I reported that we lost the two e-mail's she recently sent about cooking. Sara Ellyn wants to be a chef! I think this is really neat. She talked about reading a book about being a chef, and how she is planning what she will do when she returns. She wants to get a good paying job to pay off two student loans, and then she wants to go to Chef School. I mentioned Joe Menke and that Beef 'N Bird Rotesserie has shut down because of another more successful restaurant. Told her I would talk to Ken Turner / Joe Menke about getting her a job there so she can learn from the best.

Sara said that the Peace Corps people were talking about her group leaving 30 days early, but that it won't happen. However, this is not an option any more. The next group is coming in three months early. It is standard for 40% of the people do not finish the two years. Sara says they are definitly living up to that statistic. It is really hard to do the transition. There will be a lot of issues. Like when the new people come in, they will have to share her one bedroom apartment, and this will be unacceptable if they are male (good!). Sara is scheduled to leave between November 13th and January 13th. She has the option to stay 30 days after tour, and she promises to be home for Christmas. She did not get a copy of the book: "Skipping Christmas," and had not heard of the movie. It will be so much fun to watch it with her when she gets home.

Andrea talked to Reeves next door and found out about the Texas Culinary Academy (see http://www.txca.com, which redirects you to http://www.tca.edu). Sara says that the modem in Save was broken, they got it replaced, and so she has access to the Internet again. She was all excited about looking up the material.

Talked about Landry's and the public offering and the Acquarium/Restaurant they have built downtown Houston. Sara likes the idea of combining business and being a chef. I told her I would love to have my city started by the time she returns, and they she could set up a restaurant in the city. Not much chance of this happening, and it would be nice.>/p>

They do not do Christmas in Benin. They think it is for little kids. So a group of volunteers are going to get together. They will get together in the town where the President of the Country is from, and they have good Internet and phone connections there.

Sara just finished teaching a marketing class. She gave out the certificates yesterday. After the ceremony went to the radio and recorded 4 radio programs. They talk about health or business for 30 minutes every week, and then play American music. It is called the American Hour. Sara named it. She seems excited about this.

Andrea asked about Christmas. There was 27 people together at Thanksgiving. There are 100 Peace Corps volunteers in Benin. The new group has been at their post for about a month. There were 40 in the new group.

When I asked if I should call next Tuesday, before I leave for Utah, she said, just call on Christmas. As mentioned, Sara will be in the city where the President is from and they have good Internet connections. She mentioned the teachers are all on strike, and have been since the school year started. She also said they are going to cancel the school year and kids will not get credit for this year. Next year is an election year, and the politicians are hording all of the money. Sounds like Sara is getting some real different kinds of education. Sara sounded better than ever, and for a moment, I almost stopped worrying about her.