Christmas on Halloween

So I recieved christmas today, or at least part of it. I recieved a christmas tree, a star and ordements for it I also recieved a stocking and christmas decoration, Rudolf, if anyone is wondering Rudolf made it to Benin just fine. This is a very special Christmas decoration at my house. Hes quite old and hes a little bleached by the sun but thats fine it adds character. My brother bought him as a gift part of a school fundraiser or something while he was in elementary school, so its quite possible that Rudolf is 20 years old or close to it. He has made an appearence every Christmas since in the window, a couple christmases ago my mom asked us, dont you think its time to retire Rudolf and my brother and I both said that Rudolf was one of our faveorite decorations and that we would never be able to retire him. So Rudolf can stay forever more. I will take a picture of him all set up in my apartment.
Oh my health is just fine, the last post about dehydration was meant to be more informative than scary for those back home as dehydration can happen in the states too, for example my cousin Alayna in New Mexico said that she expirenced something similar. I do now watch my water intake a bit more closely and try to eat foods that replace salts and sugars into my system, this does not mean that Im eating candy coated peanuts all the time either though, that would be expensive.
Took a trip to Cotonou and realized how much I like my post, the big city just doesnt suit me very well there is a lot of pollution in Cotonou due to the huge amount of motos and dust in the air, there is no such thing as emissions control here in Benin so cars motos and big trucks spew dark clouds of gasoline into the air and then people breath it just as is. I notice the difference when I am here than when I am in Bassila. The drains are full of garbage and smell of urine and other unidenifiables, the water is mostly stagnant so it is probably an excellent breeding ground for mosquitos which as a reminder transmit malaria. No waste management and water sanitation is not what it is in the states. Do I ever drink only filtered water here, no never. After seeing the drains in Cotonou I would never drink water from the tap, because ultimately where does the drain water go? and where is the water from the tap coming from? and what happens inbetween? To these questions I have no answers. Its really too bad that Cotonou is the first thing that people see in Benin, while it can be a fun place and a place where other americans and europeans may or may not be hanging out, its not a very pretty place. Of course there are some volunteers who do live in Cotonou who think otherwise. It definately does have its benefits but for me personally I could never live in a city, ever (probably a lot of people right now are saying something like, yea no shit melissa I could have told you that).