Still Alive

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I am currently trying to work out my electricity situation, which means that I am trying to get them to turn on the gigantic Chinese generator at my compound or buy a Nigerian generator (don't worry Peace Corps, I am not going there myself to buy it).

So here is a recap of my first month at post:

-I have gone on a polio vaccination campaign into the bush with Dr. Jones
-Attended two funerals and a wedding
-Firmly made friends with the guy who sells candles and other house-lighting materials (Emille)
-Learned some Fulfulde from Sheik Abu Bakar (the leader of the Muslim community in my village)
-Taught my name to all in the community in their native language (which means I have four names: in French - Chasseur, in Fulfulde - Markaejo, in Kwandja - Ougum, in English - Hunter)
-Firmly scandalized Nyamboya by shaking the Chief's hand (I do get away with this because I am a Nassara)
-Firmly endeared myself to Nyamboya by doing some crazy Cameroonian dancing in their festivals.

So if anyone is still reading this blog, I am still alive and well and soon as I get this electricity situation figured out, I will buy internet and blog like a crazy man. This should be within the next month, which in American time means within the next three months.

Hunter

Link to Pictures of My House and Nyamboya

Here is a link to a blog that has pictures of my House and Nyamboya since the internet is so terrible here and I can't upload anything:

http://hokiepokieincameroon.blogspot.com/

La Motivation

Cameroon has for years been rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world (in fact it was #1 for two straight years in the late 1990's). But I didn't realize that this would encroach so heavily in my personal life here. While traveling to my post, my bus was stopped no fewer than 10 times by a checkpoint. At these checkpoints, the Gendarmes approach vehicles and check everyone's IDs. If they find something wrong with your ID, such as its out of date or smudged, they will tell you "Tu me gardes quoi?" or "J'ai faim" or "Ou est ma motivation?". This means pay me a bribe or I will haul to off to jail. Luckily, I was harassed little but they have been known to take Peace Corps volunteers out of vans to try to get some good money. However, we are not allowed to pay bribes. Therefore, if this happens to me, I have to call the Peace Corps, have them talk to the Gendarme and then hope that he isn't stupid enough to take me in (I doubt this would happen because it would be a huge hassle for the Gendarmes). The corrupt economy of Cameroon is strangling its people and preventing developement, but I don't know how such a concrete institution can be fixed without massive external interference.

Hunter

Nyamboya - My Post

So I will divide this post into three parts: travelling to my post, my village and hospital, and my house.

Travelling: It takes 12 hours to get to my post, Nyamboya, from Bafia even though it is only a couple hundred kilometers away. The reason: roads designed by the devil himself. To give you an idea of how bad these roads are, there were several points while riding in a van that I thought we were going to tip over due to the fact that my window was about a foot away from the enormous puddle-lakes that occur every 50 feet on the road. There were several instances when I had to get out of the van so it could be pushed out of the mud. In addition, we passed several tipped tractor trailers that succumb to the enormous holes in the road. Needless to say, I live next to some of the worst “roads” I have ever seen.

My Village and Hospital: My village is called Nyamboya and it is in the western part of the Adamawa region of Cameroon. It is basically in the center of the country very close to the Nigerian border. Nyamboya has about 10,000 people and is half Christian and half Muslim. It has a great market where I will be able to buy mangos, oranges, advocados, pasta, rice, beef etc (btw if anyone wants to send me some awesome recipes or ship me some great American spices I would be really appreciative!!). The health center I will be working at is called the Nyamboya Baptist Health Center. The doctor there is named Dr. Jones and he is beloved by the community. The only problem I had was everyone thinks that I am a doctor. I told Dr. Jones that I am not a doctor and he told me that it was not a problem because he would teach me some procedures. I will need to better explain the purpose of the Peace Corps to my community.

My house: I have a two bedroom house with an indoor bathroom that has a toilet!! It is relatively big and I have a living room that is currently covered with pictures of the Cameroonian President, Paul Biya. It sits at the foot of a mountain and is surrounded by pine trees. I am quite happy with the situation. I am having one of my volunteer friends near my post put pictures up on her blog since the internet here is very bad. I will put up a link soon so anyone can see.

More to come soon!
Hunter

The Tontine

One day last week, Gramps told me that we would be drinking a lot of palm wine at Monsignor Mature’s house the following Sunday for some type of event. I had no idea what he was talking about and thought I must be misunderstanding him. However, I waited in anticipation for whatever this event would be. So Sunday rolled around and Gramps had me follow him deep into the forest in front of our house. After about a 20 minute walk, we finally arrive at very remote house that sat among some of the tallest and thickest palm trees I have ever seen. When I walked into the house, there were a large group of men sitting, maybe 20 or 25, and staring at the only white man in the room, me. I only knew a few of them but those I did know I slapped and snapped, which is a Lable greeting where one guy slaps another guy’s hand and then snaps his fingers with the other guys (I would be way too white to do this in America but I definitely get away with it here). Anyways, I sat down and before I knew it, money was being thrown on a table by all in the room. One guy pulled out 5000 CFA, another probably 15000 and then what looked lik the oldest guy in the room pulled out a giant wad of cash probably worth around 100,000 CFA. All of this was going into a huge pile on a table in front of me for some reason I didn’t know. A little bit of a side note: In Cameroon, there is no such thing as welfare, social security, or loans, for that matter. Therefore, each village has to come up with a way to produce money for those in need. In Lable, this comes in the form of something called a Tontine and this was the event Gramps had taken me to. All the men of the village had gathered to help out those most in need. In the end, three men were given relatively equal amounts of the all the money. Then, a gigantic gas can and thirty or so cups were brought out. All celebrated with a large amount of palm wine that was in the gas can, which is probably why the palm wine tasted like gasoline. A la santé!!

I

10/2/2010
Last week I went to get some authentic Cameroonian clothes tailored. Gramps took me to his guy and luckily for me, this man spoke a little English and understood that I wanted a boubou made with matching pants. For anyone who doesn’t know what a boubou is, google it, it is amazing. Originally the guy gave me the homme blanc price but Gramps and his sister, who came along with us, talked him down to a solid eight grand (in CFA, of course) . Pictures will come soon. After that adventure, we went back to his sister’s house where we were served some cous-cous and fish gumbo. I will be happy when the day comes that I do not have to look my food in the eye before I eat it. Then we went to the supermarket so I could get some much needed supplies for washing my clothes and cleaning my water (same substance). This market is in downtown Bafia and, I am not going to lie, it is definitely not a safe area. I felt as though I was being watched and not with the amusement I have experienced in Lable, but suspicion and maybe some malice.

Speaking of risky situations, the Peace Corps flew us into the city of Doula, Cameroon. The city is so dangerous that normally PVCs are not allowed to visit for any reason. When we exited the airport, we were guarded by about 20 police officers and loaded on a bus that was surrounded by gawking people. One person tried to steal a bag of ours and was beat off by an officer. We then had police cars escort our bus through the streets, which were so crowded that the officers had to literally push motos out of our way. Once we got to our hotel, we were not allowed to leave and officers with Uzis guarded the door. Welcome to Cameroon.

By the way, I am sorry for the spelling and grammar but I am writing this on the fly due to the electricity situation.

Questions from Dad

So my dad emailed me some good question that I thought I would share with everyone while I have internet (prewrote them in word):


What is your broadband situation at the guest home?
-I have absolutely no internet or phone service at my house. Half the group is in the town of Bafia (they have internet if they go to our school in the area) and half the group (including myself) is in a village about an hours walk away called Lable. Lable has barely in cell service and definitely no internet. However, in about a month, the groups switch towns so my communication abilities might improve in the coming future.
How are you sleeping?
-I am having the best sleep of my life! Weird, huh? My head hits the pillow and I am out like a light. This is probably a combination of the crazy amount of stuff I am doing during the day and heat exhaustion (the Bafia area is one of the most humid in Cameroun).
What can we be praying for?
-If people could pray that my faith would continue to be strong I would greatly appreciate it.
Do you need us to send you anything?
-HAND SANITIZER!! I thought I brought a good enough supply to cover me for a while but its only going to legitimately last me two months. So if you want me to avoid diseases of all kinds, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, CANDY and the CHEESE packets in mac and cheese. I can get the pasta here but there is no cheese 
How is your French? Did they test you for fluency?
-Mon francaise est ameliore (its getting better). Honestly, Gramps speaks no english and we talk for hours every day so you can imagine that my French has improved just a bit. They’re right, total immersion is the way to go.
Tell us about your guest family?
-As I mentioned earlier, I live with a 70 year old man who I call Gramps. I thought we also lived with his grandson named Patrice. I have come to learn that Patrice is not related to Gramps and is just the son of a friend of Gramps. Patrice stays with us because his mechanic school is near the house.
I look at the weather everyday for you – it looks like it rains everyday. Is that difficult?
-It does rain about every day but I love it. The only bad thing is the humidity it creates. Well, and the amount of insects it forces indoors (I woke up the other day to about 20 baby spiders crawling on me in my bed…not the best moment haha)
Did all your stuff make it with you?
-Everything but the knives I packed. They were stolen somewhere en route. Maybe you can help me out in this area, mom?
What are you eating? Do you have to cook?
-I am eating a ton of fish soup with cous-cous (a much worse version than the one you know). I am not a huge fan of this but I am a fan of the fantastic bananas and pineapple! Also, Gramps makes me tomato omelets every morning which are amazing. I haven’t cooked anything so far but I need to learn soon so I’m not way unprepared for post in a couple of months.
How do you spend your days off so far?
So here is my schedule:
1) I wake up at 5:30 am and draw water from the well for my morning bath
2) I eat a petit dejeuner with Gramps and walk to the village chief’s house (5 minutes) where a peace corps truck picks a bunch of us up to take us to the school in Bafia (15 minutes)
3) I have French and health technical classes from 7:30 till noon, lunch from noon to 2 and more French and health technical from 2 till 4:30
4) Then, I might catch a beer with other volunteers but most of the time I go back to my house and hang out with the village kids and Gramps (I’m trying to teach them chess but my French is definitely not at that level yet and it is chess, afterall)
5) Dinner of soup de poisson is usually at 7:30 and then I am in bed and asleep by 9:30
So I will try to post pictures soon but the internet and electricity is crazy spotty so we will see…

All my post from the past weeks

Here they all are now cause I ain't got barely any internet or electricity:

9/22/10

Sorry it has taken me this long to update my blog but the internet and electricity situation in Cameroon is intermittent at best. Right now, I am writing in the dark while sitting on my footlocker next to my mosquito net covered bed, listening to the roosters crow and wondering when I should be getting my bucket water from the well for my morning bath. That’s right, I have learned to not only how to wash myself by ladling water but also how to draw from the well next to my door. Its aweseome!

I am definitely in my honeymoon phase with this country and what it has to offer. I am still well but with anticipation for my body to reject the cous-cous de mais and bush-meat gumbo I have been splurging on . The town I have been put in is called Lable and it is a small village of a larger town called Bafia. I am living with a 70 year old man named Monsieur Zacherie and his grand-son Patrice. I call him gramps and we have been having blast playing cards, uno, and generally teaching each other our perspective languages (english and french). I showed him pictures of my family and he spent 20 minutes explaining to me how my mom and dad were brother and sister while I argued that this was definitely not correct (a confusing cultural difference in reference terms). He is a proffesor/carpenter and I could not have asked for a more patient and welcoming host. He told me that he built all the furniture in the house and most of the surrounding villages so I might hit him up if I get a post near here.

Cameroon is gorgeous and I basically live in the jungle. Whenever I am taking my bath, I look out into the forest and see the amazing beauty. I can not believe I am blessed to be able to have this amazing experience. I will try to keep my blog more updated but it depends on how much rain central Cameroon gets and the generosity of the government in order to power the electricity.
A bientot!

9/25/10
Training so far has been a little bit draining. I have about 3 to 4 hours a day of French and another 3 to four hours of technical and cultural training. However, my french has been improving immensely not really due to the classes yet but because I am talking to Gramps about anything and everything.

All the men of the village of Lable have definitely been interested in anything and everything about me and America. They are always around trying to practice they’re English and teaching me some French. It would be a fantastic experience if they weren’t all drunk most of the time, forgetting what I told them minutes after an exchange and forcing me to repeat myself a thousand times. However, everyone is extremely welcoming and I have been enjoying the beignets and tomato omelettes I’ve been eating lately. Gramps is going to teach me how to cook some authentic Cameroonian soup de poisson and bargain with the merchants like a native!
A demain!

9/30/10
So it has officially been two weeks since I left the states and I am still amazed at how happy my situation is here. There was a night a few nights ago where Gramps and I were sitting on the porch having one of our heart to hearts about Zimbabwe politics (at least that what I think we were talking about) while watching a downpour and I remember thinking that there was absolutely no other place I would rather be. Cameroun is a gorgeous place with some of the most gracious people I have ever met. The entire village of Lable considers me one of their sons and, therefore, my family has just expanded by at least 10 times. All greet me with a bon jour and are extremely excited when I give a wyumbey back (hello in the local bafia language). The village chief welcomed all of us with a big speech and a legitimate Camerounaise dance-athon, which I will try to post below. I joined in but if you think my dancing is bad in America…

The past week has been difficult though: one trainee decided to leave, another went to the hospital and yet another was assaulted. There are definitely complex and dangerous things to deal with here but that was one of the reason I came: the Peace Corps is a test like none other. It is not just a month’s humanitarian or mission trip. It’s a commitment to fully integrate and engross yourself in a society so very different from your own, with so many challenges that will make you question why you chose to be here. But I know it is going to be worth it to stick it out. We have heard speech after to speech from various volunteers that it is very hard at the beginning and these hardships never truly let up. However,, by facing them head on, you grow as a individual and accomplish things you never thought possible.

Thanks for all the prayer and support and I will try to stay in better contact but my village has no internet, barely any phone service, and very spotty electricity. Oh, and I am still good on the health front so cross your fingers.

Also, some phrases you only hear in Peace Corps Africa: “How are your legs doing this morning?”, “I would go out tonight but my family is afraid of malaria”, and my favorite: “I would love to grab a beer but I have to go home and make water.”

Leaving tomorrow

So the time has arrived! My flight departs tomorrow for Philadelphia. Here is my schedule for the foreseeable future:

-Fly to Philadelphia for staging (pre-departure orientation) where I get pricked and poked with more vaccines and then learn how not to die the initial days I'm there.

-Fly at 6:30 pm from JFK to Brussels, Belgium on Sept 16 and then catch an Air Brussels flight (yummm for chocolate and waffles (more likely economy nuts and diet coke)) that arrives in Yaoundé, Cameroon (the capital) at 4:45 pm on Sept 17.

-Spend five days in the capital for some more pricking and poking (a government specialty) and more orientation.

-Then three months in Bafia (a town a couple hours north of Yaoundé) for intensive language and cultural training (8 hours a day, 6 days a week)

Around early December, I will finally arrive at my post where I will live, work and hopefully have some of the best times of my life for the next two years. Any prayers and thoughts (and gifts of hand sanitizer and candy) would be much, much appreciated!!

A demain!!

One Week

So I have one week to go before I'm off for the adventure of a lifetime. I started this blog so all you friends and family can experience every up and down that hits my life and bowels.

Over the past few weeks, I have gathered any possible thing that one needs in an African country: solar shower, sandals, bandannas, Dr. Bonners peppermint soap etc. Now I'm just in the waiting game ready to get out of here and on to a very exciting next stage of life.

The only thing that I'm still trying to figure out is what to get my host family. My mom has already bought jelly beans which I think they would really like but I also want something really American. If anyone has any ideas...