I cannot believe it's almost over!

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The last month has been really busy back here in Malabo. Classes and field trips around the country have taken up the majority of my time. Time has gone incredibly fast for me, as well as my housemates. None of us are ready to leave. We leave Malabo on April 4th. Crazy.

Classes are going really well. I am learning a lot. It's hard to sum up all I have learned. However, most of the things I have learned weren't learned in the classroom. I have gained such an insight into the culture and lifestyle here I feel like this place has become like a second home. I have really gotten used to Malabo life and I will be sad to leave. This place has changed me. As my friends back in Gunnison know, I try to live as simply as possible. But being here has shown me that life can be much more simple than even I try to make it. You will never see a Equatoguinean living in slums complaining about ANYTHING. They are thankful for, and need nothing more than a loving family, a rusty roof and a dirt floor.

Anyways. I'll tell you about some of the amazing things we have done in the last month or so.

We have been going on field trips nearly every weekend. A fews weeks ago we all went to a town on the west side of Bioko Island called Batete. This place is unbelievably gorgeous. Here is one of only 2 completely wooden churches left standing in all of Africa. The craftsmanship and Spanish architecture is incredible. We also made the trip up to the top of Pico Basile (Peak Basile), which is a free-standing volcano towering over Malabo at over 10 thousand feet. It's really impressive considering the base is sea level.

Last weekend the Hess Oil company payed for all of us to fly on their private jet to mainland Equatorial Guinea, to a city called Bata. I didn't think that it would be any different than Malabo, however it is much, much cleaner and less populated. We stayed at the Hess compound in Bata. This place was more like a resort than an oil compound. We were really spoiled that weekend. We went sea kayaking and played golf. It was a nice little break from Malabo life.

Well 2 weeks left. This will probably be my last entry in Africa.

Off to Europe on April 4th. I'll blog about it. Be back in the states on May 3rd. See you all soon!

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