homemade drums

In my travels I have seen many "street musicians" and I love to take pictures of them. It is my hope to one day be able to put all of these pictures together somehow and display them in my home.

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Last week as we were traveling back from Lome I spotted this guy playing a "drum set" made out of water jugs and sticks. We stopped and a friend of mine snapped these shots and also got a little video of the performance.

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Just the guy playing the home made drum was funny enough but then a man walked up wearing a bathrobe and started to dance. That was priceless. Not something you see everyday!

true happiness

This post is mainly for Kevin's mom.....

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Kevin loves Jello more than anyone I know and so I try to make it for him every so often. The problem I have discovered with making one small box at a time is that he sits down with his spoon in hand and the Jello disappears within seconds - and then he wants more.

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So I started making 2 small boxes at a time. Same problem. So the other day when he asked me to make him some Jello I decided to make 2 large boxes that would last for a few days.

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You should have seen the look on his face when I pulled this huge bowl of Jello out of the fridge that night. He took the entire bowl, plastic spoon in hand and with a big smile on his face sat down in his recliner and exclaimed, "I've never had a bowl this big!" I asked him, "Didn't your mom ever make a big bowl of Jello?" He replied, "Yeah, but she wouldn't let me eat it right out of the bowl."

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I guess it truly is the little things in life that make us happy.

the 4 seasons of togo

One of the things I loved about living in Pennsylvania was that I got to experience all 4 seasons, fall, winter, spring and summer. Being here in Togo for a year I guess we get to experience the 4 seasons that Togo has to offer....

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Harmattan (dry) season, Termite season, Snake season and Rainy season.

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We have been through Harmattan and Termite season so now we are in Snake season. Actually, snake and rainy season sort of overlap because from what I'm told it's the rains that make the snakes come out in large numbers but I'm also told that we haven't really hit rainy season yet even though it is raining at least 3 or 4 times a week now.

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Nevertheless, this is my blog and I have officially declared it Snake season in Togo. The 2 snakes you see pictured above are a 6 ft. Black Tree Snake (the skinnier one) and a 10 ft. Cobra. The Cobra was killed today on the mountain behind the hospital compound and the tree snake a few days ago just outside the entrance of the hospital compound.

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Kevin is the proud owner of the cobra and is having it skinned as a souvenir. He also owns a 15.5 ft. Python skin that I bought him as an anniversary gift. Not sure where he plans on displaying his snake skins once we are home but it should be an interesting debate at some point in the future as I am sure that he will probably want to drape them over the back of the couch or use one as a table runner in the dining room. We'll see.

haircut

Well, for those of you who have been wondering if I have gotten my hair cut yet, the answer is yes. I found a place in Accra, Ghana called Star Unisex Salon and thought "with a name like that, I can't go wrong!"

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The place actually didn't look that much different than a salon in the States and I think the lady did a pretty good job (anything was better than what it looked like when I walked in there). The only difference is that there was no air conditioning and the hair that she cut off my head just stuck to my neck because it was so hot.

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Never fear...at the end she used about half a bottle of baby powder and slapped the back of my neck with a hand towel a few times to take care of the itching. The neck beating stung so badly that I forgot all about the itching so I guess her technique worked.

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So now I can rest easy knowing that the next time I need my hair cut (which will be in about 5 or 6 weeks) all I have to do is reserve one of the hospital vans, ask Kevin to take off three days from work, grab our passports and make the quick 7 hour trip to the hair salon! And presto! Only about $425 later I will have a nice haircut! Who said living in Africa wasn't easy enough?

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And for those of you who are still wondering.....no, I didn't get it colored.

chez fanny

Well, we did go to Kpalime and we had a nice supper at Chez Fanny (which, come to find out, means Fanny's House). Either the clouds were low that day or the mountains have grown since we've been here but it was pretty, whatever the case.
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We were the only two people in the restaurant which means the service was great but it also means that the staff have nothing better to do but stand in the corner of the room and stare at you the whole time you are there. It's a little unsettling if you ask me but Kevin didn't seem to mind. He had a steak in front of him so I think the entire staff could have come right over and played "ring around the rosie" around the table and he wouldn't have noticed. :)
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Anyway, we had a great time!

2 years, already?

Well, it's been two whole years already! The time has flown by! Today, we are celebrating our wedding anniversary in Togo, West Africa. Kevin is going to take me out for dinner to a restaurant called "Chez Fanny" (I hope "Chez" doesn't mean "big" in French).

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The restaurant is in a Kpalime - about 45 minutes from here and we want to be home before dark. It gets dark right around 6pm. The restaurant's here are not necessarily known for their speedy service so that means we need to get there around 3:30pm so that we can eat and be on the road by about 5pm!

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Maybe I should say he is taking me out for a late lunch instead....

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Anyway, my point is that I am thankful for my wonderful husband!