Christmas in Ngaoundere

Colleen and Alexis enjoying Christmas morning 

Adamaoua gang with our Christmas feast!

Pax baking brownies

Showing off my coffee cake

Will and his beautiful quiche

Settling into Danfili

I have officially survived my first month at post and made it back to Ngaoundere!

Danfili is exactly what I hoped for in my post.  It is a rural village, but a relatively large one, with a population of four to five thousand.  We are located on a main road, but it's dirt so it's a pretty bumpy ride to leave town.  There are mountains that run along the north side of town.  It is a beautiful view from my health center!  Because it is a pretty small town, everyone is very friendly too and very calm.  Compared even to the larger towns on either side of me, Danfili is much quieter and calmer.  The only downside to being in a smaller town are the rural aspects.  With the exception of market day once a week, it is pretty tough to find fresh fruits and vegetables.  However, avocados are EVERYWHERE right now (and only cost 10 cents)!  Then there is the lack of electricity of course.  Although it sucks not to be able to use my computer at post, I am actually enjoying not having electricity.  It's exactly what I was expecting when I left for Peace Corps and was a challenge I was really looking forward to.  I spend a lot of time reading, which is not something I have been able to do for a long time.  Apparently Danfili had electricity in the past, but several years ago it went out and was never repaired.

I had one slightly frightening incident after my first week at post, as well.  I woke up at midnight one night to noises outside my house.  This was especially weird because I have a gate that gets locked at night, so I knew someone had to have hopped the gate.  After saying "Hello?  Who is it?  It's midnight.." several times, they were scared off.  I talked to my community host about it the next day and she was very upset and went to talk to the chief.  I had already made plans to go visit Pax, the volunteer in Ngaoundal, so I didn't get back until the next day.  When I arrived back in Danfili, I found out that the chief was very unhappy that this had happened and had done an "investigation".  As far as I know, this means going around town asking people who it might have been.  They came to the conclusion that it was a "crazy" (sorry social workers, political correctness is not a concept in Cameroon).  Nevertheless, everyone in town (the chief, the chief of the health center, my community host, the sous-prefet and the president of the community health committee) had also decided that I needed to live with a family.  Although it was pretty clear the decision was not up to me, I was really happy with the idea as well.  Within the next 24 hours, they had found a new house for me with a family.  Although the incident kind of freaked me out, it was really comforting that my community was so concerned about me and did everything they needed to help me out.

I am a lot happier with the new house, mainly because I live with a family.  The family I live with is just a grandmother and her granddaughter who are both very nice and easygoing.  They were really welcoming and have been feeding me dinner every night too since my gas tank ran out.  Although this means I have been eating a lot of couscous, it turns out it's not so bad with the right sauce!  Because of the lack of food options that I eat in the states, I have found myself eating more and more Cameroonian food and actually liking it!  The grandmother doesn't speak much French, so it has been a good motivation to learn Fulfulde and good opportunity to practice.  We can usually communicate enough with my limited Fulfulde, her limited French, and lots of hand motions.  Sometimes when I try to say things in Fulfulde that are clearly above my level of competency, she just starts laughing and walks away shaking her head.  I have gathered that she has started calling me "my child" in Fulfulde, which I think is adorable.  She told Peace Corps staff that she is my grandma in Cameroon.  Her granddaughter, who is 16, has been really great too and helps translate more complex topics.  The grandmother also has a pet chicken who tends to run away from the compound whenever he gets the chance.  He has his feet tied together with pagne, but it doesn't seem to stop him.  Every time she has to spend several hours looking all around town until she finds it.

As far as work goes, I have not done much so far.  I know that's pretty normal in the first months, but it's easy to feel useless.  I spend a lot of time sitting at my health center and watching the nurses actually practice medicine.  I've been able to learn some information, though.  Reading through some of the hospital records have been interesting and have given me a better idea about families.  It's pretty clear that most of the births in town take place at home.  There are only several each month in the records and an incredible amount of babies in town.  One great thing about Cameroon is that when a baby is born, if you want to see it you just show up at the house.  Between this and sitting at vaccination days, I've gotten to hold a ton of babies lately.  I've also been able to do two simple formations (presentations) on family planning.  They just consist of explaining the advantages and the methods, but a lot of it seems to be new information.  From my conversations with health center staff and others in the community, it sounds like family planning education is something the community is really interested in.  I'm sure I will figure out my work more specifically as time goes on.  For now, I am concentrating on my community evaluation and just gathering information.

Things I've learned during my first month:

• You can fit 13 people into a small Toyota.  I'll admit, 3 were children, but I think the point still stands.
• Bucket showering is much better outside.  I've been showering behind my house on a rock pile, in the sun and they have been my best showers in country to date.
• Ask what type of meat before you eat it.  My community host gave me some meat she was cooking.  After my confirmation that yes, the meat does taste good, she exclaimed, "It is bush meat!"  and giggled.  
• Apparently I have inherited a love of bird watching from my dad and grandpa.  I have become obsessed with identifying the different birds in my yard, which has resulted in me running for my camera in my bath towel.
• It is perfectly acceptable to use Nivea Men's cologne as air freshener in a health center.  Unfortunately it results in the whole place smelling like a boy's dorm room.
• When asked if you "know about" a food, regardless of your answer, the conversation will result in you eating said food.
• How to say "I don't understand." in Fulfulde.  

First month at post

My new kitten, Lily

Seefah (henna) 

The view from Mount Ngaoundere

Christmas Eve morning mountain climbing!

It needs some work, but this is my new house!

One of my many bird photos (I won't bore you with the rest)

Crazy wild "tomato" that kids keep giving me

One of my friend's children with her tomato gift

The chicken that lives in our compound who likes to escape despite his makeshift handcuffs

Swearing In

Health volunteers and our tech trainer, Theo

My host Maman and I 

Maureen (Assistant Program Manager), Myself, and Sylvie (Health Program Manager)

View from the train this morning!

Life as a PCV Begins!

As of Wednesday, I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!  We had a great, but long, ceremony at the new Peace Corps office in Yaounde.  Tuesday night we had the opportunity to stay with families from the embassy, which was amazing!  We got hot showers, slept on real mattresses, and ate American food for dinner (pizza and red wine)!  I was literally jumping around in the shower out of pure happiness.

We took the train last night up to Ngaoundere, which was a lot of fun.  We took the wagon lit, so it had beds.  It leaves at 6 pm and gets here around 9 am.  I woke up this morning and looked out the train car window to a completely different landscape with a bright pink sun rising.  The landscape is a lot drier, but it is so beautiful.The second we got off the train, we were all amazed by how different it is in the Adamawa.  It is a lot quieter, even at the train station, and a lot cleaner too.  We drove past a beautiful mosque on the way to the Peace Corps office and right now I can hear the call to prayer.  I already love this region and really can't wait to get to post now!  My post is about 8 hours from Ngaoundere so I plan to stay there for as long as possible to settle in.  We will probably leave sometime this weekend.

In other news in the past month:

• Several weeks ago, I got sick for the first time.  I'm sure it was dirty water or food, but let me tell ya it wasn't pretty.  Luckily, it only lasted about 2 days!
• I had a conversation with my host mom about why she hosts volunteers.  I am the fifth volunteer that she has hosted so far.  She explained that it's because taking care of each other is the right thing to do and that even though she's not really my mom, we are all family.  It sort of illustrates the Cameroonian value of welcoming everyone into your home.
• One day I left the training center to walk to the tailor and unwisely took a path that was swarming with probably around 100 kids. I walked through them, but somehow ended up with a train of them behind me.  So, I ended up walking through the middle of town with a pack of about 15 kids that I didn't know!
• I had to say goodbye to my host family on Tuesday, which was really tough.  I ended up crying at dinner while the girls both stared at me... Oh well!

I am so excited to finally be a PCV.  Although I was in a minor panic before I left the states, the more time I spend here, the more sure I am that this is exactly where I need to be right now!  

Photos!

Awkward (although not purposefully so) family photo with my host brother and host mom

Wading through a flooded road on site visit

Pax and I: She is my closest neighbor, in Ngaoundal, at post!

My host sister, Marie-Rose, and I

My other host sister, Marguerite Dores (Nanoo), and I

Countryside around Bokito

Palmerie at the high school

My host sisters during our walk around town

What happens when Americans hear "Call me maybe" in Cameroon

Rainy season in Bokito

Almost all of the health group one of our first weeks in Bokito

More about Danfili!

In the past week I was able to talk with the volunteer I am replacing to learn more about my post and I am so excited to get there! It sounds like I am right between Tibati and Ngaoundal, both of which have volunteers. I will be about an hour away from each. I won't have electricity or running water, BUT I will have an avocado tree in my front yard so I think it's a pretty good trade-off! I will have good cell service, which also potentially means internet. The town has a population of around 4,000 or 5,000, which is also exactly what I wanted! Many people in the town speak French, but a lot of the women only speak Fulfulde. We just started Fulfulde lessons this week and I am so so excited about it. It is tough because none of the words sound anything like English or French, but apparently verbs are only in three tenses so hopefully I can get a pretty good handle on it in the next two years! Now that I know where I am going I am so ready to get out of Bokito and move into my town. Luckily, we are almost at the end of week six out of ten!!

Post Announcements!!!!

Found out posts yesterday! I will be spending the next two years in a town called, Danfili in the Adamawa region of Cameroon! I am very excited to improve on my French and learn Fulfulde, as well! I should also be working with some women's support groups which is very exciting. I don't have much information right now, such as the exact location of the town! It isn't on a map, but I know that it is between Tibati and Ngaoundal. I am hoping to talk with the current volunteer soon and will hopefully be able to gain more info!

Ma Famille D'Acceuil

This week is the third week of PST and I am getting more and more comfortable both with my

family and with Cameroon. This past week I feel like I have made so much progress in my host

family. I have gotten more comfortable with knowing what I can do to help and also which of my

own chores I can do for myself. This past Saturday I did my own laundry, which was a two hour

ordeal and resulted in slight “rugburns” to the part of my fingers that was used to scrub.

However, I have also been helping with the dishes more and have been praised excessively on

how fast and well I do the dishes. I’m not really sure what this is about since I seem to do

everything else wrong. I suspect it may be related to the girls not wanting to do the dishes

themselves. Either way, I enjoy feeling like there is

something I can do to actually help out.

This past week I have also had more time with my host sisters, which has been great. They are

way more relaxed with me when it is just the three of us and I have been able to get to know

them much better. It was another trainee’s birthday last Thursday so we got back to Bokito late.

When I got close to my house, my host sisters came running at me and gave me a huge hug. It

was so sweet and pretty much made my night that they were just waiting for me. The younger

one, Nanoo, is just crazy and goofy and has endless energy. She wanted to “faire le sport” this

Saturday, but myself and Marie Rose, the older girl, kept telling her that it was still too hot. Finally

around 5pm it was cool enough. Apparently to them, sports mean racing, doing cartwheels, and

playing tag (all of which I am terrible at). We all (including the neighbor) had a good laugh at my

expense though. Luckily, I was able to win back a little admiration with my drawing skills. The

girls also love listening to my iPod even though I’m pretty sure they hate all of my music. There

is just one song that they enjoy, which they have decided to play on repeat (Toutes les Nuits by

Colonel Reyel- which I picked up during study abroad). After spending more time with them, I

have also realized that I have a way easier time communicating with Marie Rose. She

understands my broken French most of the time and is very patient about explaining things to

me. I am so grateful for her!

After spending so much time with my family this weekend, I’ve noticed how much less wasteful

they are here. I understand that it is out of necessity, but it was just been really making me

question how wasteful I was in the States. Most of the fruits and veggies that I eat here are

things that grocery stores in the States get rid of. When I volunteered with Table to Table, these

were the exact types of fruits and veggies that grocery stores were donating to us because they

wouldn’t sell them. It is just small things, like bruises, wilting, or brown spots, and sometimes a

small part of the fruit that is no longer good. Since arriving here, all the fresh foods that I have

eaten have had these imperfections and I have felt fine! The difference in food safety is just very

striking.

Lastly, two awesome developments this week: I got my pagne back from the tailor and we got

descriptions of all the posts!!!!!! I don’t have a photo yet of my outfit, but it is very fancy! I think

for now I will wear the top and bottom separately until I have a more formal occasion. They are

beautiful though and fit perfectly. As an amateur seamstress, I am blown away by the tailor’s

ability to create an outfit that fits perfectly with only several measurements. The outfits are very

fitted too, with little stretch in the fabric, which makes it even more impressive. The post

descriptions that we received have a ton of information, but it is a lot to sort through! We now

have to rate our top 3 and bottom 3 choices for posts. We can take into account the region, type

of work, presence of other volunteers, and type of agency we would be working with. There are

several that have elements that really interest me, but I haven’t made any choices yet. It won’t

be until week 5 (which is not that far away!) that we find out final decisions on our placements.

I will end with a list of little things that I have realized can absolutely make my day here in

Cameroon:

-toilet that you can sit on, rather than hover above (extra plus: if it flushes)

-cold (more like cool) beverages

-Nescafe (yes, I know it isn’t very good coffee, but quite frankly I can’t really tell the difference

anymore)

-mirrors (so that’s what my hair has looked like for the past two weeks…)

Finally, my family and friends, please keep me updated on life in the States/your lives! I may

take a while to respond to your fb messages and e-mails, but I promise I am thinking about you

all!

PST: Week Two

I have been at my homestay for almost a week now and everything is going very well!  Myself

and the other health volunteers are living in the town of Bokito, which is very small!  It is definitely

very rural (a.k.a. no internet… hence the lack of blog posts).  I am living with a family of three

people (currently) here.  There is Maman Jeanne, Marie Rose, and Nanoo (not her real name,

but what everyone calls her).  The girls are not her daughters, but they live with her right now.

This is a pretty common situation is Cameroon.  Marie Rose is 14 and Nanoo is 11.  Maman

Jeanne is married, but her husband works in other regions with NGO’s and I haven’t met him yet.

She has had volunteers before and is so helpful by speaking French very slowly and repetitively

for me.  She has also been very sweet about easing me into Cameroonian food by cooking more

tame options for me the first couple of days.  When I ask to try different foods that the rest of the

family is eating she says, “Not yet, in a couple weeks”.  There are some traditional Cameroonian

foods that have been deemed appropriate for me though.  My favorite so far has been couscous

and gumbo, neither of which are what you are picturing.  Couscous is basically like a lump of

dough and gumbo is this goopy, soupy substance made from the vegetable, “gumbo”.  When

eating gumbo it is better to just taste it without looking at it because it has a snot-like

consistency. The flavor is good though, I promise!

This week I was also able to buy my first pagne (fabric), which I am going to have made into a

skirt/top ensemble soon!  I brought it to the tailor today and it should be ready in a week.  I am

ridiculously excited because the fabric is absolutely beautiful!  I will post photos when I have fast

enough internet and have the outfit made!

Most of the time, it doesn’t really register with me that I am training to be a Peace Corps

Volunteer and living in Cameroon.  I’ve just been going day by day and this seems like normal life

already.  That’s not to say that I am acclimated or self-sufficient here at all.  I think because every

small task takes so much more planning and time, it is more intuitive to live in the moment.  I’m

pretty sure this is going to catch up with me at some point in a huge wave of culture shock, but

for now I am happy with where I am.

Other things I have learned in the past week:

- In Cameroon, you should say “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir” to just about everyone you pass.

- I am incapable of doing anything the correct Cameroonian way (laundry, cutting vegetables,

washing dishes).  Pretty much everytime I try to help with cooking or chores, Maman Jeanne just

looks at what I’m doing, laughs, and says, “Oh, Elizabeth”.

- Because the way you see the moon in Cameroon is a different angle, the shadows on it look

different.  Another volunteer’s host sister explained that instead of “the man in the moon”, they

have a mother and a child.  I looked several nights ago and it is absolutely beautiful!

- How to “suck” an orange.  The oranges here have very thick rinds so they are not that enjoyable

to eat the way we do in the states.  Instead they open it part way and suck the juices out.  I finally

asked Nanoo how to do it the other day, which she found pretty funny, but I now know how!

- If you get a bug bite in Cameroon, there are about five different things it could be and the

treatment might include digging things out of your skin.

-Cameroonians can eat massive amounts of food in one sitting and don’t understand why

westerners can’t do the same.

- It is actually very tasty to add spaghetti to your omelet.  Yes, I literally mean dump some

spaghetti in there with the vegetables.  Cameroonians (and now all of us PCT’s) are all about it.

Now, time for me to crawl under my mosquito net and fall asleep to the increasingly more

familiar African/American soundtrack from the bar next door!

On to PST!

Yesterday we attended a dinner at the Country Director’s home with people from various government organizations and NGO’s.  The U.S. ambassador to Cameroon was also there!  I sat at a table with a representative from the Cameroonian Ministry of Health.  It was one of our experiences dealing with a language barrier in Cameroon.  As a table, all of our French was decent, but not amazing.  It was quite a struggle to get through dinner in all French, but it was definitely good practice.  Because of the language barrier, some of us even got to the point of asking ridiculous questions like, “When is your birthday?”  (en francais bien sur)!  At least it gave us something to laugh about later.  

Overall, we have been filling out a lot of paperwork, learning expectations, and learning how to avoid getting sick (even though it is pretty much inevitable).  I tested into Intermediate-Mid Level French which means that I am only one step away from meeting the minimum language requirement to serve in a French region.  This is big relief and also very exciting because it means that I might be able to learn Fulfulde (a language spoken in the north).  I have already learned a couple words from one of our PCV’s who has been orienting us.  Basically my understanding of Fulfulde right now is that the answer to a lot of questions is “Jaam”.

Today we had a really cool experience at the Peace Corps headquarters.  A man who had served as a PCV in Cameroon in the 60’s and his sister who had visited him for 9 months while he served stopped by.  It was their first time back since the 60’s and they were hoping to meet up with old friends and go back to the town where they lived.  They were so excited to be back and still so enthusiastic about Peace Corps.  He mentioned how he was still in touch with the other PCV’s who he served with and how they had gone on to do really exciting things with their lives.  It was really inspiring to see how excited he was to be back and to see how much the country still meant to him after so many years.

Tomorrow we are moving on to Bafia and Bokito and into our homestays.  Because I am a health volunteer, I will be in Bokito.  It is more rural, which I’m actually really happy about.  I feel like it will be easy to adjust and integrate into a smaller community.  So far I have just been feeling really excited about everything.  Peace Corps has done a great job of taking care of us and preparing (and perhaps overpreparing) us so we are all dying to put some of this knowledge into use and make some stupid mistakes!  Right now I am feeling really optimistic that after PST (Pre-service Training) I will feel ready to move to post and start some work!

Hotel Felydac

Today is my third day in Yaounde, Cameroon and I finally have the time and internet to write a blog post.  I haven’t seen much of the city yet because Peace Corps has mostly kept us at the hotel (Hotel Felydac).  This is for safety reasons since we don’t know the culture well yet and because we are in a bigger city.  Everyone is getting pretty antsy to explore, though.  Yesterday we were finally able to walk around the city with a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) and try some food on the street.  We tried one type of nut that has tons of caffeine, but is incredibly bitter.  We also tried some cassava prepared in a certain way which was actually pretty good!  So far we haven’t had much real Cameroonian food because we have been eating our meals at the hotel.  

Tonight we are going to a dinner at the country director’s house.  Apparently there will be representatives from many NGO’s, such as UNICEF there.  It’s a bit intimidating, but it will be very exciting!  Many of us will work with some of these organizations during our service.

Although I haven’t seen much of it yet, I am very excited to be here in Cameroon.  We have been reminded often that we represent the U.S. and the Peace Corps 24/7.  It is very strange to suddenly be a part of the organization I have been talking about for so long.  Although, right now we are PCT’s (Peace Corps Trainees).  At the end of our 10 weeks of training we will be sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers.  They are also making a change this year in their system of placing people.  We will be given much more say in which region and what type of work we will be doing.  Unfortunately, we won’t find out for sure until the 5 week mark.

I have been getting some internet at the hotel here, but it is pretty spotty with all of us trying to use it.  It sounds like it will likely be even less common in Bokito where the health volunteers are training.  I am very excited to move to Bokito, though, which is a smaller and more rural community.  I will also get to meet my host family at this point, which will be very exciting!  I’m really hoping they have kids.  We also got to indicate our preference for this so I think the chances are pretty good. Soon I should have more to report after exploring Bokito a bit!

T-minus One Week

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!

I can't believe that the time of departure to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon is only one week away.  After four years of imagining Peace Corps as the next step after college, it feels surreal that the time has finally come.  I am excited, nervous, and pretty much every other emotion you can imagine, depending on which second of the day you catch me!

For those of you who don't know, I will give you a brief run down of the information that I have so far about my post.  I will be in a position called a community health educator, which means I will be in a rural community.  The major focus of my work will be HIV and malaria education as well as a number of other health issues including, maternal and child health, hygiene, sanitation, and any issues that my community expresses a need for.  I won't learn more details until I am in country and have received my specific post.  For the first 10 weeks, myself and the other volunteers (there seem to be about 50 of us) will go through training together.  I will be in Bokito with the other "health volunteers".

My plan is to keep everyone updated through this blog, but of course the frequency with which I update will depend upon my access to the internet!

Lastly, to my wonderful friends and family:
Thank you so much for all of your support throughout the application process.  You have put up with my babbling on with excitement, crying over stressful moments, and worrying over every detail.  I am so so lucky to have you all and as I say goodbye to everyone, I am reminded again and again what an amazing support system I have.  I am bringing lots of pictures to remind me of this during the tough times at post and I expect at least a couple letters once I have my address!  <3