Life Lessons from the Field

22-10-11

So, by the time this is posted, I will have been in Cameroon for 1 complete month—I can’t even believe it’s been this long already! Reflecting upon this month, I’ve compiled a list of Dos and Don’ts for your viewing pleasure.

DON’T: Be too jealous of everyone else’s field trips, you’re in Youth Development—the world is your class room! And, more importantly, you’ll have the run of Bafia and of the training center. Who needs curfew extensions and crappy hotels anyways?
DO: Eat chocolate “sandwiches” at every possible opportunity. There’s protein in the chocolate spread, right?

DON’T: Miss an opportunity to break those irritating 10,000 CFA notes. Maybe this time the boutique can finally break it…. No? Better luck next time!

DO: Pile those extra five people in the car: the more the merrier. Ideally, rock out to hard-core gangster rap and raunchy American pop in the process, your drivers don’t speak English anyways. Make sure to reaffirm that stereotype of Americans being awful dancers, that’s very important.

DON’T: Forget to insert a peut-être into every possible statement. Couple it with a couple of “J’ai blaig, j’ai blaig!” every couple of sentences and your language trainers will clearly think you’re following French Immersion.

DO: Play Catchphrase at every possible opportunity. Even better: play Bowls at the boutique and watch the Cameroonians laugh hysterically at the crazy Americans. And, once again, appreciate the fact that because they don’t speak American English, you’re safe describing the wonders of Paul Biya.

DON’T: Forget about that stupid chicken that hangs out at the boutique, it’ll come after your head not once, not twice, but three times.

DO: Be careful as you rummage around your bag for paper in public, you do have a number of fantastically awkward items in your bag compliments of the classes you’ve had this week on teaching Sex Ed and HIV/AIDs awareness.

DON’T: Do Zumba after eating a sandwich with lots of Piment. Heartburn city, folks. Also, don’t be too concerned about the other Stagiares taking photos of all of you pouring sweat and attempting ridiculous Zumba moves, facebook always allows for detags J

DO: Visit your buddies in Bokito and admire their digs—a shower, running water, fridge, and stove? Live in the lap of luxury for those three hours of your visit, and enjoy not wearing shoes.

DON’T: Forget to look around, you ARE in Africa after all.

DO: Be a part of the Dazzling Dozen, and be adorably close all the time. Playing games for class, massage trains, Zumba classes with Charla, team lunch, free hugs: why would you ever want to be with anyone else?

In all seriousness, now, I am so thankful to be where I am and with such incredible people. Things just feel so REAL here—the extraordinary moments and the times where things are genuinely rough. I don’t know that I’ve ever been so consistently challenged and rewarded, and I’m not even at post yet. Given that we’re all in the same situation (new language, new culture, new people, new information, etc. etc. etc. etc,) I’m finding such an uncommonly supportive community here. There’s always a shoulder for a hug, a hand to work out that awful knot in the shoulder from the lumpy bed, a person to try to explain the vocabulary term, and someone else to give advice about what to do about that awful comment someone made about you. I don’t know that I’d trade this group and this experience of Stage for anything, and I am a little nervous about what’s going to happen once we’re all scattered to the wind. But, we’re taking everything one day at a time and not rushing a thing, life here is just too fantastic to try to push forward too much.

Photos of my life are on facebook so that you get a better idea of what I’m up to, there aren’t a lot, the internet is too slow and I’m too bad at remembering to take photos (an indication of just how present I’ve been since getting here.) ALSO: I just wanted to reassure you all that I’m safe and sound—the elections are totally over now (Paul Biya was reelected for the next 7 years) and things have been much more calm than I could have ever expected.

Miss you all, and I hope you’re all having a wonderful fall full of hiking, foliage, apple cider, Halloween parties, and caramel corn.

I've Got the Magic in Me

15-10-11

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but what about a woman’s? Food is central to life, and America uniquely appreciates diversity of food. It says a lot about America that food-wise, we rely so much on other cultures to color our cuisine. We’ve shrunk down the full world into the bits and pieces of tastes that fit our palate, and it’s one of the things I love the most about America: there is always room for something new at the table (literally and figuratively.)

Before coming to Cameroon, I heard that Cameroonian food wasn’t good—too starchy, too tasteless, too repetitive. Some days, or really for long stretches of days, I’m inclined to agree: it’s easy to complain about food you didn’t grow up with and that just doesn’t hit your need for comfort. After a long, frustrating day, there’s nothing I want more than tomato soup, grilled cheese, and a giant bowl of Moose Tracks ice cream. Despite that, since being here, I’ve found there are those days where the food is nothing less than magical: perfectly spicy, packed with just the right combination of vegetables, and makes you feel positive about life. Tonight was one of those nights, and this is my ode to Poisson Feu.

So, why do I always find myself writing about food in every entry? Probably because food is so indicative of life-style: how and what you eat tells a story about who you are. When you actually think about it, it’s pretty amazing. I’m in Cameroon, eating Cameroonian dishes—heck, eating papayas that come from a tree in my front yard and eggs that come from the hen house just in front of the papaya tree in my front yard. No matter how hard I tried to do so in the US, it just wasn’t possible to eat this fresh and organic. Even though I’m living my dream (food-wise), I still find myself whining about this food, that food, and the other—a metaphor for my life at large in Cameroon. I’m hitting a point with Cameroon where I’m viewing it for what it is, instead of what I want it to be or what I think it should be: the rose-tinted glasses are becoming more transparent.

There are lots of things that are imperfect about Cameroon, just as there are lots of things that are imperfect about every country in our beautifully diverse and mystical world. I’m not an expert, and I’m not in the place to tell you everything that’s wrong with Cameroon—I would never venture that on the US, either. What I can say, though, is that my experiences in Cameroon have plenty of imperfections as well, little things that just don’t fit my desires. Our electricity has been off since the election, meaning that there’s no such thing as a cold drink anywhere (and after playing soccer or studying French, that’s all any of us want) and I’m literally getting dressed in the dark every morning. It’s frustrating to feel like the Captain Obvious of language, I’d love to have a personality and to be able to crack jokes in French. Having little siblings that want to touch everything, and don’t want to let you stir your own hot chocolate. The flip side to that reality, though, are those truly magical moments… just like the moment when you first taste Poisson Feu. Moments I see ducks bathing in the giant puddles in the road, chickens wandering around the backyard of the Peace Corps Training Center, teach my siblings what Rock/Paper/Scissors is, seeing the unbelievably clear night sky, finding within my training group another camp counselor who knows the same hand claps I do, doing laundry while grooving to American music. These magical moments are everywhere in Cameroon as long as I choose to see them, and with Poisson Feu at my side, why shouldn’t I?

PS. Update—electricity came back on today (the 16th.) What an excellent birthday present J

A Day in the Life

5-10-11

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! Hope you enjoyed the presents that I left for you at home and that you were surprised by the message on your voicemail J

So, it’s been a week since my last post. Similar to camp, time here seems to move in the weirdest ways—days seem so long but I feel so accomplished when I accomplish the smallest things (ex: buying phone credit.) There isn’t exactly an average day here, but there are definitely trends. Since I have you as a captive audience, here’s my approximate daily schedule:

--Wake up at 6:25. I eat a chunk of bread, fried egg with tomato and onion, and drink instant coffee. Supposedly, coffee here is strong—I beg to differ, it takes like water flavored with ginger and lemon. I usually add powdered milk to it to make it more palatable. Still, it’s awesome that my family feeds me legit food every morning.

--Walk to class and arrive around 7:30. Given that we’re ending rainy season here, I’m hopping about a million puddles along the way and usually by the time I get to class, my poor shoes are a muddy mess… and then the crazy heat starts and school is transpiration central. I try to arrive to class early enough to savor some English speaking and have enough time to hear everybody’s stories from the night before, sometimes hysterical (like the time I chipped my tooth on freakin’ couscous [no worries, it’s not noticeable unless you’re me, and it’s just another reason to hate couscous]) sometimes serious (someone talking about the beatings their host siblings get.) In another week and a half, we start Immersion, which means that outside of Tech classes, there is to be NO ENGLISH—even on our lunch break. Once Immersion starts, mornings’ll get a lot more rough.

--Language/Tech Classes/Cross-Culture/Safety/Health 8a-4:30p. Each day is a different combination of everything, some days it’s one session of each, other days, like today, each session is French. I recently moved down a language level because I felt like I was struggling so much, and I’m feeling so much better in the Intermediate-Mid Level. My class has 4 of us, and we work a lot with vocabulary. Tomorrow we’re going to the Grand Marché to get more confident on the vocab/grammar involved in purchasing stuff. Tech classes are the practical ones for Youth Development, and I love them. We use a lot of public speaking, discussion, and group work, so ultimately, not insanely different than Allegheny. Our homework for this week was to observe a teacher at a local primary school and write a report on it, and it was the BEST experience—the kids were ADORABLE. Sometimes we have guest speakers like current Peace Corps volunteers that do some kind of work with kids (rare) or government officials from the Ministry of Women and Family or the Ministry of Youth Development.

--FREE-TIME 4:30-7p. We’re free after class until curfew at 7p, so most of the time we go to the boutique down the street and get bread/cheese or bread/tartina (a Nutella-like substance but made with peanuts instead) and something to drink. Other times I go home early for some decompressing time with American music and books in English. I would like to be able to work out, but I’m not sure how to make that work yet. Plenty of time to figure it out, I guess, and I need to because all these starches aren’t health-friendly.

--Dinner Prep/Dinner 7:30p+. We eat so much freaking couscous. On good days, there’s papaya, plantains, fish, eggs, and delicious sauces. But, since my Mom works so much and is so active in the election that’s in a couple of days and Cameroonian culture is such that men don’t deign to cook, we eat a lot of things that don’t take effort—like left-over couscous and manioc (which is also pretty tasteless.)

--Post-Dinner. Sometimes I’ll watch TV with the fam, other times I’ll study in the living room while they watch TV. Some days we eat so late or I’m so French-ed out that I shower and go straight to bed. Literally, it’s not uncommon for me to be in bed before 9:30. I am lame-sauce here in Bafia, but it’s the only way I can deal with being up so early in the morning. What I wouldn’t give to be a morning person.

If you’re a rational person, you’re probably saying something to the effect of “Well, at least you have all weekend to recover and hang out!” Unfortunately, you, the rational person, are incorrect because I have class on Saturdays until 1p still. It’s not bad, though, they turn the internet on after class on Saturdays, which is fantastic. This weekend, I really want to go into town and buy fabric to get clothes made. It needs to happen—my clothes are just too long and too heavy for the heat we have here. Sundays are pretty much reserved for Mass (a 2-3 hour affair totally in French) with the family and doing laundry (another hour-long plus exploit.) I also study and do my homework on Sundays.

So, basically, that’s my life as of right now. I hope that gives you a better idea of what I’m up to/will be up to through the beginning of December.

In other news, I finally have a functioning phone! I don’t know the country code (you’ll need to look that up if you’re ever ambitious enough to call me,) but my number is 74 05 79 85. Please remember that I am 5 hours ahead of you and am an old person that goes to bed early.  Also, I would looooooooooooooove mail… just throwing that out there. Once I find Bafia’s post office on Saturday, I have some to send out, too J

Love you all!

PS. What’s happening in the US? I feel so disconnected—I haven’t heard ANY news about the US since arriving in Cameroon. (Edit: Except Steve Jobs’ death… that news hit us today [the 6^th])

In Cameroon!

29-9-11

Bonjour, mes amis et ma famille biologique! Je te manque BEAUCOUP. Je suis un peau fatiguée de parler le français maintenant et, ensuite, je suis enthosiaste pour écrire ce lettre. But, for real, my brain hurts from all of the French since arriving in Cameroon, so please excuse any and all spelling/grammar errors.

So much has happened since my last post: I successfully traveled to Philadelphia on my own, made it to Yaoundé and later to Bafia without any major disasters, saw my first Cameroonian dance performance, met the US’ ambassador to Cameroon, learned more about what it means to be part of the Youth Development program, felt the success of conversing with my host siblings (and helping them with their reading in French!), felt the failure of being unable to understand my host parents, and took my first bucket baths. For both better and for worse, my experience as a Peace Corps trainee so far is full of adventures and I’m learning lots of new things each day. There are 53 other Peace Corps Trainees in Cameroon split somewhat evenly between Bafia (where I am) and Bokito (where all 22 Health volunteers are) right now; we’re all having entirely different experiences, but it’s awesome to be a part of a collective whole that is so diverse and interesting. Never before have I ever actually been so excited to get up in the morning.

In an effort to keep this blog readable and focused, everything else is going to be in list format, so don’t freak out about the length of this entry.

Things I am most excited about and that are super awesome:

·         Most Cameroonian cooking! It’s so fresh and the fruits are delicious! PLUS, it looks like I’m not allergic to the oranges in Cameroon! SUCCESS. I’m enjoying the lack of processed crap.

·         Cooking with my host mother each night. I’m definitely learning some dishes that I want to bring home.

·         My younger host siblings. They usually run to me after I get home from school and pummel me with hugs/attention. They’re teaching me lots of vocabulary, and they are way more patient with my French than my host parents are. Plus, it’s just genuinely cool to have little siblings.

·         Learning more about the regions of the country, and seeing more! Cameroon is called Africa in Miniature and it’s amazing how different everything looks from city to city.

·         My staging group, and, in particular, the Dazzling (Dirty) Dozen of Youth Development and our WONDERFUL Program Manager Amadou. We always get in a good laugh, but everyone is always so thoughtful. There’s also a lot of awesome experience within the group and I think that as we continue to grow and learn, we can accomplish awesome things.

·         The crazy muscles I’m going to get from lugging around my bedans (giant jugs of water.) Watch out world, even if I gain a ton of weight from all the carbs, I am going to have impressive arm muscles without even trying.

Things I’m not liking so much:

·         Couscous. It’s not like in the US—it’s served in giant blocks that look kind of like spam. It’s tasteless and has the weirdest consistency. I think I may have accidentally asserted too much to my mother that I “liked” it and I’m fairly certainly it’ll be served for a million years, or at least everyday until December 8. Do not want.

·         Being called “nassara” and “La Blanche!” all the time. It gets tiring. I hear it from people in the market, people I pass as I go to school, my host family.

o   ALSO: kissing noises to attract my attention. That’s just a no. DOUBLE ALSO: Rob, turns out people here try to get my attention with that awful “Tsssst” noise you make. DISLIKE.

·         The crazy heavy accent my host family has that makes it so difficult for me to understand them and them to understand me. I am so NOT used to being incapable of speaking my mind all the time. Unfortunately, I now know how it must feel to be a ESL foreigner in the USA—it’s SO irritating that they speak a sentence louder when I say I don’t understand rather than rephrasing.

·         The crazy disease lectures we get. Mildly (okay, severely,) terrifying. Plus side, we’re well taken care of and I’ve gotten so many series of expensive shots for free—thanks tax payers of America!

·         The commonality of child abuse and domestic abuse, as well as animal abuse. Way more heartbreaking than any disease—I am very thankful for the upbringing I’ve had in the US. In an effort to rationalize it, I tell myself that it will give me motivation to work my butt off at my job as a Youth Development Coordinator.

Things you should send me because you love me so much:

·         Bar soap—I would really like to wash my hands for real on a consistent basis. There’s probably something at the market, but I’m at class during most of the day when the two markets are in session. SUCK.

·         Germex—In case you have some weird aversion to bar soap.

·         Letters/Photos/Post Cards

·         Book of crosswords or Sudoku or something else that I can DO

·         Good, strong perfume.

·         Anything else you’d want me to have, I can’t think of anything else at this moment. I will keep you updated.

My address is labeled on the side of the page, don’t feel obligated to send anything, it’s just that a lot of you asked beforehand what I would want in a package. Please insure any package you send me!!! ALSO, the most important thing: I HAVE A CELL PHONE! Unfortunately, it’s currently broken. Be on the look-out for my number soon, as a group of us are going to the MTN store today for SIM Card repairs.

A bientôt! Miss you and love you!