Everything's a Process

I was told today, "Just remember, everything is a process... and in Cameroon, everything is a harder process." No matter what it is you're trying to get done, it is certain to take more time than you would prefer. So don't pray for patience unless you want to come to Africa! This year is certainly going to be a lesson in patience for me, I can assure you. (Apparently growing up with six siblings was not test enough! ... just kidding... I love you guys! :)) For the past few days, we've been in Yaounde picking up things sent over on the sea freight, visiting other missionary families just arrived, and shopping at the "American" stores... "American" only in the sense that you can find brands of food, shampoo, and sponges that aren't existent anywhere else. We call it the "1500 franc store," the Cameroonian equivalent of the Dollar Tree (although it's about three dollars instead of only one). But the line is just as long and moves much, much slower. Everything is a process; getting through the city traffic, preparing meals, even hunting down our favorite junk food. We laughed at ourselves; the Swiss travel and find the best chocolate, French vacationers look for fine wine and cheese, and we Americans search for whatever junk food and candy we can find. That says something about our culture, right there... something funny, but sad!

We also got to watch the Olympics while in Yaounde - some gymnastics, archery, judo, and volleyball - but it was nice getting a glimpse of something everyone else back home is watching too. Sarah and I stayed up and watched until super late, enjoying the normalcy and our almost-American junk food. It's been two weeks since we arrived, but adjusting to life in Africa is like everything else here - a process. I'm sure it will take much longer than we'd like, but we'll get there. After all, we have a year!

Chocolate!

Oh, Cameroon! In the past two days, I have seen a chicken's head cut off, been offered a baby in the market, and eaten more chocolate than you can possibly imagine. Well, maybe not that much. But more than usual, and usual for me is a whole lot for all of you. Sarah and Katelyn and I started working out every day (yes, you heard right! I am actually exercising) so I need something to keep my energy up. And chocolate is my comfort food. No judging.

We are all getting into the groove of living in Cameroon again, or for the first time. None of us but maybe Chris are actually getting up early yet, but that's probably due to staying up late reading or watching movies, as we are prone to do. And it's summer, so it's allowed. Our days, as is everything here, are relaxing and taken at a slow pace, which is a relief after America's go-go-go mindset. You don't realize how time-oriented everything is in the States until you get here, and begin to go with the flow, and find you haven't even checked what time it is in days. I appreciate it, as it's quite opposed to America, where I am usually hurrying about and trying not to be late, and most often failing. I've always thought being on time is overrated - here, everyone agrees with me.

But for living in Africa, it's been pretty cushy so far. Chris fixed the washing machine, so we don't have to hand wash our clothes, the electricity has only gone out a couple times in the evenings, and as you've heard before, we now have hot water alllll the time. As we like to joke, we are "suffering for de Lord!" ...as we sit in the coffee shop and eat chocolate cake.

Today I came home to the news that my brother Tim and his wife Paige are going to have another baby! AAHH! Yay I am so excited for them, because even though I don't like babies very much, closely related babies are an exception (like Ellie! Not a baby anymore, though). This is the ultrasound they put up on facebook (finding out huge family news like this on facebook... one of the drawbacks to living in Africa). But eeeeee!

Other than that, today was full of little delights: for one, Chris installed a new water heater in the girls' bathroom and so we will have hot showers every day! On second thought, that is much larger than just a little delight. Also Katelyn, Nelly, our friend Laura and I took a taxi into town to go ballroom dancing! Which is a bit ridiculous, because I can't dance, but it's fun to learn anyway, and we met up with a Peace Corps volunteer Brittany whom I met last year, and who knows the Jacksons well. Apparently us Americans are "so straight!" and need to learn to move our hips! So that's what our lesson mostly consisted of... standing and swaying our hips and being chastised by Cameroonian men who move their hips much, much better than any woman or girl I have ever seen! Haha. We all also made a trip to visit Aunt Julie, a woman the Jacksons know, and gave her the fabric to make our dresses for Sallah, the Muslim holiday at the end of Ramadan. We celebrate it with Fadi and her family in the village Sabba Njowra, and since Ramadan just started, it's still about a month away.

We also are one step closer to having an internet line of our own in the house, instead of having to depend on the wireless connection from the nearby SIL office. Chris says the trees in between here and there are most likely interfering with the connection, being so full of water in the rainy season... Oh the things that become issues in Africa! I find it humorous, though frustrating at times. But hopefully we will get out own line soon, and hopefully it will be better than the one we have now!

Ndop Adventures

Great day today - and it's not even over yet! I had my first really hot shower since coming to Bamenda, we were served puff puffs (kind of a mix between donut holes and beignets, just much less sugary. Also my all-time favorite Cameroonian food so far), and I spent the day with Sarah and Carolin at a teachers' training in Ndop. We drove out there early this morning (it's about an hour's drive from Bamenda) to a primary school which they've been using the past couple of days. Everyone who was there, about 15 in all, are teachers in their villages and came to learn better ways to use the resources they have to teach both kids and adults the alphabet and to read aloud and write in their own language. Carolin was there to supervise the training, but she and Sarah and I spent most of the day pretending to be students as the teachers practiced using the blackboard and reading aloud stories in Chrambo, Ngiemeke'ke, and another language I can't remember. It was quite interesting attempting to speak it, to say the least. But I love languages, so it was enjoyable as well as embarrassing. Especially with dozens of kids standing at the windows watching us and whispering to each other and laughing... haha. Good thing I know how to laugh at myself, or this would not work out so well. As it is, there are plenty of things to laugh at here, besides myself; Cameroonians' sense of fashion, for one! They wear everything from traditional Cameroonian dress to t-shirts with President Obama's face on them, and everything in between. Today one of the male teachers at the training was wearing a women's black shirt that quite literally bedazzled with sequins - Sarah and I quite enjoyed that. People here don't understand many of our quirks, though, either - for instance, they eat literally mounds of food at every meal. When Sarah and I said we were full, after barely half a plate piled with potatoes, cabbage, and fish, one lady responded, "You don't know how to eat." Haha, well perhaps this year I will learn to eat and be fat by the time I come back. You never know.

The Market

Well, today I was proposed to! Haha, you will be happy to hear I refused. And that's nothing compared to Sarah - she was asked 4 or 5 times. It's actually quite amazing, and annoying, frankly - simply walking along the street elicits countless whistles, shouts, greetings, and kissing sounds to attract attention. Some men will yell a string of random American names, hoping one of them will be right and we will turn around. And instead of being flattering, it's just bothersome...just let me shop in peace, I beg you! Why must we be white?? Cameroonians will also raise their prices, because they know white people have money... well, that's mostly true. There's a reason I'm buying things here, and not America! My spoils today - a shirt, a purse, a bunch of fabric and a delicious noodle salad - cost less than $15 all together.

Several rules of thumb that I've been told or have just come to my attention:
1. Hold onto your purse.
2. Ignore all shouts and greetings directed at you.
3. If you see it, and like it, buy it. Chances are you won't see it again.
4. Run quickly across the street... pedestrians do not have the right of way.
5. Switch your ring to your left hand so people think you are married - it actually kinda works!
Yeah... well there were more that have slipped my mind....oh well! I'm sure I'll remember plenty of things to tell you all as I continue learning about this crazy awesome culture. Happy trails! ...until tomorrow. :D

The Rains Down In Africa

This blogging is addictive... so forgive me if my incessant posts are a bit exhaustive. I love writing, but I realized I haven't spent much time writing lately, and so I find this quite delightful. It's also a handy way for an introvert like me to share my adventures with you all - however many there are of you out there. Even if I were the only one reading my posts, I'd still do it. It's therapeutic, like painting and washing dishes and riding horses.

The Jacksons’ porch - upon which I am seated with a large cup of tea and a blanket - has a beautiful, almost-180 degree view, and I can see clouds moving in, floating away, and parting to allow a tiny sliver of sun to peek through on the horizon. Today eight of us (plus Autumn) piled in the car and drove out straight into those clouds. We hiked up a hill on the side of the road to a waterfall, and explored the hills above it, while the rain debated between sprinkling and pouring. Between the rain and the knee-deep wet grass, all of us were soaked through in an amazingly short time. But we had lots of fun and it was beautiful up there, with a view of the surrounding hills and valleys, the clouds moving in and out like waves. Everything is green here. All different kinds of green, bright lime green bushes and deep green trees and an occasional speck of orange or pink poking through the foliage. I love rainy season. Not that I’ve actually seen dry season, but this is just lovely, and completely worth all the rain. 

It’s nice to sit here and watch and listen to the rain come down, with no idea of what tomorrow will bring - but no worries either. It’s a very peaceful place, Cameroon. Even the hustle and bustle on the streets and in the market is relaxed, and there is always plenty of time to get where you are going, or stop and chat with someone you see on the street. At the moment I can hear people talking in the living room and smell the lasagna baking in the oven. I think I am going to sit here awhile longer and do nothing but watch the rain fall down. 

Saturdaaay

Today was our first full day in Bamenda! Not that we took much advantage of it - Sarah, Katelyn, and I all slept till after 12. Bothersome jet lag still has up all night and sleeping late, but hopefully that will go away soon. Apparently we even slept through the early morning spectacle that woke everyone else: several Cameroonians had sold a pig and were tying it up and trying to put it on the back of a motorcycle! The pig, needless to say, was not a happy camper. And he made sure everyone within a square mile knew it.

After some coffee and leftover pizza, Karen, Katelyn, Fadi, Sarah and I headed out into town to go grocery shopping and just look around a bit. Bamenda is what I remember from before... it seems everywhere in Cameroon, people are just always outside. Every place we go, the people are out on the street, in taxis or usually walking along the street, shopping at the roadside stands, toting everything from water to shoes to baskets of peanuts on their heads, or just sitting and talking. Makes me wonder how different America would be if people didn't spend so much time hidden away in their houses, on their computers, watching movies, keeping to themselves.

The roads, besides being stuffed full with people and taxis, are quite "fun" themselves. Not the greatest when your stomach is upset from the malaria medicine, as Sarah unfortunately found out the hard way. (Rules of taking doxycycline: Always eat it with plenty of food, drink something with it - no milk - and don't lie down afterward.)  But we went to PresCafe, which must be one of the cleanest places in Cameroon, and after some crackers and tea she was feeling much better. The store right next to the coffee shop, PresCraft, had an abundance of beautiful handmade items like woven baskets, wooden cookware, jewelry and traditional masks. And the amazing thing is how cheap everything is here! Cameroonians use francs, not dollars. (One dollar is equal to about 500 francs.) My self-control shall surely be tested in the coming months.

We came home to a delicious dinner Lum made for us to welcome us back to Cameroon - chicken, rice, and home-grown vegetables, followed by a dessert she created herself and made from scratch. Chocolate cupcakes with hot fudge in the middle, topped with strawberry sauce and more hot fudge. If I had a working camera, there would be multiple pictures of it. It was fantastic.

And tomorrow we are going hiking! I don't know where, but wherever we go, I know it will be beautiful. Pray I will have a working phone soon so I can take pictures and share the loveliness of Cameroon with you all!

Bamenda

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves..." Anatole France

Bamenda: the place where dreams come true! (Second only to Disneyland.) Leaving Yaounde for Bamenda is like going on a long-awaited vacation, and then BOOM congratulations, you get to live here! The drive was over 6 hours long, but completely worth it; any way you choose to take is "the scenic route." Along the way we saw all kinds of trees, including some kinds of evergreens and real-life Dr. Seuss trees, stopped by the side of the road for meat and the biggest avocados I'v ever seen (Cameroonians call them pears), and met several Peace Corps volunteers newly assigned to Cameroon. Every sighting of a white person around here is announced by punching each other and yelling "WHITE MAN! WHITE MAN!" which is usually followed by the Jacksons inviting them to our weekly Pizza and Movie night. Tis a fun game, and a marvelous way to meet every single white person in the country. 

With just the Jacksons, Sarah, Lum, Fadi, Nelly, Caroline, and me here tonight, Pizza and Movie night was quieter than usual - or as quiet as you can get with 6 girls in the house. It was a little weird walking through the house, and seeing the garden, and meeting the dogs (Autumn and Sasha) and cats (Jane and Monk) with the thought that this will be my home for the next 12 moons or so. The adjustment will be hard, I think, but perhaps won't take as long as it may seem. My perspective has already changed so much within these first few days, I can only imagine what the differences will be between now and the end of the year. (For instance, the other day talking to Chris he asked how the internet had been during a skype call.. and my answer: "Oh, really great, it only cut out 2 or 3 times!" Cause for celebration, right there.)

But thank God for the times when the internet does work, and that I can talk to my family and Toby when I'm missing home. In the middle of all this craziness, He still cares about stuff like that, things that may not seem important to anyone else but us. That makes it important to Him too, and that is pretty awesome. 

Heeere We Are

We have arrived! It took us over 20 hours of flying, and 5+ hours of driving and layovers, but we are here, finally. I like the idea of travel, and reaching destinations, but the actual, unavoidable process of getting from point A to B is loathsome. Oh well, that is over and done with! Yaounde is loud, busy, and humid, but the weather is apparently much cooler than normal, and Bamenda will be even better. It still feels a bit like we're in limbo, like the airport did, only here there is the ability to move, internet (sometimes), and lots and lots to eat.

Speaking of eating, we had our first Cameroonian meal tonight. Sweet potatoes, rice, lentils, and - my favorite - peanut sauce! Ha... just kidding, I found out last year I detest peanut sauce. But this is not the time to be faint-hearted! Courage, or as they say here in French, "Coo-raage!" Haha.

All in all, it is good to be here, however much I miss those back home. <3 No seat belts, fresh fruit on every corner (literally), and the prospect of an entire year to learn countless new things! Yay! And I am so glad to have friends like Katelyn and Sarah, who are adjusting as well as me, although in different ways. I can tell it is going to be quite the year... if our sitting on the couch making our belly fat talk to each other in different accents is any indication.

We are very mature. And now we are going to watch a romantic movie and cry. Until we meet again!

Scratch that. Now I have had my last In-N-Out burger.

It was delicious.

And So It Begins

“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner

Ten short hours till my plane leaves, and despite the roller coaster of thoughts and emotions that have been fighting for my attention the past few days, what comes to mind is how incredibly blessed I am. Not only have I been given the opportunity to live in Africa for a year, but I am surrounded by you all, my precious family and friends. As Winnie the Pooh said, "How lucky I am to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard." So. True. Only I have many, many someones. You hate to see me go but at the same time are showering me with prayer, gifts of money, and loads of encouragement. Just today as I was leaving church someone handed me a $500 check for Cameroon. I was amazed... yet when I thought about it, it is but the icing on the fundraising/God's provision/I-am-so-blessed cake. It is thanks to you all that I will board that plane tomorrow with tears in my eyes* and a smile on my face.

But yes. With my bags packed (mostly), my computer loaded with new music (very important), and my last In-N-Out burger consumed (I'm going to miss that), I am prepared and so very excited for this grand and marvelous excursion! Adventure is out there!

See you stateside, only opposite. Overseas. Abroad. Ya know.

*And by tears in my eyes, I really mean bawling my eyes out