One Year in Country

June 5, 2008 - Wow. It's been a long time. How have you been spending these few months? Greet everyone for me…might be what I would say here. Anyway it has been a while, I've been busy with things and like other volunteers told me it gets harder and harder to keep up a blog and generally keep in touch with people. I hope everyones well and all of that. We just closed the school Saturday so I'm officially done for a few months. I have a project I'm working on (when the proposal finally gets going Ill send an email asking for money) and I will be taking some well deserved vacation. If any family and friends are reading this and thinking "wow I wish I could visit Africa and look around a little"…you can! You have a free tour guide here who will take you into the jungle, visit pygmies, see the desert, climb the tallest mountain in west Africa, whatever you want to do. We will spend at least a few days relaxing on the black sand beaches of Limbe, having ice cold beers served to us and eating roasted fish coming straight out of the ocean. Remember, the weathers always nice here. You have to pay your flight (about 2000US) and take at least 2 weeks vacation, but once youre here the exchange rate is very nice. I've seen Europeans traveling here with their kids, I assure you its safe. My village would welcome you nicely...I guarentee it would be the most eye opening vacation you've ever taken and will change away you think about life. Anyway, something to think about.
I know I had a whole speech before about how I'd turned a new leaf and would start to blog more often about different topics and I still have the list, but honestly I've been traveling and doing school work and just haven’t had the motivation. Hopefully I'll have some over the summer, but again I will be busy. The new training group arrives Saturday. Yup, that means Ive been in Cameroon for 1 year. It went fast no? Ill be helping them with training in a few weeks when I get back from my mid-service vacation which also starts Saturday. Unfortunately Im flying out of the other city in Cameroon so I wont get to see the wide eyed newbies coming in. Im looking forward to going to Europe but Im a little frightened of being overwhelmed. When I went to Yaounde for a conference the traffic itself threw me a little, especially when I saw it from the top of the Hilton. I cant imagine Paris. Anyway Ill let you guys know how it goes.
Let me give you one cultural tidbit that is annoying me at the moment. Everyone, mostly those who have never met another American, asks you to bring them things when you travel. Just now when I was going to the market a girl in my class said "what are you going to keep for me at the market?" I said "I don’t know Ill see whats there.."(I usually try not to commit to anything) What I want to say is "I don’t even know your name, what am I supposed to buy something for every kid in the neighborhood every time I go to get some pineapples?" I restrain myself of course and its usually alright if I don’t get anything, but its even worse when you tell people youre going to Europe. People have asked for computers, dvd players, cell phones... Im going to have to get some small things I think but it’s a lot of pressure. I have to remember probably 15 people, Im supposed to be on vacation! Now these people are not trying to take advantage of me, its just part of the culture that if you're traveling you bring back something, I think its usually to show that you thought about them. Just shows you that even after a year there are things that youll never understand.
Okay now a more positive story about the culture…I've discovered a strength I have in the Cameroonian culture that I didn’t know was there: my dancing. Now all my college friends who are reading this are snickering a little and thinking of how they so often imitated my dancing by rolling their shoulders and bobbing their heads. Cameroon has changed me and it comes down to two things: the freedom to express yourself and mirror dancing. First, the freedom. You can do ANYTHING here and people will accept it as long as you move with the music. My favorite game is choosing the most ridiculous dancer on the floor and imitating them, preferably if your partner is doing it too. Lots of fun. Also its not strange for 2 or 3 men to dance together, in fact they dance more exuberantly if its all men. Freaked me out the first time a guy came over to dance with me but now I'm used to it, its fun. So now to mirror dancing. In most of the night clubs here they have mirrors lining all the walls so that you can watch yourself or your partner dance. I don’t know how strange it sounds anymore because its pretty standard here and Im gonna miss it. If a person doesn’t have a partner he (usually the girls wont dance without a partner or will be picked up quickly) will just stand about 4 ft from the mirror and dance, watching nothing but himself. It takes maybe 5 minutes to get used to seeing yourself, but after 10 you get really into it. I hope it starts in the US. Anyway these 2 things have given me the confidence to be a little more creative when I dance. When my school colleagues saw me dance at the school closing I got tons of compliments, even won a free beer from the social committee. We had another occasion Saturday night called a burn house, which is a first year birthday party for a child. I was asked to open the dance with a few others…was a lot of fun. Im worried Ill go back to the US and look ridiculous, but Ill deal with that when the time comes. Hope everyone has a good summer, Ill update hopefully sometime in July.