What is that over there...omg hippos!!!

Peekaboo

I went and saw some hippos with friends and it was awesome.  We payed the equivalent of like 10 bucks and we got within 30 feet of hippos that have actually killed people.

They were very majestic and seemed nervous around us.  There's not really much else to say about it.  They were awesome.

Tell me that's not a trex head.

Pepper plants

These are the peppers of choice 'round these parts.  They taste kind of like habaneros.

Happy belated mothers day and jeffs birthday

Finally got internet uninterrupted by power outages.  As my gift to all the mom's, grandmom's and my brother jeff's birthday, here are some crocodiles.

I hope everyone's doing great.  Summer is about to start and the kids here really do go work in the fields during summer break.  Explaining how American's get the 3 months off without needing to work is always an interesting conversation.

Rains are coming

Rainy season is just about upon us.  There have already been a couple of big storms, but the flood gates will really open soon, and stay open, till September.  This is actually water pumped up from a river, but I thought it looked pretty cool.  School is out in a couple of weeks so I won't have much to do.  Maybe I'll go out into the fields and help plant some crops.  That's what 90% of my village will be doing from dawn until dusk for the entire summer.  Here they actually need to take the 4 months off from school so the kids can go to work.

Cinco de Mayo in Banfora

We got together in Banfora and made a Cinco de Mayo dinner complete with (clockwise) tortillas, refried white beans with velveeta cheese mixed in, pringles for dipping, sangria, guacamole and salsa.  Words cannot describe the deliciousness of this meal.  I almost puked from eating too much and felt more satisfied than I have in a very long time, stomach-wise that is.  It was pretty easy too.  All of the tomatoes, onions peppers and avacados are high quality and always available in the Banfora market, and cheap.  Life can be pretty delicious here.

Sending little things can help a bunch

Mom sent some dictionaries for the school and they wanted to say thank you.  This will help alot for their upcoming SAT style test to get into the upper high school level.  Surprisingly, dictionaries are hard to come by here and my school didn't already have any.  Thanks Mom!

If anyone wants to send anything let me know.