Field Trip!

This week is going to be a fun one! We're splitting up into small groups of 2-4 and are visiting volunteers throughout Cameroon. Science volunteers like me will be going to either the Northwest or Southwest and will have a few days to check out what our living situations will be like for the next two years. I'm heading to some village that Google maps can't locate so that's reassuring! I'm really excited to see a new part of the country, and traveling across Cameroon is going to be quite an experience as well. Also, next week we find out where our specific post is going to be. Can't wait for that, keeping my fingers crossed for reasonable beach access.

Obviously disappointed with the result from the US, Portugal match. A draw isn't bad by any means, but we were 30 seconds away from advancing past the group stage. Ahhh well, we're still in a good spot. Too bad Cameroon hasn't faired too well, but as long as one Africa team advances this whole continent will be backing them.

Random side note, the cell phone situation is definitely interesting here. I won't go into all the details, but for those who went to Bali, the process reminds me of purchasing petrol in Absolut bottles from street vendors. But hey, I don't care how I buy it as long as I get unlimited texting for a dollar a month. Should have a lot of new material to write about next week when I get back from Bessi Awum, so stay tuned.

Cheers!

You Es Ayyyyyy

'twas the 23rd hour on a warm Cameroonian evening and my nerves were at an all time high. I was feeling slightly nauseous, but not due to diarrhea, dehydration, or the other common plagues of this land. No, the matter was far more serious, the US was about to begin it's premier match of le Coup du Mounde. Ghana, a team America knows all to well, was the opponent. America's last memory from South Africa was elimination at the hands of this West African foe. This year, being placed in the aptly named "group of death" left no room for error. I anxiously gnawed on the heated corn cobs my host mother had graciously prepared for me. I was nervously drinking water as if my life depended on it...which I guess, theoretically, it does. As the teams walked onto the pitch my host father recited the names of players familiar to him. And as the national anthem began he hummed the tune in the background as I sang the lyrics.

Of the game itself, well the highlights are available anywhere. I couldn't be more pleased with the result, especially after losing Altidore early on. The match captured my attention throughout its' entirety. The mice, lizards, and mosquito's were for once an after thought. My host father congratulated me on the victory as I went to bed. His allegiances lie first and foremost with Cameroun and then predominantly with other African nations. But because of the support I showed for Cameroon during their match against Mexico I believe he is willing to offer some show of support for le Etats Unis. I can't wait for the next match against Portugal. They looked very beatable vs Germany, but that may have been more of a testament to Germany's strengths rather than Portugal's weakness. Nonetheless, I am eager for le Dimanche to arrive and am curious to see what side my host father chooses.

The beginning of the end

So we all left the hotel and arrived in Ebolowa, where we will be for 9 weeks. We'll be taking a ton of language classes and we'll be getting training for our assignments. People in education will be learning how to approach classroom management, lesson planning, etc. We're also spending a lot of time going over safety & security as well as health. I think half the group has already gotten sick. Mostly it's just stomach viruses, colds and flu's. We've been getting tons of vaccinations so we're not too susceptible to anything extremely life threatening. Pit latrines have been quite the learning experience. But with most things, once you understand the dynamics of it and get used to it, it's not so bad. I'm bathing twice a day here, mostly because I'm paranoid about all the diseases we can get so proper sanitation is key. Bucket bathing isn't bad at all. Sure there are spiders and cockroaches all around me, but that adds to the experience. Splashing cold water on my body is a refreshing, and it reminds me of jumping in the pacific ocean. Miss ya San Diego, but don't miss the traffic at all. On that note though, I'm definitely going to request to be placed near Limbe, which is apparently a surf town around here. It sounds like they may actually sell surfboards which would be unreal, but I don't want to get my hopes up just yet.

Le Coupe de Monde starts in a few days, woooo! Interested to see how the 'ole U S of A does. I'm working on having the same blind optimism I have as a redskins fan. But hey, anything can happen in just one game, so I'm excited. The Cameroonian squad is supposed to be decent as well. It will definitely be fun to watch them play. I'm not sure if I want to watch it at a bar, or just stay at home and watch it with my host family. Oh yea, my host family has a 42" flat screen tv, much nicer than any tv I've ever owned. They also gave me pizza on my first night and there home is 50 yards from the training site. Other people in our groups have been served fish bones for every meal, have no electricity, and have host families that speak no English. So I got really lucky, my host family helps me with my French, but also speaks English to me when they need to tell me something important. There are two parents, two 18 year old twins (brother and sister) and a 15 year old brother.

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A few more things from this first week. I walked around my village the other day, pretty interesting place. I tossed around my rugby ball with some local kids. They are really interested in anything new or different. I do wish I had a few younger kids in my house because they're really cute and fun to play with. But my family is great too and we enjoy our time together. American hip hop is huge here so we watch a lot of music videos together.

I also set up a make shift volley ball court here yesterday. We were able to get a few good games in which was cool. We also found out there's a local basketball court so we're gonna challenge the locals later this week. I also need to cook my family a "typical"America dinner so if anyone has any suggestions for something simple leave a comment.

Cheers!

Week One

So our whole group made it to Cameroon. I had a chance to meet everyone in Philly, it seems like we've got a pretty cool team here. There's 37 of us, some in Youth Development and others in Education. And the ration isn't the worst I've seen either..ehhh....ehhh???? There was some initial excitement as we went from the airport to our bus. Some guy grabbed someone's bag and made a run for it. One of the locals that was helping us ran after him and tackled the guy, and then he was arrested. Welcome to Cameroon! Other than that, nothing too crazy, weather is pretty nice, humid, but I feel like Disney World gets worse. We're staying at a hotel in Yaounde for the first week, so we're not digging our own poop holes yet. The food has been pretty awesome so far, there's this red spicy stuff that I've been calling African sirache, it's been great on everything. Everyone is still getting to know each other, and we're all discovering how terrible we are at French, c'est la vie. I'm mostly looking forward to buying some rad animal print fabric and getting a tailor here. In a few weeks I'm gonna be decked out in African tribal gear, and I'll seamlessly assimilate into the culture, too easy.

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And yea, last night in the hotel, shit's about to get real. Say goodbye to AC and running water. I've had a bit of diarrhea, but it's not much different than when I eat Mexican food. So just trying to steer clear of the ole Malaria......and typhoid, and dysentery, and meningitis, and the hiv, and probably the bubonic plague. Other than that, super pumped to move into a home where I can't communicate at all. My french has only come so far.

In terms of getting used to the country, well, it's similar to Baja and Indo in a lot of ways. The power goes out a lot here though, they explained to us that Cameroon has "scheduled blackouts". I guess me and this country have a lot more in common than I thought. Btw, Cameroon just tied Germany in a friendly, which is awesome on both fronts. Good for Cameroon, but also good for the ole 'merica, who may now be able to identify the weaknesses of zee deutschland! And yea, probably gonna adopt a monkey, because I'm gonna need someone to take care of the puppy I just adopted.

Cheers!