The Rollercoaster Lifestyle

The best way to describe my life here is to compare it to riding a rollercoaster, like maybe the Comet at the Great Escape. I haven’t made it to the top of the ride yet or experienced the thrill of descent, but I have made some wonderful friends and they have helped me through the ups and downs of everyday life here. It was tough to be away from home for the holidays, but my fellow volunteers and I did our best to celebrate Christmas with food, stockings, and Christmas movies. We even sang some karaoke! The majority of the people I know in my village are Muslim and so they do not celebrate Christmas. I’m sure the Christians in my village go to church, but my friend and I decided to go a Lutheran church in Ngaoundéré for Christmas Eve. I did not completely understand the sermon in French but it is was nice to feel a little bit of home in the church with Christmas trees, Christmas paper chains, and singing. We plan on going to another church possibly for Easter.

Christmas in Ngaoundere

 

New Year’s Eve was just one big party in Ngaoundéré. Cameroonians celebrate just as much as Americans when it comes to New Years. I made it past midnight dancing at one of the clubs, but when I woke up to the call to prayer at 5am, I could still here the music from across the street at the bar. It was a fun night celebrating the start of 2015 with both my American, German, and Cameroonian friends.

New Years with view of Ngaoundere behind us

During the holidays, I visited a small village about an hour from Ngaoundéré called Mbang Mboum. My friend, Aliz, is the Peace Corps volunteer there. It was wonderful to see where another volunteer lived and experience the differences/similarities between her village and mine. Aliz has been there for over a year so she has so much knowledge to share about her work and her life here in Cameroon. Unfortunately, her village is being relocated after she finishes her service because a Chinese company is building a dam nearby. I was so shocked to hear that an entire village that has been there for so many generations will be moved without them putting up any of a fight. The people will receive compensation for starting a new life somewhere else, but I can’t imagine a change like this ever going smoothly in the U.S. As much as we as volunteers would probably want to stop this from happening, we are not supposed to get involved in politics or anything that would jeopardize our stay here. Mbang Mboum is a wonderful little village and Aliz took Gretchen and me to see the beautiful nearby waterfalls. Gretchen, Aliz and I are like the three Musketeers! We are planning on climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in July. We started a GoFundMe account to raise money and we are thinking of giving some of the money we raise to a Cameroon Education or Agricultural Project. We will let you know what we come up with!

Waterfalls in Mbang Mboum

We also took another trip to the Ranch de Ngaoundaba which is a camp near a lake that felt more like a vacation. The rooms are nice and there are hot showers! The main building had a dining room where all the guests ate meals together and a game room with a pool table. The animal heads on the walls made me think of this place as a scene from Ernest Hemmingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" where the character goes on an African Safari. I found out that the camp used to be used by people from other countries who came there to hunt and experience the “African Safari”. It is owned by a Frenchman who is very welcoming and even has a few walls by the kitchen that had been painted by a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. In the nearby village, this same volunteer helped the local women start a Soy Restaurant. I left the Ranch with a sun burn and some great memories with my new friends.

My first time enjoying a lake and the jungle!

I also got to see Lac Tison with my friends, Gretchen and Fidel. There was a hilarious moment when I decided to jump into the lake from the huge rocks we were picnicking on. Most Cameroonians do not swim and will only wade in the water by the shore. I didn’t want to risk getting a disease that is carried by the snails that live on the shore so I thought it would be much safer to jump into the deep end of the lake. My Cameroonian friend, Fidel, started to freak out and kept asking me to please, please do not go in the water because if I drowned, he would not be able to save me. After about an hour of him pleading, me laughing, and then me finally giving up, he finally said I could jump in but at my own risk. I finally jumped into the cool water and swam toward the nearest rock. About a minute later, I look up to see a crowd of Cameroonians around my friends. They had been across the lake and saw me jump in so of course they had to get a closer look at this crazy white lady. Fidel was so relieved I was okay and commented on my amazing swimming skills. Gretchen held back a laugh as she said “She was just doggy paddling”. I couldn’t stop laughing about the whole situation for weeks.

Lak Tison

I’m sure there are many things that I do here that my Cameroonian friends think are crazy. I made some bird feeders to attract some of the birds closer to my house. It was always nice to watch them at my home in the U.S. Of course I am having a difficult time getting them to use the bird feeders, but they probably have never been fed chicken feed in plastic jars hanging from trees in Cameroon. I also bought three chickens from a friend in my village. One rooster and two hens. I have no idea what kind they are or how old, but hopefully in a few months they will start laying eggs. I paid the kids to build a chicken coop for them, but I still have to bring them into my kitchen at night. In the U.S. my Mom and I had to worry about the fox eating our chickens, but here, I have to worry about people stealing them. Chickens are food here in Cameroon and they can feed a family.

Birdfeeders in my front yard

 

My chickens!

I have been trying to figure out what I can do to help my village and what projects are needed but it takes time to learn the hidden cultural rules and find the people who are the “diamonds in the ruff” that have the courage/ambition to help their community. I have had moments where I am happy or at least feeling useful: Hanging out in the bean mamma’s little “sit down” area under a straw thatched canopy and finding people generally interested in drawing a map of their community. Sitting in my hammock outside my house, writing in my journal as the kids color beside me. Helping my neighbors clean the corn so they can make cous cous. Meeting a volunteer from Slovenia who is teaching English in Bemenda but wanted to visit Ngaoundéré and see more of Cameroon. And one day I went shopping for material to make a dress for a village wedding with my neighbor’s wife. About halfway through what felt like an awkward date, I realized she just wanted to hang out. I really dislike shopping in the U.S. but I put on my best face and picked out material, met with a seamstress and looked at shoes with her. When we got back, we talked about getting henna done on our feet and hands for the wedding. I was starting to feel like I was at home and just shopping and planning for a big party. Then her husband came in and proceeded to tell me that next time he will permit her to go with me. I think she might not have asked for permission to go shopping. Most of the Muslim men in my village have multiple wives and they each have their own house or hut. The wife I went shopping with cannot have children so she lives alone in her house. She was close friends with the last female volunteer in my village and I hope I can be her friend as well as a model for how women should live, with rights and dreams.

Having Cous Cous Maize with my neighbors (the women and men eat separate & we eat with our hands)

 

Carl and I hanging out with the kids before dinner. This little guy loves Carl!

 

The students at the nearby school planting trees

 

Charles Angels in Beka-Hossere

 

Hanging out at my house

 

Helping clean the corn with my neighbors

 

A village dog that hangs out with me sometimes (he runs away if I mention a bath-haha)

 

Cows in my backyard

I have been trying to look into agricultural projects, especially at the school and my garden is mostly ready for planting. My three month conference in Bemenda is coming up soon and I have to hand in a report about my community’s needs. I was so happy to receive some brilliant packages from friends and family! Everyone at home has been so amazingly supportive. Your cards and presents are what get me through the ups and downs of this roller coaster. It is amazing how I wake up every day not always having a schedule and by the end of the day, I cannot sleep because so much happened that I have to think about. Next weekend is my 27^th birthday. We are celebrating at my house in my village. Maybe at age 27 I will feel a bit smarter or at least figure out how to get those birds to eat from my bird feeders.

First Month at Post

A month has almost gone by since I have come to this village and I am still in Cameroon so I guess life is going well. I try to wake up early to run in the cool air as the sun rises across the meadows. As many volunteers say, “the days are long, but the weeks go by fast”. I have to keep reminding myself that I have only been here a short time and I cannot expect myself to accomplish everything in only a few weeks. I find that I have way too much time to think here. (Another usual statement from volunteers) I still am not sure if I am smart enough to do this job, but I hope that in time I will find ways to make a difference here.

 

Hanging in my house (the kids come visit as soon as I open my door in the morning)

My house is finally the way I want it to be and now I am working on making the garden useable for when the rains come in March. There is not much food grown during this time. Maybe some tomatoes and bananas but that is it. It is a wonderful day when I see green beans and carrots sold in the market! With no rain to be speak of, it is difficult to expect people to carry water to water their fields. I will start growing some tree seedlings in polypots soon so that I can plant some live fencing around my garden once it starts raining. It is so different to see the random fires around town. Around this time of the year, people start cutting down the brush in their fields and burn the rest so that they can start churning the soil. At home in the U.S., it is so dangerous to start fires especially when it is so dry, but here it is normal. We burn our garbage too. I haven’t seen a fire get out of hand yet.

Cutting down all the brush in my garden

 

An intentional fire on the mountain, it is usual to see fires at night. People use burning to get their land ready for planting.

We finished up work with the soy project a couple weeks ago. The women picked the soy beans and cleaned them. They are a wonderful group of women and I am so excited to be working with them more as they try to form a cooperative so that they can keep growing soy and selling it together. The next step with the soy project is to take the new applications in January and decide who will be in the next group. We will choose the women and then we will start the process again of teaching them how to grow soy.

Cleaning the soy beans!

Many of the people that I work with in Ngaoundéré go on vacation in December so for most of this month I have been left to just meet people in my village and brainstorm ideas. I need to do a needs assessment for my village which combines using surveys, interviewing people, and meeting with groups to figure out what my village really needs. Yesterday Jasmine and I went from house to house with a Cameroonian friend asking questions about malaria and if people have mosquito nets over their beds. Most people know about malaria here and how they can get infected, but there are still many who do not take prevention techniques seriously. Part of my work here is to teach about how to prevent malaria. As much as I am focused on teaching about agribusiness, I find malaria prevention very close to my heart.

Painting the forage (wall surrounding water pump) outside the school for the Grassroots Soccer HIV/AIDS project with students

I think this picture speaks for itself. color doesn't matter, only hearts and the ability to paint your own life's picture

 

We painted our hands and put handprints on the wall!
 

I really appreciate all the support from home and I heard I might be receiving some Christmas packages which I am so excited about! We will be celebrating Christmas at the Peace Corps Case in Ngaoundéré with dinner and exchanging some presents. I already decorated the case with some Christmas decorations sent by a volunteer’s family. It is very strange to be seeing the holidays plastered on the facebook pages of my friends while I live under the hot sun in Cameroon, but I am content to have a cup of hot chocolate and watch “Elf” to soothe my homesickness.

Christmas at the Case!

Every day is a gift and I remind myself with my Father’s words of wisdom “You are a volunteer and are volunteering to be there, don’t get stressed out”. My first 3 months is supposed to be just getting to know my community and doing the needs assessment. And it has only been a month. But in that month, I have met so many kind people and Mamas that make sure I am not hungry. Also I have met a diverse group of people in Ngaoundéré, including a few German students, a particularly wonderful German doctor, a few other great people from different countries, and met a kindred spirit friend who is a Fulbright Scholar studying beekeeping.

View of Ngaoundere!

 

Ahmadou and I (He is an awesome kid from my village- the Peace Corps volunteers from my village have pretty much adopted him and he has been a true friend since volunteers started coming to Beka-Hossere)

 

Climbing Mt Ngaoundere with some awesome volunteers!

We climbed Mount Ngaoundéré the other day and seeing the villages surrounding the city puts a perspective in my mind that the world is a big place but if I can only put a smile on one person’s face, the task might not seem so daunting. As we climbed down the mountain, I saw some monkeys for the first time since being here. I am truly in Africa.

My reading spot in village

My view during my morning run (with Mt Ngaoundere in the distance)

May the holidays be wonderful for all my family and friends across the world. I feel we are all connected even across the ocean. As my candle flickers in the night (no electricity at that moment), "Silent Night" starts playing randomly on my computer and I feel closer to home than ever. Happy Holidays-love & peace

Officially a Peace Corps Volunteer

As I sit in my house, on my almost comfy couch, my neighbor reads, well tries to read one of my magazines in English. People here do not understand why anyone would want to be alone. The villagers, especially children just show up at my door, especially if it is open. They sit with me and the children color or the adults read magazines. Just to keep me company because my French isn’t good enough where I can have more than a 15 minute conversation. They all have been very helpful. The children help me get water from a well that is down the hill a little ways. Kind of reminds me of when I have to bring water to the barn during the winter because the water froze out there. It is about the same distance, just hotter weather to walk in. My landlord has fixed my electricity and a few of the lights in my house. Mostly everything works now. My neighbor just helped me tack up my maps on the wall and fixed one of the outlets. He gave me a big stick of sugarcane as a welcome present. Hurts your teeth but if you can break the bark, the sugar water inside is awesome.

My neighbor's children dancing in my living room

I haven’t really figured out how to eat here yet. There is a bean mamma down the road where Carl, Jasmine and I go a lot for meals. She gives me cold beans with bread and some very sweet hot tea. Cheap, good food. There are Boutiques everywhere and bars (well in the Christian side of the village) Muslims are not supposed to drink and if they do, it’s in secret.

My first view of the Adamaowa from the train

Overall, I love Beka-Hossere. It is a five minute drive on a moto taxi (motocycle) from the capital city of Ngaoundéré. Just have to be careful taking a moto at night. I always try to go home before dark and usually Carl or Jasmine is with me. Ngaoundéré is like any other city. Lots of thieves, busy roads, and many stores. Only a few “white man” stores that sell things from the U.S. but not much and it is usually expensive. Peace Corps has a case (office) there where volunteers can hang out, use the internet, and there are beds to sleep if you are traveling. I spent my first few days visiting there to talk to volunteers about their posts. Most are about an hour to 3 hours away so they only visit during holidays. There are about 6 of us in or near Ngaoundéré.

It is so nice to have a city next door and then go home to a beautiful village. It is dry season right now so it won’t rain until March. Pretty dry and hot but not humid. I’m trying to get used to it. There are times during the day where you just sit inside because no one wants to be out in the heat.

View coming into Ngaoundere

By the way, Carl and Jasmine are my post mates. They live in the same village just in different houses. Jasmine was in my stage except she is a health volunteer. Carl teaches English at the school next door. We are going to try to do some projects together, such as a school garden possibly. They are awesome people and we are already good friends.

As far as projects go, I took on Daniel’s (volunteer I replaced) soy project. He started it by partnering with some NGOs in Ngaoundéré. Local women apply to the program and if they are accepted, they learn how to grow and sell soy beans. Right now, the women are cultivating the soy from the sample garden and their home gardens. I am helping them and then we are trying to form their group into a Cooperative so they can keep growing and selling soy beans together. The next step in my project is to take the applications and teach the next group of women how to grow soy beans. I am also helping Carl with a project that uses soccer to teach children about HIV/AIDS. Been really busy just getting know my village and trying to make my house livable,

The house has had three volunteers living in it before me so it’s well used but it is quaint and lets the light in pretty well. I have a kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom, and a bathroom with a bucket flushing toilet. I take bucket baths and there is a hole in the floor where the water drains. It has taken a lot of cleaning but I think I will like living here to for two years.

My house

I am not sure how my life is going to be here but I just take it one day at a time. And if I get depressed, I just put on Indiana Jones music or watch Downtown Abbey on my computer. It’s the little things that help. Or I just leave my door open and I get free entertainment from the children. I have had dinner with a few neighbors and I really feel like I am in Africa when I have dinner with the Muslim families. The women eat separate from the men and we sit in a circle around a pan with cous cous on it and the legume sauce in the middle. We eat with right hands (can’t eat with your left because technically you wipe your butt with your left-it’s a Muslim rule). So you grab a piece of cous cous maize (kind of looks and feels like play do) and then dip it in the sauce and eat! Jasmine and I just talk when we understand some of the Fulfude they are speaking, otherwise we just listen.

I think training prepared me pretty well although I miss my other stagemates. (I’m the only agro volunteer that went to the Adamaowa.) The Swearing-in Ceremony was amazing! The Governor of Southern Cameroon and the US Ambassador to Cameroon were there. Yannick and I sang both the American and Cameroon National Anthem. My host mom was there and brought me flowers. Made me cry happy tears. We swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers using the same oath that the US President says. So cool and gave me chills. Saying good bye to my host family was so difficult. My host mom made me sugar peanuts and hardboiled eggs for the trip. I started crying, my host sister cried, my host brother was avoiding me trying to be tough but I found him and gave him a hug. Then my host mom cried and I realized how much I meant to them and they to me. I’m sure the moto man was very confused at why the American girl was crying as we drove away.

My host mom and I

Selfie with the U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon!

 
 

Swearing in Group Photo

The trip to Ngaoundéré was long but wonderful. The train ride from Yaoundé to Ngaoundéré is comfortable and since it is through the night, we just sleep in the bunk beds on the train. I can’t believe that every other mode of transportation in Cameroon (mototaxis, cars, buses) are all awful and crowded and uncomfortable. Yet the train is so nice. Crazy.

Train ride!

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the case in Ngaoundéré and eat so much food! Carl and I baked two pies by putting rocks in a big pot to give it an oven effect for baking. It was a great day to spend with my new friends and I got to Skype with my parents. Some volunteers had received some cans of cranberry sauce and gravy packets from home. Even without the snow, it felt like Thanksgiving when we all sat down to eat. And we sure have a lot to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving with my new friends

Carl and I baked pies (without an oven!)

 

I’m sure there is more I could tell you but that is it for now. I love it here, but I miss home. It is not the difference in what we do every day, but the difference in how we think. The Cameroon culture is so old and many of the people are doing the same thing that their ancestors did. Not sure how much help I will be, but I will try my best. It is not a cup of tea here so to be honest, I really need the support from home to get through these two years. But when I look up at the sky at night and see Orion's Belt and the Little Dipper, I am sure that I am meant to be here and serve the world. Love and Peace.

I'm writing home to you all :)

Last Week of Training!

It is 6am on a Sunday morning and I am lying under my mosquito net in my host family’s home, listening to the pitter patter of birds on the tin roof. Outside I hear the soft peeps of chicks scuttling around with the mama hen as they search for food. The dogs are fighting as usual outside. I still have a difficult time getting used to hearing dogs tearing each other apart and not being able to do anything about it. Usually I would try to sleep in on a Sunday morning but with the electricity finally being on, there is music playing, drunken men singing next door at the bar, and crying children. It is amazing how light can wake up a village at all hours. My host mom is already awake and beckons my host sister and brother to wake up. I’m content to lie in bed since I’m still fighting off a persistent cough, sore throat, and the usual side effects of a cold. Just can’t seem to fight off sickness here!

Dancing to the traditional music of Cameroon during Diversity Fete!

 

Only a week left here in this village. I find myself torn between wanting to get to my post and getting to work & knowing that I will miss my host family and that I have grown to really love them. Also I will miss my stagemates (our training group is called a stage). I have heard a few people compare our experience to the military because I guess people in the military have the same feeling we have: we are experiencing something together that no one else will understand except us. From the shock of a new culture, living with host families, getting sick a lot, training classes, new language, traveling across Cameroon together, sharing in our successes, sharing in our grief from losing people at home, sharing in our happiness when we communicate with home, and sharing the experience of sitting on a rooftop of a host family’s home, having a beer, and watching the Cameroon sunset. Even after we go to our posts, I have a feeling that we will be stagemates forever and I have made some long lasting friendships.

I have some awesome news to share! After two months of training in French, I have reached the level that I have to have to go to my post; Intermediate High! Learning French was my most difficult obstacle in coming here to Cameroon since I came here knowing very little French and I don’t learn languages easily. I still have a lot more to learn, but now I know that I will be swearing in as a Peace Corps volunteer on November 19, 2014. Plus I get to learn some more Fulfude this week since it is the local language for my village. Jamna!

I also did my final French presentation on the Folklore of Cameroon and I found out some interesting stories! Pregnant women are not supposed to walk outside at night because they will give birth to a snake. Bats hang upside down in caves because the birds and bugs will not be their friend since bats look so odd compared to the other flying animals. If a small green frog comes into your house, someone is going to get pregnant. Luckily I had a green frog in our house the other night and he hung out on my shoulder as I eat my very spicy chicken and batone de manioc. According to my host mom, I will be having a child soon! I also had a run in with a mouse in my bed. He had lived in my room for a while, but one night I must have kicked my mosquito net so that there was a hole at the bottom of my bed. I wake up to a mouse screaming (yes they scream for sure) and turn on my flashlight to see a small mouse hanging from my mosquito net about three inches from my face. I roll over on my side as he falls on my sheets. I throw half of the bed sheet over him and try very unsuccessfully to get out of bed (mosquito nets keep bugs out but they keep people in) I eventually compose myself and try to catch him with a water bottle but he scurries off my bed and back into the hole he came from. My host mom said he is single and just wanted a wife. Oh jeez. We put some mouse poison out after that experience. Sorry Mr. Mouse.

Me & Prince Charming

 

My host mother taught me how to make poisson brassiere (grilled fish). As we gutted and cleaned the fish, all I could think of was the time my grandfather showed me how gut a fish when I was very young. What he would say now while I am cooking fish in Cameroon! I also had to kill a chicken, pluck the feathers, and cook it for dinner. I think we killed some chickens in New York when I was little, but it is not something I do all the time. Turned out to be a lot less messy than I imagined it would be in Cameroon. Have to make this adventure exciting! I made French toast for my family with real Maple Syrup I brought from home in New York. They loved it! Although it was difficult to explain in French how my Dad and I make maple syrup from trees. The look on my host mom’s face was priceless when she walked into the house and saw me cooking on the fire with Celine Dion blasting and a beer in my hand. It is just how I cook! She couldn’t stop laughing!

Preparing fish for dinner



Chicken for dinner

My host sister and I making French Toast

Sam and I making French Toast for the family!

 

We had our workshop where I met my counterpart, the Cameroonian that I will be working with at my post. He is wicked nice and very involved in helping small businesses in the Adamoawa. He is married and his wife is about to have a baby. Also he is Muslim so I am excited to learn about his religion and how it is practiced in my new community. Women play a very different role in my village compared to the United States. I will be myself, but tread a fine line for a while until I understand this new culture.

The rest of my training should go by quick and I am going to try to enjoy every minute that I have with my friends here. I’m so excited to get to my post in the Adamoawa! I am so ecstatic to start my work for Peace Corps and begin a new adventure in another region of Cameroon. I have learned that I can be the Indiana Jones that I need to be to do this job and that I am not alone. My family and friends from back home have been so supportive and are a reminder that I have a home to go back to. I received an awesome package from one of my best friends and I have gotten a few letters in the mail. It means so much to me especially when the package contains food and supplies that I can’t buy in Cameroon!

Package from Alexia!

 

Now onto my last week of training, doing an agribusiness workshop for local entrepreneurs, picking some lettuce from my garden for a nice salad, making some soy milk for our presentation, enjoying some Cameroon sunsets with my stagemates on rooftops, and making it to the swearing in ceremony where I will be singing the Cameroon National Anthem and American National Anthem with an awesome Cameroonian and hopefully officially become a Peace Corps volunteer. My next post will be from my little village in the Adamaowa! Let the countdown begin!

Sorting (Posting) Hat says- "Miss Renée St. Jacques, Adamawa!"

The last few weeks have contained so many great times, sad moments, depressing situations, and amazing experiences. I can’t imagine going through them again and yet I know that the next two years will contain many more of the same mixed emotions. My life here in Cameroon has been one of the most rewarding and toughest experiences and it has only been a little over a month. My days are long with training in agriculture, business, and language. Combine this training with trying to learn how to cook, wash my clothes, bargain at the market, and live the Cameroonian lifestyle without the amenities that I am used to in the U.S. It sure is an adventure.

Visiting a local farmer and just had to climb a tree!

 
But moments of bringing out my laptop in the complete darkness of my host family’s home and watching Frozen in French is one of the coolest but weirdest scenes ever. A good way to practice French though! I think watching the movie brightened my family’s night and my night as well.

Watching Frozen with the family and some neighbors

When it doesn't rain, there is no water by our house so we have to carry it from another well down the road (I can wear shorts when I am at home, but I wear pants or skirts everywhere else)

I accidently dropped my flashlight down the latrine a couple weeks ago. I automatically started laughing when it happened since it was still on and you could see everything (and I mean everything) that was down there. Pretty gross. I walked back into my host family’s house and told my host mom, thinking they would probably find it funny. Everyone started laughing and I said “Wouldn’t it be cool if we tried to get it out?!” (just kidding of course) but my cousin decided that that was a great idea. So there I was in the latrine as my cousin took three long sticks and a folded coat hanger & duct taped them into this long pole (the latrine is over 10 feet deep) so he could fish my flashlight out of the latrine. I was so surprised that he would even try and not sure I really wanted the flashlight back, but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at the scene. About an hour later, we all held our breath (literally because of the smell) as he very carefully lifted the flashlight out of the hole. The flashlight has been sanitized thoroughly and still sits on my desk in my room. Can’t believe it!

The grand rescue of the flashlight lost down the latrine

We also went on our post visits last week and Sam & I got to visit Jacob in the Northwest region of Cameroon. It was great to see how another volunteer lives and the projects he has been working on. We visited a bunch of farms and saw how/what they grow. There is an abundance of food grown here in Cameroon, even if it is not always grown to the best of its ability. Corn, cassava, green beans, plantains, bananas, rice, beans, legumes, potatoes, oranges, cocoa, coffee, and peanuts are to name just a few at least in this region. And some beautiful jungle out there! It is normal to meet farmers throughout the day in a kind-of bar and it is custom to drink palm wine pretty much all the time with them. Thank goodness it doesn’t have a ton of alcohol in it. Also palm wine comes straight from the tree without anything added or done to it, so really natural! I just had to get used to the rotten egg smell of it. All in all, it was a great trip and Sam, Jacob, and I met up with some other volunteers in Bemenda on our last day to enjoy the city life (which is quite different from living in a village!)

So awesome news! We all found out where our post will be for two years! Everyone was so nervous about finding out that we tried to make it a bit more fun. We made a sorting hat (like Harry Potter) out of paper and each person sat on a chair while the sorting hat was placed on their head and their name & post was called out for everyone to hear. My post was a big surprise not only to me, but to everyone else in the room as well. Out of everyone in my agribusiness trainee group, only one of us was going to the Adamoawa region of Cameroon. Some people wanted Adamoawa or the East region because I guess those places are more undeveloped and farther away than the other regions. Yet out of everybody, I got Adamoawa! Guess I have more people that believe in me, more than I always believe in myself.

Sorting (Posting) Hat!

 

My village is called Beka Hossere and is about 1500 people. 70% Muslim and the rest of Christian. It is usual for girls to marry there at 10-15 years old. Yet I heard that the community is very welcoming and the land is beautiful! Kind of looks like Texas with more grass. It is about a 5 minute moto drive from the city of Ngaoundere, which will be great for making connections with NGOs in the city for projects. I will be replacing another agriculture volunteer who is the 3^rd ag-volunteer to be at that post (meaning there has been an ag-volunteer in this village for 6 years). There is another health volunteer joining me there and an education volunteer that has been there for a few months. We all have different houses but live in the same village. The guy I am replacing is very well-known for his successful projects in Cameroon, so I have big shoes to fill. I will have electricity and hopefully an indoor bucket-flush toilet (possibly outside latrine). There is a spicket outside where we get water. As long as I reach my French level by the end of training in November, I will go to my post and start my two years as a volunteer!

Working by lamplight

As much as I am tired and mentally stressed, everything is coming together and I am hopeful that my time here in Cameroon will be full of purpose. Half of my heart is back at home with my family and friends, but the other half is quickly becoming a part of Cameroon every time my 3 year old host cousin smiles. Even when I crave apple pie and the feeling of autumn air, I remind myself that two years of my life given in serving another country is only a small portion of my life and I have the rest of it to enjoy homemade apple pies. For now, I will have to look at plantain pile and think “apple pie, it’s an apple pie”…. And then see my host cousin’s smile as she climbs into my lap and I try to tell her a story in French about a hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.