Post Assignments

First off, apologies for the delay in getting this post out to the masses. When I commented lasrt time that I found a functioning internet cafe that was a little misleading...really I found a cafe which has intenet half of the time they're open.

Really, I'm just trying to give everyone a taste of what is to come when I' actually in the bush, at post.

On that note, I'll start by saying that I received my much anticipated post assignment last week. During our training we're given a list of the available villages in which we can spend our two years here, along with descriptions of the availalable work at the site. The descriptions aren't very long at all--basically just the bare bones about the site and possible work options. We're then given a questionaire and told to list basic preferences in regards to the size of the town, distance from the city and so on. To be honest, I didn't have any burning preferences--only suggestions for what type of work I thought I'd be good. Though, I did say I wanted a new post rather then a replacement post (being the first westerner in a village has its charm, plus I really dont want to be compared to anyone who came before me).

Luckily, I got both a new post and a village which seems to be receptive to work areas like reforestation, fish farming and general conservation. All of which I understand and am enthusiastic about. Though I admit that with a degree like fisheries and wildlife science I should know much more about fish farming than I actually do.

I'm fairly certain I can't actually write the name of the village for security reasons, but I'm in the plateau region in the SW of the country. The area is hilly and receives the most rainfall in Togo with some of the coolest temperetaures. Which, as you might expect, I'm thrilled about.

Next Saturday we leave to go and visit the sites for a week. Which should be exciting, terrifiying and completely different then training with a bunch of Americans...

More to come soon (hopefully), take care tout le monde!