Kate is another year older!

Happy birthday to my former roommate and teammate in West Africa! Kate is a wild woman! Here are some of my favorite Kate moments:

1. The first time we met in Abidjan, and she hugged me. I thought, "Who is this freak I just met that's squeezing me?"
2. Kate's trip to the make-shift bathroom (i.e. bush) in a Senegalese village...she almost peed in the pot you're supposed to use to wash your hands!
3. The camel at the McIntire's
4. Driving our pimp station wagon that we had to refill with water every 5 minutes on the road
5. Hanging out at the Niangs
6. The Great Flood of Derkles 2002 when we first moved in and our water went out. We accidentally left the sink on since it was out and we couldn't tell. We came home hours later to our 2nd story apartment flooding down the steps and into our (dirt) road...and thus began a beautiful friendship with the Niang family.
7. Kate's impersonations..."What's the deal?"
8. Cruising the Sahara with a GPS as our only hope for getting to our destination
9. Hiding in the bushes in Tukulor-land so we didn't make any of the Muslims we were trying to film at the mosque angry
10. Long hours in the office, cranking the New Community Church cd
11. Watching Sinatra the cat get fatter and fatter and fatter...
12. Tanou, Kate, Robin,& I visited Tanou's village in Cote d'Ivoire...Tanou's family gave us this chicken as a thank you for coming that Tanou insisted on cooking for us. Kate and I took the unused chicken feet and did a little dance...4 years later, Tanou still doesn't know...
13. The day I told Kate I was moving to Senegal to work with her...she was driving and she screamed and almost killed us all driving off the road.

Good times with Kate! Happy birthday and many more!