The Snapshake

One of the cultural joys of Togo are the daily pleasantries and greetings, "Bonjour, ca va?" "Ca va bien, et vous?" "And how did you sleep last night?" "How is your family?" But the greatest part of the greeting is with what I call, the "snapshake":

Grasp the hand of your counterpart

Slide into a thumb-to-thumb grip

Pull back to clutch the finger tips of your counterpart

Release with a loud snap of the middle fingers

Bobo, our beloved patient with the bow legs found it very funny when this Yovo greeted him first thing in the morning with a snapshake.