Later

Thanks to a friendly IT volunteer I now have Microsoft Office 2003 in French and English. No more annoying activation messages!

We had our provincial meeting last night. There are only four of us, and three are new, so it was short. Still, a good time.

To respond to the last blog’s comments, yes, my house is huge. It’s much bigger than the normal Cameroonian house and would under most circumstances house 20 people. Instead, it’s just me and the two cats. There are several negative consequences to living in a huge house

--money for furnishings, repairs, etc

--cleaning

--people asking to live with me

My house is huge, so obviously I have lots of money and also have need of adopted children to do my laundry and cook for me. It’s hard for Cameroonians to believe I can live there alone. They also think it’s amazing that I have no siblings or that my parents would allow me to move across the globe.

I’m quite content to do some laundry, take a warm shower, and bum around on the internet.

Halloween, etc

25/10/06

Bodo now has a brother, Fred. Fred arrived last Friday from somewhere au village and spent the next 3 days wailing his head off in my spare bedroom. He's still quite shy and acts a little jealous. My friends think it's amusing that Western Fred is actually more villageois than his city slicker African brother. Bodo's not exactly a sophisticate but he doesn't meow for days on end. Fred came home late tonight and he was only let in because I heard his loud meowing, so maybe it's a good thing. They both enjoy canned sardines and leftovers. Despite no actual relation, they look like twins. I call them my boys.

I don't want to jinx anything, but we've had electricity for almost 3-4 days, with a brief loss this morning for a few hours (water also) and everything's back now. On the other hand, the cell phone service has been haywire. I spent yesterday in the big city of Bafia for Pedagogical Day (a supreme waste of time). I got to do some shopping afterwards and that's exciting--good bread and everything's 50-75CFA cheaper in the city. I forgot what it's like to have a supermarket and all types of food available on a daily basis.

I also have furniture! I don't have the money for cushions yet, but I have a loveseat, four chairs, and a table in my living room. The carpenter painted them different shades of purple, which will clash with the pale green fabric and blue walls, but whatever. Nothing in Africa matches anyway. Still, my house is more like a home every day. My next project is replacing missing & broken door handles and getting the toilet to flush. The proviseur is supposed to call my landlord, who lives in Douala, and have him come to Bokito to sign the lease and take care of my roof, which leaks.

I started a list of the books I've read in PC so far, and I've only finished 10. I have read more issues of Newsweek and The Washington Monthly since June than in the previous year. Maybe that's part of it.

02/11/06

Well, it's been a long two weeks but I'm heading into Yaounde this weekend. Part of the usual reason for this trip was rendered pointless since Ruth, the PC Safety & Security person, came to visit today and brought my mail. There wasn't much but I'm happy to have what I got. I think there must be a delay at the Campost or something. One package of soup mix & roach traps had been eaten by mice (perhaps they also enjoy the roach bait?).

It's hard to believe that Halloween has already passed and Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. The weather has not been getting cold. We're actually approaching the dry season and intense heat. The rainy season will be ending in a week or two (not that you'd know, since we're in the midst of a rainstorm and have no power) and soon it'll be crazy hot all the time. Great! Without the leaves changing and chilly nights, I don't even notice that it's almost time for Christmas. I've been asked to provide a Christmas list, so here goes.

1. Portable speakers for my MP3 player

2. DVDs (for example, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, which I haven't seen yet) or books you think I'd like

3. iTunes Music Store gift certificate, so I can get some new music

4. Drink mixes these are great when the taste of water gets old (but I don't need tea bags--it's available here)

5. Snack foods, especially cheese flavored ones or granola bars

6. Cat toys/treats for Fred & Bodo

7. Chocolate

Since I have the laptop now, I would appreciate any burned TV shows (new episodes of Lost, Six Feet Under, Gilmore Girls), music, movies, etc that you might want to share.

A colleague tells me that an internet cafe has opened in Bokito. I haven't been to check the connection, but I hope to get there next week. Supposedly the school's salle d'info (computer lab) will be operational by November 15 but I am skeptical. My students in 3eme, the exam class, want to start practicals but I have nothing to offer them. Hell, if they want I'd pay the fees at the cyber cafe so a few of them could use a computer.

I went to my second funeral last night. First, the APLYBOK, the employees association at the lycee, went on a condolence visit to a colleagues house, which means that we give him some money and then drink his beer & palm wine and eat lots of his food. Everyone got nice and toasty before heading to the funeral of another colleague's daughter. I'm told we'll be having another visit in two weeks and a week after that is our monthly dinner reception. I enjoy all the food.

To combat the PC weight gain, something like the "freshman 15", I've been running in the mornings. Tuesday I started going to the sports teachers' exercise class. Yikes, am I in pain. The teacher wants to call Dad but I explained that he doesn't speak French so that would be useless. I guess he wants to converse with a fellow sports fan.