The Voyage

Well the trip getting home to Africa was full of events.  To start it off...

1.  Nicole said she would drive me to JFK from New Hampshire which was so nice of her, except that as we pulled out of the driveway we realized the AC was broken.  That would not have been so much of a problem except for the fact that it was the hottest day of New England, I think the temperature reached 101.  Therefore, as Nicole put it, she was just trying to get me ready for life in Africa.  We started off the trip by getting subs at Joe's Meat Market, (my last of deli meats for yet another year) then headed to NYC.  About half way there we made a stop to switch drivers and realized we had not only sweat through to the back of our shirts, but the back of our pants and Nicole was wearing white pants. (Love you Nicole) 

2.  Then we finally arrived at JFK after hitting traffic at 3:30pm, Nicole went in with me and I had my last Starbucks ice coffee, then headed through security to catch my flight.  Of course the flight was delayed an hour and a half, which meant my connecting flight in Paris was going to be a little tight.  What I didn't know was tight turned out to be 15 minuted to change terminals; ride the damn bus, run up and down the stairs, head through security again, then run to the gate.  I arrived sweating and out of breath, made the flight but had a feeling my luggage was not coming with me.

3.  I enjoyed the food on the flight, savoring meat, cheese, yogurt and drinks with ice, but halfway through my flight they said over the intercom that we would be landing in Mauritania.  It was the neatest thing!  As we began the descent, all I could see was dessert, then finally out of nowhere, all these sand built houses appeared, some where painted vibrant colors, but there would be packed neighborhoods, then no little houses for a while, only about 3 paved roads that stretched tough the capital city.  It was very interesting to see and the man I was sitting next to was Canadian, was an engineer and worked there said the culture was interesting and the people incredibly friendly. 

4.  About an hour later we took off and headed for home.  I arrived at the airport and saw the lines to get through customs were all over the place, people yelling at each other, blaming always someone else, made it through customs and waited for my bag.  NO SHOW!  yep, I made it but my bag didn't.  I filed a claim and they said it should arrive in 2 days with the next flight heading my way.  We shall see.  I am not angry about the bag being lost, but the contents included mainly gifts for my village, host family and friends here in country, so please everyone cross your fingers for it to arrive.  Also the first thing I heard when I left the airport was a man who worked at the airport say, "Stephanie" I said that I was she, he said there was a car waiting for me, but then said, "Did you bring me a gift?"  And then I knew I was home!!!

The Last Supper

It has been such an amazing time being at home with my family and friends and I have really enjoyed my time here.  Thank you to all who I was able to visit with and sorry to the others I was unable to tie up with.

My grandfather is doing better, he's out of the hospital and now into rehab but taking a little bit longer to recover than he would like.  He's been trying to get his legs working again, or as he says, "Start training for my marathon".  I made him a GRAMPA MARATHON RUNNER shirt which he seemed to enjoy.  We watched the birds eating out of the bird house my mom set up outside his window and the squirrels slipping down the pole because my gram pa was angry they (the squirrels) were eating the bird food and told us we needed to grease the bird feeder pole, which we did with petroleum jelly.

I've had such an amazing time getting to run again where no one follows you, people don't look at you funny and ask you were your going; eating as much ice cream as physically possible; taking walks on the beach with my friends and siblings; watching too many reality TV shows, having a few too many drinks with my room mates; showering in warm running water or brushing my teeth with clean water; turning the lights off once i've been able to climb into bed and read with a side lamp; drinking ice cold water after a long run or while sun bathing on the beach; sharing a bathroom with my brother and coming home to find out my toothbrush and all toiletries had been moved to my room; going out to lunch with my co-workers in Boston with wonderful food; a car that goes forward and has the appropriate ratio of seats to person; listening to new American music on the radio; I could go on for ever, but I will stop while I am ahead.

Thank you for everyones support with my decision to head back to Africa and thank you for all the helpful ideas for secondary projects I can do with my students and village.  Please if you have any other ideas feel free to e-mail me.  I'll let you know when I get home to Africa, see you in August 2013!

Home Sweet Home

Well Nicole arrived safe and soundly!  Thankfully she was not hassled and seemed right at home when she got here.  My mother had sent two LARGE duffel bags of food and necessary items, THANK YOU MOM, but which meant we had to get them home to site!  We arrived at the taxi station which as always is crazy, got out of the car and had boys grab the large duffel bags, asked us where we were going and led us to our car.  We got loaded in and began the journey home at 9am.  About 4 hours into the drive, we broke down, so everyone piled out of the car, and we sat for 4 hours waiting for the driver to come back and fix the issue.  If you didn't know the drivers are also mechanics, that's a joke, but he was able to fix it and we were back on the road and driving in the dark.  We arrived at site around 11:30pm, walked home in the dark and I welcomed her to my home.  Poor thing was so tired like myself and tried to be so accommodating and said, "It's just so dark!"  It's true though, imagine going from NY City to camping 24/7!

My Principal arrive that night to welcome her, then he said I could take the day off tomorrow to settle in and sleep, so we woke up the next morning and all my neighbors were so excited to see her.  So I brought her around the village, everyone shaking her hand and so excited to see another white person in the village.  I finished my week of school, Nicole came with me and got to monitor me and give me helpful tips of advice!  She couldn't believe how many students were in the class and how difficult it was to maintain order in the classroom.  I made math posters for my 10th grade students for their brevet (test to go on to high school), because we have been doing exercises and exercises preparing for the brevet and the students were are really excited to have some color in the room, the other teachers even came over to look at the posters and ask me questions about them, where I made them and was I working outside/after school?

Nicole and I then went and spent a night with the missionaries which was so wonderful, and a break for me from having to cook and make sure she was well fed.  Then I had one more week left of school, so Nicole would come with me when she felt like it, otherwise she stayed home and worked on her school work.  But it was funny because when she didn't come with me the whole village asked where she was and what she was doing.

Nicole and I also attended a wedding in the village as well, which consisted of us heading over with the other teachers of the village, riding in the taxi with the bride and groom, 2 other people with us, sitting at the front of the ceremony and acting like we knew the bride and groom which we really did not.  But fun and interesting for Nicole to see how a wedding was done in Africa.

Unfortunately at the end of the week, I got a really high temperature and Nicole had to take care of me, putting cold socks on my head, and filling me with Advil and Tylenol.  She was able to cool me down the first two nights, then the next night my fever sky rocketed again to 104 and she and I were very nervous because it wouldn't drop from almost 2 hours.  She stayed up all night with me, making sure I was doing okay and changing the cloths.  The next day we headed to the capital so I could be tested for malaria, which turned out to be negative, and they stated it must just be an infection of some kind and to wait it out.  Therefore Nicole and I decided why not just fly home surprise my family, check on my grampa, and make a doctors appointment.

So we took off for Paris, had a chocolate croissant in the airport and wonderful coffee (Nice and strong) then arrived in JFK, rented a car and arrived home in NH.  I was showering when my dad came home, so when he walked around the corner of the room, I tip toed down the stairs and surprised him on the other side of the wall.  He had know idea I was home, just thought that Nicole was home.  It was so nice to see him and give him a hug. Immediately we made a drink and sat down all three of us to sit and chat.  We saw my moms car coming up the drive way, so I ran upstairs and waited.  She came strolling in, wondering whose car was in the drive way, then saw Nicole and said, "Your home early"  Then she started asking why she was home so early and how she got home, then asked where I was.  So I walked around the corner of the stairs and said I was right here and she jumped and screamed and ran over and gave me a great big hug.  That night we went out to dinner as a family and I have never been happier in my life!

I came home one, because I was so sick, sad Nicole was leaving and because my grandfather is in the hospital.  I have been able to see my grandfather and hang out with my family which was something I had been dreaming about for such a long time.  He's doing okay but certainly not as good as when I had left him.  I'll be home till the 20th of June then heading back to finish the one year that remains.  Hope to see as many of my friends and family as possible.  Hope everyone is well!

If you need me I will be eating as much American food as possible, showering as many times a day as possible due to running water, turning on and off the lights because I finally can, and running and taking walks without having to worry about people following of looking at me funny!  Love you all!  Thank you Nicole for coming and staying with me in Africa, I had such a fun and amazing time with you!

Preparations for Nicole!

This last month has been a world wind, literately and figuratively!  I was able to finish up the curriculum in both my 9th and 10th grade classes!  This is a huge relief for me because the last month of school now can be a review of the material they didn't understand!  For my 9th graders I plan on using the math books Patty sent me which have lots of fun games and exercises for them.  I started doing an in class project each day this last week and it went wonderful.  We were doing geometry, often a very boring chapter, but I had them use paper and create a cube which I would give them a grade on and I have never had more of their attention in any other class.  So now they look forward to the activity at the end of each class, which makes teaching much more fun for me as well.  With my 10th graders it's a different story we have to do a lot of reviewing for the Brevet they have on June 18.  Right now out of 60 students, 28 of them will be able to sit for the Brevet and unfortunately the others whom have already tried once, will be forced to leave school and unable to continue on to high school.  It's crazy, imagine being told you couldn't continue on?  What would you do?  A lot of them will go to work in the fields, turn to drugs and alcohol, pick up trades, or become chauffeurs!  I also had my 9th vs 10th graders final soccer match with ended with a success, no fights!  But I was quite nervous because the 10th graders made me promise that if they won the match they could kill my chicken and I would cook for them.  Thankfully 9th grade won and I was off the hook!

Besides that I have had screens put up on the windows and doors, I had a bed frame made and a hay mattress made for my sister.  Had a bench made, bought a chair and hung up curtains.  It's starting to look pretty homey!  Rainy season has begun, which also mean planting season has begun.  My neighbors all kept asking me if I could use a hoe, so I finally showed up in their yard with my hoe to show them I could help, and they at first were excited then gradually told me I could stop but to leave the hoe.  Their excuse was it was bad for my back, or that they had finished even though they would continue working on.  So I think I determined, I am not actually quite skilled with my hoe yet.  But I am a good seeder, I've been helping plant cassava, gumbo, and soon we will be doing peanuts and corn!

But the other day I had to walk over and confirm a ride to get Nicole home from the capital, when I casually turned around and saw this pitch black sky coming for me.  At first I thought I was in the Wizard of Oz, then realized I was going to water log my phone if I didn't get going.  So I started running in my flip flops and pagne (a piece of cloth you wrap around you and try to secure at the top with a tuck in)  but had to pick up my shoes and sprint to my neighbors house, with my fabric falling almost completely off.  The winds were incredible and I was scared I might be picked up off the ground, but thankfully made it safe to a sheltered area.  Everything is starting to turn green again instead of the dusty red and black burnt fields!

I took off today at 9am in a taxi to get to the capital and didn't arrive till 7:30pm, when I got out of the car, it looked as though I had really had become integrated, because my face was black from exhaust and dust!  I am just going to paint a picture for you... imagine the worst looking station wagon you have seen in the US, then in your mind imagine that car rolled down a mountain, then put back on the road as a taxi.  Yes that's what I was riding in, and because it was piled so high of luggage on the roof, the poor engine kept over heating so we would have to stop at a river side and pour water on the engine.  Good fix right!  Even worse at one of the check points coming into the capital, our car was stopped and we were all asked for our identity cards.  I handed mine over which says PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER... and the officer asked for my vaccination card which I didn't have with me, so he said I would have to pay him 50,000 francs.  I said I couldn't do that, and he said I needed to get out of the car.  All the women in my car turned to me and said, "Don't you get out of this car" then the men in the car started yelling at the officer saying that I was a volunteer and here to help his country.  He finally left me go and said I needed to follow the rules!  Needless to say after my long ride then running into that I was so thankful to get to the Peace Corps house and take a nice shower and come back to my natural color!  Oh it's an adventure.

Nicole is flying in tomorrow and staying for a moth, so I will make sure to keep you posted on her time here!  I will be amazing having her here!  Also thank you co workers!!!! I received your package of goodies which I had to do everything in my power not to eat everything.  And thank you family for my birthday prensents and more importantly the note!  I love you!

Home Sweet Home!

Well after an amazing vacation and getting to see all the other volunteers I made it back to sight safely and in time to head to the market and chat with all the women.  It was so nice to be home.  Everyone knows me there and it's fun to hang out with the women and also give gifts to all the people I bought things for.  I gave the little girl that live next door a small stuffed animal and she has yet to put it down and is carrying it around on her back like a baby, like her mom does.  I also gave some of the women pictures I got developed, one of the ladies hugged me so tight then gave me two kisses on each cheek and just kept staring at the picture.  So it was nice to be home, not have to be living out of a suitcase.

The following week I started classes again and surprisingly there was a great turn out and my students were eager to begin learning again!  I got done with classes on Thursday and headed out Thursday night with the look of a storm coming but made it safe and sound to the missionaries house.  The other volunteer that lived 35 k from me made it to, we showered and were told we were heading over to another missionaries house.  So we all took off, and when we walked in, there was two baked dishes out, home made bread, veggies and just delicious food.  We ate as much as we could then they pulled out two cakes, one a chocolate cake with frosting, the other a pumpkin nut cake with whipped cream.  DELICIOUS!!!  Then they asked us to sit on the couch and handed us presents and asked us to open it. His birthday is in May too.  In the first present was a bunch of spices, about 5 different kinds which will be great to cook with, then the second package had a chocolate bar, nutella, a bath spray and oatmeal, and the last TOILET PAPER!  We were so excited back it was hysterically that we were more excited for the toilet paper than then others!

Then I headed back to site with all my goodies, and that week my students asked me to head to his village which is a little outside of the center of my village about 7 kilometers.  So after school he came to my house and said we were going.  So I took off with him and walked the most beautiful 7 kilometers up a mountain but with amazing huge trees surrounding us and untouched land.  Then we arrived at the center of this village and walked to his families little hut, they sat me down on the bed, which took up most the room, and immediately got food out for us.  I finished eating the rice, then they handed me oranges and peanuts.  After what seemed like the whole village came to greet me and welcome me to the village, I walked with my student to see where they are mining.  My student says he goes there when he needs money and boy did it look like hard work.  Hitting rock with a pick!  Then I thought we were heading home, but we were actually going back to his village, where I was forced to lay down on a bed and relax while they cracked the peanuts they gave me for a gift.  Then when I stood up, they made me eat again, then handed me more oranges.

The whole time I had kept saying I would like to head home now but they kept telling me to wait till the sun went down, which I kept thinking was a bad idea, but finally the father of my student found a man to translate what he wanted to say in French for me.  The father said/ was translated to me something along the lines of... you are the first person/ teacher/ white person to come all the way out to our village and greet us.  We are so honored to have you here and so thankful for all the work you are doing here in helping out our kids.  We would like you to spend the night, and also accept these gifts.  He handed me a bag of oranges, and peanuts, then explained there was a disease in the village which had killed all the chickens but he handed me 20,000 francs and said please buy yourself a chicken and accept that as our gift.  I felt terrible after having requested to head home so many times because I felt like I was intruding on them, when in reality they wanted me to stay as long as possible.  I accepted the gifts and thanked him for having me and told him I would come back out to spend the night and his eyes filled with joy.  Even though I feel as though I am getting acclimated I still forget sometimes to not give into my American tendencies; to hurry along to the next thing.  That truly is something I value from my experience here, is learning to take your time and cherish the moment.

Funny/ Sad Story:
I was heading to the regional capital and I had put my cat in my back pack so I could bring him in to get a rabies shot when all of a sudden, I felt my bag was lighter.  It had jumped out of my back pack and ran into the woods.  So I thought about crying then realized there was no way I was going to find him in the woods.  He's black and has a collar on, so we will see if he is home when I get there!

I called my dad the day after my birthday in tears and asked him when my mom and him started having kids because I had started thinking I have no job/ career I'm working towards, no boyfriend, and no kids.  He said at 30 and that I had plenty of time and worst case scenario I could always marry here in Africa because I have gotten quite a few offers.  HELPFUL DAD!

Dismal Affairs:
My students are really giving me a run for my money and making teaching quite the challenge, to the point where I had to walk out on my students because they were so disrespectful!  On top of that I have a pretty good infection in my foot, so hopefully I can buy so antibiotics here and hope that it heals.

Good News:
My sister will be arriving the 5th of May and staying for a month.  I have already had to tell the village that she is not available and that, "No I will not offer her for marriage or send them home with her to the United States!"

SIERRA LEONE!

Just got back to my trip to Sierra Leone! It was AMAZING!  We left on Monday morning early at 6:00am to get to the taxi station and found ourselves a cab.  As we were standing there waiting to get going, we exchanged some of our money for Sierra Leone currency, and then had some man come over and say we needed to pay 60.000 francs for our baggage, which we said we would not, he persisted but again we refused and eventually our taxi driver told us it was fine we did not have to pay.  We hopped into the car and headed on our way, once we got to the boarder we had another man say to us, "Here is Africa"  We responded "Yes we know, we live here"  then he said "In Africa you pay me."  We again said, "No we don't, we are not tourists"  then eventually he left us and we were able to cruise right into Freetown.  Not difficult.  Thankfully we had all our documentation, passport, visa, WHO card, but for anyone who didn't have these, each check point they had to pay off the police, it was ridiculious!

We found a YMCA to stay at which was comfortable, had electricity and running water, then headed out to walk around and see the sites.  We went and saw the large tree in the center of town, there were ATMS, we stopped at a cafe to have coffee and look out at the beach, then that night we went out for drink at a bar on the beach and enjoyed listening to the music, chatting, meeting people in a setting which was familiar to us.

Big Tree in the Center of town; at night it has
a million bats that come out and fly around!

Then the next morning we woke up early and started walking to get to the beach.  We grabbed a cab and headed to Lakka Beach Resort.  We pulled up and had to walk through the ocean to get to the bungalow, which had a little cute restaurant with a bar and a beautiful beach that extended both sides.  We went immediately to the beach and laid out.  The women there were dressed like they would be in the States, with jeans or cute dresses, it was so refreshing to not have to hide your body under so many clothes in the hot weather!  We relaxed and that night we had dinner at the hotel; freshly caught barrucuda with fried plantains, so good!!! and a SODA! 

The next day we went to the beach all day we got up and had toast, eggs with a coffee while looking out over the ocean!  Then we laid out, got too much sun, ate fresh pinapple, mangos, and oranges and that night went for a run on the beach before dinner.  We had met a friend who said he wanted to cook for us and made up coconut rice and freshly caught baracudda with white wine.  When we were there we met an author from Sierra Leone whose book I read, so it was really neat to be able to meet him.

Then the next morning we headed home and it took only 6 hours, easier than getting to site.  Here are some pictures from the trip.  I will be heading back to site tomorrow, so I will talk to you all next month!

The hotel on its little Island!

Beautiful Beaches!

Beach with clifts all around!

At sunset!

Another Sunset!

CONGES DE AVRIL

Well I made it the two weeks at site till vacation, or as I like to remember SPRING BREAK!!  I've been doing some activities in between...

I have been teaching my classes for my 9th and 10th graders (See photo below) teaching my English night class and going on adventures with my students, the highlight of my weeks!  Last week I went out with one of my students for a bike ride.  She picked me up at my house and we took off for a very rural village which uses canoes to cross the river.  We started off through the village and had to stop each time we knew someone then explain where we were heading.  If you haven't realized yet, my site is completely surrounded by mountains, so we made it to the mountain, which was litterily what I would call mountain biking, and the two of us are hitting these rocks, our bikes were making all kinds of noise, we were trying desperately to not fall off and at one point Hadja turned around to check on me and we both had to stop the bikes and died laughing because here we are biking in our sheets of fabric as a skirt and sandals doing extreme mountain biking.  We finally had to get off our bikes and walk up or down some of the really dangerous parts.  But we did finally get there, and it was amazing.  It was this large river, something like you would see up country in New Hampshire, and what you do is shout into the wilderness and then men will come to whatever side of the river you are on to get you across.  Its not a canoe, but more of a piece of wood hollowed out.  Really neat and interesting, and still exist today for the women who walk to my village then walk home and catch a ride across the river.



Where's Waldo?  My th graders and myself.

 Then that weekend I headed to see the missionaries because I had not been there in quite a long time.  So I took off at 2ish, the sun was pretty hot, but I figured I would take it slow.  I started off great, then hit the mountain and had to walk the last little bit, made it to the top, hopped onto my bike and started down the mountain, my favorite part, only to find that I had a flat tire.  So I debated whether I should walk back up the mountain and head home 5k or walk the rest of the way to the missionaries, so I walked 11 k to the missioaries pushing my bike.  Each time someone saw me they would ask, "Is your bike broken, do you have a flat tire?"  Things in the United States I feel would probably bother you, when someone states the obvious, but I just smiled and said "you've got it, its broken, hense why I am pushing my bike" lol  The next day I was able to get a ride home with a car going to my village for market day.  I helped sell at the market with the principals wife and the other women around me. (See pictures below)

Principals Wife and daughter Ne Ne Kudy

Ne Ne Kudy and another women who sells

Me selling at the market

Then on Sunday, my 10th graders had decided they would take me biking to a bridge the Chinese were building and then go swimming about 7 or 8 kilometers away.  So we took off at about 10ish, me and my students, and on the way we stopped at my students house so I could meet their parents.  It was so nice to meet them and speak the local language with their mothers and French with the fathers, to tell them their son or daughter are smart and to keep them in school.  But it was funny because each time we stopped at someones house, the family would give me a gift, (the custom here is to give a gift to a visitor, they would probably even offer the shirt of their back for you, its amazing) so by the end of the bike ride, we had so many oranges and peanuts, that it had to be distributed between myself and my students so we could carry it all.  We went and met the Chinese who spoke very little English, no French and no Pular.  I'm unsure how they communicate.  Then after we went swimming and tried to eat as many oranges and peanuts so we didn't have to bike them back.  On the way back, I saw an SUV I remembered and it turned out it was the missionaires and another volunteer that lives close to me, came to pick me up for ICE CREAM NIGHT!  It was soo good, but I was so sick that night and the next day at school!  Worth the pain!

Students with their siblings

My students

I taught the next week at school, then took off for my April vacation.  I made it to a friends house in a taxi full to the top, 4 in the back, 5 in the middle, 3 in the front and 3 on top! lol  Arrived a little hot and sweaty, then started to walk the 6k to my friends house, but was picked up and dropped off.  The next day, we went hiking with his counter part to 2 different waterfalls.  At some points we litterly had to sit on our bottoms and slide down. At one point his counter part, as a tour guide, told us not to over step the edge or we would die.  Reassuring! lol  But it was beautiful, he brought his tree cutters and we made our own way.  By the end of the day we were so tired but it was beautiful walking in the true nature and enjoying the sights. 

I WILL BE HEADING TO SIERRA LEONE FOR MY QUARTER LIFE CRISIS!

Part 2

Overall, I have no complaints, sometimes I forget I am living in Africa, I've fallen into a routine but normally I remember quite quickly when I am pulling water from a well, putting it into buckets, then hulling it 200 yards to my house, or when I'm cooking on my charcoal stove and the wind blows the fire out,  when I'm constantly sweeping my house because the dust is blowing from every direction, cutting my fingers trying to cut and cook with out a counter top, sweating bullets, not understanding what the women are saying because I can't speak the local language, thinking to myself at 7:30pm when its pitch black, is it too early to go to bed?, or realizing how much I miss my family and friends.  But each day I am here I am amazed at how beautiful the women are, how curious the kids are, how welcoming the village is, how hard my class laugh when I make a joke and how generous the people can be when they have barely anything for themselves.  I only hope I can be that unselfish one day.  And for all the criticism of how tough and difficult the life is here, the women find time to go around a chat with their neighbors, joke check in to make sure everyone is doing okay and remain happy.  For all the difficulties and challenges they face, they sure make it look easy.  

Two other funny stories,  I am been teaching to the sous prefecteure English and I went over to let him know the class time had changed and he showed me his office house and at the end said, “I love you” so that night I explained the difference between like and love, that like was for a friend and love for your wife, he winced and said I understand now, lol.

I gave a survey for my 9^th graders because we are doing statistics next week, and I had them pick their favorite artist between, Akon, Rihinna, Sean Paul, Lil’ Wayne.  One of my students, the most innocent choose Lil’ Wayne because” Le chanson Lilipop”  (The song Lolly pop).  I said when he was older I would explain the context of the song to him.  

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Settling in at Site!

Let’s see where do I begin.  I haven’t left site in almost 2 months which goes to show things are going quite well.  I’ve finally gotten into a routine.  I had in service training for a week with all the other volunteers at the end of January which was really nice to see all of them and talk about how everything is at their sites (compare the similarities as well as the differences.  When I returned home from training I had bought fabric for my next-door neighbors (Ne Ne Kadioutou) and her daughter and my best friend Oumou.  When I gave them the fabric Oumou jumped up and down and hugged me and couldn’t stop thanking me.  They were both shocked and so grateful.  I could tell they truly were thankful and happy.  I’ve been doing a lot of English/ Pular studying with her and she really seems to get it.  I also bought my fellow teachers cola nuts, which I’m glad I did because they got passed around the village and I had many people thank me.  Here in this country, the custom is to bring back gifts for people, and the cola nuts are a sign of respect and given to the oldest person in the village who then distributes the rest of the nuts to the others.  I saved a few for the women I cook with and they were quite pleased.  There little pink, white, and red nuts that only the older people like to eat.

Thankfully when I got back my cat “Midnight” was still alive and I didn’t know at the time but I was about to meet a new best friend.  It was the principal’s daughter who was on maternity leave, who came to my house and said, “Allons” (Let’s go) to where I didn’t know but I wasn’t about to question her because she said it with such authority.  We left to go cook, she took me on tours through the village, introduced me to people I didn’t know and just helped me feel at ease.  She made me eat every lunch and dinner with her even if I protested and said I wasn’t hungry.  She taught me some pular, how to prepare meals, how to deal with people that made me feel uncomfortable, brought me to weddings, parties, and had me selling at the market.  Most importantly to me, she was a woman, educated, a teacher in another city, had been married in 8^th grade to a man that already had a wife, had two babied, but managed to finish school and go to university.  She was the first woman I could communicate with because she was educated and spoke French.  She let me ask questions about life, having another women who was married to her husband, etc.  She mad me carrying her baby on my back, and always had me laughing. 

Then the weekend arrived when she had to go back home, I cooked her her last meal, helped her pack, went around with her to say good bye to everyone in the village, then carried her stuff to the middle of the village to catch a car with the whole family and neighbors.  She loaded into the car, called me over and I said goodbye and cried walking home to my house alone.  Haha Thankfully she will be back for summer and I told her she had to live with me.  We also are able to talk every few days on the phone. 

Besides socializing, I surprisingly do work.  I’ve been working with my 9^th and 10^th graders to try to finish the curriculum on time.  With my 10^th graders I’ve been holding night classes for questions.  June 18^th is the brevet and my students had asked me to go with them when they take it in the neighboring village, which of course I said I would.  We have also been learning English, which they have been doing pretty well with.  They keep asking me to translate songs, so I finally did and it was hysterical because I ended up singing off tune in front of the whole class which then turns into them asking me to dance, so then I am dancing and singing in front of my students like an idiot, but I’ve learned to realize that if you feel stupid, it doesn’t matter.  I stick out like a sore thumb so I might as well use it to my advantage.  I also started a jump roping club here which I said was for the girls, assuming the boys would have no interest but when I said the day and time the boys asked if they could come as well.  So I said whomever was interested could come which turned out to be a big crowd.  So I had a mix of 5 boys and girls together jumping rope at the same time, yelling at each other when someone’s foot caught the rope and having a really good time.  Then I showed them how to do cris-cross which they thought was amazing and have been trying to get ever since.

My one major struggle with my classes is motivation and level, because the last few years the government was unstable, school had been stopped and the program has also been changed.  I have some students who had re-doubled, or re-tripled the class, for example did not pass the class the first year, so stayed back, then did not pass again, and stayed back again.   I also have some students where its their first year, so it’s not only teaching to 80 plus students, but I have 3 varying levels, so who do you teach to?  The kids who have redoubled or re-tripled because they have a better chance in passing the test, or the first year students because they’re at the correct level and should be being taught to?  Consequently I have some students telling me to continue on, because they understand and others telling me to slow down because they don’t understand.  So I am constantly going back and forth.

I also say motivation because school here is a social event.  The kids come to school to socialize and talk with friends.  I finally got frustrated and asked some of the students why that was and the answer was quite interesting. 

1.     For the girls, most will be married before the end of high school if not before then, so what are they to do once they are married, try to finish school then go and stay are home, cook, clean, have kids?  Where is the motivation for them to continue on to university?  Especially in the village it is difficult for families to understand the importance of education, for women, whereas in some of the larger city it was more widely recognized.

2.     For the boys, life here consists of providing for the family.  That’s why normally it is 30 year old men whom are marrying 18 or younger girls.  The men’s role is to make money and financially support the family.  He is responsible for giving money to the women to take care of the families and often the men have more than one wife so it is quite costly.  Even if the women work on the side selling food, they are not responsible for sharing the money with the family, and their money earned is considered their own and for themselves.  With that said, the desire for the boys is to make money and lost of it.  If a boy finishes school, goes on to university, graduates, there are not many jobs available for well paying jobs, so often times the boys will quite school and begin working as drivers, vendors, or other trade jobs that pay quite well so they can start accumulating money for a family.

Also motivation is a problem for the teachers as well because many have not been paid since the prior year or simply are not paid.  Therefore the motivation to teach and do a good job can be somewhat lacking.  On a side note, one of the principals from a surrounding village had gone to the bank to get money to pay his staff, which meant he had to go to a larger village 60 plus kilometers away and find a bank then return with the money.  He strapped the money on the back of his motorcycle and headed home, when he got home he realized the sack of money had fallen off which had over a million francs in the bag.  So we were asked to donate money to the village so they could pay the teachers.  How horrible.

I also got to cover for one of the other teachers who teaches the 7^th grade, so I taught math to the 7^th graders and it was an awesome and fun class.  It’s their first year in junior high, so they are shy, timid, and quiet.   So much easier to deal with than the 10^th graders!  But more importantly it was nice because I finally got to spend time with them and meet all of them .  It’s funny because when I’m teaching, I will look at the windows and there will be different graders standing at the windows listening and watching.  Often times I have to say, “This isn’t your class, go away, but it’s also a compliment because I know they’re curious to see what I am teaching or more likely to see how I’m teaching, whether its playing games, making the kids do wall sits or push ups, or standing next to me at the board because they got in trouble to talking, we always seem to have a good time.  Often times the other teachers will stand at the door too and watch until I catch them watching and they will walk away.

My out of school activities consist of:

1.     I organized a soccer tournament between the different grades.  Which started out fun and ended pretty poorly when the 9^th graders lost to the 10^th graders and 3 of my 9^th graders beat up a 10^th grader and sent his to the local clinic.  We had to postpone the next game until tomorrow, three weeks after.  Since it was a school organized event the parents of the students who fought on both sides had to come to school to determine a punishment.  It was all spoken in the local language so I was informed at the end that the students’ punishment was for the fathers to beat the children because as it was put, “some kids learn better from physical force”.  I was shocked when the principal told me, no wonder why the boys were fighting because that is what they learn at home.

2.     I’ve also started teaching to the assistant leader of the village, the police commissioner, and a local doctor English, which has been really fun for me.  Not only that, but they are so eager to learn English, and whenever I see them in the village they try to communicate in English to me.    It’s also nice, because they are higher up people in the village and well respected, but they look out for me and I am truly grateful. 

3.     The last big story:  The government from a larger city came to our village to rally support for the president and himself so the day before the women came and got me and said we had to cook for him.  So at 3:00pm that day I headed over and began cooking with the women, I was in charge of cooking chicken and potatoes, which consisted of them handing the chicken to a male to kill in front of us, then me learning how to cut the chicken up, pluck the feathers, and questioning which parts of the chicken you could eat, which was pretty much everything minus a few parts, even though I questioned quite a few parts that were handed to me.  At 10:00pm that night I headed home and at 4:30am the next day, I heard my next door neighbor calling my name to let me know it was time to get up and finish cooking.  I would just like to remind you, this is not cooking in a kitchen, this is cooking outside on three rocks, in the dark, using a flashlight to cut and check to make sure everything is coming along.  In the morning as well because it’s the dry season the ants come out looking for water.  And these are not just any ants, the are the type of ants like the saying, “Dancing like you have ants in your pants.”  They crawl up your legs and pinch like no other, and they were everywhere, so every few minutes another women would jump up and start shaking her skirt around, jumping around, trying to find the ants and get them off of her.  It’s terrible because then you feel like there all over you even if there not.

At 8:30am we finished cooking, brought the food over, went home changed, then headed back to wait for his arrival.  When we heard the drum we knew he was close and the principal grabbed me and sent me to the front to greet him.  I said, “Why me” and he said that I represent the United States of America.  So I greeted the governor and was brought up on the make shift staging to site next to him and his entourage.  The whole speech was in the local language so I was unable to understand most of it, until I heard Peace Corps in French and knew he was talking about me.  So I looked at the principal who gave me a big smile and thumbs up.  The man sitting next to me said, do you understand, and I said not at all, so he translated the governors speech into French.  The governor had said something along the lines of, “look at this example, this peace corps volunteer left the United States, the most developed country to come here to help us.  She left her family, friends, comforts, electricity, running water, sanitation to live here and deal with the hardships.  She accepts how difficult life is here yet continues on.  Protect her, keep her safe because she is here to help us.”  It was a really nice and honoring speech, but at the same time I hate being the center of attention when it should be about their country, their people and what they need to do for their country.  But it did remind me that I did make these sacrifices and hopefully I will make a difference in the peoples lives around me.

Now for the best part, some funny stories:

1.     I was walking home from teaching and this cute little girl starting calling to me and ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me.  I was so touched so I asked her what she was doing and what was in her bucket.  I realized she was collecting cow dung (with no gloves) so those cute little arms around me, had now left cow dung on my back.  I just laughed and thought, well I guess I need to wash this shirt.

2.     Then there was a boy in my class that had a hat on that said, “I love Jesus” so I asked him if he knew who Jesus was, and he said no, so I said Jesus in Pular, then he said he still didn’t know, so I said, it’s not Allah.  He took his hat off after that and didn’t see him put that back on.

3.     There is this really cool flower that has these bright red balls that kind of look like Christmas ornaments.  So I started collecting the flowers, and cut a water bottle to make a vase.  Then my principal came over and asked, “Did you know that those flowers give you conjunctivitis?”  I said no, decided after that, that I would stop collecting flowers and did not need a center piece.

4.     Me and my hoe have been doing a lot of damage here.  I’ve gone around picking up cow dung, probably could have gotten some from that little girl, lol and started planting a small garden.  I got some seeds from a friend.  I planted lettuce, zucchini, squash, basil, and cucumbers.  Looks pretty good.

5.     The new thing is for my girls to braid my hair because here everyone does it.  So I’ve had quite a few crazy hair doos.  I’ve had Alicia Keys corn rows, Bob Marley braids, and the normal corn rows, but we just started stepping it up, and I am nervous for what is to come.

6.     Each time I get my hair braided, the women tell me that I am now becoming a pular woman.  And then once I cooked with all the women for the governor, they told me I could get married now since I know how to clean, can cook, dress like them and am “fat”.  Here you are considered beautiful if you are fat, and because I eat pretty well here and am bigger than most of the little girls, each day I am told how beautiful I am because my skin in white and I am fat.  Talk about the ultimate bad day, hearing you are fat. Repeatedly! Lol

A special thank you to my mom and dad, my roommates for the packages I received of goodies, and Patty McKenzie for the letter.  It’s so thoughtful of you and I am so thankful and appreciative.  Hope all is well, I miss you all a ton and whish you all the best!  Merci Au Revoir!

Happy New Years!!!

After returning home from the camping trip, myself and the other volunteers decided to go on another day trip to a waterfall closer to the regional capital.  We got a taxi which had 4 seats and we filled it with an 5 persons including the driver.  We headed to the waterfall where we were stopped by the military personnel whom were guarding the dam.  We didn’t know it at the time, but the Chinese had come in previously and built a hydroelectric dam next to the waterfall, which supplies the regional capital and a few other bigger cities with electricity.  We were told we had to pay 10,000 francs each person, so we asked to see the ticket book were the price was written which was only 5,000 for all the other tickets.  We were quite annoyed.  We told him we were volunteers, teachers for various subjects, and he told us he didn’t care and that he had not heard or seen the affects of us here in the country.  That made me even more made so we finally ended up paying the 10,000 francs for each person in the car, our taxi driver even offered to pay it for us, and explained that he was uneducated and didn’t understand.  So once again, for every negative experience you see the positive side of things. 

Waterfall

We finally made it to the entrance of the waterfall and meet some of the Chinese engineers who were back working to fix the dam, they said the water had been stopped and that the waterfall was dry.  That sent me even more over the edge because the guards had not said anything about it.  But we continued on anyway and heard some running water, then stumbled upon this beautiful waterfall.  We were able to walk right to the edge of the waterfall and take pictures.  It was beautiful even with the dam closing off a bunch of the water.

Us sitting on the edge of the waterfall

Looking down from the top of the waterfall

We continued on and saw the plant were the water was actually running through the generators and transferred into electricity, entered the control room, got to see which cities the plant supplied electricity for.  It was really interesting to see such a developed system and structure and compare this to what is available in my village.  We then walked up to the dam which had a large bridge, and 4 different stair cases leading to the water.  We were able to walk right onto the bridge, down to the bottom of the dam, and up on top of the dam too.  It’s feels so wrong to walk into all these areas; the control room, the bridge, out to the edge of the waterfall, because in the States normally all of these areas would be blocked off or someone would be guarding each area.

The hydroelectric plant

The Dam

Then on the way home, we stopped and had tea with the Chinese men, who could not speak, French, English, or Pular, therefore we were communicating via hand movements and pointing to the maps to show where we were from.  Tomorrow I will be heading to the missionaries with Matt, the other volunteer, to celebrate the New Years, therefore I will chat with you all next month.  Happy New Years!!!

At the bottom of the Waterfall

At the top of the Dam

At the top of the waterfall.

Le Noel (Christmas)

Our ride into the regional capital went well this time, surprisingly.  We, the other volunteer and I, finally had determined the best route, but I started off and could not understand why I was so tired, and why the students on their way to school were passing me.  We finally stopped at Matt’s village and I checked that my tired was flat.  So we tried checking for a leak and could not find anything.  We pumped my tired back up, then 5 minutes later it was flat again.  So on my bike in, we had to stop every so many miles to pump my tired up, then had to walk our bikes up the last 5 k where there are 5 hills.  At the top of the hill, I am sweating like a pig, sweat dripping down my face, and I am an reddish brown color everywhere from the dust blown up when car or motorcycles were passing us, and there were 3 military men checking identity cards.  One of the guards told me I should not continue into the city that I should wait till his shift ended and go to his village with him.  Then he asked Matt if he was okay with this, because he thought Matt was my husband.  Thankfully Matt said he was not and we were able to continue into the city and get to the Peace Corps house.  I took the longest shower with cold water, but it felt so good to get my hair completely rinsed, and wash and scrub all the dirt off of me.  I think you all got snow, hope it was a white Christmas!

I enjoyed a wonderful christmas eve dinner with the other volunteers in my region of the country, watched the new Harry Potter movie someone's parents had sent to them for christmas and then took off to another volunteers village to do some hiking and camping.  We started off with a local hike in his village and realized half way up the boys who offered to take us did not have a trail they were following, which led to them creating a new trail, via machetes and knifes.  We finally made it to the top and the view was amazing!  Beautiful to look around and a lot of laughs on the way up and back down, sliding, falling, tripping, etc. Then we did a big camp out at his compound where his host family was excited to meet us and feed us a delicious meal.  

At the top of the mountain!

The next morning we woke up early packed our bags for our camping trip, found a taxi driver to take us to the different sites we wanted to go to.  We took off, 10 of us packed into this car, our baggage on top, and the poor car barely making it on some of the crazy roads.  We arrived at our first site which had these amazing rock formations; you could try to see how high you could get to look out.  We then piled back into the car for our next destination.  

A beautiful multi-level waterfall which we all jumped in and swam in.  It was not warm water either, but felt nice and refreshing to submerge my whole body in water.  We hung out there for a while, enjoying the sun shine, the refreshing water and climbing around to places we were able to walk.  

First waterfall where we swam

Rock Formations

Then finally we made our way to the final destination.  We parked the taxi and grabbed our bags and began to hike down the path.  We arrived at the viewing spot and it was incredible.  Breath taking!  Afterwards we ate lunch down on the rocks above the waterfall, walked across a suspension bridge which looked to say the least, a little sketchy.  It brought us up above the waterfall but over the running stream.

At sunset a friend and I walked down and were able to walk to the edge of the waterfall and look down over large decent.  It was quite frightening but amazing to be able to get so close.  Then later that night we made a camp fire, set up the tent and slept on the rocks beside the waterfall.  I know you wont believe me but, it was freezing.  The girls slept in the tent, boys outside, and I have never snuggled so close in my life.  IT WAS FREEZING!  We were so close but slept with out the top of the tent and were able to fall asleep under a star lit sky.  

Crossed this bridge very carefully!

Some other tourists and our friend from the village.  If you look
at the large waterfall, we are standing at the top of the two
levels of the waterfall!  AMAZING!!!!

Next morning we got of, had to jump around to try and warm up, started a fire and heading for home.  View the photos below.

Some funny stories:

I gave a test the last week and I added an additional question, “Que voulez-vous devinir après les etudes?”  First of all the students raised their hands and asked I don’t understand, do you mean after school today or next year?  I said no, what do you want to be when you grow up.  They were so cute, said oh okay, and wrote down their answers.  I forgot to bring the responses with me, but many said, military, doctors, and mathematicians.  But three of the answers I truly enjoyed!  The first one I loved was, the president of the country because I would like to change they lives of the people struggling in the country and make a better life for all.  The second one I really liked was “A teacher because they are the future of the country and my life”; the third “I would like to work in agro-forestry to help my family, village, and country from starvation.”  Some were just so thoughtful and so selfless I was astonished and proud of them.

I was teaching an English class, teaching the days of the week and asked a student to translate in English, “Hier c’est Dimanche” and a girl went up to the board and wrote, “Yesterday, was Sunday Fun-day” I forgot I had explained Sunday as the saying Sunday Fun-day for football Sundays and because there is no schools for students on Sunday.  I just died laughing because she was so innocent in writing that, trying so hard to understand the English language.  Often they ask me questions about song lyrics, and often I have to say its over their head, because the lyrics are so inappropriate and I don’t know how to explain it in a way they would understand.

Some Pictures

Waterfall 30 K from my Site

Awesome African Tree

My market on a non-market day

The School Yard

The boys at their soccer game explaining the strategy to beat their opponents

December Fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and that it’s a white Christmas for you.  It is so strange right now for me, because since it’s a Muslim country, Christmas doesn’t exist, therefore there is not a trace of Christmas here.  No stores with Christmas decorations, no Christmas lights, etc.  Quite depressing.  Also in the morning when I wake up, its around 45 degrees then at around 1 to 2ish PM it’s about 90 degrees, so it feels like Christmas here in the morning with all the people walking around in big winter coats, scarves, mittens, and I am in my pants and a light sweater.  But I am not complaining, I would rather be a little chilly then sweating all the time. 

School has been going alright, we had a visit from the inspector of education who was checking in on the various junior highs to see if the students were coming to class and if the teachers were giving two exams per month.  I showed up to school at 8:00am ready to teach my class, as well as the other students, and found out that the director would not be arriving till later in the day and that the students needed to come back for class at 11:00am.  For the kids that live over 5 or 10 kilometers away I felt terrible that they had to make it all the way to school only to find out they would be sitting around for the rest of the day.  I returned at 11:00AM with no students to be found and the ones that did come, did not bring there notebooks to take notes.  Therefore the class was pointless.  The students finally showed up around 11:30ish and I was the only professor to start my class on time.  Then at 1:00PM I switched and started teaching my 10^th graders, who again had no notebooks and were starving because they had not had any lunch. 

At 3:00PM, the kids were getting rowdy because they were so hungry and the Principal was making them wait for the inspector to arrive.  I also had all the other teachers from the elementary school standing outside my door and windows watching me teach to the kids.  Just a little bit of pressure! and I was playing a game with the kids to try and keep their attention so I think that intrigued them as well.  The Peace corps director arrived, to check and see how school was going, living arrangement, community, etc and to bring me a small present, (a wheel of laughing cow cheese) which was so thoughtful and a gift I truly enjoy, as well as a package, which I opened latter and saw was from Mrs. McKenzie.  Had some food bars, but more importantly teaching resources, which I am so thankful for.  Thank you Patty and family!  I returned to school and the inspector had arrived, I was summoned to the classroom where the teachers were being evaluated, and asked to look at my grading notebook.  I was the last one, and they went on and on about how well organized my notebook was and stated could the other teachers mimic my work, then about how amazing the United States was, how important the English language was, etc.  I was quite embarrassed, because here I am learning to be a teacher and then all my colleges were around me, and they wouldn’t stop talking about my organization and America.  As all my friends know, I am very organized if not too organized, so I had not thought much of it.  Then the inspector made a speech and said a special thank you to me for being there and making the sacrifice to come to Africa, etc.  Again it was so nice to hear, but I would have preferred the conversation said general to all the teachers.   

That weekend I had a friend visit me at site, so I made dinner and a peanut sauce (Maffe tiga) and millet which I gave some to my neighbors as well, who politely took the dish, but in the morning when they gave it back to me explained that I needed to learn how to prepare it.  (aka, they did not like it)  I laughed and took them up on this task the following week.  The way I had prepared it, was wash the millet, then put it on the fire and cook it like rice.  It ends up turning out like cream of wheat, pretty good in my opinion.  The way you are actually suppose to cook it is; grill it in a pan, pound the millet after with the mortar and pestle, wash it, then lay it out in the sun to dry for the day on a piece of cloth, then the following day, cook it in a pan, but with a tiny bit of water, so it turns out like cous cous.  Quite different then what I had done and probably will not make that for a long time after, haha.  I also cooked pancakes with maple syrup my parents had sent in a care package for breakfast the next day and a strong cup of instant coffee.  Thank you mom and dad.

Then I asked my neighbors for their hoe, because I wanted to clear the path to my house as well as start doing some planting in my yard.  They said I could not have the hoe until I had learned how to prepare food, and do the womanly chores.  So I prepared something to eat and asked again.  They gave the hoe to me with a great deal of reluctance only finally when I said it would be for my friends who was visiting me.  They agreed finally, but said I couldn’t tell anyone in the states if I got blisters.  Then I was able to clear my path where I had people walking by, and standing at my entrance to watch me, then yelling to their friends to come and “check this out”.  Surprisingly they learned that a white girl can do yard work, haha.  I joked with them and they were impressed with my work.  After that, I decided that I needed to get some better soil, because right now it’s the dry season so the soil is of no use.  So I went out the next morning early, with my hoe and a plastic bag, and starting picking up piles of cow poop.  The whole time I was doing it, I was dying laughing inside thinking about what my life has come to.  After I took my poop baggie home and mixed in with the soil, which I took my first aid medical latex gloves and used for the mixing and planting.  Pretty good gardening gloves if you ask me!  I planted two orange trees, two grapefruit trees, and 4 avocado plants.  My neighbors keep telling me, nothing will grow and I should wait till the dry season.  I’m hoping it will all grow, if not for me the next volunteer who is at my house.  Next, I’m going to try next for a banana and papaya tree, then get some okra and bean plants going! 

Then the weekend came around and I decided to stay at my site and work in the garden.  I went to the market chatted with the ladies at the market, my students, and continued on home to cook some lunch.  Then went back to the market a little later with some friends to get my phone, and started heading home, stopped to talk to friends on the road.  Finally I looked behind me and saw a man who looked a little but off.  They call them “feus” here, in English a crazy person.  I stopped to pretend to be texting on my phone and he passed me, so I thought I was in the clear, then he turned around and started staring at me.  I decided not to go home, and I walked to my neighbor’s house, but I had to pass him, and my head went crazy with ideas of when I had been attacked in the capital.  I had to do everything in my power to stay composed and not scream.  He followed me in their yard, and they told him to leave, he told them he loved me, and finally they got a stick and made him leave.  I spent the rest of the night helping them cook and trying to keep myself calm.  Pretty nervous and uncomfortable.

Since my last chat, I had mentioned my intention was going to be to start a girls soccer team.  That did not plan out this month, but what was exciting was, the Director of Education made a competition between the larger villages.  Unfortunately it is only for boys, because as I was explained they are stronger… but the last week or so they had soccer games between the 8^th and 10^th grades, 7^th and 9^th grades, then the final between the winners, 9^th grade.  I was excited because those are my students and they truly played a great game and deserved to win.  At one of the games the “feu” found me at the game, tried to give me his trash then grabbed at my leg, I again got nervous and startled, my Director of Education told me not to be scarred and that he would do nothing, but that if he was bothering me to get a stick and he would leave me alone, but that I was safe and not to be scarred.  I felt better after that and nice to know that people cared about how I was feeling.

Also this week I taught my ninth graders a Christmas carol as well about the holiday Christmas.  I taught them the “12 days of Christmas”, they were hysterical and tried really hard to get the song right.  Check out the video below.  Lastly, I walked home from school the other day and saw this BRIGHT green thing on the ground moving.  I realized it was a BRIGHT GREEN SNAKE.  He was heading under the fence into my yard, right near my outdoor latrine.  I paused then ran to my neighbors who said not to worry; “it was like that in Africa, he was just passing through yards, and to not provoke him”.  I call tell you I will not be going anywhere near him, and thankfully I only had two more days at sight before I heading to the regional capital for Christmas and refused to use my latrine.  I taught an English lesson to these other students and told them about the snake and what color it was; they said that was the most dangerous snake, and that medicine was really hard to find here.  I thought to myself great!

Lastly, I made the trip to the next village over (19k) to stay with the missionaries for the pre Christmas celebration with another volunteer.  I had tacos, with guacamole and freshly baked soft sell tortillas and brownies for dessert.  I am so fortunate to have them so close and it is so nice to exchange conversation with them about life in Africa; the difficulties, the struggles of teaching, the positive aspects, and speak English.  Thank you so much for all you do for me!

Happy Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years, I miss you all a ton and hope you all have a wonderful time-sharing the holidays with your families!  I know I will miss mine a ton!  Love you Mom, Dad, Luke, Nicole, and Brooke!