Epic Journey to Fada Christmas

So the volunteers in the Eastern region of Burkina Faso decided to get together in the bigger city for Christmas.  Patrick is my closest neighbor lives about 9 km away from me through the bush.  Patrick biked to my site Thursday evening and we fried up one of my chickens.  Recipe posted below.  Friday morning we attempted to catch one one my chickens because I needed a gift for the white elephant gift exchange.  If you have never caught a chicken before, let me tell you, its very difficult.  I think we spent about 40 minutes chasing the birds until I finally cornered one (yes, me! Get it Kentucky!).  I attached my backpack to my bike and the chicken to my handle bars and we started on a 35 km trek to Diapaga.  The trek took about 2.5 hours and along the road I saw a Zazu bird and Patrick saw a unicorn...they do exist.  Oh, and I decided to name the chicken Blitzen, the Chirstmas Chicken.  Another volunteer, Cindy, lives in Diapaga and we stayed with her for the rest of the day and evening.  Saturday we boarded the bush taxi bound for Fada sometime around 7am, chicken and all. About 6 km outside of Fada, the bus driver realized he did not have his papers so we would not be able to pass into the city.  They said it might be another hour until the next bus comes by to taxi us in.  With all the biking we had done the day before, we were all fired up and decided to bike the rest of the way.  Within a few minutes they had our bikes and bags down from the roof of the vehicle and we were on the road again, Blitzen included.  We happily arrived in Fada, ate good food, sang lots of carols, drank, danced, and sometimes got sick but all in all had a very Merry Christmas.  Side note:  Unfortunately, my gift was the one every was trying to get rid of at the end of the exchange.  Finally someone accepted it and passed it on to a neighbor.  Monday, we attempted to catch a bush taxi but found there was no room so I spent the rest of that day shopping!  Tuesday, we waited.  We waited from 10:30 until 3:00 for bush taxis.  There was 27 people crowded into this large van and we didn't arrive at our destination until about 8:30 due to a number of unforeseen circumstances such as flat tires, sacks along the route needing transportation, people along the route needing transportation, as well as people demanding to be dropped off.  When we attempted to leave the on Wednesday for the bike ride home, Pat fell victim to cold rice and we stayed in Diapaga for yet another night.  Tomorrow, we hope to make it home. 

Clarissa and Partick's Fried Chicken

·         Large chicken clucking about in the courtyard

·         Man named Ouali (Wall-e) to kill, de-plume, gut, and cut chicken into manageable pieces.

·         Drizzle oil onto chicken parts

·         Drop chicken parts into plastic bag with flour, mexican burrito seasoning, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Pat says they need to simmer in the batter for a bit.

·         Now drop the chicken parts into about an inch of oil and fry 'em up for about 4 minutes.

·         Serve with well seasoned rice and wine.