Us four girls in Korhogo just finished a Bible study on joy. It was a really great reminder to always rejoice in the Lord and find joy in every day life. Even when things get hard or just less exciting than when I first arrived, it's so important to have joy! So I've been thinking a lot about all my favorite things here and trying to make sure I find joy even in the little things. Here's a list of my favorite things about life in Korhogo, Cote d'Ivoire.

- Frozen Tampico. It's basically fake orange juice but I love it so much! They've taken the place of slurpees in my life. Nothing tastes better on a hot day.

- Well almost everything my two-year-old brother Enoch does is hilarious but one of my favorite things is that he's terrified of bugs and calls them "pee-pees". And when I come home and he runs up yelling "Tanti, Tanti, Tanti!" (that's what my younger siblings call me) over and over

- The gang of little boys that go around the neighborhood with sling shots hunting mice and lizards every Saturday

- Walking home from our Friday night prayer meeting with my friends Wanja and Jacque. Everything's quiet, it's not hot, and I love seeing everyone's cooking fires lit in the dark. Wanja likes to hold my hand as we walk, which was weird at first but now it's one of my favorite things! The three of us always have good conversation and Jacque will go out of his way to walk to my house and make sure I get there safely.

- Aimé's, a 16-year-old mentally handicapped boy at Don Orione, special handshake when we shake hands, do a fist bump, touch thumbs, and then kiss our thumbs. He's one of the most difficult kids, but at the same time he gives me so much joy because he's so funny!

- When Annemarie, the teacher at Don Orione, tells Abou (he's one of the kids and always sits there with his tongue hanging out) she's going to put a toad in his mouth if he doesn't close it

- My brother Daquin's nickname for me: "Tri-tri"

- Going to African Starbucks with Aly. She's another Journeyer and we work at Don Orione together. Once a week we go to a little breakfast place (it's pretty much just a counter with stools on the side of the road) and get coffee. And by coffee I mean mostly sweetened condensed milk with a little bit of instant coffee. It's pretty delicious, or at least it seems so now!

- Greeting people after church. There's nothing that special about it, just lots of shaking hand and saying "Bonjour, ça va?" or "Foyena, akbama, weya". But for some reason I love it.

- When my oldest host brother yells in English "My sister! Oh I love my sister!" whenever he sees me

- Wearing my softest pagne the day after shaving my legs

- The Baoulé song we sing in church (even though almost everyone is Senoufo) that everybody loves and sings with a huge smile on their faces.

- The old guy that always fixes my bike and also sells chickens and goats.

- Going to church and seeing a room full of people in their colorful outfits dancing and worshipping God. I just love it.

- Walking through my neighborhood on Saturdays. That's laundry day so everyone has their clothes and pagnes hanging up on clothes lines, trees, piles of cinder blocks, and fences. It makes the neighborhood so colorful!