Sunday, February 15, 2009

Waterfalls and Pickpockets

Hey guys...sorry for the long wait. I've been busy and since my computer has died I'm finding even harder than before to get updates up. Despite possible rumors I am in fact alive and well. I've had an interesting few months. First, as you've seen dad came in mid December to visit and stayed for Christmas. It was fun having him here, hearing his first impressions and showing him how I live here. We stayed a little poche for a bit in the tourist sites but then went to village. Even Cameroonians are surprised that my dad came out to post and took a 1.5 hr moto ride back to Dschang. I'm glad he came, its nice to be able to say names of towns and people and have him know what I'm talking about.

We had a meeting at my post a few weeks ago and went to a waterfall by my post, but since I'm running out of time and I'm lazy Ill refer you to my friends blog who went, he describe it pretty well: http://jimeroon.blogspot.com

Finally Ill tell you about one of the worst days I've had in country, and of course it involves travelling. I took a small car from Dschang to Bafoussam (1hr) to take a car from there to Yaounde (3-4 hrs) because its faster than going straight from Dschang. I was wearing mesh shorts because the previous day I'd walked from my post to Dschang (about 45km or 28 miles) and was sore as s***. Getting out of the car I paid the driver, then followed a friend I'd made in the car also going to Yaounde. Two guys bumped into me for an unusually long time, and i was suspicious and checked my bag but there were no hands there (turns out wallet was in my pocket). Only after I'd gotten on a car to Yaounde and police came to give our new driver crap for staying on the side of the road too long did I check to make sure I had my id and realized my wallet was missing. I shouted explitives and threw my bag against the window getting everyones attention. I explained what had happened and finally the people inside the car convinced one of the police officers to help me try to get my wallet. My friend took his wife and child off the bus and said he would help me. As we were walking back to the spot where it happened the police officer told us to walk seperately so they wouldnt know he was with us. I never saw him again. My friend talked to some people who had seen it happen (turns out there were about 10 witnesses) and there were some guys who offered to go get the wallet. 2 hrs later they came back with the wallet, missing the 50000cfa (about 100 dollars) that was inside. I was relieved to have my id and bank card and immediately went to the bank and refilled my wallet. The guy was so nice he paid the guys 5000 for finding the wallet for me and was going to pay for my transport to yaounde. I paid him back and have talked to him a few times since. Then i got in a bush taxi with a crazy driver who tried to blow through a police stop, they blew one of our tires, i jumped out the window when he stopped, it was scary. unfortunately im out of time. hope everyones good, see you in a few months
brad