I am officially in my mid-twenties (Insert comment from all my older sisters and friends about how young I am). My birthday was great -- about 10 volunteers came in and celebrated with me. My friend Beth took me out for ice cream (I got a mango scoop and a pistachio scoop -- oh, how I miss ice cream). Yuri gave me a giant packet of Oreos and is planning to take me out to dinner in Bamako. Kyle took me out to lunch and gave me a mini-packet of Oreos (did I mention I constantly crave Oreos??). We all went to Steffen and Danielle's house for a spaghetti dinner. And Miguel baked a cake (courtesy of Cindy's care package). They even bought candles!
(Julia and Kyle preparing salad for Cinqo de Mayo dinner)
(Miguel, Yuri, Beth and Christy making enchilladas. I like the laser-beam-thing coming out of Miguel's eye)
On Saturday, Steffen and Danielle had the "big party." It was mostly for Cinqo de Mayo -- we made enchilladas from scratch (including the tortillas), which turned out amazing. Even more volunteers showed up for this party, plus a few German ex-pats came out. In the middle of it, they blindfolded me and led me to the backyard area. Then they let me open my eyes and I was standing in the center of four sparkler-type candles with everyone singing happy birthday. (The giant sparklers were courtesy of Tony -- the Lebanese guy who owns the Toubab "supermarket" in Segou.) It was pretty funny. I'll put up a few pictures once I get my camera and a computer in the same room with each other.
(Some of us posing on the couch)
(Louie, Christy, Mary Virginia and Tamara rocking out to early '90's jams)
Other than that, I've been preparing to go to Ghana with Mme. Koumare and Adama (he works at the CRAS, the artisan union). We are going to attend a two-day "handicrafts exporting training" that is being held in Accra by the West African Trade Hub (WATH). I'm excited for it, although I'm not too excited about the 2-3 day bus trip down there -- especially since we're still in hot season! I'm sure I'll have some more bus stories to share once that's over!
After the training, I will be traveling around Ghana, Togo and Benin to soak up as much ocean as possible. It should be a nice vacation. I'm excited to see a more "tropical" part of Africa, especially since Mali has dried out and turned into a gian dust bowl. :-)
4 comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kat! Glad you were able to have a party...wish we could be there to celebrate with ya! :) Miss you!
Happy Birthday Sister! Love you lots!
So glad to hear you used the cake batter & frosting I sent! And yes...you are still very young. Remember how quickly it's been to grow from 15 years to 25 years? Well, it's going to be about 10 times faster going from age 25 to 35 - believe me, I KNOW!
And again, so sorry to make you wake up at 4:30 in the morning of your birthday. You'd think this engineer could actually do math when calculating time differences....
Love, Cindy
Okay, I apparently cannot do math at all. Sheesh - I know you're not 25.
Love, Cindy
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