so this slacker fumbles through another day.

October 4, 2009
My best friend in village is a 5 year old. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. At family functions I routinely gravitate towards my cousins 10-15 years my junior. My last year of college; socializing with the kids I nannyed for was often easier than with my roommates. Maybe it’s my unwillingness to grow-up; as running away to Africa is proof of that.

Afisou holds a special place in my heart, above the other kids in Kéméni. When I go next door- where he lives- his Mom and the other women there immediately assume I’m only there to find him. They are constantly joking about how he’s going to come to America with me. I choose to think they’re joking- they’re probably serious.

Afisou comes to my porch every morning to say hello. This is difficult considering neither of us knows beyond a few words of our common languages. The verbal exchange usually goes something like this:
Afisou- “What’s up homes?” (I taught him some English)
Nima- “What’s up dawg?”
Afisou- “Nima! Niiiimma! Nima! Bonbon! (Sometimes this can be replaced with “ballon!”)
Nima- Grr. You only love me for my candy/soccer ball.
Afisou- “Merci! Bila bitasi!”

Last week I was in Lomé to welcome the new volunteers with lots of Awooyo (beer of choice) and sodabi (locally-made liquor). It was a fun time and made me realize how far I’ve come this past year. The ever-important obligation of introducing the newbies to their new Togolese life of drinking at 9am on the beach kept me from the first week of school in village. It was also Afisou’s first day of school. I didn’t put two and two together and was crushed when I got back to village and he came running over to my house with his new backpack. “Nima! Mendée sukuli!” And he excitedly showed off his new school supplies. I’m overprotective of all the kids in my village and want nothing more than to see them all succeed in school. But Afisou is going to have to work really hard to learn English by the time I leave if he wants to come with. At least he has me to teach him slang so he’ll run with the cool second-grade crowd in America.