Happy New Year!

Hello All!

I apologize for the delay in updating. I have not had access to internet the past month and it has taken me a few days to collect my thoughts over all that has happened the past month and a half. As I have mentioned to a few people, much here has now become familiar. The normalcy I feel, though a positive indicator of how much I am loving it, makes it difficult to describe things here. Therefore, I have picked a few poignant moments to share that will hopefully illuminate different aspects of life here and my life here. We only have a few days left of training and then we swear-in as official volunteers on January 8. We move to our permanent sites on January 11. Crazy how fast time moves, especially when the days here are so long.

I hope all is well with everyone. You survived the holiday craze! I hope your holidays were filled with much family time, delicious foods and warmth by a fire or bundled under blankets. It is very strange to think of snow right now, but I am envious on the hot afternoons.

This past week we all visited our permanent sites and then traveled back to Kombo, which is where I am now. I traveled with four other trainees from Basse (main urban center in the east of the country) to Kombo by taxi, ferry, and gelly gelly (old vans almost broken by the road conditions stuffed with people). The travel time was about 12 hours and went fairly smoothly, but I was feeling quite nauseous the whole time, possibly from food poisoining. Upon arriving to Kombo, we were all tired. But I rallied to check my email and began reading your notes, messages, and comments. They were incredibly positive and contained so much energy that the long day of travel was instantly forgotten about. Thank you all so much. They are very much appreciated. Jeff, I am so glad to become part of your daily routine. Maybe you can relay all of this to Nelson as he is sitting in your hot tub.