By: Madeline

     Well, I know that I said I'd try to keep up this blog but anyone who knows me probably knew not to take that too seriously. Or to take it seriously but not trust it, at least. So I apologize for that sense of false hope some of you may have had, but I've been so very busy with school, and my new work, that there's hardly any time to do anything but breathe in between things.      I know that everyone must be quite curious about my new job, so I thought I'd write a bit detailing that. First of all, let me say that this is one of the most outlandish things I've done, for lack of a better word. Yes, I've lived in Togo most of my life. Yes, I've been submerged in more culture than many people ever will, even at fourteen. But still, I never really considered the idea of going to work at a clinic here in Kara, the smallest biggest town I know.       I always think so many things I try are a good idea, and enjoy them at first, but even...

Prejudice is a funny thing. Pride is even funnier. And when I say funny, I don’t mean the laughing kind of funny. I mean the kind of funny that is hard to explain and comprehend. Those two words simply have such a vast array of things that could tag along after them in a conversation that I try to avoid them as much as I can. But I do know one kind of prejudice and one kind of pride that seems to stand out to me all the time, and not only because of where I live. Prejudice seems to me to be one of the most blinding faults a person can have. It can keep them from seeing the good in things, which is often one of the biggest blessings you can have. There are so many kinds, racial prejudice, religious prejudice, and prejudice against anything else you can name. And the fact of the matter is, it makes me sad. The idea of alienating a trait of a person, thing, or group of people, then despising them for it shows that whoever is prejudiced against something, obviously has a big problem to...

     There is so much to write about right now I barely even want to blog because I like things to be spaced out evenly. This is just going to be a big blob of random information. Humph. I'll begin at the beginning.      Fourth of July. A rather obscure holiday for me. As I've always had to celebrate two independence days, one with a little more forced gumption than the other, it takes part of the joy out of it. Also, we aren't actually in America 90% of the time. No fireworks. No real Americans. Happy 4th! Of course we make the best of it with the food and games and whatnot.      Holidays in Rwanda are different.      I've noticed that for one thing, there are about half as many expats in Rwanda as actual citizens. So for our American holiday, they had at least forty Americans there. Aidan also made us some explosives. It was a rather fancy, complicated firework that sent sparkles and fire spewing in all directions. The sec...

     Alright, alright, I know it's not really alliteration like I prefer in the title, but I'm too tired to think of alliteration right now. It's hard to leave your blog for a few days, travel to a completely different part of the continent, then come back and write about all of it, on top of being clever. But, just to humor you all, I will try.       So far, we've spent two days in Rwanda. Our plane rides were... Interesting... They went rather smoothly for the most part until we almost died on the last one. When we were landing in Uganda, I guess we landed at sort of an angle, and when the plane hit the ground, we sort of did a bounce-and-lean-dangerously-to-the-right thing. The one side of the plane lifted off the ground and we must have been tilting at a forty-five degree angle. Then we leaned to the left as the pilot tried to right the plane too quickly. It was fine in the end though and we got to the Rwanda airport at one in the morning without ...

     When your 'metaphorical cousins' visit, there are a few things you can expect. 1: Everyone will get along splendidly and nothing horrible will happen, it will be like little angels playing together nicely. 2: It will go well, aside for the occasional tiff and a few tears. 3: You learn not to expect anything because the results vary from hugs to sprained ankles. I think we can all guess that in this case it's the third.      The Reeves have been here for about a week now, and so far nobody has died. We moved my bed to the side and crammed two other mattresses in my room so I am currently blogging on the remaining two square feet of space. However, I feel used to this arrangement by now. The fact that our best friends are here after not seeing them for a few years outweighs that. So far, we have succeeded in reenacting Les Mis with the three of us girls, playing our own version of 'Thank God You're Here!', and chasing the bunnies around the yard quite a...

     You know, last night I was thinking about it, and I've never really thought about what went through my mind when we moved to Togo. I mean, honestly, nobody does that. Only crazy people. Obviously. And it's also something that lots of people have asked me, though I don't really know the answer. But now that I had a good three hours last night to think about it (compliments of a rainstorm), maybe I'll have a valid answer this time.       When we lived here the first time, I had no idea that it wasn't a completely average thing, to move to a developing, French-speaking country. And I was so little that I didn't even give it much thought when people asked me what it was like to live here (I learned to answer that question before I was three). But when I was four, and we made the sudden move back to America, I slowly withdrew into the normal American mindset, that living in Togo wasn't quite normal, just with the thought in the back of my mind that sa...

     Having a blog is harder than I thought. As a writer, I only usually write when I have inspiration. But as a blogger, I feel like writing consistently about interesting things is hard to do. Especailly when i know people are reading it, unlike most of my other writing. In a way, it makes me feel more courageous as a writer, and in another way, it makes me feel like I'm not putting my best out there, which is one of my greatest fears. I do have a valid excuse for not writing in a few days though. For one thing, we made a brief but harrowing trip to Accra, which involved the Great Gatsby, a live Clue game, and the making of home made wizard wands. The trip to Accra is fifteen hours, and when you're driving all the way one day, spending two days in town, then driving all the way back the next day, it takes it out of you quite a bit.       We came back from said trip on Tuesday, and had a nice time sleeping until ten in the morning. On Wednesday I pas...