new blog

hey hey folks. so i have neglected some school work and created a new blog for my time in niger. check it out. its the top link on the right. hope it answers some of your questions. if not, ask away!

(someone make me write these papers! only three to go!)

happy thanksgiving!

what a great thanksgiving! i hope that you, your family, and friends had a wonderful time. i have so much to be thankful for. i love the thanksgiving holiday b/c it makes me focus on thankfulness (or lack thereof.)

i truly had a fun time with my family.



















the family photo


















nick and i out on the rocks by the river

















my grandparents live here on this little river. since they've lived there us grandkids (and a select few of the adults) have enjoyed playing in the water, riding down the waterfall, and simply climbing.






















i mentioned to granny that i wanted to learn how to sew awhile back, so she pulled out the sewing machine and began teaching me friday morning. many more lessons needed.

much of the holidaytime was spent planning for graduation, Christmas, moving, and leaving. it was fun, but tiring. ...now for a nice, quiet saturday evening to myself!

back to West Africa

that's right, i will be heading back to West Africa.
lets make it complicated and say eastern West Africa.

i am going to Niger!
















i really don't know anything else yet. at least i have become a wanna-be-professional researcher, so i'll have a fun time finding out all about the country, people, etc. amazingly enough, in all of my african studies at school, i have never studied niger.

for now what's most important is that we pray!

bleeding lips

i have several addictions. chocolate, caffeine, and chapstick. if you know me you know all of this. chapstick is my biggest addiction. a must have 24/7. preferrably Chapstick brand (regular or strawberry.) today was a regular Chapstick day; however i decided not to wear the super cool scrubs to work and instead went with some khacki pants. bad pockets. chapstick fell out several times, but was always found. why didn't i learn and put it somewhere else? yeah, big problem! ....

today was my 10 minute French presentation on the history of Québec. i was very nervous about it. got to class and realized i had one incorrect word on my handout. upsetting but not that big of a deal. the problem: Chapstick was gone. no where to be found. i seriously thought i was going to cry. no time to run to the bookstore to buy some. out of luck. what to do? i need it every few minutes in general, but like every two seconds when i'm nervous. i was freaking out. truly. no lie.

slowly but surely my bleeding lips are recovering.

am i...

a) playful?

















b) rich and prissy?

















c) studious?


and the answer is: a & c!

yesterday was a day of playing with a fun kid from the daycare where i used to work.

today has been a day of doing school work. i got tired of sitting on my little stool in front of the computer, so i did some temporary rearranging. nice big comfy chair has been working nicely. need the comfort for all the research i am doing. which includes: hungarian politics, sun tzu (art of war), et l'histoire de la nouvelle france.

dead duck

tonight some of my classmates found a dead duck outside of our building on campus.
keep in mind UAB is a very urban campus. no ponds or such.
where did the duck come from?
why/how did it die?
could it be...the bird flu???

my professor called campus police to notify them.
the dead duck was still there two hours later.
if the police actually come to see the dead duck, what will they do with it?
i think they will simply dispose of it.
my classmates want it taken to the lab.
who knows?
it made us laugh.
poor thing is dead either way, so maybe it isn't funny.
oops.

down by the river

a fun weekend with my parents in louisville.

















this is the ohio river, which separates indiana and kentucky.

as you can see, it was quite windy so we were unable to go on our hot-air balloon ride.

















we had a great time hanging out in their new [old] house.
they are now in the house, which is over 100 years old!


















quality time with Buster and Bear in the park. the country dogs are making a smooth transition into city life. they have never had to walk on a leash, much less be kept inside a fenced yard. poor things.