Day 2
Christmas in Malabo

Christmas here is celebrated very differently than in Michigan. For starters, no one goes to bed on Christmas Eve, instead everyone goes out in the streets and party hops! You visit family and friends from house to house and eat and dance with them in their patios. Everyone’s African music is played very loudly and it spills out in the streets. As you walk down the street on your way to your next visit, you can easily get caught up in an impromptu side walk dance with complete strangers. This goes on all night! My poor Midwestern meat-n-potato fed body could not keep up with the athletic endurance of my cousins.
Oh yeah, they also outlaw cars and driving during the new year´s celebrations. It is a good thing cause the street drinkin´, dancin´and carryin' on would get messy with mad cars racin' in the street.
The picture collage is of my cousin Manolo's Christmas eve party.

Day 1










Christmas Eve Landing
(The tree in the picture is the most photographed tree in Equatorial Guinea. Check out the size of the roots. My dad (on right) stands about 6 feet tall, and he looks absolutely Liliputian compared to the tree roots. This tree is on his farm)


I began my descent south into the continent of Africa on Sunday. Wow! This is a part that I cannot explain in words because it is so fantastic. I was lucky enough to get a window seat on the plane and thus spent nearly 5 hrs. with my forehead plastered to the window looking down. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sights for fear I might miss something.

The plane flew over Morocco and the Atlas Mountains. The most exciting part was when we flew over the Sahara desert for almost 4 hrs at about 600 miles per hr. That is one dang gigantic desert! The Sahara turned into the Sahel which in turn became a thicker rainforest. When I landed in Malabo airport all I saw around me was a sea of emerald! I forget how green the deep African rainforest is.

And the heat….100 degrees temperatures with 99 percent humidity should only be suffered by trussed turkeys in the oven.

Answer these questions and earn up to 6 points that you can use to clean up any assignment before your mommy sees your grades at semester’s end:

1. 2 pts: What does the word Sahel mean?
2. 2 pts: In what language?
3. 2 pts: Why is this region called the Sahel?
4. Be the first to answer the questions in the comment box and take the points home