Essivi à Lomé. Woezon!

Family Ayeh has a dog which is very shy though. At night he gets playful and then I chase his tail. Oh and a little cat which I found asleep yesterday night in the toilet, she loves it there cos she chases cockroaches. Oh and I dont know how that is possible but yesterday a car drove over a goat at a speed of 15 km/h (6 m/h), I never saw anything run over and I was right behind the car on a moto. I hope the owner found it quickly and killed it. Oh yes as everywhere of course chicken and goats are running around freely here, I dont know how the owners know which is whose. Some are marked with paint or bits of clothing.

There are many more things to tell but I will leave some for when I am back. When I am ill I really miss my bed in Berlin cos the room here is so dark and small but that is about the only time. Togo offers a lot of business opportunities but it is too unstable yet, otherwhise I would maybe consider working here for a bit. The people are great and very social. I so hope that this time the election will get Gnassingbe out, but as I said he has got all the police and military on his side. Voting will take place in Octobre.

Okay I will leave this little internet shop now, get a Moto down the street back home and see what Dodzis siter got from the market.. and maybe buy some yoghurt icecream. As soon as my foot has healed Ill be in a club dancing. We have been once and I am telling you.. a Yovo doing Popo-Dancing is an experience for the Lométo.

All the best from palm lined Joseph-Strauss-Street in Neqonoque-Lomé (def wrongly spelled .)

Bisous xxxx

And the day before we were visiting the orphanage the German girl work in. Very impressive, the children (whose parents died of Aids)are being taken very good care of. And they even had toilets with flush!

Afterwards we went to visit Senas family cos they live in the same quartier - Adidigomé. Aij his family is so nice!! I was ver impressed. We got nice food and chatted for a long time. His stepmum even knew Dodzi from when he was a kid. Oh and she wanted to adopt me I think .

Oh and illnesses.. till yesterday I though I would lose my foot! I was injured while bathing in the sea. I fell and the waves were so strong the were about to take my pants down! So instead of supporting my legs I used my hands to keep my pants in place and thus lost some skin on my foot. In Germany I wouldnt have bothered but here it grew big and got enflamed and now I can hardly walk. But I went to a med yesterday (also very interesting experience, i wouldnt want to get seriously ill here!) and now it is better. Before I already had strong diarrhea, stomach ache (worse than the foot pain I swear!), a funny fever and tonsillitis (mandelentzuendung). But I am positive I will stay healthy now .

Oh und ich habe Togo mit der bedeutendsten westlichen Errungenschaft missioniert! Ich habe Milchnudeln gekocht!!!

Tiere gibts hier nicht so viele. Eidechsen, Geckos und grosse Ameisen.

I really learn a lot a bout African politics here.

Another more interesting thing for Sofie.. on Sunday we were on the beach and they had a dance contest. Aij they were good. Breakdance, Popping, Locking, Crumping, Caipoeira.... and SO many!! Even Berlin hasnt got that many dancers I think. And some were really good, they danced very much French style. Aij and all the young people in gangsta style .

Oh der Mann hinter mir moechte mich heiraten, wie nett, noch einer . Hat einer von Euch noch Bedarf? Hihi.

Oh and the guys hold hands here! That makes me laugh and is my revenge when all the children call me "Yovo!". Thats Mina for "white person", cos I now call the boys "Haendchenhalter!" (hand-holders) .

Aij and the singers here only do playback!!!!!! Which wouldnt be so funny if they wouldnt constantly forget to hold the microphone to their mouth! Even the rappers!! They pose around stage with their muscles and only move their lips haha .

We have been to the local hero singer: King Mensah. He sings in Ewe the local language and I have to say is very professional. A nice show with many dancers who come from the orphanages he supports. But a lot of praying, I thought I was in church.

Oh and talking of churches they make a HELL lot of money here! Some people go to church every day. I hear people singing church songs all the time. They are EVERYWHERE! I think just in my quartier there are maybe 20. All little sects. If you want to make money in Togo you found a church. Me as a non Christian I dont find that right at all. And even though I dont understand what they are saying I know they take money.

The last three days Joseph and me where in the mountains with a bit of jungle feeling, in Kpalimé. That was so beautiful. Everywhere Mango, Papaya and Banana trees. All green .

Danke fuer die Nachrichten Papa! Ich denke an Euch am Dienstag! Ich denke viel an Opa.

And thank you Moye for staying updated!

If this keyboard doesn t drive me mad again I will have a lot to write today . Basically if you d like to imagine me think of a happy girl sitting on the back of a moto, riding under palm trees with a plastic bag of yoghurt icecream in her mouth.

Oh and I do get attention actually. Once I am out alone. Uh but I am hard with the men they always leave a bit angry, hihi. Well, I worked in an Irish Pub I am tough .

Ok back to food. My enthusiasm was gone after 2 days. I am only eating yaam and beans now. Oh and grilled bananas. So Patrick NO I will not cook fish for you!! Oh and I have been eating a lot of funny meat, some rat and stomach (which I believe was tongue!). Aij la pât really makes me sick, its a dough made from corn but a bit sour.

Aij and the other thing that makes me sick is the military. The president who is not acknowledged internationally installed a lot of military from his village, and they are professional beggars as I call them. They stopped us one night and wanted our passports. I told them I dont carry it cos of theft and they asked "who would steal your passport?". Aij I was very close to saying "YOU!". However 2000 CFA (3,50 €) later they left. Same on the roads, there are douanes for no reason, they look in your trunk you pay money thats it. If it wasnt for the military Gnassingbe the president would be gone.

Hallo Diana,
auch wenn alles so traurig ist, wir haben hier alles im Griff. Es ist alles organisiert, vorbereitet und geklärt. Liebe Grüße auch von Oma, sie ist sehr stark und bedankt sich ganz dolle für das Gebet. Trotz allem, viel Spaß, liebe Grüße an Deine Gasteltern, Doottssccchi (o.s.ä.)und einen ganz dicken Kuß von Oma, Rico (nicht unbedingt vorstellen), Mutti und von mir. Genieße Dein Glück.

I was just saving the first text in case of a power cut..

Ok, this morning a beautiful cock woke me up, it was singing right under our window! My welcome kikirikii . But it was running real quick when it saw me.

I have even already done some revision! And on the market a man was so angry he trew around books, I don%t know what happened but I should have been quicker and taken some!

It is raining these days and Dodzi and I where betting who gets stuck in the puddles next .

Oh yes and I already investigated the sewage water system of course.

Oh and I don%t get more attention than others really, which is nice. But there are not many Europeans here, I saw three men and one woman today. All with family or for business.

And I visited the Goethe Institute, VERY nice and I now know where to find a good toilet .

The very very sad news at the end. My granddad died the morning I left for Togo. I am incredibly sad, especially because I cannot take part in the ceremonies now. Most of you know, that he was suffering from cancer. But I was sure to see him again after my journey. Ich bin so traurig.

Ich hatte schon gestern beschlossen, in eine Kirche zu gehen, um mich noch einmal zu verabschieden. Dann hat Dodzi erzaehlt, dass man eine Messe abhalten lassen kann. Nun werde ich morgen um 6 Uhr mit Dodzi und seiner Mutti in die Kirche gehen und der Pfarrer wird ein Gebet fuer meinen Opi sprechen waehrend der Messe. Ich freue mich sehr darueber.

Ich wuensche besonders Dir Papa und natuerlich Oma ganz viel Kraft. Ich fuehle mich schrecklich, dass ich jetzt gar nichts machen kann. Ihr seid die ganze Zeit in meinen Gedanken und in meinem Herzen.

Donc, à plus tard.

Gros bisous de Diana

Und Sofie.... sei fleissig!

Ich fasse mich kurz, die Tastatur hier spinnt naemlich total! Die Knoepfe machen nicht, was drauf steht und alle sind durcheinandergewuerfelt .

Donc, je reviens pas! I am not coming back! Ich komme nicht zurueck!

Hergeflogen bin ich mit einem Drogenboss aus Colombia, kein Scherz! Ich habe Ihm erfolgreiche Geschaefte gewuenscht .

Dodzi passt gerade auf, dass ich die richtigen Knoepfe druecke , schwierig schwierig.

So, der Flughafen war sehr luxurioes, wir wurden 30 m mit einem Bus chauffiert .

Dodzi, Marco und Gil der Bruder haben mich abgeholt. Die Schokolade ist schon verteilt und ich habe nicht genascht. Muecken habe ich erst eine gesehen, es ist ein bisschen frisch, also keine Malaria.

Ooooooooh Pete!!!! Joseph%s sister got a small shop and on sunday a white pigeon fell from the sky, as she said, and she is now taking care of it. It looks like a really expensive one. I am visiting it regularly... and I know that you now think I am with good, pigeon friendly people . I think it can%t fly anymore though.

Also mir geht es toll, ich fuehle mich irgendwie zu Hause. Oh und Malick, j%ai vu le Sahara!! Le sable est vraiment rouge! Der Drogenmann hat mir seinen Fensterplatz gegeben, na und seinen Joghurt . Ich habe alles gesehen, Algerien, die Berge, Plateaus, die Wueste, die Savanne und den Niger. Es war so schoen!

Das Haus, in dem ich wohne, ist super schoen, meine lang ersehnte Outdoordusche war fantastisch. Oh und ich komme gerade vom Markt, mit Dodzi und Enyonam. Wir haben ein Tuch gekauft, weil mir kalt war heute Nacht.

11 hours to go!!

At the moment I am a sleep and food deprived human being sitting between books and piles of clothes.. BUT with 2kg of chocolate in my bag!! And this is not an exaggeration. =D

So yes, I am VERY excited if not to say close to a nervous breakdown ; ) but I am focusing on finishing the theoretical part of my thesis, so that keeps me distracted.

Thank you for your greetings Jamal! Oh and Patrick, I did NOT take any of my shoes to give away! There is a limit to generousness! And hello to Moye, thank you for keeping in touch!

Soooooooooooooo that's it I guess. Bye bye Europe! =D

xxxxxxxxxx

Just keeping you entertained... ; )

Today was my last trip to the Togolese embassy and I was happy to receive my "entry ticket" to Lomé. I was welcomed with "Oooooooh DIANA!", the sun was shining and it was my final thing on the to-do-list. And I got all my shots for anybody worried, even rabies since dogs like me so much...

TOGO je vieeeeeeeeens!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D

Bisous!!