Togo is the country east of Ghana and this past weekend, we
decided to visit. There were a total of 19 of us and we decided to get a van to
take us to the border which is only about 2 hours away. On Friday when we saw
the van, we realized that we needed to fit 19 people into a 14 passenger van..
that is how the journey started.
We started on our way and after 2 hours of singing Shania
Twain, Nsync, Spice Girls and Sweet Home Alabama, we arrived at the border. We
all brought a good amount of the Ghanaian currency to exchange in Togo. At the
border, there were tons of men walking around with huge sums of cash offering
us to exchange money. This is where it got freaky. We established a fair
exchange rate, and people started to exchange. The men would count the money
out so we could see it and they would do it a couple times, and somehow when
the money left their hands to our hands, money would disappear. It was
seriously magic. One of my friends Emily, exchanged the money… the man counted
the money, she counted the money and then I counted the money and somehow a
large portion of the money was gone. These guys were so extremely good with
their hands and many of us didn’t realize it until it was too late.
After being really frustrated with these men, we were all
had on guards up and started carrying our backpacks on the front of us. We
proceeded to immigration and to get our Togo visas. While in the immigration
office, I told one of the guards about how we all were getting ripped off and
he told us stories about how sometimes once they give you the money, they will
rob it right back or at night they will hide paper in between the bills. He
then told us not to trust them and he went and found one of his friends to help
the rest of us exchange the money and it worked out perfectly.
As soon as we actually got into Togo, it was an obvious
change between how developed Ghana was compared to Togo. We took a taxi
straight to the hotel. The hotel was awful. One of our friends who traveled all
throughout Africa prior to Ghana even said that this is by far the worst hotel
she has stayed in and we were being extremely overcharged. We paid about $12 a
night, which is a lot of money in Africa. It ended up being hilarious because
of how bad it was. That night, we went
out to a delicious dinner and just hung out at the restaurant and played
“Signs” (Bringing Young Life games to Africa J)
and called it a night.
When we got back to the hotel, we were all complaining about
how hot and miserable it was and I even said, I would honestly be happy with
air-conditioning. About two minutes after that, I saw a tiny, weird little
green button on the wall and I decided to push it. I think Lexi, my roommate,
thought I was going to blow something up. But immediately after I pushed it,
the air conditioning came on in our room! It was beautiful. Our room was the
only room with it and all our friends spent a lot of time in our cool room. We
also found out that our bed was the comfiest and we had the power to make the
room next to us have light. In other words, we were spoiled and everybody else
was a little bit jealous.
The following day, we had breakfast at a little hut near a
gas station. The French colonized Togo so there is a large French influence
with the food and language. I had a baguette with eggs and it was great. The
next adventure was going to a waterfall in Togo, so our buddy organized a van
to pick us up. The problem was that this van was even smaller than the other
one. There were maybe 12 seats and we had to fit 19 people in it. We had people
on laps, the ground, laying on each other and just uncomfortable. It took about
two hours to get to the trailhead of the hike and our overloaded van had to go
up extremely steep and narrow mountains. It was crazy!
The hike was about 30 minutes and we went through mountain
farms and we saw piles of coffee beans and other plants. It was interesting and
we were able to touch it too! Once we passed the huts where people lived, it
was an actual trail with a couple hills. As we were walking we saw a group of
French tourist headed the other way. There was a lady on a plank of wood and
her friends carrying her out. We saw them as they were headed down a big hill.
My friend Jason and I decided to help them. As soon as we assisted with
carrying, the other guys let go because they were so exhausted so we were
basically carrying this women… it was super difficult. I think I threw out my
back but it was worth it. The women said she heard a snap in her leg and she
thought it was broken so the help was needed.
We eventually caught back up to the group and we got to the
waterfall. The waterfall was gorgeous and we all decided to go swimming. There
were really slippery rocks that were pretty impossible to climb but we tried
anyways. The water felt awesome and it was really fun just hanging out in the
water with our friends.
We made our way back to Lome, the capital where we were
staying and we had dinner at a place where had the best burgers in West Africa
and I believe it!! The burgers were delicious and it might be because I haven’t
had a good burger in over 3 months or it was actually delicious. Either way, we
went to lunch there the following day too! After dinner we hung out at a local
bar until we were tired.
When we got back to the hotel, Lexi and I happily went into
our air-conditioned room. Our friends Lauren and Maya came to hang out because
their room was disgustingly hot. We offered them to stay in our room and after
debating if they wanted to look under the mattress because of the possibility
of bugs, they decided to get their mattress. We moved our bed around and a
couple minutes later, Maya and Lauren walked into our room with the saddest
look on their faces along with all of the stuff… but no mattress. We asked what
happened and in the most devastating voice, Lauren explained that she lifted
just the corner of her bed and there were over 30 beetles and she couldn’t
sleep in that room anymore. After laughing for a good ten minutes, we started
figuring out the bed situation. Maya, Lexi and I fit onto our little bed and
Lauren decided to sleep on a sad version of a couch that was as hard as rock
and only 3 feet long. Words cant describe how funny and pathetic that night
was. The security of this hotel was two benches in front of a door with a man
sleeping, who didn’t even wake up when 10 of us obnoxiously came home at 2 in
the morning. So at night, even when our room door was locked, it was sketchy.
In the middle of the night, I was awoken by someone grabbing my foot. After I
probably peed my pants and had a heartattack, I
figured out it was Maya looking for the light to our “bathroom.” I
really thought I was going to die.
The following morning we had a nice breakfast and then made
our way to a Voodoo market, which is ranked as #8 on the Top 19 Creepiest
Places In The World. It was definitely creepy and I wouldn’t want to be there
at night but luckily we didn’t go a day when they do sacrifices, because that
would have been too scary. There were skulls of lions, hippos, monkeys and a
bunch of other animals and it smelled so bad!!! It was making me nauseous. We
had a tour guide explain to us what certain things did. Originally I was going
to buy a voodoo doll but then I got to creeped out and didn’t want any of that
voodoo stuff in my bag. Even though I don’t believe in it, I didn’t want to
mess with it.
The mode of transportation in Togo is motorcycles so the
whole weekend we rode on the back of motorcycles and it was awesome! Just
imagine 19 international students in Ghana on motorcycles riding around in Togo
screaming and waving… It was hilarious and probably really dangerous but worth
it!
We eventually made our way back to the border, and I was
excited to go back to Ghana! Even though Ghana is a developing country, it is
so much more developed than Togo. The people in Ghana are so much friendlier
and it feels so much safer. In Togo, people were telling us to go home and in
Ghana, people welcome us into their homes. It is crazy to think about how
different places are even when they are so close! I’m not sure if I would ever
go back to Togo but it was a good adventure and I am glad we went.
-Janae
(Here are some more pictures)
As I sit here picking sand out of my hair and still sore
from laughing at the Mr. Shasta competition, I can’t help but to smile. Tonight
was one of the most memorable nights of my college career and I spent it with
some of the most incredible freshmen to walk Chico State’s campus. It started
by crying of laughter watching some of the men compete in a Mr. Shasta
competition hosted by my amazing residents to playing mud-volleyball in the
rain at midnight during one of Chico’s biggest storms..jpg)
When I got the position to be a Resident Advisor, I had
absolutely no idea that it was going to be one of the most fulfilling and
rewarding experiences of my life. I originally signed up to be a RA because I
liked people, it was a great way to get connected, I enjoy planning activities,
and I have a ton of camp experience. I never expected my experience to be so
life changing and never expected that being a Resident Advisor would have such
a positive impact on my life. 
Shasta Hall, Second Floor is full of some of the most
incredible men and women that have walked on the Chico State campus. They are
leaders. They are compassionate. They are motivated. They are honest. They are
unique. They are hilarious. They are kind and they will always hold a special
place in my heart. Prior to this semester, I thought that my interactions with
them would be minimal and I would basically be someone to provide them with
information, program activities and enforce policies. While those have all be
parts of the job, those are by far the most insignificant. The most valuable
part of this job included the late night talks about life, getting tackled in a
puddle of mud, the impromptu trips to Chipotle, the Capture the Flag event with
150+ people, watching our men compete in a swimwear contest, listening to our
musically 
