Stage

As I sit down to write a blog post, I find it very difficult because I don't know where to begin. How can I possibly start to describe the differences in culture, environment, everyday life? I think this is, besides having spotty internet, the reason I haven't blogged much.
I am coming up on my last week of training before I swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have been here for 2 months. Sometimes it seems like it has flown by, other times it feels like an eternity. I think about the last time I took a hot shower (in DC) and it feels like a year ago. But I also remember looking at the training schedule and crying, thinking there was no way I could survive 11 weeks, let alone 2 years. But here I am. We lost two girls along the way, but the remaining 13 of us are pretty proud, as we should be. Training has been a whole lot of sitting and listening to lectures (sometimes interesting, usually not), living with a host family, eating unknown food, crapping our pants (not me, thankfully), being eaten by mosquitos (at one point, I had 62 bites below my knees. Take a moment to imagine that), learning French AND the local language, and living in close quarters with 12 other stressed, emotionally charged women. All in all, it's been a challenging 2 months. I will be extremely sad to say goodbye to my host family, especially my mom and my little brother, but I am excited to get to Vogan and begin my work.
What is my work? you ask. Fabulous question. I don't really know in what capacity I will be of use yet. I will be working with a small NGO called CASIEJ, an organization dedicated to educating youth about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases. Michel, my Togolese counterpart, seems motivated and interesting. He has worked with PCVs before (I am a replacement) and seems really excited to have me.
As you can see from my pictures, my house.is.amazing. I live on the 2nd floor (2 story houses are a rarity here) with a white-tiled terrace that's as big as the rest of my apartment put together. Vogan is a town of about 9,000 people. It has a huge market on Fridays but is small enough the rest of the time to be managable. David, a small enterprise development volunteer, will be placed there as well, so collaboration on projects (and movie nights!) is a possibility.
I have dealth with more homesickness here than I ever could have expected. In addition to wicked culture shock, it's hard to realize that, although I know I am loved and missed at home, I am on my own. I had to do the same in Italy, but it was not compounded with culture shock the way it is here. As a white person in West Africa, it is ALWAYS apparent that I am a foreigner. Things in the culture continue to surprise me every day, and we volunteers are grappling with all this without the constant reassurance of our support system, our safety nets. Which can be pretty scary. But then something will happen, like I'll notice the clouds rolling in over Mt Agou, or a singing, drumming, colorful funeral procession will march by. Then I'm reminded that even though sometimes I feel like I'm falling, I'm having quite the adventure.
So I guess that's training. Thanks so much to those of you that have sent letters. Although emails are deeply appreciated, mail day is by far the highlight of our weeks here. Keep it coming. I miss you all!