training for a marathon. Thats right folks, I, Lauren "do I want to go running? Of course and dont want to go running" Neidhardt, am training for a marathon. While I am becoming adjusted to life here and have started work on some small projects, a lot of my day is filled with absolutely nothing. It's easy to get into a funk and sometimes difficult to get out of it. I tried many times to start running in the States, but I always found excuses to quit. Here there are no excuses and I have found that on the days I run I feel about 200% better than on the days I dont. My overall mood has improved and the fact that I am training with three other girls is great motivation. The marathon is on September 28th in Ghana and ends in Accra, which means that my reward will be a plate of nachos and forzen margharitas and at this point there is very little I wouldnt do for real cheese and tequila. The proceeds of the race go to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment as well as other health-related causes. If you would like more information, or want to come run it with me, you can Google the 2008 Accra International Marathon.

That's about all I have for you right now, but I will try to post more frequently from now on. For those of you who don't know, I am coming home in May for my Mom's graduation from Law School (because my mom rocks and has been working her butt off for four years and I am so incredibly proud of her!), so you should all come to Ohio and visit me. I fly home May 13th and will be around until June 9th. I miss you all like crazy and love you very much. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. See you soon!