Holidays in East Africa

So... I haven't updated in a while as I have spent my time lately speaking English, riding buses, eating American food, and living in luxury- and you all already know what that is like. So I have decided to just give a highlighted version of my holidays.

Highlights:

- Fabulous Christmas dinner in Njombe- Greta made amazing onion dill bread and I made a mango pie. PCVs try to make the holidays feel like home, but they don't really.

-Being able to talk to my parents, sisters, brothers and Reed on Christmas.

- Getting our picture taken with an African Father Christmas.

-Seeing my friends from my training group that I haven't seen in four months.

-Watching "The Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Charlie Brown's Christmas" in bed on Christmas eve with Catherine, Ashleigh and Cristina. (Made me miss my family though... My Dad wasn't there to sing "He's a mean one, Mr. Grinch.")

-The Fabulous Travel Adventures of Margaret, Greta, Kate and Brie. We hitched rides all over the place: in the back of a Pepsi truck, with a Swedish expat, on a crowded dala where I had to sit in Margaret's lap while we both straddled a Masai man...

-Staying in an amazing house owned my the U.S. Government in Dar. Yay for air conditioning, kitchen appliances, and showers. Thank you Patrick and Megan!!!

-Watching Meesh have a dance off on the beach with some really good Tanzanian guys.

-Wearing a bathing suit and Barak Obama kanga everyday like a uniform.

-Sipping a pina colada on the beach.

-Night swimming in the Indian Ocean.

-New Year's Eve Disco Dancing with about 40 PCVs.

-Riding a camel down the beach on New Year's Day.

-Megan's incredible pasta dinner. The homemade salad dressing was delicious.

-Every moment I was in Dar and realizing that I was not getting robbed.

-Weekend at Flower Farm with Zummi and Adina... I think I can write "Enough Said..."

-Eating, eating, eating....

-Phone calls from my villagers saying they loved and and missed me.

Overall, the holidays were fun and enjoyable. I tried to focus on where I was and not where I wasn't. Now it is back to the village for just a few days before my big two week long in-service Training by Peace Corps. Juster and I are headed to Iringa to learn about what I should be doing here for the next year and a half.