Cold

Cameroon is located just north of Equatorial Guinea. As you can probably deduce, the Earth's equator runs through Equatorial Guinea, which in turn implies that Cameroon itself is very close to this planetary dividing line. Before coming to Cameroon I mentally prepared myself for temperatures far exceeding those of an august vacation in Disney World. When I arrived in Yaoundé at night the weather was fortunately quite pleasant. And staying in a hotel with air conditioning was a dream come true. Even walking around during the day in this capital city was by no means scorching. Ebolowa on the other hand, the site where we trained for ten weeks, was a whole different story. The days were hot, but the nights felt even hotter. It was impossible to sleep, as I had to continually bail water from my bed as a result of how much I was sweating. But this was peace corps, this was what I had signed up for, so I wasn't complaining. Then site visit came, and I experienced the northwest's surprisingly mild climate. I was beyond ecstatic to know that I would be posted within this region. Learning I would be spending my peace corps service living in Enyoh was great but I did not know any specific details about this particular village. All I knew was that it was near Batibo, which I had seen briefly during my site visit. The first time I came to my village and new home I immediately fell in love with the place. Being able to see Batibo and countless other villages out in the distance from this high elevation was incredible. At this altitude, even the air felt crisper. And after my first night sleeping in my new house I discovered that the climate was not simply temperate, it was cold. I don't expect anyone in America to believe me when I say this, because sometimes it's even hard for me to believe it. When I was in training I was so worried about the heat I asked my blessed mother to ship my hammock to Cameroon in hopes that I'd be able to sleep in a pool of slightly less sweat every night. And I was beyond thrilled when that package arrived with my new sleeping quarters and many other thoughtful items sent from America. Setting up the hammock in my room with walls made from cinder blocks proved challenging, but my engineering degree was finally put to good use and in no time I was swaying back and forth, slowly drifting to sleep. And having this set up just over my bed proved ideal because surprisingly, many nights are so cold I need to sleep in my bed with multiple blankets and comforters in order to stay warm during the wee hours. So simply rolling out of my hammock into my bed has become routine at this point. And when a late night rainstorm comes it gets so cold I begin to wonder if I have been posted in Siberia, and I would have it no other way. Suddenly the beanies I brought out for purely sentimental value don't seem so foolish. And if I can't find a pair of warm slippers out here I may just need to ship some from home. As the holiday season is rapidly approaching I slightly smile while thinking to myself, it's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas.