Monday, December 1, 2008

Working in the fields

Out in Ganni, life has really been interesting the past month or so. I have been finding myself working with the GDD Agricultural co-operative nearly every day. So as of right now, my typical day basically includes waking up around 6:45am and going for a morning run. After that, I make breakfast on my little propane burner (really convenient). My breakfast is usually some oatmeal and coffee or tea. Around 8:30am, the guys of GDD come and pick me up with their horse cart. We all head out to their field for work.

The work varies depending on the day. Currently, we have finished all of the planting and such, so the work has been rather light. However, when we were tilling the fields, all of the work was done by hand, so that really made for some back breaking labor. There are only 3 tools are our disposal. I hoe, rake, and spade....

Around 1:00pm, one of the guys goes back to Ganni and picks us up a lunch of Ceebu Jen (Rice and Fish). We pretty much eat this everday. Its a love hate relationship lol. Sometimes, I am just like man, rice and fish again. But, its usually rather tasty and when I'm hungry, no matter how many times I've eaten it, I still get excited....so yeah love hate relationship.

After lunch we have a quick nap and tea. This is sort of like the tradition in Spain of the siesta. We sleep away the hottest part of the day underneath the big tree in the field. I used to never be able to nap in the states, but I'm getting pretty used to it here.

Then back for work and at dusk we head back to Ganni...

This is sort of the typical day for me right now. I am setting up a meeting with all the guys of GDD in December to start working on an Action Plan for helping them with their business needs...

Good times :-)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Happy Election Day

Well besides from being a disenfranchised voter, election day is quite exciting in Mauritania. I am surprised by how closely the entire world is following the election. I have people coming up to me all the time either chanting Obama mainly or sometimes McCain. When I do actually get a chance to watch any satellite T.V. the election is all over the place. In this sense I am really enjoying the election from over here. We are planning an all nighter today in the Rosso office to see the conclusion of the election. So I hope everyone is well at home and I'll get more updates soon!!!

Random Act of Kindness: Today I cleaned up Brandon's house in Rosso. It needed to be done lol...

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Wolof Fun

So I was thinking the other day about a few of my favorite phrases and such in my new language of Wolof an I figured I would share some with ya....

1. Fanaan ak Jamm (My favorite)
Translation: Pass the night with peace,
Their equivalent of goodnight, I just think it has a nice ring to it..

2. Fukki Bukki Guddi, Fukki Bukki Becchig (A Wolof Toung Twister)
Translation: Ten hyenas at night, ten hyenas at day.
Those words are pronounces as if oo sound in boot.

3. Ndank Ndank (a useful little phrase)
Translation: Little by little, or bit by bit
Great for all types of explanations of things

The last one was actually a phrase that I made up when attempting to translate the American proverb of "No pain no gain", it actually ends up sounding more poetic in Wolof I think....and the guys I work with in the fields right now, really like the phrase lol...

4. Suduul woon metti, amul xalis ak amul doole (My Wolof poetry)
Translation literally: Without the grace of pain, one does not have money and strength
This phrase was made when I was explaining to my friends of the GDD cooperative why I like working in the fields with them.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Location of my village Ganni


I have marked on a map of the Mauritania the approximate location of my village. Its right along the Senegal River. So I live on the border between Mauritania and Senegal.

Real work and the hot season is almost over!!

Well I just wanted to get in a short little blog today. It was a rather exciting afternoon. I had a meeting today with the branch manager of CAPEC Bank Ibu N'Jaay. CAPEC Bank is a micro-financing bank based in Mauritania. They primarily work with agricultural cooperatives in the country. Their main goal is to make credit available to those (the poor) who cannot get get credit through traditional banking institutions for a multitude of bogus reasons.

I talked to him along with the help of my friend and fellow volunteer (Mary: her French is way better than mine lol) just primarily about what steps are needed to open an account there and how to start obtaining credit. The process was surprisingly simple and I'm really excited to bring the news back to my village and the GDD cooperative (the co-op I am initially helping). If you are interested in learning more about micro-financing and the impact it can have for people in developing nations, may I recommend the book "Banker for the Poor" by Muhammed Yunus. It is truly an excellent book and explains his story in Bangladesh and about how he basically started the micro-financing movement around the world. The book really provided me with a great deal of motivation about the work I am doing with the Peace Corps.



lso, I have been getting requests from people to give more information about the the culture, climate, and general life in Mauritania. So I wanted to take a quick second to provide some general info about the weather today. Mauritania basically has three seasons:

Really Hot and Dry (March-May)
Really Really Hot and Wet (June-October)
Hot and Dry aka Cool Season "which is a relative term" (November-February)

So far I have braved the hot seasons of Mauritania where I would say it averages around 100 degrees or so. I was telling my parents the other day, that you know you live in a hot country when even the people who live here aren't used to it and complain about it everyday lol. But honestly, it has been better that what I expected and the nights here are really starting to cool off. So that is a definite plus. Well hopefully that gives you a better idea about the weather here, if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask :-)

Cheers....

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Taxi Brousse Chronicles: Part 1 When 1 Hour Becomes 8

So I want to start this segment on my blog called the Taxi Brousse Chronicles, its essentially just stories from my trips on the taxi brousses in Africa. For all those who don’t know, a taxi brousse is usually a pick-up truck or van that delivers goods from cities out to the villages. Also, people can pay a fair to ride along. It’s the primary method for getting out to brousse sites such as my own, Ganni. Without further adieu part 1, enjoy:

This happened on Friday October 3, 2008. I had planned on coming back to Rosso from Ganni with my site-mate Rocco on Thursday 2nd, but much to our chagrin our plans were thwarted by Mother Nature in the form of a thunderstorm. This means that the road between Ganni and Rosso floods out and you have to wait a day or two until they dry out.

So on the morning of the 3rd we’re awoken again by the possible threat of rain at about 6am. (We normally catch the taxis at 7am into town.) Then, once the threat subsides a bit and it’s around 7am, we decide to head to the road and see if we can find anyone going into town. The roads were still pretty wet and the clouds looked ominous, so we weren’t totally sure if anyone would come. However, like clockwork a taxi shows up at 7am, this one is a brown pick-up truck that isn’t hauling too much. So we hopped on and there were a few other people on board with us too. A pretty light load, considering I have been on these things with upwards on 28 people. And away we go!!

We get no more than about 100ft outside of Ganni when the treat of rain becomes real rain. Now in general Mauritanians hate the rain, I can’t say I’m too particularly fond of it either, especially sitting in the bed of a pick-up. So we pulled over and the driver whips out a large orange tarp. We were initially really excited, but when we realized that the tarp was completely filthy and covered in dirt, mud, and sand, our excitement quickly faded. Also, there was 1 other taxi brousse that showed up that day and they didn’t have a tarp. So, the tarp was put over our truck bed and also some of the cargo and people from the other taxi was transferred to ours. So there we were huddled in the back of this pick-up, in an orange sweat box, getting filthy, but avoiding the rain. Then, were off again!!

Then probably about 4k outside of Rosso, because the current road we were on was technically still being constructed, you can’t really drive the whole thing. So, in our first attempt at going off the road, our taxi gets stuck. The other taxi behind us sees this and manages to take another way off the road and comes to help pull ours out. However, in the process of this the other taxi breaks down. This happens more than you think here, but somehow someway they manage to fix the other taxi brousse. Then another rain storm hits and we have to wait it out. After the 2nd storm, we manage to get our taxi unstuck and the driver announces were heading back to Ganni because of the condition of the roads. We then begin our merry way back to village, wet, dirty, beaten, and despaired. On the way back, the other taxi brousse gets stuck in the mud and breaks down again. Its been a really long morning already, so Rocco and I decide we’ll just walk the rest of the way to Ganni. Now between when we left Ganni and when we got back it was 9:45am. It took us nearly two hours to drive 4k, come back to Ganni.

The story does not stop here though, oh no, not by a long shot. Right, as we get back to Ganni, our taxi pulls up and tells us they’re going to try this northern road into Rosso on the other side of the sand dunes, and since its on higher ground it shouldn’t be flooded. Rocco said he had taken the road once before and since we were already wet, filthy, and cold, we figured what the hell, it couldn’t get much worse. Also, since the other taxi brousse was a POS, it was not going to be making the trip. So we took on all of their cargo now, which included 3 goats. And were off!! kind of, because they decide we should stop in the Ganni market first and pick up snacks for the road because it’s a longer trip.

Okay, NOW we’re off!! But we have to go 15k away from Rosso to catch the road to lead us to northern pass. The rain had let up to a drizzle though, and there were blue horizons, things were looking up. For a bit on the way to the road, were literally driving sideways because of the slope of the road and the mud. Rocco and I were sitting in the back and were looking at the road straight on practically like we were driving. Also, during this time, the goats were going crazy all over the place and one pooped on my foot. I was not very happy about this. So now, I was cold, wet, filthy, tired, and had a poopy foot. ewwwwwwwww…….

Before we got to the northern pass, we had to drive through some trees and such. One of which smacked square in the head when I wasn’t looking and helping with one of the goats. Also, because the road was well worn and our driver was moving pretty fast, I swear he almost rolled the thing a few times….But on we went!!

Then, we finally reach the northern pass, honest to god, it was probably the most beautiful thing I have seen in Mauritania. It was stunning, like something out of a movie about Africa. It was these huge open grasslands and prairies. We saw a troop on monkeys watching us from the top of one of the red sand dunes in the distance. There were sun rays draping the land, blue skies, and really beautiful rain clouds in the distance. It all just added to the appeal. We would come across small random villages with proper African tents and grass huts. We even stopped at one and they gave us water and milk. There were also herds of animals everywhere!! Only Mauritania doesn’t really have the traditional animals you associate with such a scene, but we do have A LOT of livestock!! Here is how the equivalent went:

Cows = Wildebeests
Donkeys = Zebras
Sheep and Goats = Gazelles
Camels = Giraffes
Dogs = Lions
Monkeys = Monkeys ☺

So, in our defense the trip didn’t really get much worse. The normal 50k trip between Ganni takes about 1.5 hours, this northern trek ended up taking about 6 hours. So in the end our trip took a grand total of 8 hours. But, the beautiful scenery really made the whole trip worth it. So there I was, wet, dirty, tired, stinky footed, scratched head, delirious, but happy…..

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Its poop again!!

So here is a re-cap of today.....

1. I passed my language exam and will officially be sworn in tomorrow as a volunteer!!
2. Had the Peace Corps Olympics / Double Dare Games (my team did great)
3. There was a giant rain storm and the roof leaked on my mosquito net again
4. The sewage line underneath our meeting room / cafeteria broke
5. Now there is raw sewage in the building where we are supposed to sworn in tomorrow, YUCK!!
6. So we have to pack up all of our stuff tomorrow morning so we can get sworn-in, in our dorm rooms
7. The weather forecast for tomorrow in Rosso is 106 degrees. YIKES!!

So in conclusion, our otherwise great day was totally shitted on and tomorrow is going to a hot shit show.....

ITS POOP AGAIN!! man, I cannot wait until I get to my site.

Ci Jamm,

Papis Konate

Monday, August 25, 2008

My New Address (almost a certified volunteer)

Eric Barnett
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 40
Rosso Mauritania
West Africa

So I am come down to the final few days of training OH SNAP!!

This will be my permanent address for the 2 years here :-)

Already been here almost 70 days. Summer Break 2008 Mauritania!!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Pictures!!




Ahhhh so many languages!!

Yes, I know....I haven't been exactly keeping up with my blog on a regular basis. I am going to do my best to try and post more smaller entries, just to sort of keep the flow of things going here.... But i figured on this entry I would give you some insight into the culture of language here, because it is immensely different.

Okay, so first some background on the languages. In Mauritania, there are 5 major spoken languages: Hassaniya, Wolof, Pulaar, Sonike', and French. Mauritania used to be a French colony, so a lot of people have some sort of French background. Hassaniya is sort of a slang version of Arabic. The other three languages are more traditional African languages.... Also, except for French, none of the languages are actually written languages. So that adds a whole new twist to learning.

I am currently learning Wolof with the Peace Corps. I am actually the only person from my 78 person training class who is actually learning this language. So it sort of makes me a lone ranger here. I feel kind of privileged actually. However, not really having any other volunteers to study with is kind of tough. My teacher Amadou Mbooj is really an amazing guy though. He is an excellent teacher and has a great sense of humor, but he doesn't speak any English. So he teaches me in French, which in turn is drastically helping my French lol. Also, my family is really wonderful about helping me with both Wolof and French.

As for the Mauritanians themselves, it seems like everyone here speaks at least 2 languages. Its just something that is ingrained in them. Which is such a major difference from the US. Just to sort of give you an example; a couple of nights ago, myself, Justin, Meredith, and Lily were coming home from a little get together everyone had at the ice cream joint in town (yeah can you believe it!! lol). and we stumbled across my host brother Sharif and some of his friends hanging out. There were about 6 of them in total. So we sat down for a while and just started BSing. So here is how it went.... We all spoke English to one another, then we would speak French to the my brother and his friends. Also, I was practicing my Wolof with them. 2 of his friends were Sonike and were trying to teach us some of that language. Finally, there was a Moor guy there who was sitting next to me speaking Hassaniya. So literally we were throwing around like 5 languages during a single conversation, which actually seems to be the case in Mauritania quite often, even between the actual Mauritanians themselves. Language is just a completely relative concept here lol....

Random Act of Kindness: So my host family has a freezer here, so my mom makes and sells ice bags for people in the city. She fills up little plastic bags with water and freezes them. She usually fills up like 30 and carries them to the freezer. I know they're heavy, so now whenever I see her I make it a point to stick around to help her carry the water around our house. She is always very grateful for the help. :-)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Ambient Noises and Mangos

Wow, what a crazy transition it has been coming to Mauritania. I have never really been a poetic person, so I will do my best to describe things here....

Perhaps one of my favorite adjustments has been the ambient noises that accompany the day and night. All over Rosso and Africa, farm animals pretty much roam the streets. People let their goats, horses, donkeys, roosters, and the occasional camel go everywhere. They're pretty much silent during the day, just going about their business, which mostly consists of eating trash and pooping. Not really a pretty sight honestly.

For some reason though, when the sun goes down, these animals go no nuts!! lol The donekys all sounnd like their being beaten or something (maybe they are?) The goats attack one another, along with the stray cats and dogs. The roosters wake up at 5am to cock a doodle doo. The horses are cool... lol

Other ambeint noises at night would be the loud rap music that can be heard through out the night, which is cool, reminds me of home... :-) Also, the crying of our neighbor's children. (I think she might have like 20!) My family doesn't really care for them lol.. Then when people do have TVs, they keep them loud. African cities at night are way louder than I ever anticipated.

During the day, the sound of children playing is what you here whenever your off the main streets. On the main streets, the sounds of the market is what rules the air. People all shouting over one another trying to get your attention or arguing over a price. Its basically controlled chaos and I use the term controlled lightly lol.

Other than the noises, it is truly wonderful to be around such kind people. The Mauritanians in general are so incredibly kind. Makes me happy that "random acts of kindness" can be found anywhere.

African Random Act of Kindness: Purchased 2 kilos of mangos for my family after we had lunch. :-) They were absolutly delicious.....





**Still working on the photo thing. Should be able to post them soon, once i get back to the center for a bit

Saturday, June 21, 2008

We have arrived!!

So we made it!! We have finally landed in Africa and what a day it has been....

I break it down for you.

1. Land in Dakar Senegal at 4:30am
2. Takes 2 hours to load the buses and start our trip to Mauritania
3. 5.5 hour bus ride through Senegalese countryside and cities
4. Wait 2 hours at Senegal and Mauritania to take our buses across the Senegal River on a ferry.... (the ferry broke for a while)
5. Arrive in Rosso Mauritania and get greeting by at least 30 Peace Corps workers and Host Country Nationals (lots on handshakes and French and Hassiniya )
6. Have lunch (fish and rice with a tomato sauce)
7. Free time (get african phone number!! 0112224596587 <---that's the whole thing if you wanna call me, I have unlimited minutes if you give me a call. We are only 4 hours ahead...
8. First walk around Rosso with guide. Talk about culture shock! It really is an amazing place though. Today I was happy when a little kid came up and shook my hand and greeted me while I was walking down the street.
9. Talking with some Host Country Nationals (worked on my french)
10. Set up our mosquito nets outside to sleep under the stars.
11. Had dinner (cous cous and goat)
12. Found out we have wireless internet and wrote this blog....

Friday, June 20, 2008

On a plane to Africa!!

Well I only have a few mintutes before we board the bus and head to Africa. So I figured I would use my 15 minutes of free internet and blog real quick....

These past few days have been amazing. We have been in Hot-lanta for the Peace Corps staging. Its basically a two day event to help "prepare" us for Africa. It really has been a awesome experience thus far. My fellow volunteers are great people, everyone is just so outgoing and well educated and gifted in their various fields. Its a pretty eclectic bunch of people lol... Plus, the government was more than generous with their per diem! So it has really allowed us to live it up during our last days state side.

Because of staging though I am amazingly exicted to head to Africa. We're boarding the plane in a few hours and we'll get their just in time to see the sun rise in Senegal for our bus ride to Mauritania! Good bye North America and hello Africa!!

Au revoir mes amis!!

Monday, June 16, 2008

T-Minus 1 Day: My Address

In case you would like to write me a letter or send a care package:

“Eric Barnett” PCT
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 222
Nouakchott, Mauritania
West Africa

Well packing is practically complete. I only have a few things left! I am exactly at 80 pounds.....lol no more no less. I only have room now in my carry-on luggage.


Random Mauritanian Fact:

Ethnic Groups: 40% mixed Arab/Black, 30% Arab, 30% Black

Monday, June 2, 2008

T-Minus 15 days: Its coming fast

Well I figured I would just write a quick note about what's going on.

TIME IS FLYING!!! The 100 days of Eric are rapidly running out lol. But I really couldn't be more excited. I have started getting emails from my trainers and managers in Mauritania. In my basement, I now have a table that is filling up with all the things I'll be taking there.

Next week I'll put up the list of things I am packing for Mauritania!!

Random Mauritania Face:

The Population is 3,069,000

Thursday, March 13, 2008

T-Minus 97 Days, Kind Acts Return!! Live Strong!!

Well to everyone the used to read my blog. I apologize about the crazy long break with my entries (with no real explanation). Simply put, I was busy and got frustrated with posting everyday.....but I am bringing it back!!

So here's all the updates in my life......

I just recently received my final invitation from the Peace Corps and I will be leaving for Mauritania Africa on June 18th! This is going to be a huge life changing event... :-) I am just getting more excited everyday, especially because of all the really great people and fellow volunteers I have "met" via the Internet! So to commemorate this occasion, I am bringing back the "kind acts" (which never stopped, I just stopped posting them)....

Also, my blog will sort of serve as a countdown until I leave. I will also do whatever I can to post while in Africa.

So for today's kind act, I purchased a Live Strong bracelet from Dick's sporting goods. I know its rather cliche', but I really feel strongly about curing cancer. Its such a terrible disease that has destroyed so many wonderful lives....

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Helping the smokers.........kind act 56


Kind act from 1/12/08

Saturday I was helped to clean up Cleveland and helped the smokers have a place to hang out. Me and a few friends had went out clubbing on West 6th Saturday night. Very good time... But, at the end of the evening. We were walking back to the car and we happened to walk by a public ash tray that has been tipped over. It was one of the those really big heavy ones that are made of stone. Someone really had to be on a mission to tip it over. I wanted to help clean up Cleveland, because I really like this city. So, I went over there and muscled the thing back up right (It was really fricken heavy!). There were a few people watching so they were quite impressed...haha So smokers, now its just your job to make sure you throw your butts in the ash tray.

Romero, you awake?...........kind act 55


Kind act from 1/11/08

This one is actually kind of funny. So Friday night was my deparment's YEE (Year End Event). This is basically what most other companies call a Christmas party. We just keep it nondenominational and party a lot harder!! I really do work for a great department, because everyone has just such a laid back attitude....but, we also get our stuff done too!

Well anyway, we had the party at The Boneyard this year. Very fun bar... And a few of us ended up staying for quite a while even after our private party part had ended. So, at the end of the night, me and my girlfriend were walking out to our car. (She drove for me, such a nice girl). We saw my friend Romero with his head down sitting in his car in the parking lot. I was like oh no, we need to go check on him. So we went over there and as it turns out; he was perfectly fine, he just had his head down because he was looking at his cell phone while he texting some girl he knew!! Romero is definitely a ladies man, perhaps he should change his name to Romeo...

The door for Wendy's.......kind act 54


Act from 1/10/08

Today when I got home from work. I got home just in time to see my dad balancing his way to the house with his hands full of Wendy's! It really was quite a funny sight. I wanted to make sure he made it through okay, so I ran up there and opened up the door for him! I mean hey, he might of broken his neck!! Don't forget to hold the door for people!! (Men and Women)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Cell phone problems.....kind act 53


At my job I have a few friends that I goto lunch with on a regular basis. We are good friends so when one of use miss the lunch, we always give them a hard time... So for today's act, one of my friends had to get some things straightened out with his cell phone. He was basically going on a field trip for the duration of lunch. He really didn't feel like going alone. So I ended up going with him to provide some company. The lunch crew has to stick together!!

Follow up.......kind act 52


kind act from 1/8/08

Today at work one of colleagues had to take the day off. He had quite a decent amount of work that needed some kind of follow up. My work load was rather lite for the day. So when my boos was trying to figure out what to do with his work, I went over and offered up my help. She was very grateful for the assistance and I was able to follow up with almost his entire workload by the end of the day.... Its always great to help out your co-workers...

Monday, January 7, 2008

You must be an angel......kind act 51


I really like today's random act of kindness.

I have kind of an interesting job at Progressive. I am a Network Specialist with the Progressive Total Loss Concierge Group. Basically it is my job to help our customers find a new car if they have a total loss with their car. You really end up meeting some interesting people through my job.

As for the kind act, I have been helping this lady since last week find a replacement for her little Cavalier. She does quite a bit of driving around the city to help with home health care and various other things. She has been self employed for the past 14 years and loves her job. She also told me about how she has loves the ministry and is very active with her church. She was so proud of the work she did and I had such a nice time talking to her.

So today she had to fax in a copy of her drivers license to finalize the purchase of her new car (A Mazda 5). So when I received her fax, the way the holograms copied on her license, it looked like she had a little halo going around her head. I thought it was neatest thing considering how much she loved her church and helping with the ministry. So I called her after I got the fax and told her she must be an angel. So was just so touched that I shared the little story about her halo. She was just so happy for everything we had done for her. Its these type of deliveries that really make my job worthwhile...

Entertaining the Cousins........kind act 50!!


This act is from Sunday 1/6/08

Hooray for kind act 50!! This is a huge marker for me. Thank you to everyone who has been reading. Also thanks for all of the encouragement to keep this blog going. Please leave comments whenever you can. It really means a lot to know what you thinking!

Well anyway, as for Sunday's kind act. My little cousins from my Dad's side of the family stopped by with my uncle for a belated Christmas party. Well since there were no other kids the same age, my little cousins were quite bored at first. So I wanted to cheer them up. I figured Nintendo Wii would be the best way to have some fun. Needless to say my cousins wholeheartedly agreed with me! We ended up having an absolute blast. Even my uncle and parents joined in on the fun.... Gotta love Nintendo Wii......

Taking out the Trash.......kind act 49


This act is from Saturday 1/5/08

This weekend was brother's weekend from my fraternity. It is basically a retreat that is meant to strengthen the brotherhood. This year's retreat we held at the Standford Hostel in Peninsula Ohio.

Because of previous engagements I was unable to attend the whole weekend. So when I showed up late on Saturday afternoon, I made it a point to immediately help out around the cabin. I went through and took out all of the garbage that the brother's had made from the previous night and morning. People were really happy for the help.

Friday, January 4, 2008

PIcking up the kitchen......kind act 48

At the end of tonight, my kitchen had accumulated quite a bit of clutter. So I wanted to make sure my parents did not wake up to this clutter. Especially since the kitchen was just cleaned today. So just a simple quick thing than can make someone happy when they wake up. Happy Friday!!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Kind Message Dove 1/5.........kind act 47


Today I started a series of 5 kind acts (not necessarily back-to-back). As I mentioned in my earlier note about the www.thechildhealthsite.com, I purchased something for later kind acts. Well I purchased 5 fair trade message doves made by villagers from Peru. These are ittle doves that hold a small piece of paper for writing a kind message to someone.

So for the first dove I gave 1st to my parents. It was just a short note thanking them for everything they have ever done for me!! I have the best parents a kid for ever ask for. Keep dancing mom and dad!! I love you...

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

You make great pho.........kind act 46


On this lovely 2nd day of 2008, my girlfriend and I had dinner at #1 Pho. It was sort of a dinner for beginning again, so to say. Anyway, the food tonight was exceptional and the service was great too. After our dinner we made sure to tell the owner and the waitress how lovely everything was tonight. They were really appreciative for the positive feedback. They actually ended up giving us a coconut bubble tea on the house!! What a great tasting kind act....


Also, I would like to dedicate today's kind act to my boss Roxanne. She truly is the best boss I could ever ask for. I have never met someone who is so genuienly concerned for the future success and wellbeing of her employees. She provides all of us with so much encouragement and advice for bettering ourselves. She also has a way of knowing when people are upset and how to say the right thing. So thank you Roxanne for being a great boss and friend...

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Helping with dinner.........kind act 45


Happy New Years!!

Today I brought in the new year by helping my mom cook dinner. Its was the tradition of my German grandmother to cook pork for New Years Day. Its supposed to be representative of rolling in prosperity for the new year. If you eat chicken, its bad luck because it represents scratching for money. So I wanted to help foster the tradition today by making sure I helped my mom cook dinner. Plus its fun!! I love cooking!!