Before arriving in Sokode I was concerned about it being a big loud town with lots of traffic and noise and no neighborhood feel to it. But outside of a fewpaved roads, it is a very tranquile, sweet town. Children play soccer on the dirt road outside my door. The only noise that wakes me is the call to prayer from the local mosque.

Sokode is predominately muslim. There are some women covering their head with light colored muslin type clothes.
Some signs are in arabic, as apparently some men go to recieve training in arabic-speaking countries. However, the predominate languages are Kotokoli and French.

Training is going well. I have class 6 days a week. We are learning about the economy of Togo, small businesses, micro-finance institutions ( there are 200 in Togo) and various aspects of Togolais culture. I also have 2 hours of French class a day.  I have had classes in both Ewe, the language here in this region, and Katakali, the language in the Central Region, where my post is.

My post is in Sokode, the 2nd largest city in Togo with a population of about 100,000.  The previous volunteer there had a blog www.aaroninafrica.com which apparently has videos of his house, which I will be moving into, and some information about his work there.  Next week I will leave my host family to spend a week in Sokode getting to know my future home.