Our New Home

From Lomé to Sokodé we took the bus. The ride was long, though was much more comfortable than expected. The bus was big enough and we all had a seat. From the window I could already see a bit of the country life; little houses and every now and then a little village. Half way – it had already gone dark outside - we made a stop. We used the opportunity to get off the bus for a few minutes and buy some bananas. And then sometimes during the night we finally arrived in Sokodé. Our stuff was transferred to a Minibus and off we went to our new home…

… and there it was. The yard looked rather ok, though the little flat… two small empty rooms. Well, a little cupboard stood there, but otherwise absolutely nothing. And the little cupboard lost its door, when I tried to open it.The toilet is in another corner of the yard and already when approaching one is hit by a terrible stench.

Well, on the pictures one can see the type of toilette… right next to it is the shower (sure one needs to bring the bucket and water themselves; water can be collected in the well). Oh yeah, and the big spiders and cockroaches are included gratis.

I guess, the French girls were even more shocked than me and one of them asked me completely terrified: Are you sure you want to stay here 3 months? …

Meanwhile we’ve got used to everything and also have found a second shower cabin, which smells a bit less and is in another corner of the yard, but under open sky. Also we’ve got now our own two buckets, so that we no longer have to try to catch the landlady day-by-day to ask for hers.