Aicha

So one of my favorite people in Togo is Aicha, one of the PC language trainers. This photo was taken at the US embassy at my swearing-in ceremony. She was my French trainer towards the end of training since she was the teacher of my local language, Cotokoli, so we did a little bit of both since I wanted some more French instruction after not really having used it for about 15 (!!! -- has it been that long since college??) years.

Aicha has one of the funniest laughs -- it's hard to describe in writing but unmistakable when you hear it. Sort of a really deep hearty guffaw. And she's super-sweet and fun to talk to. We talked a lot about politics and US culture (tho not in any PC-prohibited way -- gotta be careful with those sensitive political issues!).

One of the best stories about Aicha I heard is from my new site-mate Rebecca, who just came to Sokode to work with the small business/IT program. One of the activities they have us all do during training is called Free University, which involves each trainee presenting some skill and teaching it to everyone else, with the goal I'm assuming of getting us to feel comfortable speaking French in front of a group. So one of the trainees in Rebecca's stage is good at gymnastics and decided to teach how to do a handstand, choosing Aicha as her demonstrator. The trainee gave Aicha a pair of bike shorts to put on under her skirt but Aicha didn't seem to get what they were for and put them over her skirt (and skirts tend to be long here so it was ankle length -- I'm not even sure how she accomplished that) and proceeded to demonstrate the handstand thus attired. I'm sure it was hilarious and I'm sorry I missed it.

P.S. As you can see from the photo, being in Africa involves a lot of sweating, thus the lovely "glow" on my face, which is even more attractive when you add greasy sunscreen into the mix.