Christmas 2008

So, I havent written in a long time but I wanted to catch you up on my christms vacation. Just before the holiday, I rushed and rushed to give an exam, to mark, and record all of my grades. I wanted to finish everything before leaving, and I almost did. All of the grades are recorded by hand in special books. Two of the books that I needed were missing, so I had to leave my marks with the vice principal. I found out later that there was an argument about it, because no one wanted to fill them for me. Anyway, I was filling early bc I had to miss one week of school for my In Service Training for Peace Corps. On that Saturday, I was up early to do some things in town before leaving. Close to midday, I left with my postmate Will and our counterparts to go to Buea. The journey wasn’t too bad, but it rained halfway through, so the road turned to mud. At one point, there was a huge truck carrying oranges that got stuck in the mud and blocked the road. We tried to help move the truck but it was too big, so we (about 25 cars) had to wait for another big truck. That truck came nose to nose with the other and pushed it backwards. It was kind of interesting to watch. At the halfway point, we stopped for food, and I ate chuku-chuku, aka porcupine. It was delicious. I was sitting in the middle of the front seats, and I was very very uncomfortable. When we finally arrived in Buea, it was after dark and I literally had a bruise on my butt. A friend was supposed to arrange for a hotel for us to stay the night, but of course, forgot. We took a taxi to find one and "rooms no dey." We went to another hotel, and what did we hear? Rooms no dey. A third? Rooms no dey. Come to find out, there was a convocation ceremony, so all of the hotels in town were booked. Seven hotels later, still nothing. I had to call another volunteer in the area to see if they knew of anything. We ended up with a sketchy half-built hotel, with no running water, where I had to share a bed with will’s counterpart. It was not the best nights sleep.
At 5am the next morning, we were up and on the road again. We stopped in the largest city in cameroon, Douala, which I do not like. Its like any big city. Too many people, too many cars, traffic jams, smog, and bugs. I’m a smaller town kind of girl. There was only one thing that I liked about Douala, and it was that our bus said it would leave at 9:30am, and it did! Most vehicles here wait until they are full to leave, and they never leave when they say they will. We continued on to Kribi for IST, and arrived in good time. We checked in and our hotel (Hstel Paradis) was right across the street from the beach. We met a few other volunteers and went out for lunch. This town in known for their fish, and the people we were with don’t like fish.. It was a little strange. I also learned that most of the volunteers here don’t like Cameroonian food. I don’t know if its bc they don’t try it or what, but I love it. I’m trying to think of ways to make it back in the US. Anyway, we got lunch, and sat at the beach, then had a big group dinner. It was nice to see people again, though I have kept in touch with the people that I am close with. Classes started the next day, where we talked about program planning and funding and similar topics. The worst was the funding session, bc it was all in French. Most of us picked up very little from that. I wasn’t happy bc the counterparts sat in with us on that session. At the end I could see dollar signs in my counterparts eyes. He wants me to build a road, dig a very deep well on the top of a hill, and build a computer lab. None of those things are in my job description. I don’t have that kind of money, and those ideas are unrealistic. We don’t even have electricity at my school - how will we have a computer lab? Anyway, every day at lunchtime, I went to sit by the beach and relax. After classes for the day, I did the same. I swam a few times, but there was a strong current so I got nervous. Kribi is beautiful though. I took pictures. The photos look like postcards.
At the end of IST, I stayed an extra day to see Les Chutes de la Lobe. They are one of the only waterfalls that flows directly into the ocean. We took a pirogue (carved out wooden canoe) around the bay. It wasn’t very steady, so I was afraid I would fall in. Then, our boat had a hole in it, so we started to take on water. Luckily, I have the thinking of Macgyver, and I plugged the hole with my finger. It did the trick. When we returned from the boat ride, we went for a swim. We decided to swim across the bay to a small beach. It was reasonably close, but the current was so strong that it took a long time to get there. I was exhausted when I reached it, then we had to turn around and swim back. The current was with me on the way back, so that was a lot quicker. Then, I decided to buy some artwork. If I had more money, I would have bought more, but I got some good deals on some paintings. I am very happy with my purchases.
From there, I headed to Yaounde. I had to get my eyes checked. Ive been seeing a lot of spots, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t eye worms (that’s a real thing I could get here). My 5 minute appt told me very little though, but I’m pretty sure no worms. In Yaoundé, I did some fun stuff, like eat pizza and a salad, Chinese food, watch an american movie. There’s nothing like watching a movie where Martians kidnap Santa, while in Cameroon. From Yaoundé, I went to Tiko. I was intending to stop in Limbe (the beach), until I got a txt from Peace Corps saying not to go. Apparently, the Bakassi Freedom Fighters ( a Nigerian rebel group) threatened to invade, so it wasn’t safe to go. Last year, some oil rich land (bakassi) was awarded to cameroon and they want it back. They have kidnapped workers from oil rigs, and robbed some banks in their efforts. They never invaded, but Cameroon was prepared, with scores of military in the area. I stayed with some volunteers and had a quiet xmas. It really didn’t feel like the holidays to me, so I was planning on anti-Christmas, where I went to the beach, and didn’t give or receive any gifts. When I arrived in Tiko, all of the kids were so excited about the holiday, so we listened to xmas music, and danced around a small xmas tree, and we had some small gifts to open on xmas day. Xmas eve we had a big dinner and then a big breakfast xmas day. I was kind of bummed bc it seemed like xmas was over, but I heard from one of my Mamfe friends that was in the area, and he invited me to spend the day with his family. I went, and it was really nice. iThe whole family was there, so i met everyone, and his son was visiting from Sweden. He is a footballer (soccer player) there and he brought some of his footballer friends. That was interesting.
I left the next day for Mamfe. It is a tiring journey, but it was pretty short. I came home to no water bc the faucet had broken while I was gone, and the water had to be turned off. What a welcome. I relaxed for a few days, and helped one of my neighbors on the farm. I cleared weeds with a hoe, at 6am. I left with blisters on my hands, but it was an experience. On New Year’s Eve, I went to see the Chinese people here, and have dinner with them. Then I met the mayor and some friends out in town. It was fun, but I was so tired that I had a hard time staying awake. At one point, I gave a radio interview. That was weird. I hope no one was listening. Typical of Africa, everything ran late. We counted down the new year at 12:08am. Then it was home to bed. New Year’s Day, I was invited to the Palace at Besongabong to celebrate. We had lunch then drinks, and met many big men and chiefs from the area. In the evening, they all gave speeches. They didn’t want to tell me what it was about, but they were all members of a secret society called Ekpe, and they were saying their greetings. I have a few friends that tell me some things, so I’m not completely in the dark. I rested the next day, then visited Lauren (another volunteer) in Kembong. It was nice to have a mini holiday before going back to school. It was an action packed holiday, but nice. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as well!