always, sometimes, never

so to help give you a sense of what a slice of life is like in this place, i've compiled a list of things that i see every day, once a week, and things i've yet to see in Togo.

everyday:

• somebody peeing (male of female)
• a naked kid
• a child bathing from a bucket, usually with assistance from at least one other person. family member? who knows.
• somebody breastfeeding
• an entire family on a moto (i've seen as many as 5 people)
• a child - who in the united states would not be trusted with a pair of scissors - with a machete
• somebody carrying something that would otherwise be transported in the back of a pickup truck on their head. including but not limited to: a mattress, a chainsaw, a bench, a large bag (100 pounds) of charcoal

weekly

• somebody pooping (usually only men)
• many goats strapped to the roofrack of a bush taxi
• three or more people on a bike
• rocks in my food
• somebody come within inches of an accident, usually involving a car, moto, bike, or all three
• an todler with an infant strapped to her (always her) back
• a child walking down the middle of the street crying as hard as s/he can with no adults in sight

things i've never seen

• someone wearing a seatbelt
• a working speedometer
• someone with a bike helmet... actually anything safety related
• a dog on a leash
• a trashcan (everything is literally just thrown on the ground)

i can tell that my time here is going to be an eternity within a heartbeat - bigger on the inside than it is on the outside (see Danielwski 2002). Every day here i am going to think things like "it's only noon?! ive been up for hours and hours" or "that happened this morning? i thought that was last week". but at the same time i know i will sometimes thing "oh geeze, it's march already" or "wow. i COS next week. where did the last two years go?". time on a small scale is giong to drag along, but time on a larger scale is going to fly by. i am giong to try to appreciate every second spent here, no matter how lonely, painful, or boring it may be because i know one day i will miss it. it reminds me of the inscription on the clock in the court at King's "days can be long, but life can be short..."