24 suckers, 5 chickens, 2 chocolate cakes, 1 bleating goat, and a partridge in a pear tree

happy holidays everyone! sure was nice, and a little wierd to hear people at home say merry christmas in africa...again. true, i am passing my second holiday season here in Benin and life is so much easier the second time around! i didn't feel awkward about just showing up to friends' houses, getting fed, and making conversation. things just sort of fell into place. as the title says, i bought chickens and a goat for new years presents. the goat is for my work partner, David, without whom I wouldn't have a thing to do and speak no Bariba...or French for that matter. the chickens are for the families living in my house concession. it totally works to my advantage because food gifts always give a little back to the giver. the animals are yet to be given as it is still the eve of new years eve, one party left! 5 days before the christian christmas, the muslims celebrate the holiday of Tabaski. i finally discovered that the mass sheep slaughter is to honor the sacrafice Abraham was ready to make of his son. yada yada yada we all know what happened and that sheep is a tasty one! new years is the holiday everyone fetes together and we just dance in the new year. i've got a few invitations and should be in wonderful holiday overeating pain again, like thanksgiving.
in other news, i've got my hand in quite a few projects and am feeling terrified that nothing will get done before i am out of here. time has flown and is continuing to pass us by at warp speed. my schedule honestly has something big every three weeks at least until Septeber, my leave month. CRAZY! when did the change happen from this being the "most insane thing i've ever done" to "just another day" complete with screaming guinea fowl, goats, and babies?! projects on hand are:
Moringa: we're trying to get into two more counties before i leave, complete with supply contracts with the health centers.
Library: the "old wise men" (not kidding, that's what we call them) in Guinagourou have changed the building site 4 times at least to please the people. we've got a land donation form ready to be signed but who knows what will happen when i get back tomorrow.
English club: every saturday 7th and 8th graders ahve the chance to play games and practice english with a real, live English speaker - ME! it's hilarious and has been a fantastic way to getthe kids to learn my name and for me to know them.
Some of the professors want to come too so this may result in a spin-off club called "the professionals". a chance for adults who have some background in English (there are more than one would think)to practice and learn more. that's still in the works.
Rice Growers: with a small start up fund from a local NGO, we've gathered a group of people to form a rice growers co-op. this would give them a chance for no or low interest micro-credit loans from the group pool, thus avoiding the institutions that are difficult to access for those of us in village. we've started with Accounting for Illiterates book-keeping. everyone gets so involved! some of the women have even shown me how they practice in the dirt while they're cooking dinner.
World Map Mural: my friend Tara came out to Guinagourou for a few days and we tackled the world map project. it's a kit made by a volunteer years ago and it's making a mural from a grid. way simpler than i thought but since we're so intelligent, we decided to start the first day in the blazing noon sun...we had to go home by 3 to pump sugars back into our bodies. we finished in the next two days and now our new middle school building has a detailed world map that the geography professors were gawking at for hours. a map of Benin and of Africa are in the works. this was really cool to do, especially as the school helped pay for a good protion of it and a small projects fund from Peace Corps took care of the rest. financial help from local organizations is hard to come by, even in the schools so i was shocked to see how involved they were!
i think that's it for now, everything else is still in zygote stage and will HOPEFULLY come to pass sooner rather than later. I wish everyone happy holidays and a fantastic 2008!!!!!!