A is for Abla

Here in Togo in meeting translators and patients on the wards, I began to notice many reoccuring names such as Yaovi, Kossi and Komlan. One day I asked one of the translators about the meaning of his name and he told me that many people in Togo are given the day of the week in which they were born as one of their names, either as a first or middle name. He asked me what day of the week I was born on to which I replied, "I don't know." "You don't know?!?" he said, quite surprised. After I little internet calendar research, I learned that I was born on Tuesday. My Togolese name in the Ewe language would be Abla. I soon discovered that my good friend Marianne is also born on Tuesday as is our friend Geraldo. We began a tradition of Happy Tuesday dinners together up on Deck 7 every week featuring locally grown coconut or pineapple.