Email: X-mass email

To everyone jan 2 09

This is another mass-merry Christmas/happy new year-email, I'm sure
you all have received a million of them, well, here's a million and
one.

The Gambia wishes you happy holidays! Yay!!!

These last few months have been busy, I've been remodeling my house
and I put up a beekeeping workshop for some local farmers. I've also
been working on a site transfer. I applied for a volunteer leader
position and I got it, which means I'll be moving to a slightly bigger
village near my old training site in Kiang. I'll be a little closer to
Kombo, but still very much up country. Peace Corps has a compound that
they want to turn into a live training facility with working gardens
and stuff, so I'll be starting that project. It means for the next few
months Ill be running back and forth from my new site to my old site
and to Kombo and back again. So I'll be a bit scatterbrained for a
while. My apologies.

Christmas was great. I went to my friend Amber's. She had a friend
from America there, and Matt, another PCV showed up. The four of us
made a feast with nothing more than a few potatoes and bread and local
herbs and leaves. But really, it was a feast.

New Years, I was in here in Kombo where we saw a few fireworks and
crashed a party full of British expats. I think the Brits get a little
sick of us always crashing their parties. They are here working real
jobs doing Medical research, but they have real salaries and can
afford beach front condos, like the place we went on New Years. They
always have food and drinks, real alcohol and beer, and sometimes
catered food. Not just the local moonshine and a few crackers. So we
always show up and I personally make a pig of myself, but to be
honest, we might not bring fancy dishes or drinks, but Peace Corps
brings the fun. 10 to 20 kids out from the bush, deprived and starving
for entertainment and culture. It can be a good time. Just don't get
in our way. He he he.

So yeah. Despite not having any snowmen or mistletoe we somehow made a
go at another Christmas and it worked out well. I'm very happy to be
busy and yet still have time to write a little bit, even if it's quick
and makes little sense. But yes, I am happy.

Are you happy, too?

dick