This past weekend, a group of friends and I took a trip to Togo. About a week before, we began making plans to go, and I wasn't really excited or anything because I had no idea what to expect in Togo since I had never heard anything about it before. However, I decided I would go on this trip and I can say I am SO glad that I did. I love being in Ghana, I really do, but being in Togo gave me this sense of joy that I can't really put into words. I've been in Ghana for about two months now and have finally settled into a routine for my everyday life, so being in Togo was like having a breath of fresh air and excitement.
This first sense of excitement happened when I realized that we were about to walk across the border from Ghana into Togo. I've never walked across a border before and this definitely felt like a movie moment (It reminded me of the scene from A Walk To Remember haha!).
After crossing the border and getting through Ghana Migration Services, we went through customs in Togo and this was the second sense of excitement because all of a sudden I went from hearing people speaking English to hearing people speaking French! I'm pretty sure throughout the many years of taking French in school that I knew Togo was a French speaking country, but that didn't really hit me until I got there and heard it for myself. I don't think I've ever been so excited to hear French in my life!
For those of you who don't know, I did a home-stay in France for two weeks while I was in high school, and those two weeks are two weeks of my life that I will never ever forget. So arriving in Togo and hearing French brought back so many memories of living with my awesome French host family, traveling around France with my wonderful best friend, and eating some amazing French food. I also haven't taken French for a little over a year now, so it's been a while since I've heard anyone speak French and unexpectedly hearing everyone speaking French in Togo was extremely heartwarming. As soon as I realized I could (to an extent lol) understand what they were saying and attempt to respond back in French, I was overjoyed.
Once we finished going through customs and were getting ready to head to our hotel, I felt the third sense of excitement. As we were figuring out where the hotel was and how to get there, a group of seven guys on moto-taxis pulled up to us and next thing you know, we were all getting on. It wasn't a very long ride, but it was sooo much fun! (We enjoyed it so much that the next morning we got up and rode around the city for two hours on moto-taxis just for fun lol!)
Arriving at our hotel and talking to the staff in French, and then getting to a restaurant and being able to order in French made me so happy. Even though most Ghanaians speak English, they often speak in Twi which I've just recently started learning. So going from being surrounded by Twi any time I'm not with other international students, to being surrounded by French was extremely comforting because even though I'm not fluent in French, I know and can understand French a million times better than Twi lol.
For a seemingly perfect end to this trip, we went to a French bakery where I got French pastries and a real croissant (foods that I haven't been able to enjoy since I left France– almost 4 years ago!).
Togo, you outdid yourself. I will definitely be back.
À Bientôt!
Elisha :)
