Bienvenue a Togo!

Well Friends,

I wanted to send you all a quick hello to let you know that I have arrived in Togo safely. We traveled to Lome (Togo's capital) after a few days of training in Philly. The Peace Corps has been taking AMAZING care of us-- even going as far as changing money for us and picking up some items we may need. The food has been great and no one has gotten sick...so far.

On Wednesday we travel to Agou where we will be staying with host families while receiving training on language and culture from the Peace Corps staff. After some information today about how to take bucket showers and pee in a latrine (or worse), we're ready to go! In case you were wondering, the proper way to pee in a latrine is to tap the lid first to scare away any creatures that may be living in there (lizards, roaches, etc.).

I'm really looking forward to meeting my host family and working on my french with them at home. I had a french language placement test the other day and though my french is somewhat rusty, I think I did alright. The instructor began by asking me questions about my family. He didn't believe me when I said I was an only child. He said, "surely many must have died in infancy". Unfortunately my french was not good enough to explain that one but I figure there will be more opportunity in the future.

That's all for now. I'll write when I can!

Emily