Jay Davidson

monument to Jose Monge Cruz - not sure who he was, but this monument is not very well cared for

Jay Davidson

monument to Jose Monge Cruz - not sure who he was, but this monument is not very well cared for (Maybe water is drained in the winter?)

Jay Davidson

monument to Jose Monge Cruz - not sure who he was, but this monument is not very well cared for

Hello again Cameroon. But this time it is a bit different. I am still struggling to figure out what it is that I am supposed to be doing. I started a new job with UNICEF working on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). It seems that my direct boss is out until February, so I am left hanging a bit until she comes back. In the mean time I am reading a lot of documents in French from UNICEF to try and figure out the current situation of my program in Cameroon. It has been informative, but it gives me a headache after a few hours.

On other fronts, I have moved into my new apartment. It is a bit big for me, but hopefully soon I will have some new wicker furniture to fill it. I bought a bed and a fridge and now I am broke. Living in a big city has a much higher cost of living than a village. I could walk everywhere, but I am under more time constraints so I am forced to take cabs. The taxis are not expensive, but it adds up. Also food is much more expensive because all of it is trucked or trained in from villages. To add, there are more opportunities to spend money, like going out to a Chinese restaurant for Chinese New Year. I am trying to get into a habit of buying food on the weekends for the whole week, but I am not there yet.

Recreation and relaxation options are much greater in the city. Peace Corps Volunteers are always in and out and ready to hang out. My fellow UNICEF workers are a very interesting and experienced group of people that I hope to get to know more. My officemate is a French volunteer working on a malaria initiative. There is also an expatriate community here that organizes activities like: ultimate Frisbee and yoga! So for now, until work picks up, I am enjoying discovering the city and all of its surprises.

Jay Davidson

Hercules: Ceuta was referred to as Abyla. On the other side, Gibraltar was referred to as Calpe. These are the two Pillars of Hercules that span the Mediterranean at this point.