"I Carried a Chicken"

This line kept going through my head as I made my way back to my house after purchasing 3 chickens for our Christmas dinner. As I hauled my live chicken by its feet through a field, I kept repeating the line, in the manner of Baby in Dirty Dancing: "I carried a watermelon." There are infinitesimal moments that pass everyday, when I am simply living my life, I just happen to be doing it in a West African village. Then there are the times when I strike up a conversation in my Ewe-smattered French, or I squeeze in next to a goat in a bush taxi, or I find myself walking through a field holding a strangely resigned chicken by its feet. Sometimes Africa still feels like a dream. Granted, a dirty, smelly, colorful, difficult, enlightening, educational dream, but a dream nonetheless. I look around every once in awhile and think "how the HELL did I get here?!"

By the same token, I also realize how much I've adapted. Riding in a bush taxi to Lome the other day, I remembered writing in my journal my first day. Things like "I saw my first woman with a baby on her back!" or "ohmigod, that guy has a sewing machine on his head!" I've since realized all you really need to raise a baby is a pagne and you can carry anything on your head (or on a moto, for that matter). As I thought about this, I watched children pass by barefoot and naked, goats wandering the streets and women calling to each other as we drove by. I realized that these sorts of things make up those infinitesimal moments when I'm "just living" my life. They seem ordinary...when did that happen?

Enough of my ruminations. The reason I was buying chickens in the first place was because I hosted 13 volunteers and friends for Christmas. It has been a hard time for many of us, and I think being together is important. Our of sheer boredom I have turned into quite the Holly Hostess, a Martha Stewart on crack, you might say. When all you have in Togo is construction paper and time, it's amazing how many snowmen and snowflakes you can create. I gave up only when I got a blister from my scissors. You may think I'm kidding. I'm not. Christmas went really well. A few people showed up a day early to bake Christmas cookies and decorate the house. People really went all out and it was really nice. We had a big dinner Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning we all opened presents from our Secret Santas. Gifts ranged from a teeny-tiny Titanic tank top (incredible) to Jesus pagne. It was a hard day but we had a good time. Thank you to everyone who sent me packages, it was wonderful to get them and all your holiday wishes.

The day after Christmas, I went with Ashley and her three friends from the States to Anecho, where I held a monkey. I'm not going to lie, it was one of the cooler experiences I've ever had. Her name was Rosaline, and she was really sweet and loved the attention. Pictures below. Happy New Year everyone!








Jesus pagne


Teeny Tiny Titanic Tank Top



"Would you like to touch my monkey?"