Merry Christmas! (12/25)

So in case you all didn't know, Christmas just passed. (If you're panicking, you might want to make your phone calls and send your late emails now...)

Back?

Ok.

So between one thing and another, it worked out that we would all spend xmas at the TSO this year. (And by "we all" I'm referring to Beth, Julie, and me.... Beth calls us the Three Musketeers). I got to Tamale, went to the post office and found a package waiting from Fed. Hurray! At just after Midnight on Dec 24th (Us latino types celebrate "noche buena" and dont have to wait for the morning to open Santa's presents) I opened my perfectly timed gift from home.

Yay Christmas Package!

The next morning (12/25) we all just hung around the house and chilled while Hannah made pancakes. I used the Dulce de Leche that Fed sent me and introduced everyone to Dulce de Leche & pancakes... amazing...

Watchu lookin at?

After breakfast we all gathered around the Christmas Tree (Thanks Fed for the tree) and put together our Peace Corps Volunteer budget presents. We played White Elephant which essentially the rules are:

Everyone buys a little present, wraps it, puts it under the tree. Everyone picks a number and starting from the lowest number we all pick a present. The trick is, when it's your turn you can either pick a new unwrapped present, or you can steal someone else's that has already been picked. The person that gets a present stolen then gets to choose a new present from the pile or steal someone else's (you cant steal a present immediately back). If a present is stolen 3 times it cannot be stolen again and it stays with that person. It's a very cutthroat game for Christmas. It was great.

Gathered Around the Tree

TSO Christmas

Now should I chance it... or steal one...

After several steals I got an African mask and Jacob got a pillow.

(He actually got a sweet present... good pillows are hard to come by here...)

Hangin out waitin for dinner. Lizzy on my guitar.

Christmas Dinner!

Thanks Hannah for again cooking an amazing meal. LASAGNA!

And that was essentially our Christmas. Small little gathering of poverty-living volunteers in the Northern Region of Ghana. Hope you all had a good one, miss you all and happy holidays

Guillermo