After easter break, things quieted down a little. Here are some highlights...
- I was very tough on my students. We had an exam in class and the students cheated horribly. At school i am only alotted 100 sheets of paper per sequence. I have 500 students, so I have to give them the paper exam, tell them not to write on it, and collect them for use in the other classes. Unfortunately, this time, students stole copies, and gave them to other students. I found out, so i cancelled the scores from the exam, and gave them a new harder exam on the blackboard. Most of the questions were the same as on the first exam, so i thought it was fair. If the students studied for the first exam, they should be prepared for the second. If they planned to cheat, they will fail. This was the first time that i was really really tough on the kids. Now i am prepared to be tougher for next year.
- I have a french tutor. One of my neighbors is a french teacher for anglophone students in primary school. I met him through another teacher, and we arranged to meet a few times per week for french lessons. He gave me a brief assessment, and I speak french at a Form 2 level (8th grade). Hopefully that will improve
- May 1 is Labor Day. Lauren came into town, so I spent time with her. This is the first time that I missed the march past at the grandstand, but it was ok. Later in the evening, we met Jimmy for grilled fish. There were huge crowds of people celebrating the holiday. I also met the mother of one of my students. That was nice.
-EYUMOJOCK
-I traveled to eyumojock with my staff social group. Earlier in the year, they came to visit us, so now it was our turn to visit them. We traveled in the back of a pickup truck , which was not very comfortable. Eyumojock is pretty close to Nigeria, and the road is terrible. Of course, i got carsick. We arrived at GBHS Eyumojock and the students greeted us with songs. It was nice. After lunch, we started the games portion of the day, with cards, ping pong, and checkers. I played cards, and came in second place. Around that time, the rain started, so the volleyball match, and soccer match were played in the pouring rain. We had some time to rest, then we prepared for the evening dinner. I got dressed up and ate dinner with the principal's family, then around 10pm (2 hours late - african time), we went to the hall. I was already tired, and after 2 hours of speeches, I lost all interest and took a brief nap. It was rude, but i was just so tired. Around 1am, we were served dinner. After dinner was dancing, but i left as soon as possible to go to bed.
-The next morning, i was up early, bc we were traveling to Lake Ejagham. Its a beautiful lake, with many stories of legend. For example if you are traveling near the lake and you have no food or water, you can pray to the ancestors (who live in the lake) to give you some. The food and water will then rise up out of the center of the lake, and you can swim or row out to get it. Also, in the middle of the night, you can hear drum beats coming from the center of the lake, from the ancestors. Anyway, after that, we went to lunch and headed back to Mamfe. I was really frustrated on the way back. the teachers were really making fun of me. they were asking me things in the dialect or in slang words that i obviously didnt understand and laughing at me. Most of the time i can laugh back, but sometimes its difficult.
-In other news, I got sick again. Bacterial dysentery this time, and that is not fun. Its a good experience bc now i understand it but i dont want it ever again.
-I was really busy with the last week of school. I gave my final exam, which went well. I had one of the discipline masters at school come to each class for collection. The school really worked to make sure that there was little or no cheating on the final exams. In my free time, when i wasnt marking exams, i helped the secretary at school type exams. She was given too much work to handle, and then the delegate at the ministry of secondary education gave her more work. i didnt mind helping though.
-YAOUNDE
-I missed some school to travel to yaounde to help plan training for the new sed/ed trainees. We worked for 2 weeks to plan everything, and had some group events in between. One pcv was leaving, so there was a ceremony for her. we cooked some group meals like homemade ravioli, chili/cornbread, and quiche. it was delicious. during the weekend, we decided to have a peace corps prom. there was a tie on the theme, so our new theme became 'post apocolyptic winter wasteland'. most everyone dressed like zombies, and we wore ridiculous clothes. i actually wore a plastic market bag . it was really fun though. At the end of the 2 weeks, i was preparing for vacation to egypt and morocco.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Spring Break aka Easter Holiday
After returning from mt. cameroon, I had some time to rest before my friend Ben, another pcv came to visit. We just hung out in mamfe, and one night we went to a born-house with Felicia. Here, instead of having a baby shower, they have a big party about a month after the baby is born. There is traditional singing and dancing, and they spread baby powder on everyone to wish them fertility. Then of course, there is always a big meal. Felicia’s sister had a baby so I was invited. We sat for a while until dinner, and just as we were about to eat, the power went out. I’m always surprised when the light goes out, and you would think by now I would be used to it. The only other big activity was that I took Ben to see our german bridge. it’s the only thing in the tour guides about mamfe, so I always take people to see it. The next day, we left for Bamenda. We went to visit a couple volunteers there. There are a ton of pcvs in the area. Also, I had one friend from the north that was traveling down, so I wanted to catch up with her. They have done a lot of work on the mamfe-bamenda road, so the journey wasn’t too bad. When we arrived we dropped our stuff at the transit house, and a group of us went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. The next day, we went to doug’s house. He lives in this fancy compound in a village outside bamenda. We went into town to see the market, and had a nice salad lunch. Salad!! Made with lettuce!!! I havent seen lettuce in months. Probably almost a year. It was delicious. There is a health food store that prepares it. It was delicious. Then, we made cheeseburgers and fries for dinner. That was a good meal too.
The next day we went back to town to go shopping. I wanted to buy fabric to make some clothes. I have been saving money just for this purpose. I have also heard the fabric market in bamenda is great. We stopped for lunch first and had salad again, then went to buy things. Every store I went in, people were rude to me. They were unwilling to bargain, and it was not fun for me. Markets here are filled with negotiation. You can negotiate for anything. It becomes a game with the vendor. People in bamenda were unwilling to play the game, so I gave up and didn’t buy anything. It was very disappointing. In the evening, we all played cards and had a blast. I don’t know the last time I laughed that hard. It made up for my crappy shopping experience. In the morning, we went back to the transit house to meet my friend from the north, kate. We decided to cook French toast for everyone. I think we have been in cameroon too long, bc all of the women went straight to the kitchen, and then men to the parlor. Then, as food was finished we sent it out for them to eat. Once they were finished, the women ate. How funny. Anyway, from there, ben and I headed to his village, bangang. We pretty much hung out for the next few days. We went to the market each day, baked brownies twice, I checked email, and read books. One day we went to bafoussam . I tried shopping for fabric there, and it went much better than in bamenda. I bought a ton of stuff, and ben bought a pair of stereo speakers for his house. We went back and connected them, and had a dance party. Sounds silly, but it was so much fun to listen to 80s music and dance around.
After hanging out for a while in bangang, I wanted to head back to mamfe for easter. I took a bike (motorcycle) to dschang, then a car to fontem. On the way to fontem I had a woman with a rooster in her lap on one side, and a man with a small bird chirping in his hand on the other side. Neither of them wanted to let go of their birds. From fontem, took another bike to bachuo, then yet another bike to mamfe. I don’t mind taking a bike at all. Its usually comfortable and I feel safe wearing my helmet. Its usually a lot quicker too. The only time it was not comfortable or faster was from fontem to bachuo. There was supposed to be a car going, but the driver had an emergency and couldn’t go. All of the people going to mamfe were stranded, with their only choices to take a bike, or stay in fontem. One young guy decided to start trekking. I arranged my bike, and a few min after we left, we saw the man trekking. My driver wanted to help him, so offered him a space on my bike. He accepted, so we had the driver, then me, then the man, then my things tied to the back. The mans bag was in front of the driver. We were fully loaded up, and it was not safe and not comfortable. Luckily, it was less than 30 minutes like that. When I arrived home, I had a nice surprise. My neighbor cleaned my whole house, did my laundry, and made dinner for me. What a good girl.
On easter Sunday, I decided not to go to church. I thought about it for a long time, but it’s the day that they do all of the baptisms, communions, confirmations, and weddings. Mass is over 6 hours long. Instead, I rested in the morning, then went to a thanksgiving party. One of my neighbors was in a car accident a few months ago, and she was very lucky. She thought easter would be a good day to give thanks for her good fortune. That event was nice. There were a lot of teachers there from school, so I visited with them. From there, i headed down the street to another neighbor that got married the night before. I was only there for a short time before I came back home. I also talked to my mother. Holidays here are so depressing for me. I never appreciated it before, but I miss seeing my family at the holidays. I miss our usual traditions. Here, holidays aren’t as special to me as they are in the US. the next day lauren came over, and she brought my mail. That was a nice surprise! Thank you to everyone that sends me letters and packages. I have been eating american food almost every day now. I did stop eating for a while though - last week I was diagnosed with a case of bacterial dysentery. Its not fun, but im feeling much better now.
The only other exciting news, is that I went to a wedding. I have a friend that works in the market. She has been married to her husband for many years, but they never had their church wedding. I just went to that. I went to the church service first. As the bride walked down the aisle, her bridesmaids sprayed silly string and threw confetti. I havent seen silly string since the early 90s. After the typical church service (the only difference being that they say ‘I am’ and ‘I will’ instead of ‘I do’), I came home for a short rest, then went to the reception. They had a grand tiered cake, and the bride and groom fed each other. It was just like being at an american wedding. Then, there was the presentation of the gifts, where all of the gifts were given to the bride and groom. Then we had cake (before the dinner), then we ate. When everyone was finished eating, there was dancing, but I left before dancing began. It was a nice wedding though. Now, I just have a couple more weeks for school before I go on holiday.
The next day we went back to town to go shopping. I wanted to buy fabric to make some clothes. I have been saving money just for this purpose. I have also heard the fabric market in bamenda is great. We stopped for lunch first and had salad again, then went to buy things. Every store I went in, people were rude to me. They were unwilling to bargain, and it was not fun for me. Markets here are filled with negotiation. You can negotiate for anything. It becomes a game with the vendor. People in bamenda were unwilling to play the game, so I gave up and didn’t buy anything. It was very disappointing. In the evening, we all played cards and had a blast. I don’t know the last time I laughed that hard. It made up for my crappy shopping experience. In the morning, we went back to the transit house to meet my friend from the north, kate. We decided to cook French toast for everyone. I think we have been in cameroon too long, bc all of the women went straight to the kitchen, and then men to the parlor. Then, as food was finished we sent it out for them to eat. Once they were finished, the women ate. How funny. Anyway, from there, ben and I headed to his village, bangang. We pretty much hung out for the next few days. We went to the market each day, baked brownies twice, I checked email, and read books. One day we went to bafoussam . I tried shopping for fabric there, and it went much better than in bamenda. I bought a ton of stuff, and ben bought a pair of stereo speakers for his house. We went back and connected them, and had a dance party. Sounds silly, but it was so much fun to listen to 80s music and dance around.
After hanging out for a while in bangang, I wanted to head back to mamfe for easter. I took a bike (motorcycle) to dschang, then a car to fontem. On the way to fontem I had a woman with a rooster in her lap on one side, and a man with a small bird chirping in his hand on the other side. Neither of them wanted to let go of their birds. From fontem, took another bike to bachuo, then yet another bike to mamfe. I don’t mind taking a bike at all. Its usually comfortable and I feel safe wearing my helmet. Its usually a lot quicker too. The only time it was not comfortable or faster was from fontem to bachuo. There was supposed to be a car going, but the driver had an emergency and couldn’t go. All of the people going to mamfe were stranded, with their only choices to take a bike, or stay in fontem. One young guy decided to start trekking. I arranged my bike, and a few min after we left, we saw the man trekking. My driver wanted to help him, so offered him a space on my bike. He accepted, so we had the driver, then me, then the man, then my things tied to the back. The mans bag was in front of the driver. We were fully loaded up, and it was not safe and not comfortable. Luckily, it was less than 30 minutes like that. When I arrived home, I had a nice surprise. My neighbor cleaned my whole house, did my laundry, and made dinner for me. What a good girl.
On easter Sunday, I decided not to go to church. I thought about it for a long time, but it’s the day that they do all of the baptisms, communions, confirmations, and weddings. Mass is over 6 hours long. Instead, I rested in the morning, then went to a thanksgiving party. One of my neighbors was in a car accident a few months ago, and she was very lucky. She thought easter would be a good day to give thanks for her good fortune. That event was nice. There were a lot of teachers there from school, so I visited with them. From there, i headed down the street to another neighbor that got married the night before. I was only there for a short time before I came back home. I also talked to my mother. Holidays here are so depressing for me. I never appreciated it before, but I miss seeing my family at the holidays. I miss our usual traditions. Here, holidays aren’t as special to me as they are in the US. the next day lauren came over, and she brought my mail. That was a nice surprise! Thank you to everyone that sends me letters and packages. I have been eating american food almost every day now. I did stop eating for a while though - last week I was diagnosed with a case of bacterial dysentery. Its not fun, but im feeling much better now.
The only other exciting news, is that I went to a wedding. I have a friend that works in the market. She has been married to her husband for many years, but they never had their church wedding. I just went to that. I went to the church service first. As the bride walked down the aisle, her bridesmaids sprayed silly string and threw confetti. I havent seen silly string since the early 90s. After the typical church service (the only difference being that they say ‘I am’ and ‘I will’ instead of ‘I do’), I came home for a short rest, then went to the reception. They had a grand tiered cake, and the bride and groom fed each other. It was just like being at an american wedding. Then, there was the presentation of the gifts, where all of the gifts were given to the bride and groom. Then we had cake (before the dinner), then we ate. When everyone was finished eating, there was dancing, but I left before dancing began. It was a nice wedding though. Now, I just have a couple more weeks for school before I go on holiday.
Mount Cameroon
Just after the other volunteers visited, I headed to buea to climb mt. cameroon with a couple other volunteers. I was thinking that the mt climb wasn’t so bad, bc everyone climbs it, but just to be on the safe side, I wanted to climb with people that were at my level. Mt. Cameroon is actually an active volcano that last erupted in 2000, and before that 1999. It is the second largest mountain in Africa, behind mt Kilimanjaro. We were doing a 3 day trek up to the summit and over the other side of the mountain. I went with lauren and 2 volunteers from the NW province. We started our trek early in the morning, and the first few hours are through the jungle. It was hot and humid, so we took breaks every so often to drink water. We had a guide with us, and porters, so we didn’t have to worry about carrying our packs. We had to carry enough food and water for the next 3 days, so the bags were pretty heavy. We made it to Hut 1 before the rain hit. We hung out for a bit and finally the rain stopped so we could continue. After that point, things started to get a bit rockier. We left the jungle and started to climb up a rocky incline. As we continued there were more and more loose rocks that would shift as you stepped on them. By the time we reached Hut 1b, my hips were starting to hurt from the funny way we had to climb. Lauren was also struggling - she hurt her knee and wasn’t sure if she could continue. She decided to turn back before she got more hurt, so then we were down to 3. We continued climbing (slowly) and finally arrived at Hut 2 where we planned to stay the night. We paid our guide to cook for us, and right after a dinner of spaghetti, we went to bed. It was about 7:30 pm.
The next morning we got up at about 5 to start our climb to the summit. Since we were so slow, our guide didn’t think we could make it on the 3 day hike. He wanted us to go back the way we came. We really wanted to do the 3 days, ,and told the guide that we would push ourselves. His only condition was that we leave before sunrise the next day. So, we had a very early morning, and started our climb with flashlights. The night before, the cold wind came into the hut, and I woke with a cold. That made it even more difficult for me to climb. We watched the sunrise (kind of). We couldn’t see much because at this point we were above the clouds, but we just kept climbing. We each had a mantra that we were saying in our heads to keep going.. Mine was “just keep swimming”, just like dory in finding nemo. As we climbed, the weather got colder and colder. After a while, there were no rocks, and instead volcanic ash. It was just like climbing in sand. After that, there were more rocks up to the summit. I was cold, and the wind was practically blowing me over, but I finally made it to the summit at 4095m (13,000 feet). We snapped a quick photo, and headed back down the other side of the mountain. We were so happy to have our guide, as he gave us water as we were coming down the other side. Because of the dry season, the spring at hut 1 and 2 had been dried up, and we were running short of water. The way down was so much easier for me. One of the girls was really tough on the way up, but struggled on the way down. That made me feel a little better, since I struggled on the way up. As we passed through the ash again, it was fun. You could slide down it, just like on a sand dune. We then crossed grassy plains and then volcanic rocks. The rocks were hard on the feet. I heard it is the hardest rock in the world. The weather gradually warmed up and we took off layers. We stopped to see the craters from the 1999 eruption. They are still smoking, 10 years later. From there we continued to mann spring, our resting point for the night. We stayed in these grass hut kind of buldings, with no doors. I didn’t like the place, because there were bees everywhere. They would land on me and crawl all over. It was awful. Luckily though, there was water, so we could refill our supply. There was a spring, with not so clean water. Good thing pc provides me with aquatabs to clean water. Just before we went to bed all of the guides and porters danced. It was the initiation for the new porters. It was pretty entertaining.
On our last day, we started about 7am. We walked across the plains for a short time, until we entered the jungle again. It was warm, but it must have rained at some point, bc it was all mud. We were slipping and sliding. By now, our legs had turned to jello, so it was hard to climb anyway. My guide gave me a walking stick which helped. Around 11am we made it to town and completed our trek. I was so relieved to be finished. It was kind of fun, but I probably will not ever climb it again. I was happy though, that I could conquer the mountain. I definitely underestimated the mountain, but it was worth going. Every February, there is the mt cameroon race. People run up the mountain and back down. They do in 4 hours what I did in 3 days. Now that I know what they go through, I think their prizes should be larger. Anyway, as soon as we made it to town, I headed back to mamfe. Of course, when I arrived, light had just come and there was no running water. Figures.
The next morning we got up at about 5 to start our climb to the summit. Since we were so slow, our guide didn’t think we could make it on the 3 day hike. He wanted us to go back the way we came. We really wanted to do the 3 days, ,and told the guide that we would push ourselves. His only condition was that we leave before sunrise the next day. So, we had a very early morning, and started our climb with flashlights. The night before, the cold wind came into the hut, and I woke with a cold. That made it even more difficult for me to climb. We watched the sunrise (kind of). We couldn’t see much because at this point we were above the clouds, but we just kept climbing. We each had a mantra that we were saying in our heads to keep going.. Mine was “just keep swimming”, just like dory in finding nemo. As we climbed, the weather got colder and colder. After a while, there were no rocks, and instead volcanic ash. It was just like climbing in sand. After that, there were more rocks up to the summit. I was cold, and the wind was practically blowing me over, but I finally made it to the summit at 4095m (13,000 feet). We snapped a quick photo, and headed back down the other side of the mountain. We were so happy to have our guide, as he gave us water as we were coming down the other side. Because of the dry season, the spring at hut 1 and 2 had been dried up, and we were running short of water. The way down was so much easier for me. One of the girls was really tough on the way up, but struggled on the way down. That made me feel a little better, since I struggled on the way up. As we passed through the ash again, it was fun. You could slide down it, just like on a sand dune. We then crossed grassy plains and then volcanic rocks. The rocks were hard on the feet. I heard it is the hardest rock in the world. The weather gradually warmed up and we took off layers. We stopped to see the craters from the 1999 eruption. They are still smoking, 10 years later. From there we continued to mann spring, our resting point for the night. We stayed in these grass hut kind of buldings, with no doors. I didn’t like the place, because there were bees everywhere. They would land on me and crawl all over. It was awful. Luckily though, there was water, so we could refill our supply. There was a spring, with not so clean water. Good thing pc provides me with aquatabs to clean water. Just before we went to bed all of the guides and porters danced. It was the initiation for the new porters. It was pretty entertaining.
On our last day, we started about 7am. We walked across the plains for a short time, until we entered the jungle again. It was warm, but it must have rained at some point, bc it was all mud. We were slipping and sliding. By now, our legs had turned to jello, so it was hard to climb anyway. My guide gave me a walking stick which helped. Around 11am we made it to town and completed our trek. I was so relieved to be finished. It was kind of fun, but I probably will not ever climb it again. I was happy though, that I could conquer the mountain. I definitely underestimated the mountain, but it was worth going. Every February, there is the mt cameroon race. People run up the mountain and back down. They do in 4 hours what I did in 3 days. Now that I know what they go through, I think their prizes should be larger. Anyway, as soon as we made it to town, I headed back to mamfe. Of course, when I arrived, light had just come and there was no running water. Figures.
Feb 2009 part 2
I keep saying I’ll update soon, but so many things happen to delay me. We just had a few weeks without light or water, so there is also no internet. I’ll start with the end of February.
After the Mt. Cameroon race, I returned to mamfe. I had school during the week, and each day was pretty busy, going out for lunch or meeting friends or other teachers in town. The first weekend I returned, I went to visit will in okoyong. His school (a private catholic all-girls school) is made up of 4 houses, just like Hogwarts. Once per year, each house has a feast, so I was invited to the Lourdes house feast. Each teacher received a drink and snack, and the students made announcements and had a fashion show. Each house chooses students that they think represent their house, and when called they show off their fancy outfits. The other students bring them flowers and spray perfume on them. It was very strange. After that, the girls from that house sang songs. Some of them were religious, but the younger girls sang ‘DO RE MI’ and ‘goodbye farewell’ from the sound of music. It was really cute. After that, all of the students came out in the center of the hall to dance to popular music. All of the teachers are invited out to dance for the first song, including me. Luckily, by the time I made it to the dance floor the song was ending. Soon after, Will and I left, but the event was relatively entertaining.
The next weekend was pretty exciting. Women’s Day was celebrated on march 8, so there were activities all weekend. First was a concert. There is a man called Awilo that sings controversial anti-government music here. He’s pretty popular, and his songs are interesting. They argue against corruption and power in government, and he sings in English, pidgin, French, and his dialect. I have a cd that you can all listen to when I get home. Anyway, I took my neighbor to go to the concert with me. We met Will and our friend George, and we were on the guest list, so we didn’t have to pay, and we got to skip the line. The concert was more like a talent show, with many different acts before awilo came on stage. There were comedians, dancers, and singers, and when awilo came on, he was pretty good. He played quite a few songs, and when he finished we all went home. It was a fun Saturday night though. I did not expect to see a concert while in cameroon. The next day was womens day, so in the morning I went to the grandstand. I wore my women’s day outfit (the fabric says womens day on it) and watched all of the women march past. My womens group did not register to march, so we didn’t, but it was still fun to watch. I’ve never seen so many women in one place. After the marchpast Will, Felicia and I went to Edwards house. I acted in a film back in December, and my film was released. The director was in town, so we watched my film debut. The film is called ‘Clash of Inheritance’, and its actually pretty good, all about tribalism. All of the movies here try to teach a lesson, so this one was anti-tribalism. I was horrible though. I should NOT quit my day job. My part was only about 2 min long though, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Incidentally, the posters just came out, and I am on it for my tiny little part. I am huge and look very silly. I was told that I am on there for marketing, since i am the only white person in the film. I’ll be sure to bring home a copy of the dvd.
I had been feeling kind of run-down for a while, and that Thursday I went to my womens group, Hilltop Ladies. The whole meeting I felt really sick and thought I might pass out. I went to the hospital the next day, and found that I had malaria and strep throat. They loaded me up with medicine and then I rested for a couple days. I had so many visitors coming to the house that I couldn’t rest, so I went to visit lauren in kembong. The phone network was out, so I didn’t realize that I couldn’t receive calls. I found out later that my mom and Kevin called me many many many times freaking out about my malaria. I know that it is a serious thing, but its so common here that I wasn’t that worried. (it’ll never happen again mom). While I was visiting lauren, she took me to villages so I could see what she does for work. Basically she works for an NGO that donates farm supplies, cassava grinders, palm oil presses, and school books and uniforms. We traveled to 3 different villages for the ceremonies: okoroba to give school building materials, mbakang to donate farm tools, and kembong to give a cassava grinder. At each place there was singing and dancing. It was nice but exhausting. Later that night, one of the neighbors showed me a turtle that they found in the bush, then a bush baby. The bush baby was really cute. I feel so bad for animals here. Kids are really rough on animals. They dropped the turtle on the ground, breaking off a part of the shell. I’ve never seen a turtle bleed from the shell before. Then they were poking the bush baby and it bit one, so they threw it across the room. it’s the same with dogs and cats though. There is no respect for animals here.
The weekend after that, Brad and Kat came to visit. They trekked here from Fontem. It was nice to have my first visitors here. Basically, we just hung out and relaxed. They had trouble getting used to the heat here, and there was no light, so we couldn’t even turn on the fan. I showed them the town though, and our famous hanging bridge. I tried to show off mamfe a bit. It has a bad rap, since all of the roads to get here are terrible. I love it here though.
After the Mt. Cameroon race, I returned to mamfe. I had school during the week, and each day was pretty busy, going out for lunch or meeting friends or other teachers in town. The first weekend I returned, I went to visit will in okoyong. His school (a private catholic all-girls school) is made up of 4 houses, just like Hogwarts. Once per year, each house has a feast, so I was invited to the Lourdes house feast. Each teacher received a drink and snack, and the students made announcements and had a fashion show. Each house chooses students that they think represent their house, and when called they show off their fancy outfits. The other students bring them flowers and spray perfume on them. It was very strange. After that, the girls from that house sang songs. Some of them were religious, but the younger girls sang ‘DO RE MI’ and ‘goodbye farewell’ from the sound of music. It was really cute. After that, all of the students came out in the center of the hall to dance to popular music. All of the teachers are invited out to dance for the first song, including me. Luckily, by the time I made it to the dance floor the song was ending. Soon after, Will and I left, but the event was relatively entertaining.
The next weekend was pretty exciting. Women’s Day was celebrated on march 8, so there were activities all weekend. First was a concert. There is a man called Awilo that sings controversial anti-government music here. He’s pretty popular, and his songs are interesting. They argue against corruption and power in government, and he sings in English, pidgin, French, and his dialect. I have a cd that you can all listen to when I get home. Anyway, I took my neighbor to go to the concert with me. We met Will and our friend George, and we were on the guest list, so we didn’t have to pay, and we got to skip the line. The concert was more like a talent show, with many different acts before awilo came on stage. There were comedians, dancers, and singers, and when awilo came on, he was pretty good. He played quite a few songs, and when he finished we all went home. It was a fun Saturday night though. I did not expect to see a concert while in cameroon. The next day was womens day, so in the morning I went to the grandstand. I wore my women’s day outfit (the fabric says womens day on it) and watched all of the women march past. My womens group did not register to march, so we didn’t, but it was still fun to watch. I’ve never seen so many women in one place. After the marchpast Will, Felicia and I went to Edwards house. I acted in a film back in December, and my film was released. The director was in town, so we watched my film debut. The film is called ‘Clash of Inheritance’, and its actually pretty good, all about tribalism. All of the movies here try to teach a lesson, so this one was anti-tribalism. I was horrible though. I should NOT quit my day job. My part was only about 2 min long though, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Incidentally, the posters just came out, and I am on it for my tiny little part. I am huge and look very silly. I was told that I am on there for marketing, since i am the only white person in the film. I’ll be sure to bring home a copy of the dvd.
I had been feeling kind of run-down for a while, and that Thursday I went to my womens group, Hilltop Ladies. The whole meeting I felt really sick and thought I might pass out. I went to the hospital the next day, and found that I had malaria and strep throat. They loaded me up with medicine and then I rested for a couple days. I had so many visitors coming to the house that I couldn’t rest, so I went to visit lauren in kembong. The phone network was out, so I didn’t realize that I couldn’t receive calls. I found out later that my mom and Kevin called me many many many times freaking out about my malaria. I know that it is a serious thing, but its so common here that I wasn’t that worried. (it’ll never happen again mom). While I was visiting lauren, she took me to villages so I could see what she does for work. Basically she works for an NGO that donates farm supplies, cassava grinders, palm oil presses, and school books and uniforms. We traveled to 3 different villages for the ceremonies: okoroba to give school building materials, mbakang to donate farm tools, and kembong to give a cassava grinder. At each place there was singing and dancing. It was nice but exhausting. Later that night, one of the neighbors showed me a turtle that they found in the bush, then a bush baby. The bush baby was really cute. I feel so bad for animals here. Kids are really rough on animals. They dropped the turtle on the ground, breaking off a part of the shell. I’ve never seen a turtle bleed from the shell before. Then they were poking the bush baby and it bit one, so they threw it across the room. it’s the same with dogs and cats though. There is no respect for animals here.
The weekend after that, Brad and Kat came to visit. They trekked here from Fontem. It was nice to have my first visitors here. Basically, we just hung out and relaxed. They had trouble getting used to the heat here, and there was no light, so we couldn’t even turn on the fan. I showed them the town though, and our famous hanging bridge. I tried to show off mamfe a bit. It has a bad rap, since all of the roads to get here are terrible. I love it here though.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Youth Week and Mt. Cameroon Race
The past few weeks have been pretty busy here. First was youth week. It is actually one day (February 11), that has turned into a week long celebration. First, there is preparation for youth week, so many classes were cancelled. Then came youth week, so again classes were cancelled. It is a really nice idea though. All of the schools in the area compete and have different activities for the students to participate in. The kickoff for youth week was bilingualism day on Feb 5. We had an assembly at school. First we had a speech from the vice principal, in english and in french. That was followed by songs and speeches by the students in both languages, and a debate about why we should be bilingual. The debate was funny. One reason against, was that learning more than one language is "prostituting that language". I guess its hard to find reasons against a good thing. In between all of those were traditional dances. I took a bunch of pictures and short videos. Most of the girls dancing were my students, so that made it even more interesting for me. They were really good too. At the end, there was one dance with a juju. One boy was wearing a dress and mask, dressed as the juju. Im not sure how to explain it, but its kind of like a spirit, and people are afraid of it. It was really funny. I guess if the juju bends down to you, you have to give money. Of course, it bent down to me. I didnt mind though, bc the boy was so entertaining. After he finished, all of the students followed him to find out who it was. It was funny. Following that day, there were boys and girls football (soccer) matches, handball, and a knowlege bowl. Sadly, my school did not make it to the football finals, held on youth day. On the actual day, we all went to the grandstand to watch the students march. The march started with the nursery schools, then primary, secondary, technical schools, nursing, and teacher training colleges. Each group wears a different uniform, so i took tons of pictures. My favorite was one primary school. Instead of wearing uniforms, each child was dressed in traditional clothes. The girls were dressed as married women, with head wrap, and wrapper tied around their waists. Then boys were dressed as elders, with traditional robes and caps. They were hilarious. They actually won at the march, so their school received money from the government. After the march, i met up with a few friends to relax and have lunch. The next day, it was back to school. Quite a few students tried to say that it was "resting day", but i knew better.
That saturday, i was invited to a wedding in Bakebe. The baliff (called Maitre here) was having his tradition wedding, even though he's been married for over 5 years. There are 3 weddings here. First is usually the traditional wedding, then court wedding, and church wedding. The traditional wedding is after the man has talked to the family of the woman, and they accept him. At the wedding, the man speaks with all members of the family and pays the bride price. The bride price is usually a sum of money (200,000fcfa) to the family of the bride, along with certain items, like machetes, hoes, cloth, a pig, goat, chickens, and whatever else the family wants. Then, all of the men in the family can ask the man for their share. They can request money for any amount, and the man will have to pay. He could end up paying millions for the bride price if he was asked. This is all done in private, so no one outside the family can see what is happening. When they are finished, before they come out, everyone eats kola with groundnut paste for luck (i guess). Then the family comes out, followed by bride and groom, and everyone feasts. The court wedding is obviously at the court. It is where they sign the marriage certificate. Usually family is present at the courthouse, and after there is a feast. Then there is the church wedding. They have the church portion, then go home for a feast. Sometimes they wear ashwabi (everyone wears the same cloth, so they all match). Anyway, I went to a traditional wedding. It was the same as I just mentioned, and there was a huge feast afterwards, with goat, pig, chicken, fish, and beef. Most was slaughtered that day, so it was fresh. After the feast came dancing. I didnt feel like dancing, since i was already getting harassed by the men there. If i tried to dance, it would have been worse. Around midnight, we drove back to mamfe.
My next event was the following weekend. I traveled to Buea for the Mt. Cameroon Race. Starting at about 6am, hundreds of people run up to the summit of the mountain, then run back down. It usually takes about 4 hours. I met a group of PCVs, and we had a tent there where we talked about HIV/AIDS. We had posters, and handouts, and the idea was to talk to people after the runners left, while waiting for their return. I was amazed at the turnout. With all of the volunteers, we must have spoken with hundreds of people, at every age. We tried to talk mainly of ways to protect yourself (not sharing blades, being cautious with blood, protected sex, getting tested, etc). We also wanted to explain that having HIV is not the end of the world, and you can still lead a happy, healthy life. I answered so many questions, and people were really open to learning more. During down time, i wandered around the area. There were companies there, giving out tea and hot chocolate, and there were traditional dancers and entertainers. I guess here, people dont understand why we have clowns. Here, they have men that dress as women and dance around. It was very strange. I definitely did not understand it. I guess thats a cultural thing. At the end of our time there, i started to talk with 2 secondary school kids. As we talked, more and more kids came up, until i was surrounded by about 25 kids. They were listening and asking questions, it was great. We decided to play an HIV learning game with them, then we played duck, duck, goose. It was a huge hit. For the first time since i've come here, i actually felt like i was doing something useful, something to benefit others. Our tent was definitely a success. The next day, we went to the beach in Limbe for a short time, then back to mamfe.
That saturday, i was invited to a wedding in Bakebe. The baliff (called Maitre here) was having his tradition wedding, even though he's been married for over 5 years. There are 3 weddings here. First is usually the traditional wedding, then court wedding, and church wedding. The traditional wedding is after the man has talked to the family of the woman, and they accept him. At the wedding, the man speaks with all members of the family and pays the bride price. The bride price is usually a sum of money (200,000fcfa) to the family of the bride, along with certain items, like machetes, hoes, cloth, a pig, goat, chickens, and whatever else the family wants. Then, all of the men in the family can ask the man for their share. They can request money for any amount, and the man will have to pay. He could end up paying millions for the bride price if he was asked. This is all done in private, so no one outside the family can see what is happening. When they are finished, before they come out, everyone eats kola with groundnut paste for luck (i guess). Then the family comes out, followed by bride and groom, and everyone feasts. The court wedding is obviously at the court. It is where they sign the marriage certificate. Usually family is present at the courthouse, and after there is a feast. Then there is the church wedding. They have the church portion, then go home for a feast. Sometimes they wear ashwabi (everyone wears the same cloth, so they all match). Anyway, I went to a traditional wedding. It was the same as I just mentioned, and there was a huge feast afterwards, with goat, pig, chicken, fish, and beef. Most was slaughtered that day, so it was fresh. After the feast came dancing. I didnt feel like dancing, since i was already getting harassed by the men there. If i tried to dance, it would have been worse. Around midnight, we drove back to mamfe.
My next event was the following weekend. I traveled to Buea for the Mt. Cameroon Race. Starting at about 6am, hundreds of people run up to the summit of the mountain, then run back down. It usually takes about 4 hours. I met a group of PCVs, and we had a tent there where we talked about HIV/AIDS. We had posters, and handouts, and the idea was to talk to people after the runners left, while waiting for their return. I was amazed at the turnout. With all of the volunteers, we must have spoken with hundreds of people, at every age. We tried to talk mainly of ways to protect yourself (not sharing blades, being cautious with blood, protected sex, getting tested, etc). We also wanted to explain that having HIV is not the end of the world, and you can still lead a happy, healthy life. I answered so many questions, and people were really open to learning more. During down time, i wandered around the area. There were companies there, giving out tea and hot chocolate, and there were traditional dancers and entertainers. I guess here, people dont understand why we have clowns. Here, they have men that dress as women and dance around. It was very strange. I definitely did not understand it. I guess thats a cultural thing. At the end of our time there, i started to talk with 2 secondary school kids. As we talked, more and more kids came up, until i was surrounded by about 25 kids. They were listening and asking questions, it was great. We decided to play an HIV learning game with them, then we played duck, duck, goose. It was a huge hit. For the first time since i've come here, i actually felt like i was doing something useful, something to benefit others. Our tent was definitely a success. The next day, we went to the beach in Limbe for a short time, then back to mamfe.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
February 2009
Ever since the holidays, things have been pretty busy. School started up again… the students have been terrible. I’ve had to keep entire classes after school, taken marks from exams, and sent many students out of class. The kids stress me out, but some good things happen that make my job worth it. One day a student asked why I am a volunteer. A big group of students came over to hear the answer, and they were all amazed that someone would give up their time and money to help others. We have been talking about the US a lot, and students have been asking a lot of course related questions during class. That is really exciting here, bc most kids don’t ask questions. They aren’t raised to question things if they don’t understand, so I’m glad that they feel comfortable asking me.
I’ve finally started receiving bills at my house. I received a water bill for 14,000 cfa, which is out of control. Its only supposed to be about 1000. Of course, I had to pay first, dispute later. Many of my neighbors are also receiving really high bills, so we think that this is a common problem with everyone. Since that bill, I’ve had another that is lower, so I’m hoping it will stay that way. I also received my first electric bill. That wasn’t too high, but when I went to pay, I waited in line for over an hour, and it didn’t move at all. Then someone was so mean to me that I almost cried in the office. It was really embarrassing. Someone was talking about me in pidgin, and bc I’m white, apparently I can’t understand the language. I was just so frustrated that people think that I don’t understand anything. It happens all the time here. Looking back, I had no reason to get upset, but its too late now. I’ve had a lot of bills at my house too, bc my brand new house was built poorly. The plumber comes almost weekly, and the electrician a few times too. I love my house, but it’s a huge pain. My water is turned off more than it is on.
I’ve had many visitors at the house. I have a neighbor (her name is Othance) that comes over to spend time and helps me with some things, and quite a few of the neighbors come over to visit. There are a few younger kids next door, and their friends come over all the time. We look at science books, and maps, and they tell me what they are studying in school. Its kind of fun, and educational. I want kids here to learn that education can be fun. It sounds really cheesy, but they are raised that they must go to school and learn, but it doesn’t matter if they like it or not. Everything is memorization, and there is no application for knowledge. that’s why I want them to have fun when learning new things. Anyway, Othance was over at the house studying while I was out one night. I returned home, and she said that she had a surprise for me. I thought maybe she cleaned the floor or something. She brought me to my spare bedroom, and there were 3 small kids sleeping in the bed. She explained to me that the smallest one (who is about 5 years old) wet the bed. The father drove that child from the house and said he had to find another place to stay. He also told the extended family not to house them. Two of the older siblings (that visit me sometimes) left with the smallest and they decided to come here to sleep. Its obvious that I wouldn’t turn them away. Then Othance told me she had another surprise. The oldest two weren’t really sleeping - they wanted to play a joke on me. They got out of bed, and since the power was out, I made some popcorn, and we played cards by candlelight. It was kind of fun. The next morning, we all got up really early, to prepare food for the kids before they went to church. After church, they came back over, and helped me clear the yard. They are such good kids, I like when they visit.
We had a big even at school. The social group of teachers had a visit from another school, GHS Eyumojock, a school close to Nigeria About 20 teachers from their school came to visit our school for an overnight. In the morning, they hiked up to see the school, then saw our German hanging bridge (built in early 1900s). I missed that part of the morning, but I met up with the group at the Army Canteen. That was the site for the next group of activites: table tennis, cards, draughts (checkers), and a volleyball match. I played cards with the principal of Eyumojock, and I won two games. That was exciting. The volleyball match was such a close game that it was really entertaining. Next came a soccer match, but I skipped it bc I was tired and needed to rest. In the evening was dinner and dancing. There were so many speeches that we didn’t eat until almost midnight, then of course, I was chosen to lead the dancing. Who did I have to dance with? The principal of Eyumojock. Then I skipped out early to go to bed. Everyone else was up all night dancing.
The next week was Obama’s Inaguration. Everyone here loves Obama. They think that he will do a lot for Africa. I try to explain that Obama has lot of other things to do first. The inauguration was a pretty big deal here. I was invited to a party for it, but by the time I arrived, it was pretty low key. I went with a few friends to a bar here that has a TV outside so we could watch. Everyone there knew all of the political figures. People here are really interested in American politics. We watched Biden swear in, then Obama stepped up, and the power went out. Luckily, it came back on in a few minutes, so we were able to catch the tail end of Obama. It was really interesting to share the Inauguration of the American president with a group of Cameroonians.
That weekend, I traveled for a meeting in Fontem. I took a car, but I was amazed that it could travel on the terrible road. There were some parts of the road that were all mud, even though it hadn’t rained in weeks, and such huge dips in the road (they call the gallops here) that the car was almost sideways. It was kind of scary. In fontem, I met up with all of the volunteers in this province, for the Southwest Provincial mtg. The next day, we went on a hike through the bush to see some waterfalls. We were warned that it would be difficult, but I was not prepared. First there was a one hour hike, up and down hills to get to the bush. Then we hiked 2 hours straight down the side of a cliff. It was so steep that I crab walked in places to get down. I almost died a few times, when I slipped and almost fell. By the time I got to the bottom, I was exhausted. Then we had to hike over some huge rocks, to get to the falls, and then up another hill. The falls were beautiful though. There was about 5 different falls, each flowing into the next. There was a pool of water where some people swam, but it was too cold for me. Then came the trip back up over the rocks and up the cliff. I literally thought I might die at one point. It took me about 3 and ½ hours to get up the cliff. There were a few of us.. I referred to us as Team Slowpoke. The we had the hour hike back up and down hills to get to town. I was completely exhausted, and my whole body hurt. It was terrible. For the next few days I could barely walk. It was nice to see the falls, but I don’t know that I’ll make that trek again.
The next day, I went to Dschang to visit my friend Ben. He lives outside the city, up in the mountains. During the few days I was there, I had a few cooking lessons (since I can’t cook anything), I read my book, sat outside, and just relaxed. I haven’t had such a relaxing holiday ever. One day we traveled to Mbouda to visit some other volunteers. We took motos there, had some dinner and checked email, then left the next day. One day, Ben was sick, so we walked into the mountains to go to the health clinic. On the way, we stopped to see a medicinal garden, some pigs (I haven’t seen pigs here at all), and the Cameroon Tea Plantation. Apparently Cameroon makes tea and exports it. When we arrived at the clinic, I ran into a health volunteer that lives at the clinic. I hung out with him while I waited. A couple days later I returned to Mamfe. I got up early to take a moto to Dschang, then a car to Fontem, then I couldn’t find a car to Mamfe, so I took a moto. The bike ride was about 2 and ½ hours, and I was so glad to be off of that death trap. Thank goodness I was wearing my helmet. I thought we were going to go down a few times. My whole body was tired after that journey, and the driver wouldn’t take me the whole way to Mamfe, so then I had to take another car. The trip was exhausting. After that, it was back to school and my usual busy schedule. Next post, coming soon.
I’ve finally started receiving bills at my house. I received a water bill for 14,000 cfa, which is out of control. Its only supposed to be about 1000. Of course, I had to pay first, dispute later. Many of my neighbors are also receiving really high bills, so we think that this is a common problem with everyone. Since that bill, I’ve had another that is lower, so I’m hoping it will stay that way. I also received my first electric bill. That wasn’t too high, but when I went to pay, I waited in line for over an hour, and it didn’t move at all. Then someone was so mean to me that I almost cried in the office. It was really embarrassing. Someone was talking about me in pidgin, and bc I’m white, apparently I can’t understand the language. I was just so frustrated that people think that I don’t understand anything. It happens all the time here. Looking back, I had no reason to get upset, but its too late now. I’ve had a lot of bills at my house too, bc my brand new house was built poorly. The plumber comes almost weekly, and the electrician a few times too. I love my house, but it’s a huge pain. My water is turned off more than it is on.
I’ve had many visitors at the house. I have a neighbor (her name is Othance) that comes over to spend time and helps me with some things, and quite a few of the neighbors come over to visit. There are a few younger kids next door, and their friends come over all the time. We look at science books, and maps, and they tell me what they are studying in school. Its kind of fun, and educational. I want kids here to learn that education can be fun. It sounds really cheesy, but they are raised that they must go to school and learn, but it doesn’t matter if they like it or not. Everything is memorization, and there is no application for knowledge. that’s why I want them to have fun when learning new things. Anyway, Othance was over at the house studying while I was out one night. I returned home, and she said that she had a surprise for me. I thought maybe she cleaned the floor or something. She brought me to my spare bedroom, and there were 3 small kids sleeping in the bed. She explained to me that the smallest one (who is about 5 years old) wet the bed. The father drove that child from the house and said he had to find another place to stay. He also told the extended family not to house them. Two of the older siblings (that visit me sometimes) left with the smallest and they decided to come here to sleep. Its obvious that I wouldn’t turn them away. Then Othance told me she had another surprise. The oldest two weren’t really sleeping - they wanted to play a joke on me. They got out of bed, and since the power was out, I made some popcorn, and we played cards by candlelight. It was kind of fun. The next morning, we all got up really early, to prepare food for the kids before they went to church. After church, they came back over, and helped me clear the yard. They are such good kids, I like when they visit.
We had a big even at school. The social group of teachers had a visit from another school, GHS Eyumojock, a school close to Nigeria About 20 teachers from their school came to visit our school for an overnight. In the morning, they hiked up to see the school, then saw our German hanging bridge (built in early 1900s). I missed that part of the morning, but I met up with the group at the Army Canteen. That was the site for the next group of activites: table tennis, cards, draughts (checkers), and a volleyball match. I played cards with the principal of Eyumojock, and I won two games. That was exciting. The volleyball match was such a close game that it was really entertaining. Next came a soccer match, but I skipped it bc I was tired and needed to rest. In the evening was dinner and dancing. There were so many speeches that we didn’t eat until almost midnight, then of course, I was chosen to lead the dancing. Who did I have to dance with? The principal of Eyumojock. Then I skipped out early to go to bed. Everyone else was up all night dancing.
The next week was Obama’s Inaguration. Everyone here loves Obama. They think that he will do a lot for Africa. I try to explain that Obama has lot of other things to do first. The inauguration was a pretty big deal here. I was invited to a party for it, but by the time I arrived, it was pretty low key. I went with a few friends to a bar here that has a TV outside so we could watch. Everyone there knew all of the political figures. People here are really interested in American politics. We watched Biden swear in, then Obama stepped up, and the power went out. Luckily, it came back on in a few minutes, so we were able to catch the tail end of Obama. It was really interesting to share the Inauguration of the American president with a group of Cameroonians.
That weekend, I traveled for a meeting in Fontem. I took a car, but I was amazed that it could travel on the terrible road. There were some parts of the road that were all mud, even though it hadn’t rained in weeks, and such huge dips in the road (they call the gallops here) that the car was almost sideways. It was kind of scary. In fontem, I met up with all of the volunteers in this province, for the Southwest Provincial mtg. The next day, we went on a hike through the bush to see some waterfalls. We were warned that it would be difficult, but I was not prepared. First there was a one hour hike, up and down hills to get to the bush. Then we hiked 2 hours straight down the side of a cliff. It was so steep that I crab walked in places to get down. I almost died a few times, when I slipped and almost fell. By the time I got to the bottom, I was exhausted. Then we had to hike over some huge rocks, to get to the falls, and then up another hill. The falls were beautiful though. There was about 5 different falls, each flowing into the next. There was a pool of water where some people swam, but it was too cold for me. Then came the trip back up over the rocks and up the cliff. I literally thought I might die at one point. It took me about 3 and ½ hours to get up the cliff. There were a few of us.. I referred to us as Team Slowpoke. The we had the hour hike back up and down hills to get to town. I was completely exhausted, and my whole body hurt. It was terrible. For the next few days I could barely walk. It was nice to see the falls, but I don’t know that I’ll make that trek again.
The next day, I went to Dschang to visit my friend Ben. He lives outside the city, up in the mountains. During the few days I was there, I had a few cooking lessons (since I can’t cook anything), I read my book, sat outside, and just relaxed. I haven’t had such a relaxing holiday ever. One day we traveled to Mbouda to visit some other volunteers. We took motos there, had some dinner and checked email, then left the next day. One day, Ben was sick, so we walked into the mountains to go to the health clinic. On the way, we stopped to see a medicinal garden, some pigs (I haven’t seen pigs here at all), and the Cameroon Tea Plantation. Apparently Cameroon makes tea and exports it. When we arrived at the clinic, I ran into a health volunteer that lives at the clinic. I hung out with him while I waited. A couple days later I returned to Mamfe. I got up early to take a moto to Dschang, then a car to Fontem, then I couldn’t find a car to Mamfe, so I took a moto. The bike ride was about 2 and ½ hours, and I was so glad to be off of that death trap. Thank goodness I was wearing my helmet. I thought we were going to go down a few times. My whole body was tired after that journey, and the driver wouldn’t take me the whole way to Mamfe, so then I had to take another car. The trip was exhausting. After that, it was back to school and my usual busy schedule. Next post, coming soon.
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
