So, I had my first Christmas, and it was full of holiday cheer! I went down to Kolda to celebrate with my region. For dinner Christmas eve we made hamburgers, hotdogs, and frenchfries. I got to be the fry cook and I successfully fried 3 kilos of potatoes. that comes out to about 6.6 pounds of potatoes. unfortunately Christmas movies were being played on the projector the entire time. Christmas movies are just annoying to me. I did however watch Its a Wonderful Life in its entirety for my first time. it was an excellent movie. We did a white elephant gift exchange Christmas morning. I got sunglasses and a spoon. For Christmas dinner we had a smorgasbord of appetizers. I assisted with the twice baked potatoes. After Christmas I went back to site for a few days and cleaned off the area where I am going to have my garden. some weirdo came and asked if he could dispose of my trash for me, so I let him. I also threw rocks to the side. Then I tried to go on a great african new years adventure to Kedougou the land of the lions! I went with Rachel cause shes kinda sick of being in her village, and she had to bring her puppy too. when we got to Tamba we learned that the puppy has worms. So we had to take some meds, and give some meds to the pup! Then we went down to Kedougou. It finally felt like I was really in Africa! something about the setup of the town just makes it feel like real africa. there are mountains in the distance, there are a lot of trees, and a couple of monkeys here and there. Newyears was not exciting but still lots of fun. New years day Rachel and I decided to go to a waterfall. it was not a good idea. I was a little hungover, and "we" decided to leave at noon in the hot african sun. we went about 20k down the road and then took a wrong turn. after we backtrack I take out my water and realize that it has been leaking the whole time and I have half a liter left. we have to turn back we still had another 2 k to ride and then 3 k to hike after that. so we start heading back and the sun just gets hotter and hotter. I quickly am becoming dehydrated. the sweat was evaporating so fast from my face that it was leaving salt crystals. I had to get some water from some guys trying to fix a broken down taxi, and then from another nice family on the side of the road. when we got back I could barely move. I stayed for one more day to recover and then on the 3rd I came back. I came home to find that my mom sent me a package. it was filled with salami! and theres was also a lot of peanut butter. (fyi- a gallon of peanut butter here is cheaper than a liter of bottled water.) but i love my mother very much and I am going to make lots of peanut butter salami sandwiches which yes sounds gross, but also quite interesting.
So, My new project is bagels(See post "a fun week"). I gave a recipe in French to the guys at the pastry shop. they looked at it they read it and they said yes we can make you a bagel what shape is it? (the shape was in the instructions and there is a picture on the recipe too) so the next day I return and ask about the bagel. they look at me with such smiling faces and rush into the back (im getting excited) and they come back with a bagel that must be 18 inches across. my mouth drops. I immediately begin to laugh. they look at me like I am crazy (and I am crazy, I did ask africans to make me a bagel) So I touch it and check it out. They did not follow the directions. it wasn't boiled, and they covered it with sugar. I bought it off them cause it was still delicious for 60 cents USD. I thought it was a fair price for a giant not-so bagel.
I am also assisting in a health project to rasie money to fight childhood nutrition. it involves riding donkeys, falling off donkeys, and videoing the entire process. So far I have fallen off of a donkey numerous times, have not seriously injured myself, but i did rip my pants trying to mount the donkey.
-Mike
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