Happy Tofurkey Day from Benin

Here in Kandi, my fellow PCVs and I are preparing our Thanksgiving spread a day late.  I'm in a reflective mood, so here are some of the things for which I am especially grateful this year:
1. The baby goats roaming freely all over Kandi, and especially the ones that wander into my concession, making their ridiculous goat noises and bouncing all over the place.
2. That harmattan, with its cooler days and chilly nights, is right around the corner.  Finally, some good sleeping weather.
3. To have two work partners, Bio and Diallo, who care and are there for me.  Until recently, I doubted I'd ever feel like I had Beninese friends,  but upon returning from vacation, I realized how much I had missed them.
4. To have stayed free of illness during my service thus far.  It's a minor miracle.
5. For the first time, being proud to be an American, despite our country's varied faults.  And on that vein, that as a female, I was born in a country that values education and equality for women.
6. My parents, who call me faithfully each Saturday and who are ever supportive.
7. Feeling that I am exactly where I should be, doing exactly what I should be doing.
8. BBC's Pride and Prejudice and Modern Family, my most reliable pick-me-ups after a tough day.
9. November/December's watermelon season
10. The novels of Harlan Coben, my guilty pleasure reads.
11. My fellow Alibori volunteers, especially Nina.  We are out here beyond the middle of nowhere, and we know we can depend on each other.
12. To have daily access to the luxuries of electricity, the internet, and an oscillating fan.
13. My Niger-now-Benin stagemates Mary and Kimie.  I definitely could not do this without them.
14. That I can get freshly made tofu every day if I want it.
15. For the food stand lady by the post office, who has my plate ready by the time I am seated on the bench.
15. That I'm still here after sixteen months but also that I'm starting to make plans for life post-Peace Corps.