The American Holidays

Coincide with the end of the rainy season here. That means crops are harvested and there is plenty of food. Temperatures are cooling down enough to cover up at night, and trees are losing their leaves. Its enough to give you some holiday spirit, though the fact that no one else is making any holiday plans means the actual days can sneak up and right by you without ever noticing it.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving there was a small get together in Basse. I didnt consider going, until the day of when I talked to somebody there and thought about how it might be nice to be with people, eating alot, and enjoying the day like Im used to. So on Thanksgiving day I told my family it was a holiday, and took off on my bike to meet Malcolm for a holiday ride. We took a big loop around the area -one we had done before- a little slower though and talking about home and people we know a little bit more.
By the time Christmas came around I considered taking a vacation to Senegal and completely foregoing the holiday to visit some people from my village who were working there. Im glad I didnt make it though. Selina -whom I came here with and lives an hour down the road- invited me over to her house. She had Malcolm and Alicia, who used to live in our area too, over as well. On Christmas day I met Malcolm on the road and we rode to Selinas in the late afternoon. Her and Alicia were in the backyard getting dinner ready. On her clothesline hung a picture of a Christmas tree, one of a bicycle for me, and one of Black and Mild cigars for Malcolm. We sat outside talking and keeping an eye on the food as the sun went down. Then two of Selinas local friends came over, and she served us all dinner. We had beef, macaroni salad, stuffing and potatos for dinner. Everything was either expensive or imported. I was full after one plate but ate until I had three. Then the six of us laid out on a mat in the backyard talking and looking at the sky.
I really enjoyed Christmas because it was small, but still felt like a holiday because we got together. It was also neat because her host family got to be part of the celebration and wish us all a Merry Christmas without having to do anything out of the ordinary. A few days later a volunteer from Soma called and said he wanted to come visit. I told him to come for the next holiday, New Years, and invited Malcolm and Paige - a close volunteer who lives in Alicias old town- and told them to come over too. I let my family know I wanted to have guests. They were thrilled and showed it by cooking a huge dinner of rice, green sauce and fish for New Years. Then we all sat outside drinking attaya and hot sweetened condensed milk until a couple hours past when we would all normally go to bed. Then me and my guests went in to my hut and sat around on the floor talking until the last of our watches said it was 2015.

 Our Christmas Presents

Selina working on dinner