Dave's visit

My boyfriend, Dave, came and visited me for the month of July. We had a blast! I felt especially lucky because he was here for my 24th birthday (my 2nd out of the 3 birthdays I will have in Togo). The pictures below are from his visit.


Welcome to Togo, Dave!


Birthday package from mom


4th of July Smores-making over the gas stove (we were too tired to light the charcoal and do it the real way)


a very hot 4th of July 2009 (Dave's first day in my village)


Birthday pancakes on July 5th



Kids playing soccer in my compound with a very attentive audience under the gazeebo shade



Dave eating comme at my market



Cooking at home





Dave helping out at baby-weighing




a view from my village



cute kids on the way home from the dispensaire after a rainstorm



my "neighborhood"



Reading on my front porch



me & Dave, credit to my little host brother's amateur photography skills



Solim and Fofo (my little host family siblings) giving Sudoku a shot




shot from my back window (I just liked this picture)




Dave doing dishes



Rainy days (it rained the first solid week Dave was here - This is why we call it rainy season)



bush taxi full of Peace Corps volunteer yovos on the way north to Kara






Fufu for lunch in Kara




Danielle, her boyfriend Nate, and Dave on the search for our hotel



dinner with real salad!





On the way to Danielle's friend's home village in Kara region where we were invited for lunch




Danielle's friend's family




We met up with some other local volunteers in Kara





>Evala- the coming of age ceremony for young Kabiye boys. The events were packed. In this last picture if you look closely, you can see the man in the grey suit at the desk; that's Togo's current president, Faure Gnassingbe



Soccer game in Emily's village




Dave, Emily, Fenway



Togolese doing laundry in the river



Dave with Fenway & Wrigley (Emily's pets)



the whole ensemble


Dave on a moto on the way to my village




Bike ride up to Elavagnon (Danielle's village)




Our garden is growing!



Lunch chez Danielle; courtesy of Nate, we had enchiladas with real cheese from America





Nap time on the cool cement floor




Look familiar? (refer to pictures from Dad's visit) My little host brother later asked me why American men don't like wearing shirts.




Making peanut butter



Eating coconut after I finally got it open





Dave's new Togolese outfits




This is how I get water during rainy season





The last step of peanut butter-making: grinding the peanuts into butter at the mill


My youngest host brother, Fofo, volunteered to fix my latrine door which was falling off because the nail had rusted out. It was really cute and I had to sneak a picture.





The cute kids in my compound (notice Solim dancing by herself in the background)





Dave's goodbye pictures with my host family (in the last picture though, I don't know the kid on the far right; he was just a neighbor kid who decided to jump in last minute)



These last pictures are just of Green Turtle Lodge in Ghana, which is an isolated "resort" by the ocean where we spent time right before Dave went back to the States.