...and a Happy New Year

January 4, 2008 - Just started my only full year in Cameroon, and for those of you that miss me (hopefully theres a few) Ill be home next year. I didnt do much for the New years just hung out and drank some wine and whiskey and watched arrested development. All of us had different times on our phones so we settled to count down according to the middle one. The people here celebrate New Years Day more than New years eve, and we went to a family gathering and ate and drank. There was an American visiting a friend there it was very interesting to talk to her and hear her views on Cameroon after 1 week, and it was fun feeling a little like we knew a lot more than her. I have a lot to do online so Ill leave you with that, a few older updates I never posted, and the picutre of one of my most relaxing times in Cameroon:

Sometime in November - Last night I was looking forward to getting to sleep early and having a nice rest after a long day, but then was reminded to take my malaria medication which I usually don’t take at night because it disturbs my sleep. Ended up having a terrible sleep because of that and a mouse that I could hear going through my spaghetti (wasn’t about to try and kill it I would have been up all night from the adrenaline, that light is out). Anyway I ended up sleeping in (til about 730) and didn’t feel rested when I heard a knock on my door, I had thought my friend who I was going to hike with would come late. I get my camelback together take some peanuts and my camera, and we go. First we climbed up to the cell phone towers that overlook the town it was a great view. On the way up we met a chief, then had some bananas at another chiefs palace. After about an hour and a half we reached the top and visited the chief we mets palace, but had been on his way to the funeral of a woman who died in a motorcycle accident. We (my friend) talked to his wife for a while (I really need to learn the local dialect). While I watched the kids. Kids here are amazing, they grow up really quickly. There are good and bad parts to this. They need to grow up quickly because there are so many of them and the parents are so busy they don’t have time to watch them all the time. Usually you will see kids watching their younger siblings. When I say kids I mean young kids…. the 6 yr old is in charge, the 4 year old will hold the 1 year old, etc. So the good parts is these kids wont play with knives or matches (more accurately they are careful with those things, one of the girls was playing with a razor blade while I was watching but no one was worried shed cut herself). Accidents certainly do happen, I once saw a boy who was hit with a moto and died…at first when I heard the crowd from 100yds away I thought they were cheering for something…but they were weeping, it was really sad (Im learning motos aren’t very safe but its they only way to travel sometimes). Anyway back to my day, we left that chiefs place and saw the cell towers, talked to the guy who cares for it. We went down a little bit to visit my friends grandmother but she wasn’t in. When we made it back to the main road we decided to go to Azi and visit the Font (the head chief of the area). We trekked about 30 or 40 mins there, ate some bush plums, (never had them before, kinduv like olives) and went to the palace. Turned out he wasn’t in either so we'd come for nothing, but on the way back through the market I saw a pineapple and decided we should buy it and relax a little bit. –my neighbor just dropped off some water fufu and fish sauce, mmmm-- I thought we were going to stay for 15 mins but we ended up hanging out, talking to people, talking about Cameroon and the US and differences, etc. for a good 2.5 hours. I realized I wasn’t acculturated when after about an hour I started getting ancy to leave, even though I had no where to go. When I relaxed it was one of the best feelings in the world, sitting talking with a 1.5 hour hike before I could get back to my cell phone in the event there was an emergency. The best part of our talk was when this guy came over to talk to us, but he couldn’t speak. He spoke in sounds and hand motions which my friend couldn’t understand, so a woman was translating to him in the local dialect, which he then translated to English for me. Very strange. Turns out he was inviting us to a party where there would be "beaucoup" drinks and food. It wasn’t his party I don’t think, because a little while later he asked me for 100 francs for food. He was a nice guy, but it always ruins it a little when they ask for money. Anway after a while we headed home, I barely made it at that the rest and the Guinness made my legs not want to work anymore. I bought some ground nuts and ground them (it makes sense) for peanut butter, and had a nice banana, pb and jelly snack and this fufu came just in time. Tomorrow Ive decided to go to church for the first time, its Thanksgiving mass I guess there's dances and singing planned. Maybe Ill write about it.

Guess Im writing about it. Just got back to mass, really glad I went. I think I'm going to try to be more involved in the community more, they are really accepting and grateful for just my participation in things, while at school I feel like they just expect things from me. Mass is nice here, there is lots of singing and dancing, but its loooooong. It starts about 945 and goes until 1130 or 12 usually, almost 1 today because it was Thangsgiving mass (not sure if it has anything to do with the American holiday, awfully coincidental since Thanksgiving is Thursday. I took a break and took a nap, read, talked to my neighbors about church, some students came by for help, and I was just about to cook myself dinner and work a little and…my gas ran out. About 5 minutes of thinking I couldn’t think of anything I could eat without a stove except for this coconut I bought, the problem is I bought one before and someone opened it for me and told me it was bad. I opened this one myself but I cant tell if its bad or not but its really tough and hard to eat. Basically every mother telling their kids that there are starving kids in Africa tonight are right. I don’t know if Ive told you guys about it but I have this lizard that comes into my window every night like clockwork. one night I didn’t close the window he came in, but since then if I forget he waits til I close it then comes in 10 minutes later. Ive named him Lou.

I think I need to write my entries a little differently. I was inspired by a Vanity Fair article I just read (theres a whole issue on Africa it was really good). It said how Africa is the “bad news continent” and its completely true. I’m sure if you search an internet news site the only articles you will get are about something sad, tragic, or about aid. I remember the Peace Corps telling me they would send me to Africa (this was back when I wasn’t really sold on the idea). I really had no idea where I was going. I knew they wouldn’t be sending me into a war zone, but that was the only picture I had of Africa. Since I’m here and some of you have fought through my lack of updating to be reading this now, I will try to paint a picture for you, maybe some day people will have a clear idea (and of course if anyone wants to visit and get the real deal, you are welcome (how they say it here)). Bringing African culture to America is actually one of the goals of the Peace Corps, so I’m just doing my job. First I have to warn you that I only know Cameroon. That being said, they call Cameroon miniAfrica, both because it has almost all the different climates of Africa and because it is so culturally diverse. It is amazing how culturally diverse it is. The cities are a hodgepodge of people from every place in every province, but when you go to the small provinces everyone has their own dialect (Im going to try to learn some of mine eventually, all I know now is good morning and good afternoon). If you travel about 40km you will find another dialect. They also have traditional leaders who are gradually being phased out I believe but they still have a lot of power in some communities. I’ve met two, and it was interesting both times. They have guards who go in before and make sure everyone knows the protocol…you have to stand, bow, bring gifts and other things. They seem to be pretty down to earth when you start to talk to them though. In the culture tradition and titles are very important. For every event there is a hierarchy of who shows up when. The smallest people will show up on time to half an hr later, then the important ppl will show up until the most important person shows up 1.5 to 2.5 hours late and the even can begin. Its really annoying I've started going very late to things sometimes after they’ve started, Im not good at small talk in the states Im not going to do it here for 2 hrs when I could be doing something else. The good thing I can say about the conferences is that they happen and important things are done. Sometimes I am annoyed at the slow progress or the repetition, but most of the time what is said eventually comes to a conclusion and it is recorded and saved for a meeting of higher ranked people. My favorite part about the meeting is item 11, the food at the end. They are always the best meals because they are free (usually come with a beer or two) and you are starving from not eating for about 6 hrs or so. I used to not like the traditional food they serve but its really good now. By the way Im going to return to the states a master cook. I never realized how easy it is to make things. Do you realize bisquick is just flour, baking soda and salt mixed together? Those guys are geniuses. Anyway Ive learned to make bread, tortillas, rice and beans, enchiladas, deep fried stuff, sauces for pasta and rice, peanut butter, other things I cant think of. Anyway it’s a good way to pass time here and then at the end its delicious. I complain about food a lot here but I eat really well, you never appreciate an enchilada until you go 4 months without it then shop and work for a few hours to make them. O yea Im killing a chicken this weekend and making sweet and sour chicken, I'm psyched. I meant to make this longer but Im tired and I still have work to do.

A little after thanksgiving - I have had a great past week or so. Its test time which is always a stressful time, but after giving all my tests I traveled down to Tico. There is an over 50 couple posted there (Peace corps is recruiting over 50 if you're over 50 and interested). They have a nice house, 2 extra bedrooms, 1 with a bed and the other with 2 extra mattresses. Their room just got air conditioning which is amazing but necessary there it is very hot and humid. The fridge was stocked with cold water and juice, and they had gotten 5 chickens, stuffing, had potatoes peeled for mashing, 3 cans of olives, 2 cans of cranberry sauce, and they made gravy and another volunteer brought pumpkin pie mix. 1 can of cranberry, 2 boxes of stuffing and brownie mix are waiting for Christmas (I think were doing Christmas on the beach too). O yea the beach. We arrived Saturday, went to a nice restaurant and went to bed early, got up around 730 or so, ate bfast (they had saved peanut butter from a care package), and went fo beach. We checked out a craft store and got draft beer before we went to the actual beach (this was about 11) and then headed to a secluded Peace corps hang out. The beach was awesome, its all black sand and nearly deserted, a few surfers, some people carrying things but we were mostly by ourselves. The waves were huge by the end, bigger then any id seen in the US, and we spent the entire afternoon drinking, swimming, playing Frisbee, and just lounging. Rediculous change from 2 days before when I was au village giving an exam to 80 students at a time. We left the beach and went to go get hamburgers, unfortunately the waitress informed us after 15 mins that they have the burgers but the ham was finished…so we got 6 plates of fries and got out of there. We ate the chicken, potatoes, stuffing, and cran sauce and drank wine (white wine even) and talked about how nice it was to have a holiday without all the advertisements, etc. Christmas is certainly going to be weird. I bet you all are starting to see television ads, billboards, my mom is certainly playing Christmas music by now, and we wont get any exposure to Christmas besides talking about what were going to do with other Americans (and about how weird it is that we don’t see ads). My new plan is to send my pictures home with a volunteer for Christmas, and have her mail them to my parents who Ill have buy the converter and send it back to me. Should be about 2 more weeks, but then youll have all the pictures I have. Its really hard to come back to post, but in 2 weeks Ill be back at the beach for training, where Ill get to see all the volunteers from all around the country…really looking forward to it. Apparently my address has disappeared from my blog, so if you want to send me something send me an email first Ill send you my addresses (ones faster and riskier ones slower and pretty safe). If you’ve sent me a package I haven’t gotten it yet, but Ill get it when we all meet in 2 weeks. Ill send texts to you that I got them (esp Kevin I know he thinks his is lost but I don’t think it is). Hope you all had a happy thanksgiving, and don’t worry about me I certainly did.

Be Well.
Brad

Merry Christmas

Dec. 28, 2007 - I hope everyone had a good Christmas and will have a good new years. We made a fantastic dinner, chicken, mashed potatoes (cheesy garlic), stuffing (real stove top), gravy and apple pie for dessert. I made the apple pie myself, and I have to say it was delicious. I tried to kill the chicken, the kid who was helping kept saying cut until it was bleeding all over and the head was limp and he said it was dead, but when i let go it sprang to life and started squaking, so he swung it around a little and eventually cut the head better....ill get it next time. I have been on vacation forever, we just got back from training in Kribi (beach town) and it was almost the 2 week xmas break. Ill write about Kribi, but for now heres a picture of me enjoying the only waterfall to fall directly into the ocean (or thats what the guys who had the boat said). Ok email me if you want the picture its not working. Merry Xmas.

Brad

Merry Christmas Everyone

December 20, 2007 - As usual I have updates I have written and the wont load onto the computer. Maybe sometime in the next week. Anyway Ive been getting seriously homesick for the first time, both with it being Christmas time and with the death of my grandfather (Grandpa, my dads dad to those who knew him). To my family, I wish I could have come back for the wake and funeral, but it would have been too difficult. I had people here to talk about it with, but I still think it doesnt feel real yet, not sure when it will hit me. I heard the cerimony was nice. Even though its sunny and warm everyday and I was at the beach all week, I miss the cold (or maybe the shelter from the cold) and the whole Christmas time. Im not sure what Im doing yet for Christmas, was thinking of travelling but kinduv miss my post. Ill try and get another update up soon, I promise no more than a week.

Brad

3 Months at Post

December 1, 2007 - Wow I didnt realize it was December until I looked at it on the computer. Time is going fast and slow at the same time, its a strange thing. I have a bunch of updates to put up but as usual my usb isnt getting along with the computer. I found out I can bring my laptop to the center and hook it up so Ill do that assuming theres lights and internet. I didnt have electricity for the past 2 days or so it was rough, read a lot but was very happy to get music back. I went to a crusade last night which is a traveling preacher who comes and they have a band, singers, and the preachers and singers lead the group in song and prayer, it was cool to see everyone together, and of course everyone was glad to see me there. Besides Thanksgiving I've just been hanging at post still getting used to teaching and life out there. Thanksgiving was amazing I went to a beach town and it was so close to an American Thanksgiving it was amazing...but I have already written about that so youll have to wait. Hope the US is still well and gas isnt 5 dollars/gallon. Ill post again soon.
brad

The Most Vulnerable I've Ever Been

November 13, 2007 - Things are going well...but a couple of nights ago I had the worst experience of my trip so far. The day started out well I went on a hike/run to the top of a mountain that overlooks my town, didnt make it to where I wanted to go but Im going to have a guide next time. Got back to town, bought a big pot at the market for baking, and made a really good dinner and chocolate cake for dessert. Went to bed happy. A few hours later (no idea what time because when I tried to look at my phone it was finally fully broken, wouldnt even turn on) I started feeling crappy in my dream and my pillow was made of chocolate cake so I was turning so I couldnt smell it, etc. but eventually I woke up and couldnt go back to sleep because my stomach felt so bad. The next 5 hours consisted of me going to the bathroom every 15 mins and having terrible diahrea, forcing water down after even though I usually puked it up soon after. I didnt fall asleep, just laid in bed listening to what I knew couldnt be mice because I hadnt had them in my house before (but no, Id left my door, with the key in it, wide open). Laying sick in Africa with no phone and my door wide open will be hard to beat in terms of vulnerability (dont worry I always lock my door especially now...and my town is very friendly...not that people wouldnt steal). I got one mouse out a few days ago but I know theres another because it broke into my pasta last night. O yea for those of you who know about "the club" or might be able to guess what it is I joined it that night. Twice. The laundrys still soaking. I have other updates but my it wont let me use my usb. Ill figure it out soonish or come back and update.

Aaand Im back, sorry

August 28, 2007
I’ve arrived in my village. It is small, and now that I’ve finished Harry Potter this morning, Im not sure what Im gonna do for the next few weeks. I got my class schedule finished, Ill be teaching Forms I-III (the smaller kids, the most work) but it shouldn’t be too bad. Ill also be giving some staff computer classes and looks like I might be the head of sports. The good news is I made my own schedule so I don’t teach Fridays, and I don’t teach Mondays until 1030 so I can travel on the weekends. Its been interesting having the community get used to me, but word travels FAST here. The first day I was hear I got a lot of "Hello white man" and strange looks, but after about 4 days people are already ignoring me (or not openly staring and gaping). I am not the only white man in my village, theres a woman finishing her masters from Oxford (American from the Midwest). When I was running by she yelled "WHITE MAN" and I thought it was just another call so I didn’t stop, when I ran by her a second time she was taking a picture of me. I stopped and said hello, it was nice to talk American English. By the way I said my English would suffer living in Francophone, its only going to get worse here in Anglophone. They speak their local language as their first language, and it comes through in the English. I have to find a Pidgin and French tutor, which shouldn’t be hard here because everyone the local language, Pidgin, French, and English almost fluently.
After finishing making the schedule today my VP took us our for a drink (1pm). I was a little skeptical but all the teachers were going I wasn’t sure if they meant a beer, and Id been up for 6 hrs, why not. I wish the others had ordered first because after the VP ordered a beer I did, and then everyone else got juice, guess drinking at 1 isnt very culturally acceptable here either. When I came back to my house my landlady came to say hi to me, we talked about rent, she has 3 daughters away at school, howd shed been to the US once, and then after she said goodbye she turned and said "are you married". I was flustered so responded no…I wish Id said yes or at least that I have a girlfriend, not that that means much to them. Hm so my house, its 1 living room, 1 bedroom, and a bathroom. The kitchen is basically half in the living room half in the hallway. The light in the bedroom doesn’t work, the toilet is broken, I don’t have a sink, and I find about a cockroach per day, but Im really happy with it. The last volunteer left all her stuff so I came with a stove, tables, chairs, bed, and most awesomely all her class notes and books. Cooking has been interesting. I think she had someone cook for her and Im starting to see why. There is absolutely nothing that you can buy in the market or grocery store that you don’t have to cook besides fried dough, cookies and chocolate. Ive been eating a lot of those but it cant be a meal (at least not all the time). Thank god for parmesan cheese. A lot of pasta, eggs, beans, and potato fries have gotten me through. Im gonna have to start branching out though because that’s about all I know how to make. Oh the prunes here which aren’t really prunes are good too. Funny thought from yesterday when I opened a can(with a hammer and a knife). Never did I ever think I would open up a can of what I thought was just tomato sauce and be glad that there were sardine chunks in it. It was delicious. Also popcorn with Maggi ™ and parm cheese is very good.
September 19, 2007 – It has been a looooong time since Ive updated, and I’m sorry. There is no internet in my town and my usb has been acting up, and the internet is so slow I only have time to type a few emails and see how the red sox are doing and I have to go…those are all my excuses, I’m lazy too. It’s been almost a month at post now. Time is going to fly. Here’s what life is like most of the time. I wake up, brush my teeth, make some coffee with ovaltine, and either just relax or plan lessons. I go to school whenever I have class, some days I can come home for lunch sometimes I eat there (made the mistake of drinking the spring water they have there, payed for that for a few days). On Tuesdays and Thursdays I play soccer, and on Wednesday afternoons they "do sport" after school. Today we played volleyball I think its soccer next week. Volleyball was fun, it was students vs. teachers. The teachers take a little bit of an advantage but its all in good fun, they just don’t want to lose. Other then that I read, cook, do laundry, dishes, clean my house, study French, plan lessons, watch the 6 arrested developments I have on my computer for the nth time, and visit with neighbors. I teach forms I, II, IV and lower VI, roughly equivalent to 7-8th grade, sophomores, and seniors. It is in no way like a school in the US. Lets start with the ways its better. My school is at the bottom of a valley, in every direction there are mountains and it’s without exaggerating its one of the prettiest place I’ve been and definitely the prettiest place I’ve lived (sorry Hamilton). Also teachers are always right and you can make your students kneel on the ground if they derange(gonna try and stay away from that). The classrooms are in individual buildings, with no glass windows…its not uncommon for birds to fly in and somewhat more rarely a chicken will wander in. The classes are big, anywhere from 60 to 80 students in each class. Makes it difficult to teach when they talk, but I’m lucky because they all want to learn from me so they are pretty good most of the time. School starts a little differently too, most of the teachers don’t show up until the 2nd week and some haven’t come yet, it’s the middle of the 3rd week. I teach 16 hours a week which might not sound like a lot but it is tough, especially because it’s mostly concentrated Tue-Thu. I have Fridays off which is nice for traveling. On my days off, I try to get things done like laundry, stocking up on water, cooking good meals, running, going to the tailor whatever random things come up. Every 4 days is market day so I buy my rice and veggies there. The food here is pretty good they have a lot of variety, I’ve had fun experimenting, although I’ve bought ginger by accident and haven’t figured out how to use it yet. Oh about the jogging there are amazing trails. Unfortunately there aren’t 2 roads to many places, so you usually have to just turn around and come back at some point. The only down side is it makes for a lot of laundry. I think I’m going to get some help with laundry and keeping the house clean. Hm I cant think of anything else, I’m enjoying it here, still miss everyone. Send me some emails.
NB: I wrote the second entry without remembering what I wrote in the first one, so you can see how I changed a little.
October 5, 2007- I am exhausted from grading, I accidentally assigned homework at the same time I had to give a test so now I have 2 papers from each of my 500+ students. Im through about half of it and its tiring, but its good to be busy. I don’t have any great stories at the moment…but pictures are coming! Im going to mail a memory card to Simon (Simon if I forgot to tell you this sorry but you offered to do something like it so I’m taking you up). So anyway the pics should be online somewhere in 3-6 weeks plus however long it takes Simon to get it together. I’ve been learning how to cook, slowly expanding my "things I can cook" list (theres actually a list on my wall so I remember things if I feel like changing it up). Think Im gonna make some fried vegetables and couscous when Im done typing this. I have 1.5 months down now and am really looking forward to the 3 month mark when PC will let us travel again. There are plans in the works to climb a mountain on thanksgiving and come back and feast. It might not be too late to fit in a package with some good food…After Thanksgiving we have IST (in service training) where all the people from my training get together and have some more training sessions and hang out in Limbe(really nice beaches). It’ll be good to see everyone as Ive barely seen any of them since August 23rd.

Almost a Volunteer

August 21, 2007 - After 2.5 months of language technical and cultural training I get offcially sworn in tomorrow as a volunteer. It is very much time to leave, Im going stir crazy here and ready to start workin g at my post. Im excited that i have a have almost a fully stocked house, I need to get a matress but that just means I have to stay a night in a bigger city with some voluneers to buy it. Sorry I cant update you guys more but after about a week of settling in I imagine Im going to have a lot of time to write emails.