home sweet home

I have arrived home safe and sound. The last few days of my trip were very fun and sentimental. All the villagers and brothers and kids were sad to say goodbye. The chief of the village was very thankful and said they now have something to be proud of in their village. All the collaborating and brainstorming and research makes me want to come back next summer and see all these projects through, but we'll see.


I want to say a hugeeee thank you for all those who have supported me through one way or another on this trip. It was very life changing and I can honestly say it's the best decision I've ever made. Seeing people who have literally nothing to their name be so happy and so kind and so generous of their time and efforts really puts a lot into perspective.

They have a common saying in ETHOS and it couldn't be more true..."Students participate in ETHOS to change the world, but the world ends up changing them"

Thank you all for helping me have the best summer of my life:)

We have arrived in Kara for the week and its been great. We have almost finished our project back in Sotouboua..take the amount of time it would take to complete any task in america and multiply it by about 5 and thats how long it takes things to get done in togo. Frustrating, but getting used to it. Yall are going to think I'm a snail when I return. The goal posts are stronger than any around which we are rather proud of. We ended up making the endposts of 10 cm diameter PVC filled with reinforced concrete and the top post of the same PVC but with milled wood in it so it isnt too heavy. Turned out great and only sags slightly. The villagers are supposed to complete the other goal while we are in kara. Sad to say I won't be there for the first official game. boo. Speaking of football and sad times, villagers were NOT too pleased when ghana lost. Bar cleared out in like 3 nanoseconds after they missed their 2nd PK.

Mark, a grad student who is in cameroon for ETHOS, has come to togo for 2 weeks to help us out. He's been in cameroon the past 5 summers so he is quite the african veteran.

In kara we are staying with this fantastic woman who is a full time nurse and also just so happens to take in local orphans. She has 21 kids staying with her in her compound and they are all so great. Exhausting, but great. They swing on me like monkeys, make me play duck duck goose (and other games I haven't played in 15 years) for hours, and force feed me orange candies. They also have the tiniest puppies I have ever seen in my life!!! Its been super fun to stay there.

We went to Benin the other day (the neighboring country about 2 hours away from kara) to check out potential projects for upcoming years. Went better than I wouldve thought--TONS of potential. They are building a new school and a new brothers house there and it will be ready in October. They have prepped the buildings for future solar panels which students could analyze and determine the correct size they'd need given the daily energy consumption, they could have their land surveyed and put into autocad for future expansion use, they could have a rainwater collection unit to use for all water uses other than drinking, and they have severe drainage problems on their land that need addressed. Very excited for future years to hopefully come because there is a lot of doable technical work that would help them immensely. We have written up a proposal to the brothers and are working on one aimed at the ETHOS project. Very happy:) who knows, perhaps Dominic or I will come back to help the newbies next year (they ask us to continuously).

Now the fun stuff that has nothing to do with engineering..

We went to this little german owned restaurant that our british friend told us about to celebrate 4th of july (a british girl told us about a german owned french food restaurant in togo that we went to to celebrate an american holiday..just how you spent your 4th, right?) Anywho..they had PIZZA..AND ICECREAM!! Ay ay ay I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We allowed two of our togolese friends to celebrate with us since they lived in new york for 2 years haha. We had very interesting debates including and not limited to:
-mixed race adoption
-eating dog meat
-whether america has a culture or not
-blacks in america

It was fun. After overhearing me talk with mark about why one of our friends is vegetarian.."HAHA. animal rights. that is funny.we just eat them" -togolese friend.

One of the girls at the orphanage is bajillion feet tall and is so skinny and pretty and I tell her everyday I'm going to send her to Tyra. Another one is deaf and braids hair and i got her to braid my hair today. Ummm its awesome. Never taking it out. Totes how girls did their hair when they went to bahamas or some other sweet vacation destination circa 7th grade.

Depressing news..I'm afraid I've developed an intolerance to lactose. I havent had dairy all summer and after I had that pizza and ice cream I about doubled over with pain the next morning. I then tried real milk (no idea how they got it, first time ive seen it in togo) with my milo and got sick again...hope I can take those fancy pills when I get back home to allow myself to eat cheese again.

About to go to the market, happy tuesday!

Halfway point

Over half way done with my Africa trip..crazy !

Soccer field is pretty much finished, and now we are working on ideas for the goal posts. Some of the brothers want to make them out of iron but its so expensive. Dom and I proposed to use a larger pvc pipe and fill it with concrete with one rebar in it for support, but one of the brothers kept insisting it wouldn’t work. We stopped by the local construction company that helped us with the field and they backed us up which was reassuring, so hopefully we will be able to show them it will work.

The field didn’t turn out as we wanted, but the village is thrilled so I guess that’s all that really matters. We were able to slope it and put in ditches for rainwater runoff control but we could not find an appropriate grass to make up the field so it is just dirt. That’s how all the fields are around here but we had hoped we could make ours a bit nicer. When we go home we are going to try and see if we can order some kind of seed that grows well in places like texas or southwest America that has a similar climate.

The guy in charge of the construction place is taking us to Cecoday, a city about an hour north, to show us their bridge project this Saturday. Excited to see how construction works here…annnnd he is driving us in his air conditioned bmw, so equally as excited about that.

We are off to Kara next week. Much bigger city and we will talk to university students there and ask what type of engineering projects we can work on in upcoming years. We were thinking of handwashing stations, and our peace corps friend is going to try to build some in his term here, so I really hope we can stay in touch and he can let us know how it goes. Another peace corps friend is working on microlending with young girls which jose is interested in, and he plans to talk to her more so business students from ethos next year can follow her lead. There is also an NGO called PLAN that does a lot for Togo and we are meeting with them next week hopefully.

Basically, we came here with no technical support whatsoever, and we are trying hard to network so next years group can accomplish more. We have already done more than last years group, but there is much room for improvement. Many other ETHOS groups work with NGOs so we are really trying to find a program we can attach to and help out with engineering skills. Between PLAN, Cecodri (the construction company that helped with the field), and the peace corps network, I think we’ve done a good job. Lets hope we can stay in contact.

Everything else is going well. Hot as can be, but getting very accustomed to it. I think I will turn into an icicle the first time I step into an air conditioned room when I get back to the states.

Green mambas in our complex still scare the living daylights out of me.

I am going to cry when I have to leave these mangos behind.

Working on making homemade peanut butter. So much stinkin work. If it were homemade in the states itd cost as much as gold.

We discovered an egg sandwich ‘restaurant’ (it’s a mud hut with a tin door) and ooooh wow, we’ve gone every day it is to die for. Big egg sandwiches on fresh bread with onions, peimont (a local pepper) and mayonnaise. New favourite food.

Got African clothes made. Soooo awesome. Also bought an African CD of this rap group from Ghana and it’s the best. Ghana is English speaking so we can actually understand it and the drums and the beats are just too cool. Really hoped there would be good African jewelry but they try so much to be like Europe everything is crappy cheap imported plastic jewelry. Maybe in a bigger city like Kara we will find something.

When we get to Kara I will be able to post pictures, so Im excited to show some of the neat pictures I have taken.

Really going to miss the mountains and all the greenery.

Off to boil in the sun. Happy Wednesday everyone.

I could very well be filming national geographic right now

Culture shock times a million today. We were driven downtown to see it and all the markets today. Crazy. Sooo many people, so many sweet clothes, but I still don't feel close to comfortable trying to buy anything yet. The food is good if I stick to what I know. We had salad and beer for an appetizer for lunch which I thought was interesting. Then we had some kind of pork, which I did not eat, and then everything else though I ate and it was awesome. Fried plantains, fried chunks of potato that were so creamy inside, fresh mango, rice and again, the salad and beer. Everything tastes so fresh. They drink coffee and tea out of bowls here which threw me off this morning.

Even after driving all over downtown, a walk on the beach, and mass, we are still the only white people, or "yovos", in this area. We get stared at a lot and this little 1 year old at church even ran away from his mom and planted right next to me so he could stare at me. haha but he was so stinkin cute he's probably just never seen a white person before.

We chatted with one of the brothers for awhile at breakfast today. All the brothers here are very young, under 30. He was telling us all about the problems and how much political corruption there is and how they can't be saved until the government is fixed which there's no way it can be due to how it's currently operating. It was really sad to see the defeat in his face talking about his own country. It really got to me. Cause here we are, 3 yovos thinkin we can do something, which I mean I'm hoping we can, but there's just so much no one even has the capability to do due to the government. It's depressing really. I'm going to have a hard time not letting these things get to me too often.

sorry no pics yet.

Well off to socialize with the brothers. I miss 'merica.

Ohhh ya know, just chillin in Africa

We made it! I'm not going to lie, the airport and the drive to the brothers house was somewhat terrifying. Possibly cause it was dark and we didn't know what we were doing but we made it to the house just fine.

Our rooms are actually air conditioned, and I actually woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold, hahah but I won't have that problem for long. It is humid as heck, the heaviest air I've ever encountered.

Not too many bugs yet. Went to outside mass today. Very similar but people just went up whenever they wanted for communion so that really threw me off. Very laid back atmosphere. Not sure when we're going to Kara, our next destination, but it should be within a few days after we visit the embassy. My apologies for writing like a 3rd grader but I'm scared the internet is going to go out again! Keep praying for me!! The language barrier is really hard right now. Miss my normal way of life, but excited to learn. I'll try to post again as soon as I can.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Let me start by saying I've had an absolutely amazing time, but lately we've had to face some unfortunate circumstances that might outwardly try to ruin our trip.However, we have prevailed and told those unfortunate events to suck it.

First, the weather has been awful. The first day or two we were here it was absolutely beautiful, the next day or two was scorching hot, and the past few days have been the awful ones. 60 degrees at best, rainy, cloudy. yuck. I thought I was in Ohio with all this bipolar weather. This made going up the eiffel tower not as fun simply due to the fog and the limited skyline we could see. Still a really neat experience..

We had to wait in line awhile, probably an hour or so, but these 2 indian women from south africa were behind us and they were great. They spoke english and the one had a afrikaan accent and the other had a zulu accent. I could listen to them talk all day. They told us all about south africa and how beautiful the stadiums look for the world cup and said the whole country is in a buzz. I never cared for the whole european soccer phenomenon but after being here I wish the US was more involved..its just fun:) They were also telling us about this clothing store they own and all the beautiful beaches and how vacation there is so cheap compared to here. They use rands and they said 10 rands is worth one euro. They said we just had to visit sometime, gave us their email, said their indian culture believes that you meet everyone for a specific reason and told us we need to keep in touch. they were great:)

So we take the elevator up the eiffel tower and about crapped myself. There were sooo many people crammed in there and I was pressed against the door, going a billion feet in the air. DWERFASDA TERRIFYING. Once I got off though it was breathtaking, despite the cloudy weather. The fogginess actually gave it a cool gothic vibe of the city. We took the elevator down to the halfway point where they have a restaurant and took the stairs the rest of the way. Took forever, but was better than any elevator.

The news station here keeps talking about the American oil spill, american idol, and twilight. What the hell.

A few days ago we went inside this bookstore called Shakespeare and Company, a really famous bookstore where all their books are in English. I also already knew it was famous cause it came up on one of my stumbleupon sites before:) Tons of famous writers have come here to write including ernest hemingway who wrote a book I bought there talking all about his stay in paris and a lot about this very bookstore. They stamped it with this little crest stamp saying it was purchased in Shakespeare and Co. It was so cozy and they had a piano player on the second floor and books were just shoved absolutely everywhere and it was a bookie's delight. They had a little reading nook with a bulletin board filled with notes from people who read there. They also have beds up top where english speaking tourists can stay in exchange for volunteer work in the store. It was incredible.

To continue with the crappy luck, Jose had it pretty bad the other day. At shakespeare and co he lost his sunglasses and he was bummin pretty bad. Then we had a wine and cheese and bread picnic outside the eiffel tower. We tried being cultured and buy tons of cheeses but they all tasted like butt except for the brie. The wine was awesome though, however jose got a little too excited and spilled it all over his camera. Strike two. Thennnnn, and I must admit I about peed myself when this happened, as he was cleaning off his camera a bird came and pooped on his head. Dom just matter of factly told him "hey, you just got shit on". At least he was a good sport about it. 2 bottles of wine and a life chat later, we were feeling pretty good and wanted to go explore but it started downpouring and we ran to the metro and that ended our day.

To continue with our unfortunate events, I woke up yesterday with pinkeye. Of course, why wouldn't I get pinkeye in Paris. Luckily France isn't as anal as the US and I could just walk in the pharmacy without a script and get some eye drops. It feels better but I still look horrid.

Despite the pink eye, we went to montemarte, the hill of martyrs as it translates, to see Sacre-Couer, the second famous cathedral in Paris. I personally liked it a lot better than Notre Dame. Its so beautiful and on this huge hill and even from the top of the eiffel tower it stuck out so much cause of the hill. The inside was gorgeous but we couldn't take pics. Mom I lit a candle for you inside notre dame and dad, one for you inside sacre-couer:) They were both awesome. Montemartre is also where moulin rouge and red light district are but, surprise surprise, it started pouring again so we didn't get to see it.

My videos take 8 years to upload on here so I'm just going to put them on youtube. my username is sobnosae I think you can just search for them.

Last day here, off to Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre, the two famous art museums. Can't wait!!! Maybe we can hit up the red light district tonight, make some money to compensate for all this expensive food..

hope my eye doesn't explode. off to breakfast and to start the day! cheers! bisoux!

Finally, a little French history

Salut:)

Yesterday Dom and I explored Champs Elysees, which is the swanky part of Paris. We saw Louis Vuitton, the Rolex store (which we weren't even allowed in hahaha) D&G, and all that good stuff. I can only dream of the day I'll have nothing better to spend 850 euros on than a stupid handbag.

Last night, our ETHOS grad assistant Mark had a layover in Paris before he was off to Cameroon so we all went out to dinner downtown. I challenge you to find food in this city that doesn't taste amazing. I got a pasta carbonara-ish dish with pasta and smoked pork in it with an egg yolk on top. With wine, of course:) Mark then told us of this free walking tour that runs daily and that we should check it out...

Sooo today we did just that!! And THAT is exactly what I expected from Paris. Our tour guide was absolutely awesome and told us so much history behind so many little details I would've never paid attention to. She also sold us on a pub crawl tour tonight...11 euros to get into bars and clubs in addition to half off drinks...can hardly argue with that one:) I put some videos of notre dame and the louvre, and some pictures from dinner and our tour, mainly for my parents and those who've never seen paris:)

So much to say about the tour, so much history and awesome little facts. and it was FREE. and in ENGLISH. God bless America. I think I'm going to put together a little word document with all the pictures and the stories behind them simply cause they were so fascinating I don't want to forget them. I appreciate the city so much more now. I also appreciate good walking shoes, which I sadly do not have.

After 2 days, I love it here. We're pros at the metro by now. I can speak enough to get what I need. Very few things to complain about.

Only things that suck in Paris:

1) THE SMELL. I'm sorry people but it's true it is smelly a lot of the times.
2) Record breaking temperatures. Awesome. Yea yea yea, I know you're thinking "ooh it's hot there wait til you get to africa you little priss" but it's different. Expectations mean the world and I expect Africa to be freakishly hot but I expected Paris to breezy and comfortable. Not so much. To follow that..
3) No AC in our hostel. We do have a big sweet window that we leave open all the time but it still gets uncomfortably hot.
4) How expensive things are.
5) Lots of local girls only wear shorts with tights under them. dumbest.rule.ever.

Start taking my Malaria pills today! Africa in 4 days!!!!