Ah finally! Much hassle today as it appears that only one type of browser here will support Blogger so couldn't get on earlier and had to wait till the only computer with this particular browser was free.
However I am on now and have to be vite vite! This Saturday Virginie and I went to Togoville - which was my first sortie outside Lomé since arriving here. Left the house at 6am (you will all know how much of an effort that took me...) and caught moto-taxis down to the Hollando stop where we had to change to a car to travel the 40 minutes (without traffic - what bliss!) to Agbodrafo where we boarded the pirogue (sort of canoe/kayak thing) to cross the sea to Togoville. Was such a calm crossing and totally chilled out or tranquille as they say here because there were no horns beeping for the first time while I've been here. Utter paradise! Togoville is in fact the town which gives its name to Togo the country; in the ancient language, Togo means the place where the lake and sea meet so Togoville marks that place and was the first major town here. We got off the pirogue to be immediately, and unsurprisingly, greeted by an entire crowd proclaiming to be THE official guides to Togoville... Yea right! We politely (it got less polite during the day I have to admit...) refused and made our way past the really cool sign for Togoville which I will upload a picture of - incidentally the only sign in the town which didn't say 'telephonez' - and into the town itself. The first thing we came across was the tourist office - very tribal outside - where we thought it might be useful to find a map or something of the sort. Or perhaps not. This was essentially a gift-shop with workshop attached, but also included a visitors' book for all the yovos to write in before they left! As we discovered to our loss, as touristy as Togoville should be in principle, it lacks certain of the things which attract tourists for a second visit - signposts for example... We had an adventure however so not all was bad!
We saw the cathedral, with outside shrine to the Lady of the Lake Togo and apparently the very pirogue she crossed the waters in in the 1800s - wonderfully well preserved for its 200 year age...! This was beautiful and very peaceful, with the wind blowing and the sound of drumming wafting pleasantly between the trees. Quite unlike any other cathedral I've visited and I very much preferred it. We also discovered by accident a voodoo priest who explained several of the ancient rites to us. As this was all in broken Togolese French which I struggle to follow at the best of times still (I have become expert at lip-reading and discerning meaning from that!) I didn't catch all of it, but I did catch lots of bits and pieces which were extremely interesting. As well as these we stumbled upon two separate cemetries, a kapok tree which is very beautiful as its fruits are covered in a material which looks and feels something like cotton wool crossed with feathers, plus an old railway line leading right into the distance - oh the potential...
Our main goal was the Protecting Tree of Twins as Viriginie has a twin sister in France. After many many hours we eventually got there with the help of two young guys (one of whom later asked if I was married, and as he didn't believe me when I said yes, I got to use the ring I bought as proof for the first time - so useful!). This tree is literally just in the middle of all the people's houses and would have been impossible to find without help. It's so strange because in England, we are so accustomed to seeing things preserved, put in museums, protected from human contact, separated from the day-to-day life in all and this tree was just another part of the village, as much as any house. It consists of two baobab trees intertwined, one carved into the shape of a man, and the other a woman. Sacrifices, rituals etc often take place around it - there's even a special hut right in the middle of it for the priest to carry these out. And everyone believes - as strongly as the Christians in Lomé believe, the same strength is found in these people's voodoo worship. It just really opens your eyes to the fact that for the majority of peoples, a belief, a faith, in something (one could say anything) is essential, and it is this belief that welds the communities together as one. Have been warned not to be too controversial so will stop there but so far, my experiences here have cemented my belief that each of us has a pre-destined destination in life, but there are several paths which lead to it and so that much is personal choice, character, etc.
Another of Togo's contradictions I've found is the comparison between the fact that everyone has some little entreprise - this internet café is in the back of the lady's garden really, Mama's boutique is part of the house and everywhere you go, women set up stalls on the side of the road or at the backs of their houses selling mostly things made in their homes. Yet, in somewhere like Togoville, where masses come all the year round, there are no signs, no maps, nothing really to help a tourist who doesn't want a particular guide and even the guides have no official kind of list of places to see etc. In England that would have been exploited really, commercialised and changed beyond recognition in order to facilitate the experiences of foreigners. And here it stays just a town, with dirt roads, and the chief's ancient house is surrounded by places still inhabited by the people.
On the way back, we also stopped at the Slave Museum - the place where the slaves were taken on their way elsewhere. Again, not commercialised or profited from at all (except for the mandatory entry fee) but very interesting although not much to say as will put pictures up to explain better.
Also had my first Ewé lesson this week - have learnt so much, not only that there are 9 different ways to greet someone, depending on the time of day, their age/relationship to you, and how long ago you last saw them! Have also learnt simple self-presentation, a bit about the family and numbers 1-10.
1- deka
2- eve
3- eton
4- ene
5- aton
6- ade
7- adre
8- enyi
9- asieke
10- éwo
Not to mention a little song which I'll quickly write out as a finale to this post as am seriously running out of time! Ewé also has some different letters but I'll write them normal for now and will explain more another time.
nufiala nye, nufiala nye,
mado vevie nusonsron,
ne mese ga wodi gbag ko
maso nye kpe, masi du.
Concise translation: is a promise by a student to his teacher that he will be a very good student, be attentive in all his lessons and when he hears the bell sound he take his kpe (original writing board of some sort) and run as fast as he can to school! Is sung to music I recognise although cannot for the life of me remember the English words but will tell you as soon as I do!
Bises à tous, ezanenyo et yooo!
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