I'm heading back to post today, so you may not hear from me again for a few weeks. Health & Agro folks have midservice and the rest of my stage is off to IST so the PC office will be pretty busy.
But if the cyber in Bokito actually is operational, I can email every day!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Pictures
So I got the pictures up earlier than I expected. You should be able to see them here:
http://arkansas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061949&l=37a25&id=20601980
And I'm going to Mbalmayo to see my family for the day, but I'll be back tonight!
http://arkansas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061949&l=37a25&id=20601980
And I'm going to Mbalmayo to see my family for the day, but I'll be back tonight!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Back from the Beach
The beach is awesome, no matter what country you're in! I had an excellent time splashing in the waves, sitting on the beach and eating fresh fish right off the grill!
Sure, we were in session from 8-4 (with coffee break and lunch w/ nap) but afterwards we hit the waves. Kribi is humid and it actually poured rain our last night. I got soaked, which is weird since it last rained in Bokito in November. On our free day Sunday, we took a taxi to the Chutes de la Lobe and took a pirogue ride up the river into the jungle and stopped at a pygmy village. The chutes are quite rare, because they fall from the river directly into the ocean. It's a gorgeous site. I'll try to post pictures next time. We didn't see any monkeys in the jungle. And the pygmy village was more awkward than interesting: they were drunk and demanded money in return for a traditional dance, which we declined.
The hotel was across from the street from the ocean. We enjoyed breakfast & lunch. Food was ridiculous in amount and quality. IST was a week of gluttony. The rooms were air conditioned & had cable, so I watched CNN International in a/c. I can't believe I had to leave. ;-)
So I'm headed up to the Adamaoua for Christmas. Still haven't decided if I'm going to visit my host family today.
Joyeux Noel a tout le monde!
Sure, we were in session from 8-4 (with coffee break and lunch w/ nap) but afterwards we hit the waves. Kribi is humid and it actually poured rain our last night. I got soaked, which is weird since it last rained in Bokito in November. On our free day Sunday, we took a taxi to the Chutes de la Lobe and took a pirogue ride up the river into the jungle and stopped at a pygmy village. The chutes are quite rare, because they fall from the river directly into the ocean. It's a gorgeous site. I'll try to post pictures next time. We didn't see any monkeys in the jungle. And the pygmy village was more awkward than interesting: they were drunk and demanded money in return for a traditional dance, which we declined.
The hotel was across from the street from the ocean. We enjoyed breakfast & lunch. Food was ridiculous in amount and quality. IST was a week of gluttony. The rooms were air conditioned & had cable, so I watched CNN International in a/c. I can't believe I had to leave. ;-)
So I'm headed up to the Adamaoua for Christmas. Still haven't decided if I'm going to visit my host family today.
Joyeux Noel a tout le monde!
Monday, December 11, 2006
IST and Christmas
I have finally seen Christmas decorations! And I even heard some Christmas carols on the radio! Despite the scorching heat, inch-thick dust, and water outages, it is in fact Christmastime! It still feels quite strange because the weather is getting warmer. I keep thinking we're going on summer vacation.
Today we're leaving Yaounde for the beach! I can't wait to swim in the ocean and lay around on the beach. We have in-service, so we'll have to do some work but I'm sure we'll find plenty of time to drink and play in the surf. I've been charged with "guard-ing" people things, including a jar of sea water, sea salt, and of course bonbons and provisions. My students so excited I left for Christmas break a week early. Little do they realize they're the ones not learning while I'm gone. I'm sure I felt the same way when I was in high school.
When I arrived yesterday I went to the mail room and had another load of fabulous packages! I received Christmas packages from Aunt TJ & Uncle Dick, Aunt Kath, Aunt Barb, Grandma J and Aunt Jane. I didn't open anything that was wrapped (I want to save that for Christmas!) but everything else was awesome! You guys know exactly what I need. I'm still enjoying last week's packages. Cheese nibbles made it all the way across the ocean--intact and tasty.
Someone reminded me about summer sausage and it really isn't Christmas without it. ;-) The transit house recently lost 3/4 of its DVD collection to theft so we're really hurting for a good selection.
I hope Bodo and Fred are still around when I get back. I left the keys with one of my students and charged her with feeding them at least once a day. The trip to Yaounde yesterday was much longer than necessary due to roadblocks. It is the Christmas season, which means gendarmes are more frequent along the roads. Luckily the drivers on the Bokito-Bafia route had decided not to strike (this time) and I eventually made it to Bafia in time to ride the greyhound bus to the capital. One of the guys at the agence de voyage accused me of having given him my phone number and then not answering his calls. I assured him that he must have me confused with another blanche, to which he replied that maybe I didn't recognize him because all Cameroonians look the same. I'm pretty sure I'm right, since I frequently lie about even having a cell phone and I never give out the number. PCVs who fail to follow this rule end up with lots of stalkers who send text messages "je t'aime" and bip a lot.
Biping is a Cameroonian phenomenon that arises from everyone's lack of credit on their mobile phone. To successfully "bip" someone you must only let it ring once before hanging up. They are supposed to return your call (thereby using their own credit and not yours). If someone annoys you with too many bips you can "cut" them by picking up the phone before they hang up and waste some 50-100CFA of their credit. More experienced bipers can "flash" which means your phone lights up but doesn't ring. This takes a lot of skill and coordination to hang up before the ring. Biping is annoying. When people bip me from a number I don't know, I often try to cut them, but usually I'm not quick enough.
Okay, that's it for now. If Kribi has an Internet cafe maybe I'll post again. Ahhhhhhhh the beach!
I posted some pictures on Facebook, and I think you can use this link to view them without having to join:
http://arkansas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059554&l=b9212&id=20601980
Today we're leaving Yaounde for the beach! I can't wait to swim in the ocean and lay around on the beach. We have in-service, so we'll have to do some work but I'm sure we'll find plenty of time to drink and play in the surf. I've been charged with "guard-ing" people things, including a jar of sea water, sea salt, and of course bonbons and provisions. My students so excited I left for Christmas break a week early. Little do they realize they're the ones not learning while I'm gone. I'm sure I felt the same way when I was in high school.
When I arrived yesterday I went to the mail room and had another load of fabulous packages! I received Christmas packages from Aunt TJ & Uncle Dick, Aunt Kath, Aunt Barb, Grandma J and Aunt Jane. I didn't open anything that was wrapped (I want to save that for Christmas!) but everything else was awesome! You guys know exactly what I need. I'm still enjoying last week's packages. Cheese nibbles made it all the way across the ocean--intact and tasty.
Someone reminded me about summer sausage and it really isn't Christmas without it. ;-) The transit house recently lost 3/4 of its DVD collection to theft so we're really hurting for a good selection.
I hope Bodo and Fred are still around when I get back. I left the keys with one of my students and charged her with feeding them at least once a day. The trip to Yaounde yesterday was much longer than necessary due to roadblocks. It is the Christmas season, which means gendarmes are more frequent along the roads. Luckily the drivers on the Bokito-Bafia route had decided not to strike (this time) and I eventually made it to Bafia in time to ride the greyhound bus to the capital. One of the guys at the agence de voyage accused me of having given him my phone number and then not answering his calls. I assured him that he must have me confused with another blanche, to which he replied that maybe I didn't recognize him because all Cameroonians look the same. I'm pretty sure I'm right, since I frequently lie about even having a cell phone and I never give out the number. PCVs who fail to follow this rule end up with lots of stalkers who send text messages "je t'aime" and bip a lot.
Biping is a Cameroonian phenomenon that arises from everyone's lack of credit on their mobile phone. To successfully "bip" someone you must only let it ring once before hanging up. They are supposed to return your call (thereby using their own credit and not yours). If someone annoys you with too many bips you can "cut" them by picking up the phone before they hang up and waste some 50-100CFA of their credit. More experienced bipers can "flash" which means your phone lights up but doesn't ring. This takes a lot of skill and coordination to hang up before the ring. Biping is annoying. When people bip me from a number I don't know, I often try to cut them, but usually I'm not quick enough.
Okay, that's it for now. If Kribi has an Internet cafe maybe I'll post again. Ahhhhhhhh the beach!
I posted some pictures on Facebook, and I think you can use this link to view them without having to join:
http://arkansas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059554&l=b9212&id=20601980
Saturday, December 02, 2006
November
07/11/2006
I take a moment to pause and note that I am watching a low quality bootleg of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on my laptop in Africa. After a long, difficult day at school I returned to discover that the files I’d transferred from another PCV’s computer do actually work and I am thrilled. I’ve been waiting since July 7 to see this movie. I consider it my great sacrifice that I can no longer play the Pirates drinking game with my best friends. I may have to bust open the 800 CFA box of sangria (yes, a box of wine for less than $2) and throw a party.
This is a great day.
09/11/2006
Unfortunately part 2 of POTC did not work properly, so I’ve only seen the first hour and a half. Someone please remedy this.
29/11/06
Shortly afterwards my voltage regulator died and my laptop batteries discharged. I took it to a technician in town and he got it working. I realize it’s been a very long time since I’ve posted. Sorry. The internet café in Bokito is complete but not operational because it lacks machines. Oh, quel village!
What have I been doing in all this time? Well, I’ve been teaching, writing tests, grading papers, and filling in report cards. I also went au village with one of my students. That was quite fun, although I fell in the field and scraped up my knee badly. Then we fell off the moto when in slid in a muddy patch. All’s well.
This past weekend I celebrated Thanksgiving with a group of PCVs in the Littoral province. I climbed a mountain. Then we ate a lot. It was fabulous. Now that I’ve left the Center province I’m excited to see the other parts of Cameroon. Soon enough we’ll be on the beach at Kribi for IST.
2/12/06
I have now been told that the internet café in Bokito is actually working. I’ll have to go investigate further when I return. It’d be nice to have the internet right here. Yesterday was the Kermesse, a sort of “cultural day” but really an excuse for the students to do provocative dances for their friends, and somehow it’s sanctioned by the school. I was appalled at the disrespectful way they mocked the teachers and the tiny outfits (miniskirts and bras) that students danced in. Plus everyone has a tendency to give money to the performers during their act, but it’s usually boys who want to feel up the female dancers. And it’s not just my American sensibilities; my Cameroonian colleague called them “seductresses” and we decided last night that the administration’s attitude is partly to blame. Of course, my Anglophone friend thinks that in general Francophones are more disrespectful and impolite. She would say that.
A funeral was held at a house next to the lycee last night, so mourners were walking past my window at all hours of the morning. I did not sleep. The cats have also discovered they can come in through the bedroom window (if a cat can come in through the mosquito netting I’m sure the mosquitoes themselves have found a way), which they do around 4 or 5am.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)