Happy New Year

We are in Ouaga for a week of training which means a week of free internet...yes! It's been great to see all of the volunteers from our training group after 4 months and hear all of their stories. My personal favorite involves a volunteer who has conceded the battle for his house to the cockroaches and now sleeps outside regardless of the temperature. We tried a new bus company into Ouaga and it was so shocking: this place is professional. They only sell enough tickets for the number of seats available, they give you tickets for your bags that you put under the bus and check the tickets before you walk off with a bag, and they even tried to form us into a line to get on the bus! I found myself throwing some elbows in line just for old times sake.

New Year's Eve in Titao was a little disappointing because both Aaron and I got a little sick so we weren't able to bring our A-game to the party (I only made it until 9:30 before going to bed). But we killed 5 chickens, there was lots of beer and wine, and Aaron says at midnight there was a call for everyone to grab some chicken, a glass of champagne (we brought some champagne...it was really crappy, but everyone was impressed), and dance in a circle around the fire to a song that repeats the words "Bonne annee" over and over. It seems like we jumped the gun and the real party doesn't happen until New Years Day because that night we heard the music blaring until 4am. Next year...

I've made some unofficial New Year's resolutions (I like to keep them unofficial in case they don't happen):
- I want to walk with a baby strapped (saran-wrap style) to my back while balancing something on my head
- Actually do some French tutoring this year (my old tutor moved a month after we got there)
- Start a Girls Club or English Club or something at school besides the Sit-and-Stare at Madame Club

So that's the plan, we'll see how things go. We've had some people concerned about packages being lost. The thing is that the whole month of December was pretty much a lost month postal-ly speaking. There were so many holidays that even when there was no holiday, our post office decided not to open (either too tired from the last party or busy preparing for the next). So don't worry. Okay, that's all for now. We're having a great time in Ouaga eating food that requires refrigeration. (Last night was 'taco madness'.) Thanks for all the emails and messages.