Most Over-due Post

Wow. I had completely abandoned you all. I'm sorry. I knew it had been a long time, but I surprised even myself; it's been so long since my last post, I had to look up my username and password to edit the site because I could no longer remember it. So what has happened in this nearly half-year?

Well, I managed to finish my thesis, turn it in on time (thanks to Kristian), defend it (which involved a lovely, but far too stressful and far too short trip back to Europe for which I thank Gondul and Annemarie for nearly all the lovely bits), and get my degree. Finally. I am officially no longer a student, in spite of the fact that I continue to declare myself as one on every visa/entry form I come across which is, in fact, a very frequent occurrence if you have any inclination to move about West Africa at all. I suppose I'm still a "student of life". Anyway, it's better than leaving the "occupation" space blank.

So how does a person with no occupation occupy themselves? Damned if I know. I'm too busy to keep track of these things. If you're not well-connected to the grape-vine, I'll fill you in. I'm trying to start my own little business. Okay, take a minute and get it all out now before you continue reading. Violent laughter has been known to cause stomach cramps so it's best to get it under control now while you still can. Yes, my own little business. The idea is to export West African handicrafts to retail shops in Europe and the U.S. in an unique and exciting way. I'll say no more about it other than that if I manage to pull this off I will be delighted and not just a little amazed with myself (and everyone who is helping me). In the downtime, I'm trying to get another blog up and running, though of a different nature than this one. It won't be so personal and probably won't interest you so, again, I'll say no more about it.

Probably more interesting to you is the news that T and I are moving. Yes, after nearly a year in Benin we will be saying our farewells to this strange little country. But never-fear! We're moving to another strange, little, Francophone country in West Africa: Guinea (Conakry). Oh the joy. I can hardly contain myself. But really, while I could probably think of more pleasant and exciting places to spend the next two years, I'm happy we're staying in Africa. Neither of us are ready to leave yet (though I expect after two more years we certainly will be).

So the story is that you can expect me to start posting again and you can expect those posts to be pretty much the same only the word Benin will be replaced with the word Guinea. Maybe there will be less about voodoo and more about drums and dancing and (because I know you're going to Google) strikes, riots, and ailing dictators. (Relax, you won't read anything I don't already know.)

So there you go. I'm still alive after all :)