gahhhhh INTERNET!!

Oh Hey There!

I finally have a little internet.  I'm in the middle of nowhere and the connection is absurdly slow, so I hope this goes through.

I'm living with a bunch of pretty sweet farmers in village outside Bafia called Lable.  We have a whole plot with every tropical fruit and vegetable you can think of, so that’s sweet.  I actually get to try some new exotic fruit tonight called a cassamonga, which I think is kind of like a red guava.  I’ll report back when I have time. I’m also pretty sure they’re going to slaughter one of their pigs for me this weekend.  What a delicious treat.

Another delicious treat is my daily bucket shower.  I just love them. Because THE CHRIS taught me that navy showers are the way to conserve, I can wash myself with just a little bit of water pretty effectively.  There’s nothing better than waking up at 5:45 am to the cackle of roosters and walking off to the latrine/shower area to pour buckets of cold water on yourself! Okay, maybe there is, but right now that experience is the highlight of my day!

My dad is also one of the only scholars of the native language of this area, Bafia. There are over 230 languages in Cameroon, so most everyone speaks to each other in either English, or French when they are meeting somebody from a different area.  Anyway, I think it’s fascinating that all these languages are only oral.

My host sis is also really rad.  She is one of three girls who actually goes to school.  She also has four brothers, so is super excited I’m there to have “girl talk”.  She is literally the manifestation of what Peace Corps is for me; I want to empower women like her who don’t have the tools to succeed as well as men do.  We’ll see how that works out…it gives me some ideas to work with anyway.

Unlike a lot of the other volunteers, I frickin love my food: Chicken in tomato sauce, crazy fruit, and tapioca, which is not really like what we have in the states; maize, manioc, and water.  Oh yeah, Cameroonian dadeo shared his bowl of tapioca with me, which contained water from the well…,typhoid city here I come!  I’m going to just assume it was sterilized. It’s super rude to refuse a meal with an elder, so there goes health haha. But really, I’m exaggerating.  I think I’ll be fine for now and Peace Corps does a really good job with teaching us about safety…maybe too good of a job sometimes.  I’m getting antsy and want to just get out of the field.  I’ve got to wait three more months for that, though.   It’s actually amazing how structured everything has been at the office, while at home you just go with the family flow.

I’m realizing more and more that my Peace Corps friends are wildly important.  We all need each other a lot right now for comfort because we are basically going through the same thing; super huge highs, crazy lows and everything in between.  Luckily I’ve met some great people who will become bffs.

Language classes should be starting today or tomorrow too.  I’m starting off with some French classes and then hopefully learning this sweet tongue called Fufulde.  They speak it in northern Cameroon (the “extreme north” which looks kind of like the head of a chicken on a map) and in parts of Nigeria, and Chad.  It could come in handy if I ever have to jump the border!  I also want to be in a Muslim area in the middle of nowhere, so I can really delve into a completely new experience….I say that now.  We’ll see where my head is in a couple months when I’m off on my own, though!

What else is there to discuss?  Oh yeah, I constantly compare this crazy foreign land to Madagascar (where I studied in college), but it really is completely different. Cameroonians seem a lot more chilled out about me being here than the Malagasy.  I’m not sure if it’s because there are more Americans here, or if it’s just because the Malagasy are naturally more energetic than the relaxed Cameroonians.  I think Cameroonians may be a little shyer?  Who knows…I still don’t know this land well enough to make any assumptions. 

Another one of my favorite moments so far was when we were all dropped off at our host families houses in a big Peace Corps bus and all the host moms on the bus started singing.  It sounded like something you’d hear in the Lion King soundtrack or something (and by that I don’t mean Elton John).  My host mom is a super matriarch in my village, so she started every verse and would scream out some Bafia words throughout.  I did the same, but it somehow didn’t have the same ring to it.  Anyway…

Alright, I think I have a class pretty soon on taboos in the country.  Jut an FYI for anyone who plans to visit, don’t cross your legs (it makes you look closed up and unwelcoming) and sorry lefthanders, you can only use your right hand to do pretty much everything.  C’est comme ca ici.

A+ (aka a plus! Aka until next time!)