I’m not really tired of America, but I am getting more and more used to Africa. After 5 weeks of living in the village, I switched home stay families and am now in a slightly more urban setting for the remaining weeks of training. My new family is nice, and has a few more “luxuries” in terms of living conditions, but I was sad to leave my first family. My final night in the village we were, fittingly, without electricity. I gave a few gifts to the family: the highly popular Uno game, a vegetable peeler for my “mom,” erasers in the shape of cows (vaches) to the kids, nail polish for my host sisters, and a small American flag. In addition, one of my host sisters is pregnant so I gave her baby clothes and a list of the top 10 American boy and girl names (originally I was asked to help with the naming of the child so I thought this was an alternative with less pressure). In exchange, she gave me a bracelet and, I’ll admit, I nearly started crying by the touching gesture.
I spent last week on site-visit and am now eagerly anticipating my return in December as I think I’ve received an assignment that suits me very well. I’m located in the West (l’ouest) region of Cameroon, a francophone province that’s quite mountainous. The views are stunningly beautiful and I hope that I never get so used to them that they cease to amaze me during my two years. We’re currently at the tail end of the rainy season so the climate was cool (who knew I’d be wearing fleece during the day and sleeping under a blanket in Africa?) and agriculturally, it’s a vegetarian’s dream.
I stayed with a current PCV in the neighboring town, and she was a wonderful host. We ate couscous (the kind I’m used to, not the Cameroonian version), humus, popcorn, lentil burgers, and *salad* (that’s right, arugula grows there!), made chocolate chip cookies over a cook stove, and drank fresh ginger and/or hibiscus tea. It was delightful and I can’t wait to start living on my own and experimenting with the local produce.
My village, Bapa, has about 4,000 inhabitants, but it’s a bit spread out so it will take a bit of time to get a real sense of the layout. The health center is small, and only has four employees, but they seem like an enthusiastic group.
I suppose now is a great time to comment on some of the various transportation I’ve experienced recently. To get to my site, we first took a van. This was already an adventure in and of itself as we had only gotten a few kilometers from the training site when the driver decided to increase the price since we didn’t have enough people. This outraged enough people that we turned around and waited while the details were negotiated. Because the van wasn’t full, we accepted more passengers along the way. In the end, there were 24 people in the van, and four goats tied to the roof of the van. It’s a comical experience to be driving down the road while it rains in a crowded van that leaks, while baby goats (chevres) bleat overhead. I recommend it…
From the regional capital, I take a taxi to get to a nearby town. Taxis typically don’t leave until they’re full, and full is at a minimum 7 people, though often more. You’re guaranteed to be cramped, and I’ve now had my legs fall asleep on more than one occasion. Upon squeezing out of the taxi (made even more interesting when your feet are numbly asleep), it’s just a short motorcycle ride - or an hour and a half walk - to my house. Riding a moto is a bit dangerous (a few trainees have already been burned by the exhaust pipe or been involved in minor accidents – our helmets are mandatory and I’m happy to comply having seen motorcycle accidents from my days on the fire department), but I love this form of travel. I’m becoming very comfortable seeing my surroundings while bouncing along dirt roads…
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