all is not lost

I am soo sorry for those of you who hope for continual entertainment through my blog. I am trying to get a couple good postings together but have been so busy in village and abound.

For some updates:

Health-doing well and have been managing the heat. It is now rainy season so the bug are biting and I probably have about 20 new bites daily. Self restrain to not scratch is futile.

Happiness- Coming back from visiting Wil in Mauritania I had a new found appreciation for life in village. I was well recieved by my friends in village. I think they thought I left for good. Now that they know I haven't, they want to know where thier presents are that I forgot to bring them back from my trip. Geeeezzz... Only thing missing...Wil. I have plans to try to have him relocated to Togo to live with me. We will see.

Love- Still difficult without family and friends(hometown) near by but doing well lovin myself. Wil and I are stronger than ever and who knows.. Will keep you posted of future status change.

Voyages- Had a great time visiting Wil in Mauritania. From camel sandwiches to hot car rides through the barren wasteland. Everything is so much more fun when we're together. I will post a blip on my comparisions to life here and there.

Food-IT's MANGO time...wow here there everywhere there's a mango! I have a new found appreciation for all things birthed in nature, including fruits and vegetables. I crave pineapple, apples(though imported here), mango, grapefruit on a daily basis and all i have to do to tame the crave is walk a few feet and drop a coin for a whole pile. I am going to have a hard time returning to bying produce in the states. It's so cheap here..and plentiful...mmmm. I also can't stop eating these damn yummy peanuts. I plan on buying a bowl at marche, blanching them and sand roasting myself. I feel that if I do I will eat them all and potentially OD..so I but the little sacs on the streets to control my obsessive noshing. If you only knew the difference, I will never be able to eat a planters peanut again..it just doesn't compare. I am also planning on creating a food journal of all the oddities and locally eaten goodies here...

Work- everything is going great in village and I have a lot of things to do. I am going to be a camp counselor for a girls apprentice camp in JUne. I am working with a batiker developing products for local market and beyond. Had a meeting with USAID that went well, to see how to develop artists locally by participating in local and international trade shows. (I knew my previous employment would come in handy at some point) Making chocolate at home from the cacao beans from my counterparts stocks. (and tools, ie small food processor, molds,books on making chocolate, soy lechitin, cocoa butter etc..can be sent at any whim) Working with women's groups in village to build improved cookstoves (that use less wood or charcoal) Ohh this is a whole post in itself..soon..I promise.


Well in a wrap..more to come..stay tuned...sorry my satellite has been down and all you get is static. "The Yovo Show" staring Adjovi (Megan) to be continued...

piedmont doodles n passin time

Journal.......



Feb 14th 2008


So last night we celebrated the anniversary of George. George was a lapin (rabbit) who made his way up from Lome with a couple members of Aglame's ONG (NGO). George was unable to express his gratitude for the celebration because his birthday was also the death of him. You see, George the lapin was a product of their new project of elevage (animal husbandry). Rabbits here are rare but the meat tender, so in search of an income generating activity they have turned to raising little George cotton tails. I have to admit...as I sat there amongst them and stared at the little piment covered chunks of meat laying on a bed of a brown cement paper bag..I was interested in a taste. So they poured the glasses of 2buck table wine as we sat in front of the buvette chanting “joyeaux anniversaire” to George. Then we nibbled on him. Tender indeed and quite yummy as the last time I had rabbit was when I studied abroad in Italy 2002. By the taste of it, I think they have the beginnings of a great business if they are able to charge top CFA for them.

Earlier that day I had all intentions to go into the office but got a little distracted. My homologue called me to say that they were in the middle of organizing the “cahier de caisse.” The last time we went through that I remember sitting there for about 4 hours as we taught the importance of recording transactions in a log for each groupment. Two hours went to just explaining what info was to be placed in each of the columns...leaving about an hour for one person amongst them to finally figure out that “objet de transaction” was not a calculation or date but what in fact they bought or sold. Next time I think we should start with basic vocab. En route to the office I decided to take the long way and visit my “good friend” the menusier (carpenter) just to see if in fact he had finished my pantry cupboard. Ohh “pas-encore”...so I critiqued what was yet to be finished and told him to bring it to my house by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. There is a long story that goes along with my relationship with him, full of disappointment, delay and disgust. I have already used the terms “merde” and “fache” in my conversations with him.

Leaving chez lui I popped in to see what was going on in the mini cafe. Dieu-Donne(“God-Given”..love the names here) was watching a fuzzy tele that flashed in and out of what seemed to be a test of the National Weather Alert System. I soon realized that what they were watching in broken fuzzy translated French was “Red Dragon.” I proceeded to try to discuss the film in which a disturbed man turns to cannibalism. The conversation quickly turned to the fact that in the US our televisions are not crappy like the ones here, because in Togo “nous suffrons.” I threw in the whole debate on suffering over television quality and reminded him that he ate well today and there are not those in my village at least who are starving. But Dieu Donne will continue to ask God for a new television as if that was his only wish.

I then made my way over to my budding Starbucks cafe. Issac was sitting in there chattin it up with the gens. I took a look around his boutique and noticed empty boxes...dust and a few products on the shelf. What's going on? Ohh waiting for the money to roll in before he does something about restocking the shelves, he mentions. I explain to him that now would be a good time to clean up and make it “proper” for when he does in fact find money to re-stock. Ohh...but I'm lazy, he explains. So I begin to do what I think is needed here. I take action into my own hands and begin to move empty boxes and reorganize. I think what they need is just a bit of a push from a little yovo to get things up and running. Little before we know...brooms are flying, dust fills the air and Issac, his employees and I are all in the middle of a clean sweep. A couple young boys (lazy teenagers of which my village has more than I would like) pop in to seek amusement in watching me help them. I turn to them and say that it's not a television show and if you want to stand there and watch you better help out. I must have made my point because soon they were moving boxes and taking action. That lasted all of 5 minutes as they headed back out to the streets to sit with all the other moto drivers. In due time we had wiped all of the shelves, reorganized the remaining inventory, caught a mouse, learned a bit of spiritual healing with melted rosin that warns off bad spirits (not Voodoo..but Muslim spiritual rituals), and created a bit of enthusiasm for a new beginning. I decided to return home after Issac thanked me for my time with a great big “Ak bey ka ka.”

Upon my return home all dusty and dingy I discovered the water was cut so I proceeded to make a little income generating product for Issac. I turned to baking as I love so much here and adapted a time old traditional recipe of Snicker doodles to Togolese taste....instead of hard to find cinnamon to mis with the sugar..I replaced it with cayenne powder for a spicy substitution.

Try it sometime...”Pimentdoodles”...mmmmmmm




Feb 17th 2008

So the weekend has passed again and in a wink I am approaching the new week. I biked to Kpalime to spend the V-day love with the other volunteers in my region. I love the bike down to Kpalime. I am stressing the down....with ups ..but more downs. I don't mean emotional downs..more of momentum..physical..it's a nice ride lets say. I say that even more so because it's Sunday morning and I am sitting here, sweat dripping down my leg with a huge bruise on my knee that marks the results of my return. It's hot here..currently 101 degrees at about 3 in the afternoon. I left Kpalime this morning around 9 to make the 28K journey back home. Due to the seasonal winds, and of course lay of the land I had to bike uphill with a strong head-wind. Upon my return, I then cleaned the house a bit and decided to wash up...till I noticed the water cut. So dirty me decides to take a nap instead. I was never one for naps but with the heat, bordem and at times the sheer lack of nothing better to do you tend to cut up your day with a nap. Plus, everyone else is on “repo” too.

The weekend was great fun. It's nice to get out once and a while to be around other volunteers and hide out together. What is funny is that even together, we don't talk much. It's good to have the company of others just to have a sense of home but we don't entertain one another all the time. Which is a good thing because we would probably drive one another nuts with our problems. It's also a time for dinner parties and we all love to eat here in Togo. It's usually no fun cooking for yourself so making a nice meal to be shared is a welcome pastime here. We went on a whole Mexican theme making flour tortillas, beans and salsa and sides for burritos, as well as cheese dip and fried tortilla corn chips. To top it off we also had a chocolate cake, my little strawberry heart cookies and some good ole American box brownie mix. Not bad eh? Everytime we get into the whole cooking thing it always comes out great, maybe it's the though of eating something other than rice and beans, or pate and fufu? In any case it's always one of the best meals in country.

Now I'm back at home bored out of my mind. Bored of myself and wondering what I'm going to do with my week. I think tomorrow I'll go to the office in the morning, then hang out with the marche mamas in the afternoon. I love my marche days. In those I learn so much and feel that it is my time to do a little cultural exchange. That and there is something going on in village where everyone is occupied and busy doing something. That means they don't bother or annoy me as much because they aren't sitting around needing the “Yovo Show.”

My new loves....


Food:
*Almonds, raw (my love for them is unmeasurable when all you get are peanuts here)
*Dried fruits esp: apples, apricots, prunes and figs ....teachin them fruit dryin..Cayenne Pepper and *Wasabi
Hummus and Veggies
Grapefruit and Apples
*Dark Chocolate..the darker the better and with almonds even better...Green Tea, White Tea (expensive here)
*Cereal...I would kill 4 some mini wheats...lucky charms...any of the 100 varieties America stocksTogo Meringues
Beans and Tofo...the possibilities are endless (mmm lettuce wraps)
*Got Latte?...not in Togo(International Delights Powder?...ohh please)

*Feel free to send me more rations of the ones with the asterick, as those are unavailable here..hint hint

Fun with Food in Togo

Here are some of my favorite dishes.



Fulani Cheese "Wagash" and Tamarind Chews

Ohh My Meringues

My Mom's Best in Togo

Pom and Peanuts

Homemade Bagels in my Bitty Dutch Oven

will I be the same?

Time has gone by so fast already and since I am not in month 9 of bring in Togo I can see how quickly it will be until I see you all in a year plus....well after Wil and I decide to wake up from our COS trip (Close of Service) we may be eternal vagabonds...I think of how funny it will be...and who I will be

will I eat with my hands..not question the age of foods that may have spoiled and eat them anyway..like the time I noticed that on the third bite of bread there was an ant colony living in it...didn't phase me..protein?....ration a bag of goodies like it was the only one in the world and the CVS wasn't across the street...go out in the backyard forging for Tamarind pods and funny looking beans to eat...to my great suprise finding that the bush in the front has produced pomogranate fruits and I have a citron tree as well as cherry tomatoes and mini peppers.....discovering new street treats....raising my brows in interest when a girl in village tells me that it's possible to make cheese from plantains???....is it possible?


missing the little goats that cross my path and dodging the poo pellets...doing the runway walk when leaving the house through my village where everyone now knows my name as they scream it out..."Adjovi...Adjovi" and I throw a complimentary wave or "bonjour, bonsoir"...while the theme song to "Cheers" plays in my head.....knowing what it is to be famous....or are they just taunting me.....waking up to the sounds of rooster crows and muslim prayer calls at 3am-4am-5am-6am-and all other times of the day..or what sounds like pig calls coming from the woman selling bread door to door.....this is Togo....

...living off beans and rice and using one of now 15 different ways to flavor black eyed peas (think lettuce wraps with cumin flavored-cayenne beans, onions, veg) but knowing that the will never be as good as the ones here that sit in the kettle all day and get mushy so I will start to cook beans in a crock pot to mimic the ones I get from the bean lady that gives you a full cent franc worth....spending the better part of my morning peeling apart a grapefruit section by section and eating the meat while enjoying the crisp tart taste (slow down and try it sometime)..amazed at how much hot pepper I put on my foods...I love me some cayenne!!!...when I never could handle it in the states...having time to play in the kitchen..

..sealing everything I own in ziploc bags....garbage bonfires....using toilet paper one square at a time...sometimes waiting to use the toilet three times before I flush...finding a use for every bit of garbage so I don't have to burn it...recycling...spending all day at the marche wondering around and doing "stall (window) shopping"...asking questions..learning....hangin out with the marche mamas...and sharing my time with them...

...to be continued....ohh but there is so much more....

dreaming of a white christmas

Well I know most of you are wondering where I’ve been…lets just say out and about. I am right now sitting in the bureau of the Peace Corps lounge. I’ve just heard the Fan Milk man toot his little horn. This signals that the ice cream cart is within range where for 100cfa a pop you can get an ice cold milk treat in a sac. The heat is too much to risk leaving the air-conditioned bureau for an ice cold treat. How I feel for that Fan Milk man trying to pedal his way through the sandy pit called Lome in search of herds of Yovos with spare pocket change. One things for sure in Togo since I’ve been here. They are not starving.

At least in my region. In joining the Peace Corps I had these ideas of going to sub-saharan West Africa to help the starving children. Well not exactly but most people do have those ideas. I can honestly tell you from what I’ve seen there may not be a well balanced diet, but they are not suffering to the extent that you see on tv infomercials. It’s not that I am here to bring these people up from the depths of poverty and I am now understanding that I am really here on a cultural exchange. So as long as I reach someone and connect with my village…I will in part be doing my job.

Life in village is fine and all but lately I have been kind of fed up with a whole lot of people. The gens have been a bit too much lately. You sure can’t hide from anyone in my village and most often during the day when there are way too many teens out sitting on their ass doing nothing..because there really is nothing to do. Same with me… I am bored out of my gourd.

I have however started to formulate some idea of whay work I may be able to accomplish in village…and as time passes maybe I’ll be able to get things up and running..but as for now I am awaiting the Holiday season with Wil in tow…he arrives tout suite!!


Update: 12-16

So Wil arrives in days now and so crazy it’s been about 6 months since we parted. I can’t imagine having to go another 6 months but that’s life..I will cherish the time we will get to spend together over the holidays even if it is 12 days short-lived. I talked to him the other night to get flight info and I can just see me jumping into his arms at the airport after trying to entertain myself with quite anticipation ….

Christmas here is hard but not as hard as I may have thought. I have decorated my house with cut snowflakes and dried pepper mistletoes…popcorn garland and some wonderfully donated twinkle lights from the Baptist missionaries. The only thing different is sweating my ass off as we enter harmattan season..the dry season here in Togo. Even though all of you are home shovelin snow …layering up and making cookies and trimming the tree…..I am trying to do just as much here. I’m even jammin’ to some good ole Christmas tunes…even though I can’t stand them most years..here you need all the reminders of the seasonal cheer you can get… The only thing missing is all that family…I am so glad to at least get Wil here with me. But it still won’t be the same without all of you. I miss you all so much..

So as for me I know I’ve mentioned earlier that village life had me on my last nerve..well it ain’t so bad lately. I feel like since I was gone for a bit with work in the capital they missed me a bit. My friends in village even want to throw a fete for when Wil gets here. I think they missed me a bit cause everyone has been more than hospitable. I even enjoy hanging out with them. I taught my omelet guy who runs a little café how to increase his menu options hoping to turn him into the next starbucks or city diner. We had a lesson in French Toast..and it was a hit. I am trying to teach him new options for what he can make with the ingredients he has on hand…so when one make egg sandwiches and omelets..you move into..french toast, quiche, develied eggs, and then throw in some new things like baked goods and cakes. He recently bough a gas oven and stove along with a fridgerator which he has yet to fully utilize so I prepared a list of questions for him to think about what he can do to get the most out of these investments. That’s the problem here..they make impulse purchases once they save whatever they can because they think automatic development comes with new appliances..humm sound like our culture too? But they need to continue thinking about how this new device is going to create revenue once they pay off the expense in purchasing it. Forward thinking is not popular here. They sit in anticipation waiting for you to tell them what to do and how to do it. That is how it goes.

So other than that ..life is the same. I have all the anticipation in the world to start my agricultural (café and cacoa) groupment on the path to Fair Trade (Commerce Equitable)…work with the artisans in Kpalime in the same manner…try to organize groupments (savings associations) among market women, some clubs with the lycee students-running-art…and all while trying to enjoy life in Togo. But the funny thing with me here is I have never felt so lazy in all my life and with such a lack of drive and motivation. I don’t know what it is about this place..can’t keep blaming it on the heat. But for some reason I am having a hard time trying to pump myself up to do anything. I miss the energy the states has..everyone in a constant progression forward. You have to try to work at these things a lot harder here while everyone sits around waiting for things to change on their own or in quiet contentment for life as it is.

I’m sorry that everytime you read my blog it seams as if quiet complaints underlind the fact that I am not enjoying life here. I do enjoy some things..other times feel I am in a prision..but I am not ready to leave..this country is forcing me to figure out things about myself ..what I want out of life and how people live outside of the little bubble of the great US of A. I am not ready to leave but hope that I can start to figure out how to increase my capacity of enjoying my time here and stop thinking of all the things I want to do and become once I leave. It’s a nice forced pause in my life since I know that if I was still in Chicago I would be running around filling my schedule with things to do. This place has slowed me down to a simple life..and I think I kinda like it. Like I’ve said before..

I’m ready for that home life…open up a bakery/café…live small and simple..without the daily grind.

Wishing you all the best this Holiday Season…I hope that Santa reaches you in good cheer….health and safety. I miss the snowflakes and gingerbread men…spicy hot cocoa from Vosges and marshmallows, sugar canes, icicle lights, smell of evergreen and even the feel of defrosting after coming in from the cold. Family and friends and giving gifts…even some of the stress associated with finding the perfect Christmas gift. Wow..my first Christmas in a place far far away…where I am still in flip flops and tank tops wiping the sweat from my brow.

more to come...please stand by...

visit my flickr site to see new photos...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/life_of_megs/

Il pleut?

this is a birds eye view of my home

(see more photos of mine on www.flickr.com (search under)- The Life of Megs)
Okay so this is the raining season currently and we are not to expect the dry season until the end of December but for some reason the past 4 days we haven’t had much if an rain and I’m wanting it to pour at any moment. It’s so funny how much I love rain here. I am getting pretty good at forecasting the clouds now and can tell based on the heat and wind cycles when exactly the rain will hit again. Blossoming into a tried and true Togolaise or if anything maybe I can go into weather forecasting when I get home. So I know it’s been ages since I had another post pop up on my blog. Well I have my reasons. I have been unable to leave my village to use the internet in another village until the elections for Togo’s legislative body are over. Well they are over now, and all is calm and nothing has changed. As they say here “Rien Changes.”
It is easier for me to breakdown my updates into categories for fear that if I don’t you will hear a lot of babbling and ranting…but to let you know..I am doing well. One day I’m up …one day I’m down, this trip is an endless rollercoaster through victory and struggle. Peace Corps said it and man they were right..”the toughest job you’ll ever love” When I was back in the states if I had a bad day at work I would go home, vent to Wil, maybe go for a relaxing run along the lakefront. Heck, even get out a bottle of wine and have a nice dinner and lose myself to the moving pictures on a tv screen and the reality that I could pause my life to be immersed into another. Here…. You have a hard time finding that pause button. Here, I don’t have my boyfriend, my family, all things familiar and within easy access…no place where I can run and not be watched, “yovo’ed” …I have too much time and space for reflection. If you know me well..that could be a bad thing. Here one has too much time to think about themselves, what they are doing, what they need to do, what they want to do, how they should do it..how they are viewed by all of the village..and the list goes on. A lack of structure in the program really makes a person look inside to develop. I know I am going to get a lot out of this experience but man oh man….I can’t wait until it get’s a bit more comfortable. Another problem is that I need to create the program myself. Peace Corps does a good job of training and making resources available but once you get into village and if you are not taking over for a volunteer who is leaving some work to be finished you really have to start from scratch. In that it means that I need to get to know people in my village I can trust and also try to figure out what type of advise I can give to people who are afraid of change and only think things will work if money was involved. They live day to day here so new ideas are not a thought because it means investment and how do you invest in something that you have no idea will work, when you have no way of obtaining the capital for it either. It’s a risk.
Work life:
Since the elections are finally over (well not quite yet..still recounting the votes) I will start my work with my main counterpart in Adeta. I am hoping to set up an office in their bureau so I can get out of the house more often. I don’t know how anyone who works from home doesn’t feel like a shut-in. Maybe not in the states, where most people are but here..when I stay at home reviewing materials I feel like the village thinks I am avoiding them. In reality I need to prepare for them. I read up on my French every day and will someday start tutoring if I need it. The organization that I will be working with deals with farmers of café and cacao. I need to help them in the way they organize their office and would also like to help them in the development of a better production of coffee bean. The organization is basically a cooperative where all these farmers gather to determine selling price, buying price, discuss buying and using fertilizers and also do stock age. They work in a very democratic way and I have been impressed by their structure. I would love to help them increase whatever capacity they can while here in Togo. I talk to them about the difficulties of export, and the reasons why many Americans buy their coffee from South America, and other regions where the beans are more robust and richer. They are very interested in wanting to have their crops reach a larger export market. And for the most part find a way to directly export their grain to the European countries that currently buy it from Togo. Erase the middle-man. Which is hard to do in a country where individual farmers and let alone groupments or cooperatives/unions don’t have the capital to sell directly. Also, as of now a lot of the grain gets shipped to neighboring countries to be processed and sold. There are very few places in Togo that roast and grind the grains, and even then …they sell it locally to a small population in the capital and larger cities. In Togo, even though coffee is a big crop, the people here drink imported instant “Nescafe.” There is not a strong capacity for production and their grains cannot compete with other familiar and long popular coffee that comes from other countries. If anyone has any way to send me different tips and tools on what I can teach them by way of developing and harvesting better crop, both café and cacoa…I would be very grateful. With the lack of internet..”google?” and books and resources, my teaching is only from what I currently know. So if anything can be sent..here is some requests…
Samples of different coffee beans…with the name and origin.- (whole grain, or even bags of ground grain)
A small coffee grinder
A moka pot and/or French press
Books and literature on coffee growing and how to create a stronger flavor, better grain.
Information on roasting, grinding and processing.
Information on “Free-Trade” products (even, sending me bags of coffee and cacoa products from Whole Foods, Starbucks and other coffee shop chains to see current market trends and desires)
Any experience and insight that is out there…I know a lot of you who love your coffee so send me any info and tools you can..so maybe one day you’ll be drinking a hot cop of Togo Joe.

Updates on fun times”

On a lighter note.. I will finally get to see my boyfriend in 2 months and counting.. I can’t tell you how excited I am. He will be here on the 18th of December to spend a mere two weeks with me over Christmas. It’s not much but I’ll take it. This has been a hard 5 months being so far apart but we are doing great.
I have become a baker since my time here. I bake scones almost every other day in my little Dutch oven. (Basically a pot on top of my gas burner) I can’t tell you how amazing they are here and much better than any I’ve made in the States. You are really missing out! I even told Wil of my thoughts of coming home after all of this and opening a bakery…yup..Megan’s love of food has driven her to the point of wanting to be a baker. That’s what Africa has done to her thus far.
I am settling in well and have been going out more often with a small group of friends I have made here. I met a lot of people through an ONG (NGO) FAGAD, a French ONG that works with development and activities for young children here in Togo, some orphans of AIDS. I got a chance to meet a great Japanese girl before she finished up and left for home, and am currently hanging out with a girl from France who has helped me with my French and I have consulted her on her English. She’s great and I invite her over for coffee and scones and just to share our languages. She thinks it crazy how long I will be here, sometimes reminding myself of the same thought. She will leave at the end of October as many of the volunteers that work there only stay for a couple weeks-months at a time.
If anything I have to realize that this is a truly worldly experience that I am having here and should embrace it. Not many people could make this work and I know I can. It’s rough even though my housing conditions are great. It’s hard being alone in a foreign country. This is the first time I’ve lived in my own place and the funny thing is how extreme I’ve made it by not only living alone, but I am all alone in a village that doesn’t speak my language or can relate in any way to my way of life. It’s strange how things work here…especially emotions. I will have to reassure you that I only had one crying outburst since I’ve been here so no I am not sitting here in a fit of depression. I am loving many days and hating others, getting excited about learning new things and then wanting to escape from it all and hide. It is day to day here. Overall I am not ready to leave and know that I still have so much work to do here and so much to learn and gain from this experience.

I wanted to send some thanks out to all of you who have sent me care packages. I can’t express how much it helps to get pieces from home. I will try to mail out cd’s of photos and letters as soon as possible to all of you. Since it may be easier than trying to post things to a blog with an internet connection that runs at a rate of circa 1992.
Mom- the package was wonderful and I loved everypart of it…you are the best mom I could have ever wished for.
Carolyn, Hugh-I can’t thank you enough for everything, you guys are and forever will be part of my family.
Kate, Joe and the gang- That package was perfect and unexpected…thanks sooo much
Jules- I’ve got your wonderful letters, news updates and made those combos last a full week of cheesy goodness. I need your address and hope you are well in China. I’ll try to send something your way..sweetie! And I just found out the news and couldn’t be more happier for you two! I wish I was there to express a big round of congrats!!! Hearing that news makes me miss Wil even more, you two are truly lucky for one another, never forget it!
Heather, Louise and gang- Thanks so much for the goodies.. I will be mailing you the Subway Coupons from the Reeses wrappers. Since I have no use for them here and I know how you love those fake chicken subs. I know how busy EA can be…keep those letters coming..Jodie? Kat?
Dianna and Lydia and Christine- THANKS! Love the memories of good ole EA..and congrats about ..Dianna-good luck in England! Christine-I am soo happy for you and sad to miss the most special day of your life..good luck with planning on “no rain” and Lydia, take care of the office for me…I miss my work routine but know all is still there. Send me catalogs of the new collections and publications if you ever get a chance. I loved the photos of the office life…I MISS YOU all !
Thanks everyone! And Keep those letters coming..it’s good know that you have people from home who are supporting you and want to know that you are not alone. I miss you all but will be back sooner than you can say “Hot Tomato!”

Over and out…Megs