Passport To Africa

Sweet!

I sent my passport off to the Togo Embassy in Ottawa on a Thursday.  Amazingly, it was sent back to me - with a very official looking stamp - by the next Tuesday.  That is some pretty high efficiency for a government agency.  Maybe it's the fact that no one else is applying for a visa to Togo.  I may have been their only customer!


Not so sweet.

I decided to start taking my Typhoid Fever pills.  Four of them in total, one every other day, on an empty stomach.  (when does that ever occur??)  I checked out the package before popping the fist pill and realized that it said "Keep Refrigerated".  Now, on top of my dresser for 2 weeks is not what most consider refrigeration.  I called the pharmacist and he suggested getting a new prescription, since they are only good for approximately 12 hours outside of a fridge.  Another $40. These aren't very fun pills.  The first one gave me a weird, nauseous feeling for a couple of hours.  Maybe it was because of the empty stomach...?

The only medications I have left are the pills that I need to take when I leave - and continue taking once a day for a week after I return home.  Hopefully they taste more like chocolate!

Big Old Jet Airliner

Tickets to and from Togo are in place.  I ended up swapping from Air Canada and SN Brussels and going with Air France.  It will cost a bit more initially to go with AF but will make traveling back from Mango to the Lome airport much more convenient.  I hope to hitch a ride with a group from Ohio that is heading out of Togo at the same time.  Hopefully Air France has good food on board.

The Pack Mule

 

I haven't told too many people that I am going on this trip.  I mean, I've told people close to me, those that may want to follow along with what's going on, and even with those that like to laugh at others' pain and suffering.  Sometimes those characteristics are embodied in the same person!

I have had numerous people come up to me over the past couple of weeks at church and ask if they can send items along with me to take to the Westons over in Togo.  Now, I like most of these people.  I like the Westons, too.  (well, I like Nate... and the kids... Erin is just my sister.) 

I have been asked to take medical supplies (I'm not a doctor, not going to a functioning hospital, but whatever), maple syrup (seriously, it won't make it all the way there! Mmmm.), and even toys for their pet dogs (what the ....????).  When traveling, it's always nice to be loaded down with as much as possible.  Those extra baggage fees are nice.  Having to haul extra weight around an airport you've never been to is gratifying.  Is your sarcasm meter pinging yet??

Now, I know people just want to be supportive and show how much they care.  I get that. I just will say no after a while.  There are lots of items that have been requested by Erin and even more stuff that family members here want to get delivered.  Somewhere in all of that I want to fit an extra pair of underwear and my teddy bear!  Two checked bags at 50lbs each, a carry-on bag and one 'personal item' are all that I'm allowed to take.

I was just messaging back and forth with Erin while typing some of this out.  She says she now has a bunch of stuff to send home with me...  A pack mule.  That's the reason for my trip. Sounds good to me!



Oh, one more thing...  I asked my boss for the time off.  He said "Don't worry, won't miss you"...

Le 'Bun'

 
In this update we'll learn that a certain ABWE office staff member has a weakness for chocolate croissants; booking plane tickets is easy when someone else does it; and the feud continues with sister-in-law Tammy (she started it). 

Death By Chocolate

First, I must say that it has been a pleasure dealing with Brenda in the ABWE office.  She has been very accommodating and quite helpful during the process of getting approved and all of the paperwork started for going to Togo.  She has a fun sense of humour, as well, which is always a bonus.  I am also learning that she has a weakness for chocolate croissants! 

You see, Brenda has 'suggested' that things might work out better for me if she was provided with a homemade chocolate croissant made in the kitchen of my sister (who is in Togo).  Brief history lesson:  Togo was a French colony from 1920 up until 1960.  The French brought their love of pastries and cooking to Africa and the locals learned to cook / bake these treats from the colonials.  This talent stuck with the Togolese people even after the French moved back to Europe.   Brenda has since gone so far as to offer to provide a plastic bag to bring said croissants home with me from Togo.  Is that even legal??? 

Regardless, now that I have found her weakness I shall try to leverage this to my benefit!  (insert evil laugh here)

Travel Plans

I was referred to travel agent Colleen by Brenda at ABWE.  Colleen appears to be a magician.  Once I contacted her, gave her my home and destination info and available dates she had a reply to me in less than half an hour.  Government agencies take note - this is efficient!  I have a couple of flights to choose from, but these would be flying economy class and making several stop-overs for fuel, passengers, and to get directions.  (I have pictured the flight to be something out of the Dreamworks "Madagascar" cartoon movies - with the crazy penguins as the pilots, cobbled together aircraft and an unknown destination!) 

I have yet to finalize the arrival and departure dates only because I'm waiting for some information to filter it's way out of Africa.  Blame my sister Erin for that.  Once I have that info, it's a matter of contacting the efficient Colleen and getting my name on a ticket.  Then I will be ready to 'move it, move it' to the destination.

The Feud

As some may know, there is a feud - a rift, as is it were - in the family.  A family feud.  I was made more aware of it again just yesterday after a lovely meal with the family.

You see, my sister-in-law Tammy is jealous of me for some reason.  I figure it has to do with my good looks, or that her parents call me more often, or something like that.  Anyhow, she is always finding ways to make my life miserable or cause me pain in some way. 

I'm not looking for sympathy or a shoulder to cry on.  No, I'm a big boy.  I can handle it.  I just want people to be aware that behind that lovely smile, sweet disposition and caring spirit is a mean and nasty girl.  She forced food upon me, even to the point of me eating it in fear of my well-being.  (It was roasted chicken, whipped potatoes, broccoli-carrot casserole and green beans.  I didn't want to but she forced me!) She has even resorted to physical abuse.  Sure - it looked like a hug, but she squeezed hard!  She even punched me in the shoulder once.  I've done my part to try to put this behind us, but she sometimes gives me that knowing look, like she saw me take the extra chocolate chip cookie square...  (well, I did - but still...)

It's not over, Tammy.  No, not over at all.  Remember - you started it!






Oh, one more thing...

Why do the French call it a 'croissant'?  Couldn't they just call it a 'bun'?

Vaccination Scars

Okay, only the title of the song has anything to do with this post.  My wife says I have a song for every occasion.  I can't let her down.


In preparation to go to Togo I have had to get all kinds of immunizations / vaccinations for a whole bunch of nasty viruses and illnesses.  I was referred to the London Travel Clinic for getting caught up on all of these shots.  Turns out, a long-time friend's wife (Dr. Ruth Benn) is a consulting doctor there.  I can now say I had a session with Dr. Ruth!  We had a nice chat about what I was going to do in Togo, visiting my sister and family, helping around the hospital construction site, travel in general.
Next thing I know, I have a nurse poking holes in me with injections for polio, hepatitus A and B and finally yellow fever (that one burns a bit when it goes in!).  Then I get prescriptions for meningitis, massive horse-pills for the dreaded 'traveler's stomach illnesses', malaria pills and a couple of other things that I'm not remembering.  I hoped for a cute, distracting nurse to give me the shots.  Well, she wasn't cute, but certainly was distracting!

I left the pharmacy counter $597 poorer, with two sore arms and a little baggy full of pills that would make a street junkie feel nervous!

Documents, please

Another fun part about traveling outside North America is filling out paperwork.  Add to that, when going to work overseas for a mission agency they also have their own stack of forms to fill out.
So far I have filled out:
- Visa application for the Ministere de l'Interieur of Togo in Canada
- police record check (I am not a serial killer, but a cereal killer)
- mission agency application form
- mission agency covenant form (basically saying I'll behave myself)
- mission agency release of liability (in case lions eat me)
- mission agency protection policy agreement (Health and Safety stuff)
- medical immunization form ( to prove the scary nurse actually did give me the shots)

Next steps?
- send away my passport to the Togo embassy in Canada to get the visa completed.
- get my second hepatitis A and B shots
- get travel plans sorted out (plane ticket, departure and return dates, etc.)
- travel insurance needs to be obtained




Since I'm going over to see my brother-in-law, sister and all of the kids I have been asked to take them stuff - or bring them stuff... depending on who's doing the asking.  I'm probably not going to have a lot of room for my own things.  I have a bunch of gear to take that my sister has ordered online.  I have food staples and treasures (Gatorade drink mix, peanut butter, chocolate bars, chips, sauce mixes, etc.).  And there's still almost two months for the list to grow.  I'm going to be a pack mule!

Update!

I just got off the phone with some guy at the Togo Embassy.  He didn't speak English very well.  I don't speak French very well. I don't speak Togolese at all.  The conversation between the two of us was priceless! 
I asked about who and where to send my visa application.  He understood my chopped up French.  I understood the answer. 
I asked about additional passport photos.  I think I only need one. 
I attempted to communicate to him, in hacked up verb tenses and improper combinations of French and English, that I needed to know about sending my immunization form to him.  What I understood he said was something about a zebra, a canoe and baking croissants.  That one didn't go so well, in my estimation.  I could be wrong.  I'll  have to call back for the recipe.

Togo Embassy in Ottawa

Oh, one more thing -
Pressing "1 for English" on the phone menu of the Togo Embassy is pointless.  The button must be broken.

In the beginning...

Oh, one more thing...

I'm jumping in.

At the suggestion of my more-mature-but-not-older sister and a friend named Jo, I have decided to start publishing various 'musings and meanderings'. (Jo's phrase not mine.  She's smart like that!)
I hope to keep track of events, tell lies, share funny stories and disappointments - especially the funny disappointments - and post a few pictures to back up the tales.  I tend to be mildly sarcastic and sometimes even funny - but not in a crowd, I've been told.  I am not usually overly sympathetic and sensitive... but I can change.  Hopefully all of that comes across in words.



I might talk about Jeeps and off-roading, music, family, sports, hunting and fishing & the outdoors and other stuff.  I might.  Or I might not.

 Togo, Africa 

I'm also going to share some of the preparations I'm making to go over to visit my youngest sister.  She's spending a couple of years in Togo, Africa with her husband and five kids.  They (read: He) are building a hospital in Mango, a town up in the north of the country.  Anyhow, I'm planning on visiting them all in mid-January.  Here is a link to her blog -->  Please God, Not Africa    (Forgive her writing and sense of humour, she was dropped as a child.)

I have taken pills, got shots, filled out visa applications as well as paperwork for the mission agency they are working with.  All of this is to go visit, help with the work and take supplies to them.  Should be interesting.



I look forward to comments and feedback.  



Derek


 


Oh, one more thing -

My wife is awesome for letting me go to Togo!