“The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page… The traveler is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep.”

Cairo is a beautiful mixture of the old and new. Smells invade your senses, one minute it is the aroma of sheesha, then a strong whiff of vendor’s spices, then the exotic scent of street food and sometimes a rancid smell of trash. Next to an expressway will be a mosque from long before cars were even a thought in Henry Ford’s head. A sky scrapper will tower over a market that was once a spot were slaves were sold.

I believe that you could spend a week in Cairo and not see everything that you should. In our short time in Egypt, Kristin and I filled our time with as much as possible. In Cairo we saw the Citadel and its huge mosque, the Khan al-Khalili market, Islamic Cairo, the Egyptian Museum and the Nile. We also took a few side trips; the first included seeing the pyramids of Giza, the Pyramid and Temple of Saqqara and the ancient site of Memphis. The second was a full day trip to Luxor in Upper Egypt. We also made time to eat fabulous seafood in Alexandria. Egyptian food is fabulous and anyone who goes there should eat the local food without question. Our favorite meals ended up being Egyptian flat bread with hummus and other assortments of spreads and vegetables. Down the street from our hostel was another place that sold a dish that consisted of rice, chick peas, beans and a few other things. It was a great meal and only cost about 6 Egyptian pounds (roughly one US dollar).

The pyramids of Giza are extraordinary. The immense size is over whelming and it is impossible not to be moved when you remember that no machinery was used to make them. I did not realize that there are actually nine pyramids in Giza. The three large pyramids are for grandfather, son and grandson. The six smaller ones are for four wives and two children. Our tour of the pyramids and sphinx was atop a very large, smelly camel. I am glad that I experienced riding a camel but have absolutely no interest in doing it again! The Sphinx was beautiful but I have to admit somewhat of a letdown, I truly thought she would have been larger. It kind of reminded me of seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time. It is disappointing when something that you’ve built up seeing your whole life ends up being smaller than you thought or just somehow not as great. Saqqara (called a step pyramid) was beautiful and it was interesting to learn that it is the oldest pyramid in Egypt. Although Memphis was once the capital of Egypt, after the pharaoh Narmer unified Upper and Lower Egypt, there is almost nothing left of this once great place. There are still a few statues left and another sphinx. The best part of this site was seeing the huge statue of Ramses II that is laying flat in an enclosed space. It is the largest known statue of the famous Pharaoh.

Luxor is amazing and if there was one thing I could change about our trip, it would be to spend more time here. Kristin and I arrived in Luxor around 8 in the morning and immediately began our full day of site seeing. Our first stop was Valley of Kings on the West Bank. In all some 62 tombs have been excavated but only a few are open for viewing. We went into three and after almost sweating to death opted not to pay the additional fee to see King Tut’s tomb. The tombs are built differently based on the pharaoh’s preference. Some are a short distance down while others are much deeper with more space and ornate designs. The hieroglyphics were beautiful and unbelievable at the same time considering that the color has remained after all these years. The Valley of Queens was very similar but not quite as large. There were not nearly as many people, which was refreshing after patiently waiting in lines at the Valley of Kings. Unfortunately photographs are not allowed at either site. We also visited the Temple of Hatshepsut, which was carved out of the side of a mountain and is extremely impressive. Lastly we visited the Temple of Karnak and this was easily my favorite place of the entire trip. This site is spectacular and I do not think I can come close to describing its beauty in a way it deserves. The columns are colossal and the etching magnificent. If you look up you can still find some color left on the underside of the stone. There are also two striking obelisks found there and one that is lying on the ground that was not finished. If you ever go to Egypt – this is a must see! To finish the day we drove to the Temple of Luxor which is a straight shot from the Temple of Karnak. All you have to do is follow the Avenue of Sphinxes (some of which are still being uncovered but will take time due to the houses that were built over them!).

I could ramble on forever about how amazing Egypt is but I will say that to truly understand what I mean, you must go and see it for yourself. I promise that you will not regret it! Oh, just to entice you even more – at the Egyptian Museum you can see mummies! Some even still have hair!

“Educate a boy and you educate an individual. Educate a girl and you educate a community” African Proverb

In the United States it is expected that every child has the opportunity to go to school. Public education is free and available to everyone thanks to taxes. After high school there are many opportunities for scholarships, grants and loans so that someone can move on and continue learning at an institute of higher education. In Cameroon it is just not that way. Some of you may remember that in an earlier blog I spoke about a scholarship that I was helping to get off the ground in the North West and that almost 20 girls were benefiting from it. On Friday morning I went to Government Bali High School and Self Reliance Comprehensive High School to deliver the four scholarships to the girls that had been chosen. The girls were embarrassed when made to come in front of the entire school (GBHS has over 1,000 students) but you could also see the pride in their faces. When I glanced to the other students you could almost see determination set in when it was explained that the scholarships were merit based. I hope that watching these girls receive such aide will give other students the drive to work hard in school. I wanted to thank everyone who donated to A2Empowerment but especially to my Aunt Michele, you are a very special lady and I am so thankful to have you in my life!

Following visiting the two high schools, I made my way to the grand stand at the center of town. The Bali Education Ladies had planned another scholarship ceremony for that day. Thanks to my family, best friends and some members of Greer First Presbyterian and the women of the Education group, we were able to give 28 primary school girls partial scholarships for the 2010/2011 school year. The entire day was extremely moving and would not have been possible without the aid from the States. I wanted to share with those who donated that you have a place in Bali if ever you make it to Cameroon. The community, parents, principals and teacher are ever so grateful. During the ceremony a group of children sang a song that was talking about being a light. They changed it every chorus but during a part of it they sang that I was a light to them and that I should keep shining. It was extremely moving and I wanted you all to know that I could not have been a light for them without you. Thank you so much for understanding the importance of education and of helping those less fortunate than you.

You know those random seconds in life when you can close your eyes and just at that moment you are taken back to a specific memory? You actually feel that you are in that time and place because your eyes see every little detail; your nose can smell everything and your skin remembers every texture it has touched. These moments usually leave me smiling or with a tear slipping out of my eye; sometimes even both.

The other night the power was being especially finicky. I finally just gave up trying to accomplish anything. I decided to lie on my couch, accept the moment and enjoy the quiet. It was then that I had one of these moments. I have to admit that it is only because I forget to pick up candles or I would have been reading. I closed my eyes and all I could hear were the crickets, beetles and other assortment of African insects that give the night its music. All of the sudden I was laying on a bunk at the camp, I could feel the well worn sheets beneath me all the way down to the little bit of sand at my feet. I could feel the rust from the top bunk lightly falling on me as whoever was above me shifted in their sleep; it fell on my exposed limbs and stuck readily to my damp skin which was invariably expected from the humidity of a lowcountry summer night. There is something about the right mixture of sounds that were sure to put me to sleep and they were always faithful at the camp. It was a symphony of my father’s snoring (which could be heard all the way from the front porch); the different insect’s buzzing, chirping and gentle hums; the distant waves breaking on the nearby beach or the gentle lapping of water on the floating dock; the wind through the water oaks and palmetto trees; and occasionally there would be rain, which I adored on the tin roof. The smells would change depending on what had been cooked for dinner, but for this memory it was fried fish and shrimp. The mouth watering aroma of dinner mixed with the regular smell of kerosene, old wood and the salt that lingers in the air when you are close to the water.

I opened my eyes with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye, the smile was for all of the happiness that came from my time on that little island and the tear because there is no more camp. It is not something that can be replaced and it will forever remain in my recollection or at least on this page. So although I am across the ocean from my beloved lowcountry, I am never more than a memory away.

Before coming to Africa I rarely thought much about the color of my skin. If I did, it was to an extent of thoughts such as follows: “Crap, there’s another freckle”; “I really need to work on my tan this summer”; or most recently, “I should really start wearing sunscreen regularly – I’ve got to keep this skin for a long time”. I hardly ever thought about my skin in the context of race. I think that this says something of how I was raised. I was taught to decide a person’s character based on how they treat others, who they are on the inside, is what is important not what is on the outside.

Living in Africa these past 15 months has taught me to be grateful of living in the United States of America, where a person will be judged on who they are not by the color of their skin. I realize that it wasn’t always like this. Our nation was formed by men who wanted equal rights for everyone and over the years “everyone” has evolved to include people of any color and women through the struggles, trials and triumphs of many people. Our country has seen a lot of racial issues from slavery to internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II. We are still dealing with it to this day in the form of immigration issues for Mexicans all the way to people from the Middle East. Since the end of slavery, integration in the school system and so on we have come far but the process is not yet finished. I know that to keep our nation strong we must continue to be an accepting people and that we should always remember our country was formed because those who came before us wanted to practice religious freedom. Everyone that came to the United States to help settle was once foreign, it is what makes our nation such a unique one, we are the proverbially ‘melting pot’.

In Africa my skin tells everything there is to know about me, at least that is what Cameroonian’s seem to think. Because I have white skin I am automatically smart, well educated and wealthy. What they don’t realize is that I am an average American (at least that is how I see myself). I went to a state supported college that I struggled to graduate from because of my lack of direction. I do realize that I am extremely lucky, even in comparison to other American’s but I am no more special than the person next to me. One of my goals since coming to Cameroon is trying to educate Cameroonians that American’s are all different. In America we have a very diverse population, we range in education levels from high school diplomas to PhDs; in religious beliefs from being Atheists to Muslims to Christians to Jews; our family trees show that some are first generation, some are Daughters of the American Revolution and some are descendants of slaves from the Ivory Coast; people are free to choose who they want to love and it does not matter their skin color, sex or where they came from.

It is hard being a white face amongst many blacks but to me it seems that it is even harder to be an African American volunteer in Cameroon and I am very proud to know those who are serving with me. They struggle with this ten times more than I do but by them being here it helps sensitize other’s to understanding that American’s come in every color, shape and size. What was that bible school song we sang as children?

“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

I have been tarred (as in tarred and feathered), but I promise there were no feathers involved. At the end of a volunteers service there generally is a party held for you in your community as a thanks for your time and effort, you will be missed sort of thing. Courtney, the volunteer in Bamenda, is leaving this week and had her going away a couple of weekends ago. The road that her apartment is on was being paved – not something we thought too much about. When we were heading to her party the rain was pouring and had started to make the tar run all over the place, by the time we reached the party there was tar everywhere (feet, legs, and clothes)! We then progressed to trailing it into the party with all of the Cameroonians staring as we completely ruined the floor. It took a while but with some kerosene, soap and water we returned to a somewhat normal state. I have a tiny bit left on one toe and when I get the first opportunity I will purchase some kerosene to get it finally gone!

I spent my Fourth of July this year at the United States Embassy eating hamburgers, potato salad and ice cream. We had to pay for the food but the beer was free, so I am sure you can imagine how the volunteers were all trying to think of reasons to come into Yaoundé. Lucky for me I had to be there for Peer Support Network and Regional Representative Meetings. We had a great time during the day and then a few of us stayed to hang out at the Marine’s house. It was nice to meet new people and refreshing to have some new conversations. The best part about the night was that I met a girl from Greenville that attended Bob Jones University and knew Chris Dunlap. The world is so small sometimes it makes me feel like I am not that far from home.

The summer is flying by and it is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of my 14th month of service. I have so much that I want accomplish and are starting to get nervous that I won’t have time to get it all done! I finished my business class and will be beginning a new one in September. My list keeps growing and includes completing two World Map Projects at Bali Primary School, starting an Environmental Club at Adolice Primary School, assisting one PLWHA group with income generating activities and another with implementing their goals and action plans. There also is monitoring the girls who received the A2Empowerment Scholarship and helping plan the ceremony for the girls receiving scholarships through the Bali Education Women’s Group. Amongst my work I have planned a trip to Egypt in September and am now planning on going home to the states for Christmas. I am starting to realize that if I don’t plan ahead for the rest of the year I will not get to climb Mount Cameroon or visit the North. So as you can see – there is so much to do and just not enough time to do it in.

Before signing off (Kristin and I are running up the road to get omelets), I just wanted to once again thank everyone for their constant thoughts and prayers. It is so reassuring to know that I am thought about and prayed for on a daily basis and I wanted to make sure that you know how grateful I am.

The World Cup is here! The new trainees arrived June 4th! I completed my 1st business class! 16 girls from the North West Province were awarded scholarships from A2Empowerment! Camp Batibo was a success! As you can tell a lot of positive things have happened since I last wrote…

It does seem that all African teams have been getting their butts kicked in the World Cup, especially Cameroon. What I have enjoyed watching the most is that even when Cameroon or the US is not playing, Cameroonian’s are still glued to the television watching different matches. Having the World Cup in Africa has brought a since of pride to African’s that I believe is long overdue. It is just a pity that then African teams aren’t doing that well. Despite this, there is still a sense of togetherness and camaraderie amongst the Cameroonian’s as they watch the games. Without a doubt soccer is a global sport and a great way to integrate with your community. A good many volunteers headed down to South Africa to catch some games and I have to admit I am quite jealous. The last I heard the Peace Corps Country Director of South Africa was expecting a total of 116 volunteers from other Peace Corps countries. He/she definitely will have her hands full…

Renee and I greeted the new trainees in Yaoundé Friday, June 4th and then stayed with them until they left for the training site on Tuesday. The group has 43 trainees who, after completing training, will be posted different places around the country. There are five education and two small enterprise development volunteers being posted in the North West and it will be interesting to see how our regions dynamics change when they get here. I am also helping with training throughout the summer. I am teaching a total of nine sessions which include Marketing, Leadership, Working with Community Groups, NGO’s, Accounting and a few others. It feels very weird to be on this side of training but at the same time it is really gratifying.

My first business class is officially over and I am already planning when to begin the next. Ma Patience, Ma Theresia and Ma Bri will come to my house in July to receive their certificates, take some pictures, and take refreshments with me. It really has been a pleasure getting to know them over these past couple of months. They are all extremely hard working, bright women who only want to better their lives and took the time every week to come listen to me. I just hope they actually got something out of it.

Just last week I found out that all of our hard work paid off and the North West girls were receiving 16 scholarships from A2Empowerment, three of which will remain in Bali. We turned in 43 applications from nine different villages. It is a great project and extremely gratifying knowing that 16 girls are getting to continue their education because of the volunteers and people in the states that recognize the importance of education in developing countries.

The North West volunteers came together the week of June 14-18 to put on a summer camp for an orphanage in Batibo. The week turned out extremely successful and definitely made my heart a little warmer. Tim, Carl and Austin taught some farming and environment sessions; Gabe taught the older students basic computer skills, Stefanie taught Health and HIV/AIDS awareness; Carl taught English; and we all partook in playing sports (which mainly consisted of kickball) and arts & crafts. It was a good week but the most important thing was that the kids got to spend time with us and us with them.

During this time my Nana had her 90th birthday and all of my family gathered to celebrate with her at my parent’s house in Greer. I was lucky enough to get to speak with almost everyone for a minute or two on Skype. During a conversation with my cousin Ginny, she asked me if I thought I was taking in all of my experiences or if I thought it would affect me more when I got home. To tell the truth, I am not entirely sure. But after completing a year in a third world country, I know that I will never take for granted my family, my health and for that matter my wealth (which is very small in comparison to a lot of US citizen’s but is huge when compared with people living in poverty). I realize that I still like the finer things in life and that I will probably always want them but that I can live without them. I also know deep down that waking up every morning with a purpose is much more important than going to a job that I hate so that I can buy the next new thing. I without a doubt think that this experience will continue to affect me during the next year and throughout my life. So Ginny, I guess it’s best to say that my eyes have been opened and some has registered but I believe that there are still many more layers of my rose-tinted glasses to be removed (don’t worry this hasn’t made me a pessimist but I am definitely more of a realist).

I want to first start by saying that I am not becoming a cat lady, but as I write this post I have a tiny kitten asleep on my chest. While in Bamenda Thursday night, Thryn and I heard this really sad crying out side of the house, upon closer inspection we found a tiny kitten. She is absolutely precious and probably around 5-6weeks of age. She is white with black spots that kind of make her look like a figurine cow. For me it was love at first sight, for her it was the complete opposite. She was filthy from being outsdte for who knows how long, so I quickly dunked in a pot for a bath. It took forever to get most of the fleas off of her but she was definitely a shade lighter when she dried. I have decided to call her Lela, which is the name of the annual festival held in Bali. It also means, “night” in Swahili. The real test will be when I take her home to meet Pockets. If it does not go well I will ask around for another home for her, but I am thinking Pockets will enjoy the company (once she warms to the idea). The best part of the story is that we believe she is Linus’s (Thyrn’s cat) daughter. She has similar markings, down to the black spots under her feet, to the same mannerisms. We’re assuming the mother dropped her off on the door step as a screw you buddy, I mean who on earth would let a man get away with that these days???

This week has been crazy busy which is great but extremely exhausting. I spent all day today at a workshop on project writing with the Nkumu Fed Fed ladies. I arrived at 7 (for a meeting the lady didn’t show up for, whatdyaknow?) and didn’t get back to the transit house until close to 8 o’clock. I will post another blog once the entire weekend is completed with more details. Unfortunately I am missing a wedding in Njinikom because of the Annual General Meeting. Oh well, I hope to get to see one some day!

Pictures to come soon!

While riding into Bamenda this morning, I was once again amazed by Cameroonian’s ingenuity. Throughout the 19 kilometer ride the man kept hitting the defrost button and for the most of the ride I was able to control myself and not ask what on earth he was doing. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer, my curiosity had bested me and I finally asked (of course stating what the button is usually used for in cars – because I thought he was a moron). I then came to learn that the man had rewired the car so that the defrost button was his starter. He thought this was genius in case anyone tried to steal his car, they would never figure it out. For my part, I think he is quite right, who in their right mind would think to hit the defrost button to start a car? He then demonstrated the button’s usefulness the last mile of the trip. I swear I will never cease to be amazed by anything in this country...

My business classes are trucking along with only three women being avid attendees. They seem devoted and I am very thankful for their devotion. A woman from my first class was in an accident where a moto driver ran into her leg, I thought that she might be crippled for life but I just recently found out that she actually ended up dying. It is sad that something that we would fix fairly easy in the states can lead to death here. I am not sure what the cause of death was but my guess would be infection. When you ask a Cameroonian, they never have a good response and they seem to normally blame it on malaria or voodoo. Life in a third world country is much more fragile and I have definitely become more aware of this fact.

Peace Corps Cameroon’s new country director is visiting the North West Province this week and we are all looking forward to meeting her. Since I am the regional representative I will have dinner with her tomorrow night. I am slightly nervous because I have no idea what to expect. My understanding is that she is very easy going and I will have no problem feeling comfortable around her. She is from North Carolina, so I guess if all else fails I can always talk about that.

I just found out this week that I will be a host for the new stage that will be arriving in June. I am extremely excited and feel very special that I was chosen from amongst such a great group of volunteers. Now I just need to use my spare time to brush up on my French. I will spend two weeks in Yaoundé in May planning and training for the new stage and then will return at the beginning of the month to greet them at the airport. I can’t believe that it was a year ago that I was where they will be. Some days it seems like yesterday and then others feel like a years!!!

I forgot to mention that I have a new roof. It is not finished yet because they actually are raising the height of the building by adding cinder blocks, but the new roof is there in all of its red splendor. I no longer have rain seeping in at odd places but for now I get to deal with a lot of noise and plenty of dirt raining down from the cracks in the ceiling - hence the picture.

Africa welcomed me back with open arms, and by this I mean that there were only a few hiccups on my trip back from France. Traveling through the Douala airport is an experience in itself, leaving was okay but a book could be written about arriving, and I hope to never use this airport again. After making it through customs (which is fairly simple as a Peace Corps Volunteer) I entered the baggage room which was crowded with Africans, expats, gendarmes and custom officers. I began standing patiently to wait for my bag to come around but it became apparent very quickly that it was not going to be that simple. What ended up happening was the biggest cluster I had ever seen in my life. Luggage was dumping onto the carousel but people were not taking bags off and space was growing extremely short. Before I knew what was happening the luggage was getting caught up and making the bags behind it shoot off the carousel. We quickly acted and start shoving the luggage along which only helped for a short time before we had to begin shoving bags along again. At one point during the fiasco a bag came shooting off the carousel at me knocking me down, somehow I managed to not take out the mother holding her infant behind me (thank God for small miracles).On top of the baggage debacle the lights kept going out and the temperature had to at least be around 95 degrees. Needless to say it was almost three hours after landing that I walked out of the airport to search for my shuttle to a hotel that didn’t want to take me in. Luckily it all worked out and I made it safely back to Bamenda the next day. I mean if this all hadn’t of happened I might of thought I had returned to a non-third world country, TIA.

Life in Cameroon came back together quickly for me. On the Friday after arriving home I attended a funeral for two people related to Nkumu Fed Fed members. The funeral was at the Catholic Church and once again I enjoyed the minister’s message in Pidgin, he has a great sense of humor and is extremely captivating. I know I have stated this before, but it has to be said again, I was amazed by the way deaths are celebrated here. At the first reception I sat with a group of NFF members and soon after arriving we were ushered down to get food and then had a crate of beer, wine and Chivas set in front of us. The day progressed nicely with the NFF women having a great time and enjoying being with each other and supporting their sisters. It was nice to be involved and I enjoyed discussing a few projects with some of the members.

A couple of days later I headed to Njinikom to celebrate Women’s Day with Kristin and her good friend Bassy. Women’s Day is an international holiday that celebrates “the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future”. In some countries it is a national holiday. The day progressed with Kristin and I sitting behind the Mayor and Divisional Officer of Njinikom and watching the parade of 70 something women’s groups march past. After the march a couple of groups had skits, participated in a three legged race, and then performed dances. It was fascinating to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of the day was for eating and drinking. And we did both well.

I taught my first business class at Nkumu Fed Fed’s Multi Purpose Center last Friday. We were expecting twenty women but sadly only three showed up. I am trying not to be discouraged and to remember that at least those are three women that will gain some knowledge they didn’t have before. I am keeping my fingers crossed that more will show up this Saturday and might continue to come throughout the next eleven weeks of classes. The other daunting factor was that one of the women was illiterate and the other two had difficulty understanding my English. We had asked the women’s groups to send only literate women but somehow that message did not get across. The situation is manageable, I will just have to become more flexible and imaginative in my teaching style (maybe I can channel Mama and Eve).The course is well planned and goes over basic business principles such as types of business, marketing, budgeting, income statement, balance sheet, goals and objectives and so much more. If you have any ideas about how to teach these topics to women who do not read or write and can barely understand proper English, please send me your ideas, they would be greatly appreciated.

Another project that I have been working on is helping to expand a scholarship to the North West Province. The charity provides educational scholarships and support to girls and women so that they may increase their knowledge and empower themselves to lead healthier, more productive lives. The scholarships have been extremely successful in another province of Cameroon and we are now hoping to make it happen in my province. The communities are asked to take part financially by either matching or paying a portion of the scholarship, but the majority of money comes from donations state side. Please visit the website and read what an incredible idea this is, www.A2Empowerment.org. Please know that the more money that comes in means more girls will have the chance to continue their education. I will leave you with a quote by Greg Mortenson who the book Three Cups of Tea is based on, "You can hand out condoms, drop bombs, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change."

So, you know the nursery rhyme, “Rain, rain go away, come again another day”? I will never say those words again in my life. The dry season began in November and will continue through all of February. When I left my house yesterday, there was a huge thunderhead in the distance. I got so excited I almost did a dance in the middle of the road. Never in my life did I think I would be so happy about rain. I am beginning to understand how farmers feel in the middle of a drought (of course my life isn’t dependent on my crops). The cloud might as well have been a mirage because the few drops of rain that came from it was not even close to enough water to bring the dust down. The dust is now a couple of inches thick on the ground and I can’t step out of my house without my feet, ankles and legs becoming covered in a fine, red dirt. The atmosphere also seems affected; I have not seen the mountains clearly in weeks.

I would like to tell you that I have been working hard this month but unfortunately that would be a lie. I am still learning how Cameroonians (and I hear this is true of all Africans) work. I have been stood up multiple meetings in the past month and my patience is pretty much shot. My counterpart returned last week, which means hopefully things will begin to pick up. Bridget and I have gotten the business classes lined up and we will begin those in the middle of March.

So what do I do with all my spare time (this is what I imagine everyone at home is thinking)? And it is a great question. The truth is that I am learning a lot. I have read a ridiculous amount of books from Faulkner to Sophie Kinsella. I am working on my 30th book right now, which is one Mama sent me, Same Kind of Different as Me. I still have not finished War & Peace (good Lord, this is a boring book) but hope to sometime soon. For those of you who know me very well, you would be surprised to find out that only three of those books were trash novels! How about that?

I am also learning to cook. I have mastered a pretty bad ass banana bread. I also have made Dad’s meatloaf and gravy (Dad – you would have been so proud) a couple of times for other volunteers. This Tuesday we are having pizza night, I am going with an entire Italian theme. Making pizza from scratch isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

I have also been studying for the GRE’s which I will be taking in Yaoundé next Saturday. I will stay there for a couple of days to meet with Nkumu Fed Fed’s national president. She wants to discuss what I am doing and any ideas that I have for the NGO. She is a very impressive lady, who I am looking forward to sitting down with.

I also have been spending time with my friend Jane and her daughter Praise. Last night I got to teach Praise, Jane and Ma Bri how to play Twister. It was quite fun but I think I need to start yoga or something; I am not nearly as flexible as I used to be!

One Friday I went with my post mate, Carl, and his counterpart to visit a small village called Osham. We met the Fon and drank palm wine with him and then we were taken on a hike. The hike led us to these beautiful waterfalls; we later found out that we were the first Westerners to see them. I have to admit, that is a pretty neat feeling! The waterfalls are held as a sacred place for this specific tribe. They believe that their ancestors go there after they die. On the same note, last weekend I went with Kristin and her principal, Christopher, to see a lake in between Santa and Awing. The lake was beautiful and I had to suppress the urge to dive in, the cool water just looked so welcoming. The fact that the lake is the main water source for the entire area was a good reason not to. The lake also has religious meaning to the people of Awing; they believe that their ancestors go there after death while waiting to go to heaven. Kristin and I both drank some of the water, which we were told was special and would make us “strong and healthy”. Sick is more like it, I ended up with killer stomach pains for about three days after that! Good choice Cat! The highlight of that day for me was holding a baby goat, man was it cute!

I apologize for the gap between this entry and the last; I will try to be better! After I finished writing this, the sky opened and the rain fell! I was so happy, I wanted to go stand in it, but like the lake, I held myself in check.

The robbers came back to our house last night. I was woken up around 1:00 to a squealing pig outside of my room. Luckily Eric heard and got up and ran them off, his pig is safe for the time being. The pig sty looked a little rough though; the thieves had torn it up to get the pig out. I feel really bad for Eric and hope that this is the last time they come back.

We had In-Service Training (IST) last week in Kribi, which is in the South Province of Cameroon. It is a beautiful beach and I took advantage as much as possible considering we were in sessions until 4 everyday! The sessions were helpful and got me excited about being here and starting work. We learned how to apply for money through Peace Corps or Embassy’s for projects. I got some good ideas on how to teach illiterate women business classes (which I will start in March). So far, there is not been much done with illiterate people and if there is it has not been reported or written down for other volunteers. I am really hoping to learn teaching techniques for these women that I can pass along. I also asked to be one of the editors of the SED gazette when our now SED volunteers COS in August. This is the time where we apply to be on committees such as Gender & Youth, Environmental, Diversity and so on. I may apply for Diversity or Environmental, not quite sure yet. All I know is that I really want to be involved.

On the way to Kribi we passed through Yaoundé and there I had the best night. I will have to say that during my 7 months here, this ranks pretty high as one of my favorite experiences. The group that was staying at the case (transit house) consisted of people COSing, Mid-service and our IST group. Needless to say there were a lot of people present which made for a great weekend. We decided to go to a “Rasta party” not too far from the case. I was reluctant at first because I was tired and really was looking forward to a good night sleep. Thank goodness I was talked into going. The party was outside where there was a bonfire, bar and tables. In between the fire and bar there was a group of men sitting on stools, rocks and what not playing some of the best music I had ever heard. As the night progressed people started dancing. It was fun to watch because Cameroonians can dance beautifully and in ways that I know are impossible for my body to move! Unfortunately, towards the end I was pushed in front of the band and had to dance. I felt so incompetent in comparison but I threw myself in and just had fun. I don’t take my camera out at night any more but I really wish I had pictures to post of this.

While I was gone I put out rat poisoning to try to get rid of the mice. When I arrived home on Tuesday, I was welcomed with a horrible smell. The poison had worked! I found two dead mice. I was doing a happy dance until I got Pockets home, where lo and behold she finds a baby mouse. I am starting to think they are never ending!

I almost forgot to add, that while riding down Commercial Avenue the other day, I happened to glance over and see a nice looking 4 Runner. Now this isn’t too unbelievable but what made my day was the beautiful palmetto tree and moon sticker on the back window. It is amazing how far South Carolina’s popularity has reached!!!

First I need to start off by telling everyone that I ate grasshoppers and they were amazingly delicious. There is about two weeks out of the year where they come in swarms to the North West region. Market mami’s catch them and then sell them live at the market. The grasshoppers that I ate were cooked and actually tasted like pork, just crunchy. I would recommend trying them at least once, if you ever get a chance. I will admit that I still prefer our “grasshoppers” in the U.S. (you know, the pecans covered in chocolate).

Thanksgiving was a success although extremely tiring. Kristin and I met in Bamenda on Wednesday morning to take care of all the shopping. The plan was to buy 3 chickens (alive) and all the other ingredients for macaroni casserole, fried rice, mashed potatoes, coconut pie, banana bread and sweet potato pie. Luckily for us other people were bringing things such as homemade stuffing, mac and cheese, brownies and pecan pie. There ended up being around 25 people at my house, 20 of who spent the night. It was definitely a full house but great to be around a lot of American’s on such a special holiday.

The highlight of the day (besides the actual eating) was when Erin killed her chicken. It was an experience to watch and is one that I have to admit I could never do, nor do I really want to. I was proud of her for following through. She was a part of the entire process: she bought it, killed it, plucked it and then ate it (I am actually the one who cooked it). By eleven o’clock I was dead to the world even with a house full of guests but waking up at 6 to begin cooking really took it out of me. I love being a hostess (as most of you know) but man oh man is it harder in Cameroon! The entire time I was cooking, I was day dreaming of being in mama’s kitchen with two ovens, ones that you actually can tell the oven temp.

The dry season is finally here and although I have been looking forward to it for some time, I have to admit I miss the rain. The roof of my house is tin and it makes for a soothing noise to go to sleep to. On the up side there is no more mud or getting soaking wet every time you step out of your house. The down side of dry season is the dust, which I am told is not even bad yet. I have to soak my feet in steaming hot water to get them clean, which is a pain because I have to warm the water on the stove. I never realized that cold water doesn’t remove dirt that well. Kind of a gross thought actually, considering that I have been taking cold showers the whole time I have been in Cameroon.

I have just thrown a mouse out of my house for the second time in two weeks. Instead of eating them, which I thought is what cats do, Pockets likes to play with them. I think that the mama mouse had babies and I am dreading finding out how many there really are. The first night I found Pockets playing with the mice she was in the bathroom and would catch it in her mouth then let it go just to catch it again. Well, it got away from her and she became very upset. Luckily for her I found it on the counter in the kitchen and threw her up there with it. She happily put it back in her mouth and continued playing with it back in the bathroom. Finally I got sick of her torturing it so I threw it out side. A couple of hours later I hear her again in the bathroom, playing with something. Lo and behold it was another mouse but to my dismay she let this one get away too. Unfortunately it went into my bedroom and which made for an interesting night. For a couple of hours all I heard was scratching and running around and then I heard it messing with some things in my chair. I hopped up grabbed Pockets and threw her in the chair with it. Pockets could have been less amused. I basically shoved her face within an inch of the mouse and she could have cared less. She looked at me as if to say, “You woke me up for this?” The next thing I knew the mouse launched itself at me and then ran under my bed. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night. I kept having visions of little tiny mice running all over me in my sleep. Yuck.

I have so much to say that I am not really sure where to begin, so I guess I will just go in chronological order. Please forgive me if I go on too long, I will try to get everything in without rambling too much. First and foremost, I would like to say that I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is now at this very moment breaking out the Christmas music. I for one am and at this moment I am enjoying Otis Redding’s soothing voice singing White Christmas. It makes me a little home sick but really happy at the same time. I was invited to a funeral by my friend Jane a couple of weekends ago. I know this sounds a little odd because in the U.S. you go to funerals if you know the person or someone who was close to the deceased. It is not that way in Cameroon. The family invites everyone and anyone to come celebrate their family member’s life. There is a lot of food and alcohol and in my case even local dignitaries. I later found out that the event I attended is not even the full deal. It was only the burial, the actual celebration will be held in a couple of months when all the grandchildren could be present. The celebration will be even bigger and will include dancing and much more food. There was a crazy amount of food and beer and at this moment I can’t imagine what the actual celebration will be like but I hope I get invited. I met some interesting people and stayed thoroughly entertained the whole time. While everyone was eating a sudden thunderstorm popped and annoyed us all. Sitting under a metal tent was not the place to be and those thoughts were reinforced when I watched a lightning bolt touchdown not 10 feet from me. I have never seen lightning that close and I hope I never have to again. My favorite part of the afternoon was when I went into the room where the ma’s were cooking/preparing food. I hung out there a while and was introduced to a lot of people. They are such a welcoming group and it meant a lot to me to be included in their family event. That following week I was invited to have dinner with the US Ambassador for Cameroon. She was passing through Bamenda and invited all the volunteers nearby out to a very nice Cameroonian dinner at a restaurant called Dreamland Cabaret. It was by far one of the nicest restaurants that I have been to in Cameroon. The conversation ranged from how the volunteers were doing to her and then our opinions of Cameroonians and their political opinions. It was nice to talk to her and hope I get to again next time she comes through. Last weekend I went to my post mate’s send off party in a neighboring village. It was a large fete and a lot of volunteers came to wish Seth well and celebrate his two years of work. In the evening we made our way to the Fon’s palace for dinner and drinks. The Fon stood up and talked about Seth and how much he had done for the community. He then was given a title and a beautifully hand stitched shirt and hat. It was a great experience and I am thankful that I was able to meet the Fon and hopefully work with that village in the future. The Fon was really taken with Kristin, I quickly reminded her to watch out of she might find herself a 30th wife. It did work in our favor though because he invited us to spend Christmas at the palace. I politely declined because I already have plans with a Cameroonian friend and her two little girls for Christmas. Who knows what Kristin will do? Personally, I think she really wants to be a princessJ I’ll write about Thanksgiving soon…

Every muscle in body hates me right now and I can’t really blame them. This past Saturday Kristin and I climbed Mount Boyo in Njinikom. I really was not prepared for what was ahead of me, but at the end of the day I had Kristin’s approval and her agreement to climb Mount Cameroon with me. In other words, the real test will be Mount Cameroon and how I handle sleeping and cooking outside. I assured her that it wouldn’t be a problem for me with my history of being raised at the camp, camping in North Carolina and on Bull Point. I think she is still a little bit wary.

In my mind, I had envisioned this nice walk and an easy morning but quickly realized I was sorely mistaken. We left Kristin’s house right after 8 and started making our way to the base of the mountain. My first warning should have been that I was sweating and out of breath before we even reached the actual trail but in my haze of no caffeine it just didn’t register. After we began the “real” trail, it was pretty much straight up on slick mud, rocks and tree roots. When the trees finally gave way and we could see the plateau, hope sprang anew for me but then was crushed immediately by how much further we had to go!

We then hit the pampas grass part and it got really tricky. There were no longer any trees and the grass covered the trail that was still slick mud and rocks. We slowly made our way to the side and continued on to the part that we would have to climb up to reach the plateau. I didn’t realize we would actually have to climb to reach the top, it is probably better that Kristin didn’t share this information with me before hand. We finally made it and the view was unbelievable and well worth the effort. At the top there was a beautiful metal cross that overlooks all of Njinikom. We sat for a little while and enjoyed the cool air and the feeling of contentment in finishing what we set out to do.

Little did I know that going down was going to be ten times harder than going up. After watching Kristin climb down the rocks, I went after her and made it safely down with her coaching from under me and David and Emmanuel’s coaching from above me. On the way down I must have fallen at least 15 times by slipping on the trail (the mud and loose rocks did not make it easy) or my foot finding many of the holes that dropped off the side of the mountain. Every time I slipped and fell I would burst out laughing and occasionally let a few curse words fly. By the time we made it back into the trees my rear end was completely brown from the mud and my wrist and ankle hurt badly, but I was still in a great mood and exuberant with the overall experience. Now whenever I visit Njinikom, I can look up at Mount Boyo and yell, “I beat you!”

I now know that Mount Cameroon will not be a problem because I have been assured by Cameroonians that Mount Boyo is more difficult than Mount Cameroon. Mount Cameroon is longer but the trail is well kept and not nearly as dangerous! I can’t wait but in the mean time I think some major conditioning on my part is needed.

Hopefully one of these days I will get some pictures uploaded…

I am sitting here in my lovely Cameroonian house writing to you by candlelight (and one crappy lantern). I am lucky enough to have two other volunteers here and they are making the power outage a little more bearable. The power went out the Monday before last and has only come back on for a handful of times since. This makes keeping my computer and phone charged, pretty much impossible.

Time here seems to pass slowly with an oddly comforting southern grace that reminds me of home. I am trying to appreciate the lull while it is occurring because I know that my two years here will not be like this. I have been keeping myself busy with pidgin classes twice a week and visiting the women’s groups. I just keep reminding myself that everything is little by little or in pidgin, small small cash monkey.

This past Saturday, Nkumu Fed Fed had their 2009 Back to School Scholarship ceremony. I wasn’t sure what to expect but what occurred was fabulous and entirely inspiring. The grand stand in Bali Center was completely filled with students from the surrounding schools, representatives from the women’s groups, town officials and members of Nkumu Fed Fed. After all of the protocol and speeches form the appropriate people, during which point I was introduced (and I had to speak to them in the local language – not an easy feat), the best part occurred and was when the gifts were given to the students. The older ones received slips of paper, which were incredibly important.

Nkumu Fed Fed USA branch along with another non-profit called Place of Hope (who is based in north Caroina) had raised a little over 2 million FCFA that was dispersed by paying students tuition and giving other gifts. Cameroon’s public education system is not what American’s are used to, there is an incredible amount of fees on top of tuition and it is impossible for a lot of children to go to school. It can be really disheartening to watch. Seeing these students getting the ability to continue their education was an amazing experience for me. The smaller children were given notebooks, books, back packs and so on. Their faces were my favorite part of the whole day. Each child was grinning from ear to ear, either showing off their new back pack or proudly holding their stack of books and notebooks. I am so happy to be working with a group that wants to give back to their community and recognized the importance of educating the children who are their future leaders.

The next day I found myself (along with Kristin, who I pulled along for the ride) trying to find a taxi to Batibo (a village past mine) to meet an “eccentric old white lady”. I really had no idea what to expect but definitely found myself (as did Kristin) pleasantly surprised. The ride from Bali to Batibo was beautiful. The winding road with views of mountains and valleys miles away was, as is always, breathtaking to me. The lady we met is named Susan and she is Argentinean by birth. Susan attended nursing school in the U.S. where she met her husband, a Cameroonian. The moved back to Batibo and raised a handful of children who all now live abroad. Her husband has passed away and she is now retired and loves keeping in touch with the local Peace Corps volunteers. While we were visiting she had the local orphans over for lunch and, funny enough, to watch Madagascar 2. The children were precious and I was lucky enough to learn that Seth had held a summer camp for them last year. I hope that I can follow up with this if the volunteer replacing him does not, or in the very least assist in making sure it happens again. After getting my butt kicked in ping pong and a great lunch of vegetable rice and carrot cake as dessert we took Susan’s car further up the road to another village called Ewoh. De-Ann from my stage lives there and Susan wanted to meet her before she leaves for her vacation in South America and North America. The car ride was fun but I was pretty happy knowing I did not have to do it very often.

I visited another women’s group on Monday morning and am very happy to feel that there may be a few women who really want to take my business classes (as long as I have Bridget there to translate). It was a great feeling and really makes me look forward to beginning teaching. Next I headed over to meet a lady at the hospital. I was introduced around and then we trooped off to Bamenda to meet Dr. Okwen. I will be carrying on where the volunteer who I replaced left off. She was teaching the hospital staff basic management and leadership skills. I was very excited leaving this meeting and knowing that I now have another avenue of work to venture down.

Next week I am hoping to visit my friend Jane, who is a teacher at a local school, to get to know her class. She teaches elementary school and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they might be interested in starting a letter writing project with Eve’s 5th grade class at Sarah Collins in Greenville.

Other than that things are moving pretty slowly. Some days are really hard and other seems to fly by. I am trying to keep myself busy by reading and learning how to cook some local dishes. I will admit though I am really hoping that this power issue gets worked out. Reading by candlelight is nearly impossible and I don’t want to burn out my headlamp!!!

I have found that my post office box works but it can take anywhere from 3-6 weeks for something to arrive, so if anyone want to practice their antiquated skills of letter writing it is always welcome. My address is :

Catherine Hipp

Bali Post Office

B.P. 31

North West Province

Cameroon, Africa

So for now, I bid you good night or bonnuit if you prefer.

I have been invaded by flies and I am not in the least bit joking (or enjoying it for that matter). I have killed around 15 just today with no help from Pockets. I will say that I am glad to know that she likes eating flies but I really wish she would master the art of catching them. I keep picturing Jeff Goldbloom in that fly movie, God – I really hope that I don’t become that person. At this very moment Eric is off to find “gum” to close up the space underneath my front and kitchen doors (where the nasty little intruders are coming from). I really hope it works, if not I may just go crazy from the constant buzzing!

I have visited a rural women’s group twice with Bridget (the warden of center). The second visit we asked them to fill out a few questions about their group. The questions were simple things such as when the group began, how many members there are, what are the goals of the group, etc. Basically all we got in a response is that they want to help the rural women of the area and they need money to finish their meeting space. It is all really frustrating but hopefully I learned from this experience. Next time I plan to sit there and go all lawyer on them (Jeff – hopefully I’ve learned a thing or two from you over the years). I will not accept simple answers, I plan to lead them to get the answers I want. I really want this information so that I can figure out how to help them, what skills would be beneficial for me to teach them and to begin a database of all the local women’s groups for contacts purposes.

I am meeting with Mr. Clerkson tomorrow to set up my pidgin schedule. I am really excited to get started on this. I have learned how to say hello in the local patoi and really hope he will teach me a few other needed sayings in that as well. After my meeting with him Bridget is going to teach me how to cook something. I am not sure what yet but I had to buy corn and palm oil (whad-ya-know). I will pick up some huckleberry tomorrow when I go into Bamenda. So far it is sounding pretty interesting but I am fairly certain that it will not be too healthy! I did make really good fajitas the other night. Whoever would have guessed that I would know how to make salsa, guacamole and tortillas four months ago?

Speaking of eating, I do have one interesting story to tell before I sign off. A couple of weeks ago I was eating at a restaurant with two other volunteers. After finally understanding that they only had chicken or tomatoes with rice we all ordered “poulet avec pommes frites”. About an hour later we should have known something was up when the waitress brought out plates for us. A few minutes later we were served a big platter of potatoes, greens and chicken. We all dug in and were enjoying the meal when Thyrn noticed that all the chicken parts were crappy. A neck piece and a foot made an appearance along with other parts that were less meaty. We didn’t think too much more about it but Thryn and I stopped eating the chicken and Ben kept on. I wanted another serving of potatoes and green beans so I flipped some of the chicken parts out of the way and in the process turned over the whole chicken head. I almost threw up then and there. It didn’t help when Ben picked up the foot and started shoving it in my face. Finally Ben put the head in a napkin and placed it on his plate. Needless to say, I have not ordered chicken since.

I am not sure if I will ever really get used to this country…

I believe I am here to stay. I am slowly but surely getting settled in and acquainted with my town and Bamenda. Last weekend I had my first “dinner party” and it turned out really well. As with everything here, it was a hassle to prepare for and of course the cooking took ten times longer than it would have in the states, but it was well worth it and the food was awesome.

Market shopping here is a lot of fun. Each market is different and varies from village to village and town to town. Bamenda’s market is huge and occurs every day (except Sundays). You can find anything there from fresh vegetables, American clothes (that I think come straight from Good Will), plastic containers, pots and pans, meat (alive or already butchered) and so much more. If you are claustrophobic these markets are not the place for you. The experience is amazing but there is no doubt that you have to prepare yourself to be in the right mind set, which is patient and tolerant of others. There are always young boys walking around selling something (generally pens, cigarette lighters and so on) and they are constantly deranging you to buy something. They will actually follow you for a good little while. As you are getting harassed by these boys, each shop owner calls out to you to come in and look and whatever they are selling. The markets are crowded and the idea of personal space is often forgotten. The market in Bali is different, it is an outdoor market that occurs once a week and is rotating. For example, the market this past week was on Friday so this week it will be on Saturday. I actually love going, it is exciting, exhilarating and fun to try to haggle with the owners over price. I would definitely recommend not wearing any clothes that are easily pick pocketed and always keep you purse tightly on your shoulder.

Now, that I have described to you what the market is like. I have to describe what a hot mess Kristin, Tess and I looked like at the Bamenda market last Friday. Tess, Kristin and I agreed to meet at the Dreamland to get lunch and then head to the market. Tess was on her way to Yaoundé for a meeting and Kirstin needed to do banking. After lunch we headed to the market. So here we are, three white girls (which draws a lot of attention regardless), tromping down Commercial Avenue with packs, a rolling suitcase and a cat carrier. As we enter the market it begins to rain (I still can’t believe that I didn’t hear one peep out of Tess’s cat). At this point we decide to just go straight to the meat part and forget everything else. Once we find the meat guys, we have two arguing over who gets to sell us the meat, but Tess quickly squashes that by speaking to them in Pidgin and telling the other guy to calm down and basically get over it. Next, is the ordeal of finding a place to have the meat ground. The first place we are directed to doesn’t work for reasons that are beyond me, the boy just said that the machine was worried. I am still not sure what that was supposed to mean. Finally we find a man who will grind it by hand for us, I had to pay double what I would have for it to be done in one of the machines. It was well worth it because the meat loaf was fabulous, but I have a feeling that I will not be cooking meat very often.

On Saturday I went to get my kitten from Courtney in Bamenda. Her cat had had three kittens and I got the only one that lived. I was so excited to get a cat, not only for the company but to hopefully control the mice, cockroach and spider problems that are prevalent in this country. I already have a mouse but I have not seen it since she has been here (I am taking that as a good sign). While I am once again walking down Commercial Avenue holding a cat I keep having people screaming out to me, “Is your pussy for sale?” or “How much for your pussy?” In the pidgin language, cat is pussy and they love to use it with white people because they know that it has an altogether different meaning. I found it a bit disconcerting but pretty damn funny at the same time. One other thing I should point out is that different tribes in Cameroon eat dog and cat and a whole lot of other bush meat. This is a very big thing in the North West and especially my area. I really hope that I never eat either and if I do, I will never know it!

I named the kitten Pockets and she is absolutely precious. She is into everything, for example while I have been typing this she has attacked my purse, knocked over a glass mug full of incense (yes, it broke) and has been chewing on my cell phone charger cord. She is now curled up next to me dead to the world. On the other hand she does sleep through the whole night with me in my bed. Although she wakes me up in the morning by pouncing on my face, I still love her. She also likes to sleep on top of me or curled up right next to me. I am truly scared that one night I am going to roll over on her and seriously injure her.

Last week, I went with my counterpart and the other two employees of Nkumu Fed Fed for protocol. I met all the appropriate people and was pretty excited about it. I met three or four police guys who all promised to look out for me and other important people in the community. I am looking forward to starting working and getting to know them better. I was also happy to find out that the first deputy mayor is a woman. It is nice that the North West province has such strong, smart women in positions of power. It is not this way through all of Cameroon and I am extremely thankful to have been put in an area that women are already empowered. I will begin meeting all of the women’s groups next week and will hopefully make some great contacts. But for now that is all but I will keep you posted as things develop.

I am not sure where to begin or if I can even do justice to my thoughts and feelings about the past week and a half. I guess I will say that life is, without a doubt, full of twists, turns and plenty of dead ends that you were not expecting. At these dead ends it seems best to stop, re-evaluate and then decide your best course of action or direction.

I swore in as a United States Peace Corps volunteer on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. The ceremony moved along fairly quickly with no major African disasters (except the inevitable rain). The U.S. Ambassador and the Country Director slipped out quickly and left us to celebrate. Our group, decided to spend some time at Chez Pierre, spending the last money that he will be getting from trainees for a long time. We then moved to the Hotel Cristal where we partied till the wee hours of the morning. Superlatives were given, with me taking three in all. I am sure no one will be surprised by what they were: Most likely to be broke in 3 months, Most likely to have the most visitors and Most likely to receive the most packages during service. As you can see, it did not take the other volunteers very long to get to know me.

Stanson, Gloria, Kristin and I left the next morning for the North West. The plan was to spend the night at the case in Bamenda and then go on to post from there. In previous blogs I have described traveling in Cameroon, as stated earlier, it is almost always packed and quite uncomfortable. We all were extremely anxious about how on earth we were going to get to post with our luggage, bike, trunk, and water filter. Luckily, Peace Corps rented the bush taxis for us so there was plenty of room for us and all of our stuff. Just outside of Bafoussam I saw the most horrid thing that I have ever seen in my 26 years of life. A man had been burnt to death. He was laying face down on the ground with his arms tied behind his back. The scene was so fresh that the ashes were still smoking. We guessed that he must have been a thief. Mob justice in Cameroon is no joke and something that I hope to never see again. We arrived safely and enjoyed a great meal at a restaurant called, Uncle Sam’s, where we all had cheeseburgers and split pieces of pizza. We were in Cameroonian heaven!

On Friday, I received word from home about Mark. To this day I am still in shock. I never imagined my life without him in it. He was always there was a smile, a joke or a willing laugh. I will always regret not being there to see him in the hospital, not being able to say good bye, to be at his funeral and most of all not being able to share the grief with all of his friends and family. I continuously remind myself what a great night I had with him before I left. We had planned just to grab some dinner at the Oyster Bar but in the middle of dinner, he casually mentioned that Kenny Chesney was playing at the Bi-lo Center in downtown Greenville, and that they had dropped the ticket prices dramatically. What did I think? At this point the concert had already begun but he thought we could at least make it before the second act finished. I thought, “What the hell, why not” and off we went. This is just one example of how Mark loved life and was always open to doing something fun whenever the mood struck.

I am thankful for all of the memories that I have had with him over the years including; church, plenty of concerts, the Peach Shed, Lander & Clemson, “the cut”, him being the ring leader in my first and only keg party, mountain weekend in Gatlinburg and so many more. I might have to talk Gage into going with me to retrieve the numerous bulletins that are stuffed in the chairs in the church balcony. Another outstanding memory was when I went with him to his formal in Columbia his junior year of college. After the “fraternity party” part was over we headed down to Three Rivers Festival where Outkast was playing. Mark refused to change out of his tux and told everyone who looked at him funny that we had just gotten married and were leaving for Tahiti in the morning. My cheeks were sore the next morning from smiling and laughing hysterically all night. I want to thank you Mark, for making my life better and richer from just knowing you. I count myself an extremely blessed person to have known you.

The same day that I found out about Mark, I was unlucky enough to get mugged while trying to get back to the case. It really was not a big deal and I want to apologize if I needlessly made anyone worry too much. I headed into Yaoundé on Sunday morning and had all of my papers redone and made it back to post by Thursday. I have since been cleaning my house, which at this point seems impossible. On the other hand I finally am finding my two summers of cleaning beach houses extremely beneficial!

I now find myself at the in between point where I am settling in and figuring my way around this foreign country and town. Before I left the South Carolina, Connie started a journal for me that a lot of people wrote in. Christa Emminger wrote a quote that fits how I feel right now perfectly. For now I will leave you with that, “It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but that place in between that we fear… It’s like being between trapezes. It’s Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There’s nothing to hold on to”.

I am two days from swearing in, yes two days. After spending 74 days here I felt like it would never happen. For those who do not check Facebook or speak to my family regularly I passed my language evaluation, thank goodness! So far the best words that I have heard hear in Cameroon were, “You did it, it’s over. Start packing.” I have no idea what level I made, but at this point I really don’t care. I am just over the moon to be going to post on Thursday!

The past couple of days have been busy. A large group of trainees went to eat dinner in town on Saturday night. I had to pick up two dresses from the seamstress (which is another story entirely) so a friend and I made it to the restaurant before everyone else. We went ahead and ordered our food, thinking that it would help when the other 15 people came in. The fact that they probably had to kill at least 10 chickens also factored in. We ended up getting our food at the same time as everyone else but two people didn’t. By the time our bill arrived, our table had been charged for two extra chicken dishes. After some great French speaking by Gloria, we got it straightened out but we had been there a total of 3 hours. 2 of which were waiting on food drinking luke warm beers. This service is very normal in Cameroon and in all actuality probably better than in a lot of other places. I’m not sure how many times we reminded each other that we were not in the U.S. and to sit, relax and enjoy each other while we can.

Sunday brought another interesting trip to chiefdom near Bafoussam. This experience was incredible and although I probably should have been studying for my French exam, I do not regret going. When we arrived, we were greeted by groups of women singing and dancing. Then we were given a tour of the outside parts of the chefery. In my opinion, the best part was when we were shown the magical forest that the chief goes into before he becomes the next chief and when he is ready to die. Along the walk we saw the traditional guards who then walked with us into the palace. At this point, it has begun to rain and no one really seems to care. We continued on, to see the absurd amount of houses that he has for his wives (which number around 100) and then were greeted by even more groups of women all wearing the same pagne. Each group was singing different songs and then the sky let out and the down pour began. We were told that this was good luck and that now they were going to make it stop raining. I am guessing this was the opposite of the rain dance.

I haven’t written in a while and it’s because I keep waiting for a good story or something to say that will be interesting but tonight it occurred to me that by doing this I am not being fair to you or myself. If I don’t share with you what I am feeling along with the funny stories, what good am I doing? Stage is winding down and that by no means, means calming down. We, the other trainees and I, find ourselves consistently inundated with meaningless paper work, important ceremonies, final assessments and any other possible thing that has been missed in the past 11 weeks. We have been given instructions for getting to post, which is basically the do’s and do not’s, and what we are responsible for. A lot seems repetitive and the rest seems like common sense but if there is one thing I have learned here, it is that common sense is not a shared quality amongst everyone.

I passed my Independent Exploration Project with flying colors (a 95%) and all fives on my last TDA. It was a relief but I am still behind in French and have not had my final evaluation yet. Out of the 15 SED Trainees, 3 of us have not reached our target language level. In the past two weeks I will have completed close to 60 hours of one on one language training. This is actually a great thing but when you are the sole person receiving all the attention, it can be overwhelming and extremely exhausting. The test, which was supposed to take place on Saturday (tomorrow), has now been moved to Monday. The general opinion seems to be, “great, more time to study”, but for me, I just want it over and done with. It is basically like pulling off a band aid, do you really want to make it last longer than it has to?

I find myself becoming slightly anxious about the fact that I will be here, in Cameroon for 2 years. I already miss my family and friends to a depth I could not have imagined, but have never wanted to complete something more in my life. My reasons for being here are still driving me but they do not make me forget what I am missing at home. For me, please take today to be grateful for what you have. Even if it is as simple as picking up the phone to call a parent to say hello, it is a luxury that I do not have. I miss the most obnoxious things but what I miss the most is communication. Although I am extremely grateful for the level of communication that I have here, it is hard to adjust to not hearing people’s voices regularly. A cold drink and clean feet are very difficult to come by and doing anything quickly is near impossible. I love it here but it has definitely taken some getting used to and I believe that will continue for the next two years!

I would like to add a thank you for the constant thoughts and prayers. I really need them and greatly appreciate them! It means a lot to know you are there thinking of me!

“If at first you don’t succeed, try again”, I keep repeating that saying over and over in my head. We had our Language Proficiency Test (LPI) last Friday and received our new levels on Saturday. I moved up one level, when I needed to move up two. I have two weeks to get ready for the next test and if I don’t go up another level I will have to stay in B-town an extra week or two until I speak French well enough. Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers going because I desperately need it!

Saturday we were given our bikes and had a training session on general bike maintenance. Brad and Heather- you would be so proud. I now know how to remove the tires, fix a flat, repair a broken chain, adjust the breaks and a couple other things. After class, another trainee and I rode into town for lunch. I forgot what a work out biking can be, especially with a lot of hills! We had a blast but I couldn’t help but feeling like bible salesman. If you can picture it: two Americans riding new bikes, with helmets and back packs on and everyone was staring at us. When we got back to our neighborhood I had a group of about 10 kids start running along with me, yelling “Le blanche est sur le velo!” Two of the children raced me all the way back to my house. I was dying laughing the entire time, sometimes children can just make your day!

I am really looking forward to using my bike at post and am hoping that it will help stop me from wasting money on moto’s and taxis. I plan to use it to go to work and into Bali Town. Who knows, maybe when I build up my endurance I will try the trek into Bamenda! But for now I think I will take it one step at a time!

We visited B-town’s Chief this morning and I learned another big difference between Cameroonians and Americans. Time means completely different things. We were told to be at the SED House before 10 to go to the Chiefery. Well, in actuality that meant leaving at 11:15. I was getting extremely frustrated thinking of everything that I could have been doing during that time (washing clothes, studying French, reading War and Peace, etc.). All of the Americans kept discussing what constructive things they could be doing with this spare time while the Cameroonians laughed, talked and generally had a good time. In hindsight, maybe we could learn a few things from them. As a general population they seem a lot happier and a whole lot less stressed!

The Chief of B-town belongs to the Bimilake (not sure if I am spelling this correctly) tribe and there are 15 chiefs in the dynasty. He was educated in England and has an engineering degree but came back to B-town to be the chief. He has 20 wives and sixty something children, but he wasn’t sure of the exact number. When he was asked if you had to be a polygamist to be a chief his answer was yes and that he wanted to tell us what he told a newspaper once. He believes that every man is a polygamist but that their country’s law makes it illegal. At least in Cameroon it is recognized and legal. Basically, he believes that no man is faithful or can be. This chief is also not known for empowering women or helping bring about more women’s rights! Somehow I am not in the least surprised by this, but I feel extremely sorry for him because he truly believes this to be true. Although I had a difficult time with his beliefs and opinions, we had a good time looking inside his home. We also had a wonderful lunch that was prepared by two of the previously mentioned 60 wives. Oh, I forgot to mention that each trainee that went had to give 1000 F CFA for a gift to the Chief. You cannot go empty handed to him but on the other side, you don’t leave empty handed either. We were offered what wine was left. All in all, I thought it a pretty good trade! Hopefully one day I will get some pictures posted of all these great things I have been describing to you!

For now, I must go work on my Independent Exploration Project (IEP) which is on Eco-Tourism in Cameroon. I am excited about the project but not excited about presenting it in French this Saturday!

I promised my friend in stage that I would title my next blog that. It is the blatant truth and although the food is fabulous, it is heart stopping (literally). Cameroonians cook with an incredible amount of palm oil and the daily diet is loaded with carbohydrates. This includes but is not limited to, rice, potatoes, pasta and vegetables cooked in tons of palm oil which is ten times worse than regular vegetable oil. Needless to say I am looking forward to being at my own house and controlling my diet. The men volunteers tend to lose weight (with I have already witnessed with my own eyes) and the girl volunteers tend to gain weight. Jeez, I love the female body. While the guys have to poke extra holes in their belts to keep their pants up, we have to have dresses made that we can fit into!

Time is passing quickly and my next LPI (language proficiency test) is on Friday. I have changed language instructors again and now are back with Monique full time. I think that I have improved but some days I feel that I am back where I started. Being in Anglophone for a week really through me off and has also made me seriously question the need to continue with French. I know that I need the basis but it is extremely frustrating and I really want to begin learning Pidgin and the local patois of Bali. I am still working hard and will continue to do so until I have a good grasp on French. I have to keep reminding myself that this is only the seventh week that I have been learning it!

Stage is only three more weeks but it seems like a life time. I am finding it difficult to be on such a tight schedule with every minute of everyday planned for us. It is also interesting to live with a family again. It is also hard because I feel like an imposter most of the time. I try to balance it out by getting other trainees to come buy sheets and towels from my home stay mother! They are great and extremely patient with me but I hate not helping and it is almost impossible to do so. I feel like a boarder, which I guess in essence I am.

So, the dress didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. It is huge and the “pocket” is quite odd. I am going to take it to another seamstress and have it fixed. I definitely learned my lesson and will not be drawing any sketches but taking dresses or pictures out of magazines as examples. A lot of the girls have had good experiences and had some really cute things made. I am going to bow down to their wisdom and follow along their golden path that hopefully will lead to (if not Oz) a really great seamstress.

I am safely back in B-town after an extremely tiring day of traveling. I caught a ride into Bali town, where it would be easier to catch a taxi into Bamenda. I was quickly grabbed (because the fight over passengers) and then had to wait as it filled up. Time was passing so I jumped out and offered to pay for an extra space if we could leave now. Luckily it worked and off we went with me in the front and four adults and two small children in the back. Paying double definitely has its advantages but I felt pretty guilty. It was by far the fastest trip into Bamenda that I had the whole week, I have to admit that I am glad his speedometer did not work or I might have had a heart attack!

Kristin finally made it to Bamenda after her bus and then taxi broke down from Njinikom. We then were squished on to a bush taxi for the two hour journey to Baffausom where we then had to take a taxi to get another bush taxi to B-town. By the time I finally got home my entire left side was asleep and I woke up this morning with bruises down the right side of my body (the side that was jammed up against the side of the bus). To tell the truth, although I make traveling here sound awful, it can be quite fun. The main thing is to remain patient and forget all about personal space. If you can do that, you will be fine and the people watching is incredible!

I just finished lunch and have already had a very productive morning. I went with my home stay mother to her seamstress to have some material made into a dress and ended up buying a skirt and top. I really hope I end up staying in Cameroon for the two full years because these outfits are definitely not style appropriate for the U.S. but I actually like them. Who knows, maybe when I get home, I’ll start a fashion trend. I seriously doubt it but you never know! I also managed to get all of my clothes washed and now I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the rain will hold off in time for them to dry!

On a side note, a couple people have asked about what to send in care packages. Please do not feel the need to do this. My understanding is that is extremely expensive and I don’t want anyone spending unnecessary money but letters are wonderful things to receive! If you are really adamant and want to still send something, a few small things that I can’t find here are crystal light singles, crest toothpaste, and baby wipes! Hand sanitizer is always welcome to! Thank you for all of the emails and prayers they are all needed well received!

As stated in the previous blog, I want to share a little about the landscape that I have seen in Cameroon. For starters, Cameroon is called “Little Africa” because of the span of different regions and environments you can find here. The grand North it is extremely hot and arid. This is where the largest population of Muslims is in the country. I have not been there yet but hope to visit during my two years here.

The regions that I have been in are Central, West and North West. All of these are very similar in terrain and plant life. Everywhere you look you will see plantain and banana trees, corn and other tropical trees. In the Northwest it is also common to see pineapple plants everywhere. I feel like I am in the jungle all of the time, but what we Westerners call the jungle, Cameroonians call the forest. I asked about the planting seasons and was told that you can plant whenever but for corn there are generally two seasons, one in early spring and the other is now till the end of summer. I think I will try my hand at planting some corn, tomatoes and beans.

All three of these areas are mountainous and some people have been comparing it to Ireland because of the green, fog and mountains. These areas are also at very high elevations, so there are always clouds all around. Some days it seems like you could just reach out and touch them. It is beautiful and I stare all the time. I hope that I continue to enjoy the views and don’t become too used to it like I do with Beaufort’s beauty.

B-town has horrible red mud that makes the South Carolina up-state red mud look like a cake walk. It is impossible to get out and clumps to your shoes and then it dries in hard patties. This is extremely annoying because Cameroonians judge you on the cleanliness of your shoes. I have taken to carrying an extra pair of shoes in my pack, it makes things much easier. This is also where the baby wipes come in to play, keeping your feet clean is almost next to impossible!

When I first arrived in Africa some volunteers were talking about blogs and some interesting names they had seen. The one that stuck with me was, “thoughts from under the mosquito net” and as I sit here in my comfy bed in Bali it fits perfectly. I arrived in Bali on Sunday, July 12 and have been staying here the whole week. There is much to tell but after looking back over my previous blogs I realized that they have been sorely lacking a few significant things. Two of those are descriptions on travel and the environment in Cameroon.

I must begin with travel because it is the most amusing and I want to keep you interested so that you keep reading! Kristin and I left B-town at 9 a.m. Sunday morning after waiting an hour for the bus/van to fill up. When I say fill up, I don’t mean to the comfortable 16 passenger standards we are used to. At one point on the second leg of the trip Stanson counted 22 people, luckily we were jammed in the back and no one could climb in with us. After picking up the second bus in Bafoussam we seemed to be moving along pretty well considering the roads and it being the rainy season. After a quick stop for gas, where I managed to talk the attendant into handing me a cold diet coke through the window, we were off. A few minutes later we began to experience van trouble. Every few feet the vehicle would shutter and then cut off. Out would go the driver to mess with the gas tank and on most occasions the engine. So now our trip that was supposed to take 3 hours ended up taking more like 6. At one point Kristin, Stanson and I were taking bets on how many feet we would gain; the best was when we actually lost feet (we were on a hill).

I just want to state that this travel experience is the norm for Cameroon. Every taxi, bush taxi, bus, and moto that you see will try to fit as many people as possible and with those people go items such as large bags of vegetables, live stock (such as chickens or goats) and luggage. Children are also not counted so they have to sit on their mother’s lap. It is common for a mother to hand off a child to the person next to her, even if she doesn’t know them. Thank the Lord that this hasn’t happened to me yet!

Today I ran into Bamenda to check some emails and visit a market mama that promised to sell me some pop (a.k.a. bouille – which is like cream of wheat). On the way home I was jammed in a compact car (a corolla to be exact) with 6 Cameroonians. The best part was that all of these tiny little spiders were crawling all over me. I couldn’t figure out where the hell they were coming from… it was absolutely ridiculous. Just so you understand this is not the most packed car I have been in. Earlier in the week there were actually 8 people in the car (four in the front and four in the back). I’m not even sure how the guy was able to drive the car! Oh, I almost forgot the best part! As the driver was trying to fill up the taxi (because I refused to pay 1000 CFA for a solo ride) he ran into a woman. The hit was not hard but it definitely could not have felt good! She immediately started yelling at him through my window. All I could do was sit there with my mouth agape! Amazing!

The volunteer that showed me around Bamenda said that he had been hit by a moto and the story seems completely viable. It is almost as if they aim for you, even when the whole road is clear. It is really frustrating and my blood pressure level goes up every time I have to walk somewhere, even in B-town but the larger cities tend to be worse.

My house in Bali is nice. I have two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room. It is fully furnished but in need of major cleaning. I spent almost two hours today working on the shower and it is still not finished but I feel a lot better about it. Spider webs are everywhere and I think they will be impossible to fight but I am going to try. I need to put up new mosquito nets over the beds and air out the linens but nothing really major. I am happy that I will be able to use my settling in money for CAMTEL (internet) and a refrigerator!

Having the house ready to go was extremely helpful for site visit. Not only was I able to stay there and get a good idea of what to expect for the next two years but I was able to host Stanson when he couldn’t get out of Bemenda early enough. Then Kristin stayed for a couple of nights when the volunteer that she was staying with got malaria and typhoid (she had just returned from visiting Limbe). One night Kristin and I got to experience our first bit of Cameroonian night life. Eric, who is the caretaker for the house and property that I will be living in, invited Kristin and I to a club in Bali Town.

We decided to check it out and at around 9 p.m. a friend of Eric’s came to pick us up. We went to a club/bar where we drank “fresh” Castel (a Cameroonian beer) and even danced a little. I need to explain what “fresh” is. Cameroonians as a rule don’t generally refrigerate their beer but they will insist that it is fresh and doesn’t need to be cold. I have a very difficult time with this because I love a freezing cold beer. Eric helped me find a place that when I return she will keep a few beers cold just for me! Yea! The club scene was interesting but we didn’t stay too long because there was a private party. Eric and his friend kept insisting that Sunday nights were the best and that is when the most people where out. I promised to go back after August.

This week has been a roller coaster ride and I’m not talking about the Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags. This one is more like the Cyclone, full of loop-de-loops and exaggerated drop offs. Monday started off with me visiting the hospital, once again. This time the occasion was to have blood drawn to figure out why my lymph nodes were swollen and why they were not responding to the amoxicillin I was taking.

If you have a fear of needle, Africa is not the place for you. To get the blood drawn, I was directed into a waiting room, where I sat on a bench with three other women. A minute later a huge Cameroonian man walked up to me and demanded that I give him my arm. The next thing I knew, a needle was in my arm and the blood was flowing as the three women gawked at me. By 3:30 that afternoon I had absolutely no idea what was going on but a man showed up and handed me medicine with a note telling when and how to take it. I know the man thought I was a moron because I dumbly starred at him waiting for more. More of what he said? Hmmm, this isn’t rocket science, it actually is pretty basic. I just want to know what I have, what I’m taking, if I’m supposed to return if I don’t get better, and so on. Well nothing is basic in Cameroon. It was four hours later when I finally knew that I had a staph infection and a few more directives from the doctor.

Yesterday morning we received our posts. I have been anxiously waiting for this announcement for the past couple of weeks. It was extremely important to me because I continue to struggle with French. I had put in a request in to be placed in one of the four Anglophone spots. I have been praying earnestly that this would happen. Thank God that He is true to His word and will not give me more than I can handle. My post is officially in Anglophone in a village called Bali about 20 minutes from Bamenda in the North West Province.

Today we met our counterparts and will continue our workshop through tomorrow with them. My counterpart’s name is Helen and she is the director of a NGO called Nkumu Fed Fed (which means Group of Sisters). Nkumu Fed Fed is a non-governmental organization that promotes women and children’s rights. The NGO is completely run and funded by professional women from all over. There are two branches in the US, one in D.C. and one in Oklahoma. Their two main objectives are empowering woman and fighting against child abuse. A few of their secondary projects have to do with things such as: loans for children to attend school; environmental projects; and HIV/AIDS Awareness. I am extremely excited about my counterpart organization and counterpart. I can’t wait to get to post and start working!

I will travel to Bali on Sunday to visit my site for the week. During my stay I will visit Bamenda to set up my bank account, the NGO I’ll be partnering with, and other PCV’s in the area. I will also get to stay at my house in Bali. Helen told me that I have a very nice house (please remember this is African standards). I was pumped to hear that I have two bedrooms, running water and electricity. The house also comes with furniture, which is awesome because I won’t have to spend of my money on purchasing a bed and other much needed household items. She also mentioned something about a boy who the NGO pays to help out. I can have him run errands for me and so on. Sounds great!

I have just finished typing up an assignment (completely in French) for tomorrow by candle light. The power went out as soon as I finished eating supper. I have begun to get used to it but it doesn’t make it any less of a hassle. The computer is probably going to die any moment.

Today we had our field trip to Baffausom and Banjoun to visit two companies that are similar to the ones we will be working with at our posts. It was an extremely frustrating day for me because everything was in French and I did not pick up any of it. On top of that I am not feeling physically up to par. There is no doubt, Africa is not a walk in the park but so far it has been worth it. Keeps your fingers crossed that it continues that way!

Oh, my French level went from Novice Low to Novice High. I am still riding the short bus but hopefully I will get to where I need to be by August 19!

I have officially been in Cameroon for exactly a month. There are some days when it seems like a year and then there are others where I feel that the plane just touched down in Yaoundé. I continue to struggle with French but keeping hoping and praying that my effort will pay off by the end of stâge. I have been having extra sessions every morning at 7 a.m. with Monique and I think it is helping. The SED volunteers had our LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) on Saturday morning. I don’t feel that I did that well but it had to be an improvement from when I first spoke with Gaston in Yaoundé. We will find out tomorrow what level we placed at, I began at Novice Low, and then continue classes from there. I am praying that I at least went up to Novice High. I have to obtain Intermediate Mid for Anglophone and Intermediate High for francophone.

We had a party at the SED house last night to celebrate the 4th of July. Throughout the day and into the night I kept looking at my watch thinking of what I would be doing if I was home (11 a.m. – put the boat in, 6 p.m. move the boat in front of Port Royal, etc.). I was okay with not being there because I know I have the rest of my life to enjoy 4th of July’s in the States or where ever I choose. It was just a little weird to be in a different country but to still be celebrating the United States’ Independence Day. All of the Ed volunteers are on site visit this week so they were not able to come to the party but we still managed to have a pretty good time. We cooked hamburgers (and thanks to Stanson and Oliver, we had cheese from Baffousam), got pommes frites and had some pretty good cake. Chez Emmanuel stayed open late for us (he made plenty of money off all the beers we bought).

Our Cameroonian trainers came and celebrated with us for a little while. It was nice to see them in a more relaxed atmosphere (most of them even danced). I have to say that although they relaxed enough to dance; they wouldn’t give up speaking French. It was extremely annoying to me! I was pumped to find out that Norm does the West Coast swing, for you that don’t know, it is very similar to the Carolina Shag. It was fun to get to show a little bit of South Carolina to some of the other volunteers. Norm is a SED volunteer who is COSing after our stage gets sworn in. He has been filling in for our APCD throughout training and has been a great resource for us newbie’s. Alec set up is tight rope and every one had a try, I now have a lovely bruise on the inside of my leg to show for my effort. I know no one is surprised by this bit of information.

Holy cow! I just finished eating my dinner and my mouth is on fire. Fair warning for anyone who wants to visit Cameroon, the food here is extremely spicy. Thank goodness it is something that I like and can tolerate because I think that a few other volunteers are having problems with it. The spaghetti, as they call it, is unbelievable. Of course it is nothing like the spaghetti we have in the states. It is more similar to Thai food but I am hoping that my sister will teach me how to make it before I leave for my post. Speaking of post, we find out on Thursday and I am extremely anxious. There are four Anglophone spots and I am praying that I get one. They all would be great but there is one that is practically at the beach – that would be incredible. I don’t think my luck is that good though!

B-town, West Africa

Calm down, deep breaths, get yourself dressed, instead of running around and pulling on your threads and breaking yourself up

If it’s a broken part replace it, if it’s a broken arm then brace it, if it’s a broken heart then face it. And hold your own, know your name and go your own way. Hold your own, know your name and go your own way and everything will be fine.

Hang on, help is on the way. Stay strong, I’m doing everything. Hold your own, know your name and go your own way. Hold your own, know your name and go your own way and everything, everything will be fine, everything.

Are the details in the fabric? Are the things that make you panic, are the thoughts results of static cling? Are the things that make you blow and the reason go on and scream. If you’re shocked it’s just a fault of faulty manufacturing. Everything will be fine, everything, no time at all, everything.

Hold your own, know your name, go your own way. Hold your own, know your name, and go your own way. Everything will be fine. Everything in no time at all, hearts will hold.

- Details in the Fabric, by Jason Mraz

“Head under water and they tell me to breathe easy for a while. " Sarah ...

I’m taking Jason Mraz’s words to heart these days and Sarah’s lyric line is a perfect example of Peace Corps pre-service training. Every day is slightly more challenging than the one before. Language is still coming extremely slow. I was told today that I will have language training by myself next week. This is pretty much the parallel of riding the short bus in the Peace Corps world (at least that is how I see it). I’m staying positive and if riding the short bus will help my French, sign me up!

The SED trainees received our businesses on Monday that we will work with over the next six weeks. My business is a Beaureatique Cyber Café. The business has three computers that people use for the internet. The other two computers are used for assisting people with computer project or teaching sessions. The business also sells paper and other supplies and will make copies for its clients. I was extremely thankful when I realized that my lady spoke English! She would like me to do some marketing and increase her client base. This should be an interesting task! When I went with her on Monday to see the store and we were discussing when I would be back, she quickly said, “Oh, I expect you every day for at least 30 minutes”. I about fell over! We are only required to go once a week and that time is scheduled into our day. I quickly made it clear that I am extremely busy and would come as much as possible. I went back on Wednesday and will probably pop my head in tomorrow. It should be great experience for what I can expect when I get to post.

Spain and the US played on Wednesday night and we were allowed an extended curfew to hang out and watch at Chez Pierre. Almost the entire group was there, plus the PCV’s that were visiting (Kate, Nick, Elise and Jim). We all had a good time, even when the drunken Cameroonian came in and told us that we were too loud. The PCV’s were in shock, Cameroonians never think someone is too loud. They tend to party into the wee hours of the night with no thought to how loud they are being to their neighbors. The US won 2-0 and the next day David told us that the Cameroonians were upset with us for not celebrating our win with more jubilee! I have to add that I got home right around 10 and the house was completely dark and the gate locked! I had to ring the bell, which is loud as a siren, and then Jim starting beating on the gate when they didn’t immediately respond. Finally my brother came and let me in. I felt so bad but then again they knew when to expect me! This living with a family and not being able to communicate is a pain in the ass!

As I’ve stated before, Cameroonian’s love soccer (au football). A week ago B-town had their 2nd game in the tournament against Yaoundé. I thought the first game was crazy and after seeing this one, that was a gross understatement. The crowd had almost doubled and they now had a full out band on one side and then a group of men on another side with African drums. People were running around waving the B-town flag and some even went as far as to paint themselves. The gendarmes had doubled, if not tripled in number! B-town ended up winning 4-0 (an extremely high scoring game)! Yaoundé just couldn’t seem to get it together. Unfortunately, the next game in the tournament is not in B-town so we will miss it but I am hoping fervently that they will continue to win!

Later that evening I went on a promenade with my home stay mother, Berline. I didn’t quite understand what this term meant. I thought we were just going for a quick little walk. Oh hell no! We stopped by her cousins’ store, then her aunt’s bar, then her other cousin’s bar, where she pimped me out by giving my number to some man named Francis who didn’t speak a lick of English. God, I pray he doesn’t call, that would be a disaster! After that short stop there (where I got a grapefruit Top and some peanuts), we moved on to a bigger bar where we sat with B-town’s goalie’s parents. They were decked out in the yellow/green B-town gear and were in extremely high spirits, which was being aided by large bottles of Cameroonian beer. All in all it was an extremely educational evening; I was hugged and kissed more than any one event in my life!

This week in training we had Gender and Youth Development and HIV/AIDS sessions. Two people living with HIV came and spoke to us. It was unbelievable and so heart wrenching! They discussed how they got it (if they knew), what they are doing to fight it, and how their families were affected. The main problem with AIDS/HIV in Africa is lack of education. People here still think that you can get the virus from just being near an infected person. They also believe a good many other myths that I won’t get into at this time. For example, the man had been a principal at a school and fell extremely sick. The founder of the school had him tested for HIV/AIDS and when he received the results told all his colleagues. He was then sent a letter letting him know he had been terminated. This situation ended up making national news, where the headlines read something to the affect of, “Principal infects at least 200”. Absolutely unbelievable! There are no words. As Peace Corps volunteers (not medical), they ask that we just befriend any HIV infected be come across and just show people that by speaking or shaking someone’s hand the virus is not transmitted.

B-town, West Africa

Calm down, deep breaths, get yourself dressed, instead of running around and pulling on your threads and breaking yourself up

If it’s a broken part replace it, if it’s a broken arm then brace it, if it’s a broken heart then face it. And hold your own, know your name and go your own way. Hold your own, know your name and go your own way and everything will be fine.

Hang on, help is on the way. Stay strong, I’m doing everything. Hold your own, know your name and go your own way. Hold your own, know your name and go your own way and everything, everything will be fine, everything.

Are the details in the fabric? Are the things that make you panic, are the thoughts results of static cling? Are the things that make you blow and the reason go on and scream. If you’re shocked it’s just a fault of faulty manufacturing. Everything will be fine, everything, no time at all, everything.

Hold your own, know your name, go your own way. Hold your own, know your name, and go your own way. Everything will be fine. Everything in no time at all, hearts will hold.

- Details in the Fabric, by Jason Mraz

“Head under water and they tell me to breathe easy for a while. " Sarah ...

I’m taking Jason Mraz’s words to heart these days and Sarah’s lyric line is a perfect example of Peace Corps pre-service training. Every day is slightly more challenging than the one before. Language is still coming extremely slow. I was told today that I will have language training by myself next week. This is pretty much the parallel of riding the short bus in the Peace Corps world (at least that is how I see it). I’m staying positive and if riding the short bus will help my French, sign me up!

The SED trainees received our businesses on Monday that we will work with over the next six weeks. My business is a Beaureatique Cyber Café. The business has three computers that people use for the internet. The other two computers are used for assisting people with computer project or teaching sessions. The business also sells paper and other supplies and will make copies for its clients. I was extremely thankful when I realized that my lady spoke English! She would like me to do some marketing and increase her client base. This should be an interesting task! When I went with her on Monday to see the store and we were discussing when I would be back, she quickly said, “Oh, I expect you every day for at least 30 minutes”. I about fell over! We are only required to go once a week and that time is scheduled into our day. I quickly made it clear that I am extremely busy and would come as much as possible. I went back on Wednesday and will probably pop my head in tomorrow. It should be great experience for what I can expect when I get to post.

Spain and the US played on Wednesday night and we were allowed an extended curfew to hang out and watch at Chez Pierre. Almost the entire group was there, plus the PCV’s that were visiting (Kate, Nick, Elise and Jim). We all had a good time, even when the drunken Cameroonian came in and told us that we were too loud. The PCV’s were in shock, Cameroonians never think someone is too loud. They tend to party into the wee hours of the night with no thought to how loud they are being to their neighbors. The US won 2-0 and the next day David told us that the Cameroonians were upset with us for not celebrating our win with more jubilee! I have to add that I got home right around 10 and the house was completely dark and the gate locked! I had to ring the bell, which is loud as a siren, and then Jim starting beating on the gate when they didn’t immediately respond. Finally my brother came and let me in. I felt so bad but then again they knew when to expect me! This living with a family and not being able to communicate is a pain in the ass!

As I’ve stated before, Cameroonian’s love soccer (au football). A week ago B-town had their 2nd game in the tournament against Yaoundé. I thought the first game was crazy and after seeing this one, that was a gross understatement. The crowd had almost doubled and they now had a full out band on one side and then a group of men on another side with African drums. People were running around waving the B-town flag and some even went as far as to paint themselves. The gendarmes had doubled, if not tripled in number! B-town ended up winning 4-0 (an extremely high scoring game)! Yaoundé just couldn’t seem to get it together. Unfortunately, the next game in the tournament is not in B-town so we will miss it but I am hoping fervently that they will continue to win!

Later that evening I went on a promenade with my home stay mother, Berline. I didn’t quite understand what this term meant. I thought we were just going for a quick little walk. Oh hell no! We stopped by her cousins’ store, then her aunt’s bar, then her other cousin’s bar, where she pimped me out by giving my number to some man named Francis who didn’t speak a lick of English. God, I pray he doesn’t call, that would be a disaster! After that short stop there (where I got a grapefruit Top and some peanuts), we moved on to a bigger bar where we sat with B-town’s goalie’s parents. They were decked out in the yellow/green B-town gear and were in extremely high spirits, which was being aided by large bottles of Cameroonian beer. All in all it was an extremely educational evening; I was hugged and kissed more than any one event in my life!

This week in training we had Gender and Youth Development and HIV/AIDS sessions. Two people living with HIV came and spoke to us. It was unbelievable and so heart wrenching! They discussed how they got it (if they knew), what they are doing to fight it, and how their families were affected. The main problem with AIDS/HIV in Africa is lack of education. People here still think that you can get the virus from just being near an infected person. They also believe a good many other myths that I won’t get into at this time. For example, the man had been a principal at a school and fell extremely sick. The founder of the school had him tested for HIV/AIDS and when he received the results told all his colleagues. He was then sent a letter letting him know he had been terminated. This situation ended up making national news, where the headlines read something to the affect of, “Principal infects at least 200”. Absolutely unbelievable! There are no words. As Peace Corps volunteers (not medical), they ask that we just befriend any HIV infected be come across and just show people that by speaking or shaking someone’s hand the virus is not transmitted.

There are a couple things that I know now that I didn’t two weeks ago. A few of them are the following: you don’t realize how dirty your clothes get until you have to hand wash them all in a bucket; I am just as accident prone as ever; Cameroonians love soccer and clean shoes; and the one that is standing out the most to me right now is that learning French is hard as shit.

I have now officially finished washing all of my clothes (and a couple of things twice). To you at home this may sound like a simple task but believe me it is not. It is actually quite a time consuming ordeal! It has taken me a total of four days. It probably normally wouldn’t but figuring out the schedule hasn’t been simple. At first I figured that the afternoons would work best. I quickly learned that this is not the case. The area of Cameroon that I am in right now is in the short rainy season. That basically means it rains every afternoon and a good many nights, actually it feels very similar to a Lowcountry summer.

When I finally got an afternoon that it wasn’t raining, it ended up pouring that night and my clothes took a whole other day to dry! This is also a pain because I can’t wear my clothes for three days after they are dry due to a lovely insect called the mango fly. It lays its eggs in damp clothing and when you wear your clothes they get in your skin and grow into larvae. You end up having to squeeze a worm out of your body (depending on what item of clothing they got laid on). Every volunteer that we have spoken to has told us that it is guaranteed that we will get at least one (if not a few) in our 27 months in Cameroon. Yeah!

Washing clothes in a bucket is hard… you only place a few items in at a time and then you have to rinse them out and hang as you go. If you are doing a large amount you need to dump the water half way through and start fresh. I also am not allowed to hang my personables, I love calling them that, outside. It is a good thing that my mosquito net is multifunctional and that the pesky mango fly will not have a chance to do its business on my underwear or bras! In any case, I am very proud of myself and have learned the lesson not to let my clothes pile up (your back begins to ache from bending over for so long).

I am still as accident prone as ever! Thursday was our general meeting and sports afternoon. I was really pumped about playing soccer and had been looking forward to it for a couple of days. Within the first 2 minutes of the game I roll my ankle (I know no one is surprised by this). By the time I get home that evening it is swollen and hurts like Hades. I think my body just refuses to do anything athletic. It is absolutely ridiculous. The swelling is slowly going down but keeping it wrapped and wearing Chaco’s has been very interesting. I also don’t think that Cameroonians know what ice is…

This morning my gracefulness continued as I was heading to school. As you step out of the gate at the front of my house, there is an incline that stays pretty slippery due to the rain and mud. As I was working my way down out went my feet and down went my ass. Let me add (I want to make sure you have the full picture) that I was wearing a skirt and that my sister, Sandrine and her friend where standing right there watching me. After a few explicative words I got myself up went inside and changed. Unfortunately, I had no other clothes but ones that had been washed only two days ago. Looks like my odds for having a mango fly on my butt cheek and or legs just increased by 50%!

We went to the market today, it really is unbelievable to walk around and try to haggle with the vendors. They immediately jack up the prices when the” le blanches” come walking up. I find it amusing and it is a good way to practice my French. I ended up buying hangers, a scrub brush and a mirror (cintres, a brosse les chasseurs et miror). I had chickens shoved in my face along with a man trying to sell me a goat. I decided that I might end up with a goat for a pet right on the spot. Along that same line of thought, in the very near future, I might go back to being vegetarian!

After words, lunch took two hours – I truly think that they went and killed a chicken for Nick, Oliver and me. I also think that the chicken must have been anorexic! We would have been full if we had been up for the intestines that were served as the meal of the day. Kevin enjoyed them, although he commented they were a little chewy. On the way home it down poured on us, I couldn’t resist singing, “I blessed the rains down in Africa”.

I just had my first experience with Cameroonian hospitals/doctors. The Jump Little Children said it best, “very interesting”. It is Sunday, so it was actually more of a favor to the Peace Corps that he even came in (well, that and they pay him really well for his services). At one point, I was really concerned that he was going to give me another tetanus shot – but thank God he didn’t. I am still not to easy with the idea of having a needle stuck in me in Africa.

So, you may now be wondering, why did I have to go to the doctor? Well, as most of you know, I am not known to be the most graceful person. Last night after my shower, of freezing water might I add, I accidently knocked into my metal trunk. I thought I had just scratched it but when I glanced down blood was gushing out!!! The cut was about two inches long or whatever the equivalent of 8 cm is and was actually open. I immediately grabbed my handy Peace Corps medical kit and began frantically searching through for what I was supposed to use.

So now here is the dilemma I am in: 1) my family doesn’t understand a word I am saying 2) I don’t have enough hands to hold the wound together and butterfly suture it 3) It is after 7:00 p.m. so none of the other trainees can come help me. I eventually get the blood stopped by putting my leg higher than my heart (not sure if this is what did it or if it is an old wives tale). I then go and ask my home stay sister, Sandrine, to help me. She then holds my wound together while I put ointment and the sutures on it. Let me remind you that there is absolutely no spoken communication between us, I can’t speak French and she can’t speak English. I am sure every fly/bug/spider in my room was gasping for breath at the hilarity of the situation.

It actually works pretty well and I get it all bandaged up. I spoke with another trainee who told me to call David, who is the head of the whole training program, just to let him know. The next thing I know, they are at the door and make me call Chad the PCMO. Due to the fact that it was a metal trunk they were slightly freaked. I am now on an anti-biotic and have some sort of cream to put on it. I am sure this is just the beginning of my medical incidents.

June 14, 2009

Later in the day…

I cannot remember ever being more out of my comfort zone than I was today, but oh what an exhilarating experience! I went with my home stay siblings (Sandrine, Christian and Rodriquez) and their friends to see B-town play soccer (au football). I had no idea what I was getting myself into! When we arrived at the stadium Christian bought the tickets and then we went to go in. My family and friends immediately surrounded me (a form of protection I realized immediately – I was also told not to bring my purse) and I quickly realized why. I was probably the only ‘le blanche’ (white person) in the entire place of probably over 1,000 people! We stood along the fence and watched the entire soccer match between B-town and Yaounde. It was great! As soccer matches go it was getting towards the end and the score was zero to zero. Right at the end B-town scored a goal on a penalty kick, it was beautiful. They crowd went crazy. It finally clicked with me that I could have gotten myself into a “possibly explosive situation”. My concern didn’t last long though, Sandrine grabbed my hand and Christian quickly stepped to the other side of me and they stayed that way until we were out of the stadium. It was such a great experience considering we still can’t really communicate all that much…

Another note: It finally occurred to me this morning, as I was washing our dishes from breakfast, what I have accepted as livable conditions. I was dishes with an old (in no way clean) rag and then rinse in the tap water. In our kitchen there are flies/bugs everywhere and the food just sits out. I probably should be more concerned than I am but I think that would probably lead to an anxiety attack!

The food is fabulous. I bought myself and my family pastries (tasted like large donut holes without the icing). There is no processed food here (Heather- you would be in heaven) and almost all that we eat is handmade and really tasty! The only thing I can’t quite get used to is eating the whole fish (tale, fins, head, eyes, etc.) I keep telling my home stay mother, Berline, “J’ai plein” or “Je suis rassasier!” (which simply translated means: I am full or I’ve had enough). It seems think I am too skinny which is ironic because in the USA I am considered over weight!

Tomorrow I am going to try washing my clothes, this should be hilarious. Hopefully everyone want watch and laugh! Bonnenuit!

Twenty-nine people left Philadelphia on June 4 to embark on a journey to an unknown land (at least to most of them) called Cameroon. Journey is the operative word in this sentence. These people have put their lives on hold for twenty-seven months to join the Peace Corps. A lot sold homes, apartments and cars to make this possible. Others quit jobs, left loved ones or boarded a plane for the first time.

The group of people that I am writing about (that I am lucky enough to be a part of) ranges from recent college graduates, one in particular only a week out of the University of California Berkley, to a retired gentleman in his mid sixties. The group not only has a wide variety of ages but an extremely diverse ethinic background. For the most part the group is extremely well traveled, more than half living for extended periods of time in other countries such as Italy, Ghana, Thailand, Vietnam and so on. It is amazing how many countries this group has visited cumulatively. This group of individuals shares a couple things in common. To put it simply they all have: a love of travel and experiencing different cultures; a want, if not a need, to share what American’s are truly like to other countries; a compelling need to serve others; and no problem accepting living conditions that the general population of America would be aghast to live in.

Over the next three months I will share what the group goes through during training and then onto my two years of service (if God so sees fit). Please be patient with me because I never know when I will have access to internet!

After a combined 13 hours on two planes, we, the Cameroon trainees, arrived in Yaoundé. Yaoundé is an extremely large city and not at all what I was expecting. There are buildings everywhere in the city (most not reaching over 4 or 5 levels high). The driving is absolutely crazy! The only rule that we can see (and have now been told) is that the bigger car wins. I really think it is wise that we are not allowed to drive here. I think there would be serious issues and my road rage would be out of control (go ahead and laugh girls).

We arrived on Friday with a big soccer match (au football) against Morocco looming on the horizon (that Sunday). The town was in high spirits and ready for the game, because of this we were not allowed to leave our hotel. We visited the Peace Corps Case but had to immediately return instead of exploring the city. The game came and went on Sunday with a draw. Both Cameroon and Morocco will go on to play other teams to fight for an opportunity to play in the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. As the days continued we were introduced to Peace Corps staff, trainers and volunteers. We received multiple shots (typhoid, Hepatitis A &B, rabies, yellow fever, etc.) that seemed to never end. At this point – I have two more shots in the rabies series and then I should be done – thank goodness!!!

Our time in Yaoundé came and went extremely quickly. I admit that I was hesitant to leave our nice hotel with air conditioning, warm water and a bar! The other part of me was jumping up and down to get going to B-town (Peace Corps requires we not disclose our location) to begin learning (language, technical and culture training)! It is hard to explain the emotions that you feel when you are in a country that you can’t speak the language and are about to meet a family that you are going to live with for 2 and half months. I was actually not as nervous as I thought I would be. I have managed to develop this, it’s in God’s hands, attitude. I believe that I can only alter certain things in this journey I am on. The things that I have control over are how I apply myself to the language and technical training; keeping an open mind about the culture and people of Cameroon; and not making dumb decisions. James Ham charged us with the last one. He is the country director – also a native South Carolinian – from Darlington. It really is amazing how small the world is!

On my first night with my home stay family we had a power outage, which is really common for B-town. The funny part of this, was that I was standing in the shower (which really isn’t a shower, it’s a shower head that just sprays into the middle of the bathroom). Luckily, my home stay sister brought me a candle and I was able to get dressed and back to my room. When it went out the second time I had my head lamp within reach. One thing I can say about myself, I do learn some things quickly!