'Tis the season :)

21 December 2007

Happy holidays everyone!! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying quality time with family and friends. Here in West Africa, the holiday season has been great!

A few weeks ago I spent a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend with about 20 other volunteers. We gathered at our friends' Jill and Markus' place to feast and party for two days straight. Memorable moments include: Adlai slaughtering a pig, Mac slaughtering a turkey, and David playing guitar next to a raging bonfire Thanksgiving night.*

We prepared salad, falafel, mashed potatoes, chicken, and some kind of apple cobbler dish. The night before the slaughter/ feast Markus made impressive spicy-tuna sushi and we broke out a few cases (really, crates) of Burkina's standard beer. The cheapest brand is called "Brakina" or "Sobbibra"and each bottle is twice the size of a standard American beer.

After spending the day preparing a slow-cook, 18-bean soup for Thanksgiving night, I made the mistake of letting my soup sit unguarded in the kitchen. Someone tasted it and word got around it was good. Eventually, sneaky party-goers (meaning all of them) ate the whole thing that very night! I was ineffective against the crazed masses - I could do nothing to protect my soup!

Halloween was a low key but nonetheless fun experience. I showed up unannounced to Mac's place that night demanding something sweet. Graciously, he gave me precious dried pineapple chunks from America and I told him trick or treat!

Two days ago Burkina Faso shut down in honor of the Muslim holiday Tabaski which happens about 40 days following the end of Ramadan. Unfortunately I was not in village to celebrate with my Burkinabe friends. Instead I came to Ouaga to prepare for my own December holiday, Christmas. Next year I will surely spend Tabaski with my friends and neighbors, though, dressed in traditional Burkinabe clothing, passing out small money to kids for the fete, and eating fresh lamb and goat meat!

Finally, Christmas is just around the corner! We expect this and New Years to be two more fabulous holidays. Every remaining member of my Peace Corps training group, minus three people, are heading to Ghana for about the next 14 days. We rented an entire bus to ourselves which we'll be hopping on for 24 hours to Accra. Amazingly, ten of us will get to spend Christmas together on the beach at the house of one of my best friends from college in the States. Megan McSherry has landed a kick-butt volunteer job for four months on the coast. She's living in Ghana and tracking gigantic sea turtles at the mouth of the Upper Volta River for 4 months!

Finally, at this point I am the only person with even some Jewish blood among my Peace Corps friends. Therefore, there has been little talk of Hannukah. Many Burkinabe have never heard of Judaism. I did receive one cute email from my little brother. Thanks, Michael! And Happy Hannukah, Sobiloffs!


*All captured on video and available upon request.