Well, I’m back in Togo after a week long trip to France, so this is a good opportunity to sign on again.
Last year when I was hired by my school, I agreed to organize the annual ski trip to Europe (which hadn’t actually happened for a couple of years). After 5 months of logistics, meetings and tons of paperwork, we headed off on Air France to Paris, through to Lyon, then a coach ride to Montgenevre in the French Alps. One of the oldest resorts, it lies on the Italian border and promised plenty of snow.
The process of just getting oneself to an overseas destination for a holiday is not the same as chaperoning 20 teenagers. Actually, some of them were 10 or 11 years old, grade 5 and 6, so not even teens yet.
After collecting at the school on a Saturday evening, we headed in school minibuses to the airport, where we slowly struggled just to be let into the building. Then the airline checkin, one by one. Then the customs booth with disembarkation cards. Then another security check and search of handluggage and our persons before heading out to the plane. More than two hours of continuous tasks with one teacher at the front and one bringing up the rear. The flight went fine, and the second flight to Lyon. Out of the airport into blasting icy winds, it finally struck these young Africans that we were not in Lomé anymore. Everyone was getting pretty tired and hungry by now but we had a 4 hour bus ride up into the Alps. The amazing scenery helped distract from the discomforts and spirits were good. By the time we got to our hotel, Les Rois Mages, they were starving and tired so we had some soup and relaxed.
Monday morning we were up at 7 to get to breakfast in the common dining hall, then head out to lessons at 9.
Charlie and Thibaud took great care of our rank amateurs and Aine helped supervise them, as I took the two experienced skiers up the chairlifts. Back for lunch and then out again at 1 for another lesson. By evening they were pretty sore but we had evening entertainment lined up every night with our Equity Ski representative.A snowmobile ride with crepe and hot chocolate, bumboarding, a disco (with another school group from England; talk about culture clash) and iceskating on the last night.
I was astonished by the amount of junk food these kids could down. With pocket money far beyond most teens (150 euros or more), they went out multiple times a day to the grocery and even came in with Pepsi and chips before breakfast was even served at 8am!
The scenery was spectacular and the weather was decent enough. Couple days of light blowing snow, couple days of sun. Our return was more challenging but ended up flowing pretty flawlessly anyways. Due to late purchase, we had not got a flight back from Lyon to Paris, so we took the TGV high speed train.
It was cheaper and they got to see the French countryside. The only downside was we had to leave the hotel at 3:30am. So they were pretty tired despite sleeping on the bus for a while. I’ll never forget sitting beside the bus driver as we tried to navigate through the streets of Lyon in the early morning darkness, reading a Mapvista printout on how to get to the train station!
The highlight in Charles DeGaulle airport was probably McDonald’s (unavailable in Togo).
When we arrived in Lomé airport, the power went out just as we stepped into the processing building. More than one of us shouted 'Bienvenue à Togo!" After two hours of shuffling along, we walked out into a thundering rainstorm, the first rain in a couple months. Soaked to the skin in a couple minutes, I rode in the bus with the luggage, dodging the waterfalls coming through holes in the roof.
Back in the Caisse, we dropped all the kids off at their houses and I returned home to relax for two whole days before going back to classes.
