Amenities

I have running water and electricity sort of…  It didn’t take me long to get over my disappointment of having electricity and running water.  Sure, I wanted to be in some small village somewhere getting the real Peace Corps experience, but the convenience of amenities like electricity and water cannot be denied and I’m grateful to have them when I do.

Sometimes though, it’s not about having it at all, but consistently having it.  And my water and electricity pretty consistently go off.  The best is when my power goes off in the middle of cooking dinner—I really like playing with boiling water and hot pans in the dark.  I also like having my water go off in the middle of a shower.  There are of course solutions to these problems, flashlights and bucket showers can go a long way, but if you aren’t prepared for it you can find yourself standing soapy in the dark.  Some people have said that in certain ways the people who never have running water or electricity have it a little easier because they are prepared for it and we spoiled people get stuck scrambling.

Back home in the US the only time the power goes off is from a major event like a big storm or some sort of accident.  The power or water being off for a few days is a news worthy event, not so much here.  Along with some grumbling, in the US the power going out was always noted by the need to reset the digital clocks, and I’m very glad I don’t have an alarm clock here that gets plugged in or I would be resetting the clock a few times each day and would only occasionally be woken up in time for work.

There are times when the power goes out for days at a time (providing an excuse for romantic candle-lit dinners) but mostly the power goes out for 15 to 30 minute intervals.  There is no apparent trigger and I really don’t understand why it goes off, or really why it comes back on.  While there is an audible sigh from my neighbors as their TVs click off and the whole city falls silent, there is no real complaining or calls made to the utility company, we’re in Togo, the power goes off sometimes, we are lucky to have it when we do.

Not having water can be a little more difficult than when the power is out.  I can have water fetched for me from somewhere else in town, but without water I cannot live.  So, I keep a big garbage can filled with water just in case the next time I go to wash my hands all the faucet does is gurgle a bit. 

I never really had to deal with these things in the States, things were much more consistent.  Living here teaches you to roll with it.  You can’t really be guaranteed anything, but with a little preparation and a deep breath it isn’t such a problem.  Give it some time, soon enough you’ll be enjoying the blare of your neighbors’ music and wishing the power would just go back off.

Sans Frigo

Like many volunteers here in Togo I live my life without a refrigerator (frigo).  Being lucky enough to have electricity I could choose to invest in a fridge, but in addition to the cost of even a small fridge being more than two months of my total living allowance (that would mean no eating for a bit) and a severely increased electricity bill, I would have to figure out how to get the fridge from Lomé to my house, which would consist of taking it on and off a minimum of three bush taxis—a feat I’m just not ready for yet.

Life without a refrigerator has been in some ways easier than I may have originally thought.  I come from a family where some members refrigerate nearly everything.  With peanut butter and bread in the fridge (cough grandma cough) and everything having labeled with “refrigerate after opening” the idea of living without a fridge seemed impossible.

Of course I have given up many things by living with out a fridge like cold milk, fresh meat, yogurt, and for the most part, leftovers, but I still eat many things I thought I wouldn’t be able to have in a life sans frigo.

You can find many things on my shelves that in the States would have always been in the refrigerator.  I have my jam, margarine, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, cheese, fish, milk, eggs, and mayonnaise all out at room temperature and if room temperature didn’t happen to be 34°C (93ish°F) I think I could get away with even more.  And for the record I have never been sick yet since being here in Togo.

It is true that my cheese is Vache Qui Rit (Laughing Cow), my fish is smoked, and I must drink my milk the day I open it (or I drink milk powder), but while not the fanciest foods, there are an incredible number of products that don’t need to be refrigerated.  Volunteers have gotten some laughs asking for cured meats and hard cheeses or other products like Velveeta, babybel, Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon, chicken and tuna packets, and other seemingly random goods that are expensive or you just can’t find here.

There are of course drawbacks of not having a fridge, like not having leftovers (though I have risked it and eaten some things the next day).  Everything goes moldy here extremely fast.  It’s hot and humid and I guess to be expected, but I buy things like carrots and if I don’t eat them in under a few days they start to go bad.  I can only really buy veggies once a week, on Friday market day, and by Tuesday they are gone or bad.  Saving produce is probably one of the things for which I most wish I had a fridge.  A cold drink every now and then would be nice too. 

I may end up caving in and buying myself a fridge to save my veggies, but for now I’m doing just fine.  It is amazing how much we refrigerate in the US that really doesn’t need it, but it is true that a fridge can really make things last much much longer and not having a moldy surprise after just a few days, will one day make a refrigerator a welcomed appliance in my kitchen