June 14, 2003
Hello everyone, and greetings from Cameroon! It would seem now that I underestimated Cameroonian access to the internet... there is a cyber cafe in Bafoussam (a 50 cent taxi ride away from my house), and I should be able to check e-mail at least once a week.
That said, here's the lowdown on what's been going on here. We arrived in Yaoundé on June 5th with everyone and their luggage miraculously intact. The hotel had air conditioning and television, although most of our time was spent at the Peace Corps office.
On Sunday we talked our leaders into letting us go to a soccer game - the national team was playing itself in preparation for the Confederations Cup in France. As the game neared its finish, the crowd opposite us in the stadium suddenly ran for the exits (that's approximately 25,000 people, all running as fast as they can). Word has it they thought the upper deck was about to collapse (which it didn't) and the game ended early. Traffic was so bad we walked back to the Peace Corps office under police escort (40 Americans in a crowd of 50,000 = conspicuous) amid taunting from the crowd (Cameroon's electric company was recently purchased by an American interest, and there have been problems with blackouts). On the whole it was a worthwhile cross-cultural experience.
On Wednesday we left for Bandjoun, our training site (not Nkongsamba as originally thought). We met our homestay families and crash-landed into Cameroonian culture. I'm grateful to be with a family who has running water and electricity, as well as a porcelain toilet. And after only 3 days I'm already used to the cold showers. My host father works for the government, my host mother is a schoolteacher, and I think they have 3 daughters (there are constant visitors to their house and I quickly lose track of who is who). Last night I introduced them to Uno, which has been a great hit. Sometime soon we may move on to Pit. There is one television station here, and the highlight so far has been a period Italian soap opera entitled "Terra Nostra."
As for the other volunteers, we have a really great group. Two are returned Peace Corps volunteers, one in St. Lucia and the other in Côte d'Ivoire. Ross had a ton of stories involving their evacuation from Côte d'Ivoire after the outbreak of the civil war last year. One group of volunteers was flown out in helicopters by the French special forces. (For the moment, Cameroon is a very peaceful country and has been for 40 years.) There is one married couple serving with us, a retired math teacher (Emma, in her 70's), and a corporate lawyer who left his firm to join the Peace Corps (he worked halfway up the World Trade Center, an event pivotal in his decision to come here).
The food is really good. I've had fresh pineapple, watermelon, mango, and papaya, the other day we had fufu (anyone interested can taste some at Africa Hut in Milwaukee), and always a lot of plantains. Guinness is extremely popular here, as is a non-alcoholic drink called Malta, also made by Guinness (it's basically unbrewed beer and tastes like liquid cereal - it's better than it sounds).
Within a few weeks I should find out where my permanent post will be and probably have more than a few stories to share about illness.