The Little Things

Hey Everyone! I have officially been living in Cameroon, Africa for a little over a month now, and despite a few bumps in the road, it has been awesome so far. I realized that I had actually begun to adjust when I A) was so unbelievably surprised and happy to wash my hands with running water and soap for the firs time in a month, B) Extremely pleased to hear an overplayed Eminem song playing in a bar here as I held a COLD drink (so rare) and C) I ate a batton de maignoc (a starch like plant wrapped in leaves) with a fish which I peeled off the bones with my hands. Yup, I'm definitely adapting.

My host mother also braided my hair last week. It looked pretty cool, and was definitely easier to deal with, but I eventually had to persuade her to help me take them out. She was a but hurt, but I insisted that with my kind of hair it really needed to be washed with shampoo. Eventually she understood well enough to offer to braid it again after 3 days of washing my hair. I declined the offer haha since my hair still feels pretty gross to me. 

Each Sunday I have been going into the city with my host mother and visiting her family, going to the open market, and wandering around the city getting a few drinks. The open market is always an interesting experience. I basically follow my host mom around like a 5 year old as we wander through narrow walkways between each stand selling fruits, spices, clothes, meat, smoked monkey or eel, etc. It is pretty intense, so I'm always grateful that she is with my during these experiences. Though, each time I go I am learning more and more, for instance bargaining can take 5-15 min depending on how long you really want to stand in the heat among thousands of flies. My host mom likes to take the 15 min route while I like to take the 5 min route. I have also bought a dress with my host mother's guidance. This was interesting because it also resulted in my 9th marriage proposal. This man was pretty insistant, in fact it was my host mom that eventually said that he was too late, that the man down the street already proposed (which was true but obviously I said no to him also). He was only slightly detered as he gave me his business card just in case. My host mom and I have a running joke now about the beaucoup "I love yous".

Finally, I found out my post!!! I am going to be living in the Adamawa region in a city fairly close to the border of Central African Republic. It is basically a savannah, with monkeys and hippos and all of that African wildlife, however it can get down to 50 degrees! I will be working in the district hospital and the chief doctor there is also partnered with an NGO. This NGO works with the refugees in my city, teaching them nutrition, AIDS education, preventative measures against domestic violence, etc. So It definitely looks like I'll have a lot to do. We'll see when I go on my site visit what its really like. I'm also lucky because due to its slight isolation, I have a postmate. He is one of my friends in my training group so I'm excited.

Anyway, I hope everything is going well for everyone. Thank you for the letters, emails, and packages. I truly appreciate it, they tend to make my day. I have written back but it seems that the letters take a while to get to you, but they are coming. Miss you all!