Thursday April 12 Togo This Morning we visited a school, and a village.  The children were very cute, and each classroom sang a different song for us.  The children were crowded into each dark classroom, the only light came from the windows. They were all very excited that we were there, especially the little ones.  As we left they we're having lunch, ramen noodles and rice in a simple bowl, that they ate with their fingers, while standing up outside. The village that we visited today is ruled by a king--in Africa the head man is often called a king.  There were 2800 people in the village.  Before we could enter the voodoo priest poured a libation on the ground.  The dancers had bright costumes.  When the king entered he had a large entourage.  His right hand man held his staff with a golden figure on top.  If he's ends a message, the messenger. Brings the staff, so that the recipient knows that it is really from the king.  No one speaks directly to the king.  He has an intermediary to communicate through.  The dancers  stopped while the king was welcoming us.  I talked to the dancers.  Instead of ritual scarification, they now put marks on their face with eyeliner.   One of the dancers had purple curlers in her hair, another bright yellow curlers.  The "Royal Dance"was sort of a shuffle, and then similar to a conga line.  One woman was blowing a Piercing whistle , and the drums were pounding.  It was hard to sit still, and not and not join in.  We were invited to look around the village.  Many people kept goats and chickens.  These people are farmers.  Their homes were simple mud and thatch huts, with cooking fires outdoors.