Whew! Been a while, huh? Sorry. When I was in Ouaga last, I just couldn't bring myself to do anything. Seriously. This Spring Break was badly needed. But now I feel recharged after an unbelievably lazy stint in Ouaga and a tour of the East side of the country. And can you believe I've been here for a year already?! I'm not one to get all reflective and articulate, if you're looking for that, check out my friends' sites. They're much better writers than me. Umm... yeah. Moving on.

So while in the east, I got to experience a real African "safari", Burkina-style. So basically, we drove around in the Burkina wasteland... err... I mean, Burnkina "wilderness" in a truck with a grizzled old dude carrying an even more grizzled old shotgun and a guide who called himself "The Panther". Yes, The Panther. I don't make this stuff up. We saw hippoes, elephants, regular antelopes, horse antelopes (think deer crossed with the East German swimmers of yore), monkeys, baboons and warthogs, but unfortunately, no lions as we'd hoped. The baboons were everywhere! We had to close our doors to our rooms to keep them out! During the tour around the animal park, we got to see the river that forms the border between Burkina and Benin. I've never seen a crueler joke on the part of nature. Picture it: A lazy river (much like the Red Cedar for you Spartans out there). One bank of the river is lush and green with palm trees and other jungly type plants that seem like a scene from Jurassic Park. The other bank of the river is dry, drier than should be possible next to a river, and whose only foliage seemed to be in a constant losing battle against the sun. Quiz time: Which bank was the Burkina side of the border. Yeah, we sure got the short-end of the stick on that one. Damn you Benin and your flaunting foliage!!

And, finally, I'd like to request a moment of silence for the Spartans, our fallen heroes in the battle of the bracket. Your blood ran green and white and true. Next year, we shall have revenge... And for the ladies: KICK SOME BLUE DEVIL ASS!!!!