I’m Only Happy When it Rains
lundi, octobre 30, 2006
Quotes of the Week:
Brooke: I am a p---- and Jay is a v-----. (Trying to keep it PG-13 here).
Jay: I wonder if they’ll have ketchup.
Alice: What is it called when it’s just 2 people again?
David: Hey, I should be dead.
Moving on.
This has become our new theme song. The Grand North province of Cameroon has 2 seasons. La saison seche et la saison des pluis: The dry season (aka-SaHell) and the rainy season. The rainy season lasts for about 2 weeks. Thus, our theme song has gotten very little airtime. If I have not told you 5 times yet: It is incredibly hot here. Not hot, like Jersey summer hot. I mean hot as in, you wake up… think to yourself: Ohmi! What a cool Sahel morn!... then you sit up in your bed… and immediately start to sweat. Although, I really should not be crying about it; this week has been the coolest one yet. We were at 120°C a few weeks ago, when the elastic in my bathing suit melted… anyone want to send me a new culturally appropriate bathing suit (Shorts Size: XS. Top Size: Erm… not XS)? Preferably, a cute tankini with boy shorts? This week it only got to about 95. Heck, the temperature inside of my mouth is hotter than that, so I’ll stop being a pansy about it… for now.
Anywho, the days are so long and slow, but the weeks seem to fly. This week has been no exception. A group of PLWHAs (People Living with AIDS/HIV) came to a session. It was really cool. I forget the name of the group (I guess all for the better. The group is secret, because if their communities found out that these people had AIDS, the members would all be disowned, violently hurt, or even killed), but the President, Treasurer (both female), and another member of the group came to give testimonials. I could go on about it, but I’ll just say that it was immensely powerful. The stigma here is insane. A lot of Cameroonians still think that AIDS does not actually exists; that it is simply “the white man’s plot to sell condoms.” Mind you, sub-saharan Africa has 10% of the world’s population and 60% of all reported AIDS cases…
We also visited one of the two HIV testing centers in the provincial capital. I do not even know how to begin describing that place, so I’ll just say that they are trying. Actually, there are a lot of people doing a lot of good stuff out there. We’ve met some really cool ones, including some of the current volunteers and some people from ACMS (a branch of PSI) who came to give presentations. It’s pretty cool and very encouraging to see all of the things that a small group of people have accomplished. Yours truly also did a session this week. I presented to both the Agro and the Health groups on the immune system (aka- Le systeme immunitaire). It went very well, so I am told :D Yesterday, some of the current volunteers had a district meeting/Halloween party at a hotel in the provincial capital. Though our stage was not part of the meeting, we took the opportunity to go into Garoua and use the pool at the hotel, while the PCVs held their meeting. The hotel was nice, the pool was not all that impressive, but water never felt so good and I am told that the boxed wine was off the charts (Yah, I said “off the charts”) :D
Anyone want to fill me in on what is happening on the following please? America’s Next Top Model (Are those fugly twins gone?), Gilmore Girls (Is Jess back?), Entourage, Arrested Development, Arthur, Rick Steve’s Europe, Dinner Takes All, Take Home Chef (Is Curtis engaged?), What Not to Wear (Will Clinton and Stacey ever come to Africa?), Little People/Big World, Grey’s Anatomy (Is Meredith dead yet? Can’t stand her! Where’s Addison??), Mystery Diagnosis, Untold Stories of the ER. Take your pick and leave me a comment, thanks! :D
I had a Twix bar yesterday :D I cannot even put into words how good that junk was. I licked every last bit of melted chocolate off of that wrapper. Fin.
“A pessimist looks at the glass of water and says it’s half empty. An optimist says that it is half full. A Peace Corps Volunteer looks at the glass of water and says, ‘I could take a bath with that.’ “
~ One of many PC proverbs
Brooke: I am a p---- and Jay is a v-----. (Trying to keep it PG-13 here).
Jay: I wonder if they’ll have ketchup.
Alice: What is it called when it’s just 2 people again?
David: Hey, I should be dead.
Moving on.
This has become our new theme song. The Grand North province of Cameroon has 2 seasons. La saison seche et la saison des pluis: The dry season (aka-SaHell) and the rainy season. The rainy season lasts for about 2 weeks. Thus, our theme song has gotten very little airtime. If I have not told you 5 times yet: It is incredibly hot here. Not hot, like Jersey summer hot. I mean hot as in, you wake up… think to yourself: Ohmi! What a cool Sahel morn!... then you sit up in your bed… and immediately start to sweat. Although, I really should not be crying about it; this week has been the coolest one yet. We were at 120°C a few weeks ago, when the elastic in my bathing suit melted… anyone want to send me a new culturally appropriate bathing suit (Shorts Size: XS. Top Size: Erm… not XS)? Preferably, a cute tankini with boy shorts? This week it only got to about 95. Heck, the temperature inside of my mouth is hotter than that, so I’ll stop being a pansy about it… for now.
Anywho, the days are so long and slow, but the weeks seem to fly. This week has been no exception. A group of PLWHAs (People Living with AIDS/HIV) came to a session. It was really cool. I forget the name of the group (I guess all for the better. The group is secret, because if their communities found out that these people had AIDS, the members would all be disowned, violently hurt, or even killed), but the President, Treasurer (both female), and another member of the group came to give testimonials. I could go on about it, but I’ll just say that it was immensely powerful. The stigma here is insane. A lot of Cameroonians still think that AIDS does not actually exists; that it is simply “the white man’s plot to sell condoms.” Mind you, sub-saharan Africa has 10% of the world’s population and 60% of all reported AIDS cases…
We also visited one of the two HIV testing centers in the provincial capital. I do not even know how to begin describing that place, so I’ll just say that they are trying. Actually, there are a lot of people doing a lot of good stuff out there. We’ve met some really cool ones, including some of the current volunteers and some people from ACMS (a branch of PSI) who came to give presentations. It’s pretty cool and very encouraging to see all of the things that a small group of people have accomplished. Yours truly also did a session this week. I presented to both the Agro and the Health groups on the immune system (aka- Le systeme immunitaire). It went very well, so I am told :D Yesterday, some of the current volunteers had a district meeting/Halloween party at a hotel in the provincial capital. Though our stage was not part of the meeting, we took the opportunity to go into Garoua and use the pool at the hotel, while the PCVs held their meeting. The hotel was nice, the pool was not all that impressive, but water never felt so good and I am told that the boxed wine was off the charts (Yah, I said “off the charts”) :D
Anyone want to fill me in on what is happening on the following please? America’s Next Top Model (Are those fugly twins gone?), Gilmore Girls (Is Jess back?), Entourage, Arrested Development, Arthur, Rick Steve’s Europe, Dinner Takes All, Take Home Chef (Is Curtis engaged?), What Not to Wear (Will Clinton and Stacey ever come to Africa?), Little People/Big World, Grey’s Anatomy (Is Meredith dead yet? Can’t stand her! Where’s Addison??), Mystery Diagnosis, Untold Stories of the ER. Take your pick and leave me a comment, thanks! :D
I had a Twix bar yesterday :D I cannot even put into words how good that junk was. I licked every last bit of melted chocolate off of that wrapper. Fin.
“A pessimist looks at the glass of water and says it’s half empty. An optimist says that it is half full. A Peace Corps Volunteer looks at the glass of water and says, ‘I could take a bath with that.’ “
~ One of many PC proverbs
posted by Me at 11:11 AM
0 comments
I'm Bringing Sexy Back
dimanche, octobre 22, 2006
One of the names we have adopted for our stage is “The Group Formerly Known as Attractive.” I found this rather amusing at first, until I saw myself in a mirror for the first time a few days ago, and realized that the moniker had some truth to it. Now, I know what you are all thinking, “Girl! You are so gorgeous even on your worst days!” True True!! Okay, I’ll stop lying! I looked in the mirror and was like, “Oh Schnap!! I forgot how freakin cute I am!!” I was really expecting something quite frightening, considering that I have been rolling around in my own sweat, dirt, blood, and tears 24/7 for the past few weeks. Alas, Cameroon is no match for my impeccable genes (Thanks Mom and Dad!). Though make no mistake, I will not decline any spa offers which I am sure will await me upon my return (hint).
Before I go on:
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYS TO MY SISTER, ANIMAL!!! AND TO PRINCESS PRIYA :::pinches cheeks!:::
I tried to mail myself to you guys as a present, but when I explained what I wanted to do to the postal workers here, they just looked at me like I was insane. Was my French that bad?
Actually, my French is currently on FIRE! I got moved up to a higher French class this week. I’m now in a class with this girl, Whitney, who is too hilarious and reminds me so much of you, Jenny!! She even kind of looks like you! Speaking of, in the class I was in before, there is a girl named Leah, who also cracks me up! But here is the freaky bit: she is the female version of Lee. It is so odd. Her personality, her mannerisms… she even kind of looks like him too! Lee, you would soooo love this girl. Unfortunately for you, she just got married a few months ago. I told her that she reminded me of my almost-lover and she was very flattered and wants to meet you:D Anyhow, I’ll hafta get some pictures of them up soon so you can see.
Back to my point, the language trainers are awesome and I’m very surprised at how quickly I am picking it up. My current instructor, Arlette, is so cute! I want to bring her back to Jersey with me! I won’t say much more though, because Immersion (when all of our classes are taught in French and we’re punished each time we speak English) starts tomorrow… so we shall see how that goes… Technical training in French? I can barely explain Kwashiokor in English and I will have to do it in French… I cannot imagine being an Education volunteer and having to teach math classes in French. What asinine Frenchman decided that there was no need to have an actual French word for numbers such as 70?
We assembled our mountain bikes the other day! It was so hot that I thought I was going to faint and impale myself with my bike tools; riding around afterwards was wonderful though. Exercise = yay, especially after the 5 billion lbs of carbs which we are fed day in and day out. Learning language, learning tech stuff, working with community groups, surviving (2 people have been hospitalized so far, pretty much everyone either has diarrhea or is constipated, and there are a few “Club” members… it’s amusing how comfortably we discuss these things with each other now), etc. By the end of the day we are all so tired that we just go home, do our homework, pretend to eat whatever delicacy our host family is serving (someone got goat tongue the other night… which made me 100x more grateful to have white rice for dinner for the 9th night in a row), take a bucket bath, avoid things crawling out of the latrine, pray to our malaria prophylaxis, and go to bed. Of course all of this is interjected with frequent stops to the local bar.
“The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Before I go on:
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYS TO MY SISTER, ANIMAL!!! AND TO PRINCESS PRIYA :::pinches cheeks!:::
I tried to mail myself to you guys as a present, but when I explained what I wanted to do to the postal workers here, they just looked at me like I was insane. Was my French that bad?
Actually, my French is currently on FIRE! I got moved up to a higher French class this week. I’m now in a class with this girl, Whitney, who is too hilarious and reminds me so much of you, Jenny!! She even kind of looks like you! Speaking of, in the class I was in before, there is a girl named Leah, who also cracks me up! But here is the freaky bit: she is the female version of Lee. It is so odd. Her personality, her mannerisms… she even kind of looks like him too! Lee, you would soooo love this girl. Unfortunately for you, she just got married a few months ago. I told her that she reminded me of my almost-lover and she was very flattered and wants to meet you:D Anyhow, I’ll hafta get some pictures of them up soon so you can see.
Back to my point, the language trainers are awesome and I’m very surprised at how quickly I am picking it up. My current instructor, Arlette, is so cute! I want to bring her back to Jersey with me! I won’t say much more though, because Immersion (when all of our classes are taught in French and we’re punished each time we speak English) starts tomorrow… so we shall see how that goes… Technical training in French? I can barely explain Kwashiokor in English and I will have to do it in French… I cannot imagine being an Education volunteer and having to teach math classes in French. What asinine Frenchman decided that there was no need to have an actual French word for numbers such as 70?
We assembled our mountain bikes the other day! It was so hot that I thought I was going to faint and impale myself with my bike tools; riding around afterwards was wonderful though. Exercise = yay, especially after the 5 billion lbs of carbs which we are fed day in and day out. Learning language, learning tech stuff, working with community groups, surviving (2 people have been hospitalized so far, pretty much everyone either has diarrhea or is constipated, and there are a few “Club” members… it’s amusing how comfortably we discuss these things with each other now), etc. By the end of the day we are all so tired that we just go home, do our homework, pretend to eat whatever delicacy our host family is serving (someone got goat tongue the other night… which made me 100x more grateful to have white rice for dinner for the 9th night in a row), take a bucket bath, avoid things crawling out of the latrine, pray to our malaria prophylaxis, and go to bed. Of course all of this is interjected with frequent stops to the local bar.
“The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
posted by Me at 2:46 PM
3 comments
Oh Em Gee
samedi, octobre 14, 2006
Quotes of the Week:
“I’m siiiiiiinnnkkkkiiinnggg.” ~ Marcel
“I am going to evaporate.” ~ Matt
This may not make any sense at all, but this has been both one of the longest and one of the shortest weeks of my entire 21 years on this planet. It started out last Saturday with boarding the overnight train to Ngaoundere. The station was complete chaos. I saw at least a dozen people pick pocketed and a few who were just straight up robbed. People were everywhere, yelling and shoving and in every state of anger and/or confusion possible. I think I forgot to mention that we had 2 gendarmes to watch over us at the hotel, with their machine guns and everything. Our military escorts also came to the station and on the train with us, thank goodness. Ironic, I know. But like our CD told us the first night we got into country… a group of Americans of such a size… a collective walking ATM machine.
The train had to stop a billion times so that the drivers and some of the passengers could pray (Ramadan); and also once because one of the passenger cars caught on fire, so the car had to be evacuated and we had to wait around for about an hour for a new car to be attached. Did I mention that there was no air conditioning on this train? “But what of the beautiful rainforests which the train drove through?” those of you who know your geography might asked. Those beautiful rainforests were like a scene from Jurassic Park; I was almost certain that at any given moment a raptor was going to bash through and eat us all. Those African rains and jungles are no joke. Anywho, to sum up the train ride:
Hours it took: 22
Hours of sleep I got while on train: 1
Number of times I fell out of my seat due to startlingly abrupt stops: 4
Number of times I almost got arrested: 1
Number of times Jamie got hit in the face by a monkey: 1
Number of marriage proposals I received from random Cameroonians: 7
What? You thought the journey was over? HA! We arrived at the central transportation spot in Ngaoundere, all looking like we had just escaped from Chateau D’iff, and were met by 12 more military escorts (highway bandits from Chad, Nigeria, Congo, and obviously Cameroon, are notorious in the north). We then piled into numerous PC vehicles (including the escorts) and started our 4 hour journey to Garoua. The journey was long, bumpy, squished, hot, and absolutely gorgeous… at least until the sudden alarm we had when we noticed the unexpected drop in vegetation… um… grass… and green stuff. It was so odd that in the last 24 hours we had seen fertile, coastal land, followed by rainforests with canopies through the stratosphere, followed by a crazy lush landscape, followed by beautiful mountains… to… um… sand and dust. It was then that we remembered our destination… the Sahel.
By the time we finally reached Pitoa, we were so tired and so gross-feeling, that any anxiety which had survived the train ride about out our host families was pretty much forgotten. We just wanted a shower and some cold water to drink (sans amoebas and other various fun extras)… imagine our surprise later on that night when we discovered that neither of these luxuries are to be found in either Pitoa (training site for the Health) or Nassarao (training site for Agro).
The first night was far from pleasant. Though my host family is certainly nice enough, greeting me with “Ma fille! (My Daughter!)”, the communication barrier was frightening. It is hard enough to be thrown into a new culture, new atmosphere with new people, new foods… and then to not be able to understand anyone nor make them understand you? Now I know how Asperger’s patients feel. Whoa. My room is an 11x11 box with one 1x1 window… it is like a sauna. That night I swam in a pool of my own sweat and a larger pool of Francophobia, waking up 5 or so times that night, each time praying that mosquitoes had not eaten me. I think I have already lost about 10 lbs in water weight alone.
As we exchanged first night stories Monday morning, an audible sigh of relief circled the room as people realized that they were not alone in their experiences. I apologize for yet another long entry. For now I will just say that training is intense. Our days start at 6:00 AM and end around midnight. Class after class after class… so much reading… so much homework… so much to understand. But everyone has been doing very well, thus far. Although, we got some news today that has made the week more draining. During one of our Medical sessions today, in which we all had to draw our own blood to show that we could prepare a malaria slide, David (our training director), came out to tell us that he had an emergency announcement (how our minds raced then)… Dr. George had been found dead in his hotel room the previous night. It was so crazy. Dr. George was the APCD for the Agro program and one of its most accomplished trainers, as well as just a great guy overall. We do not know what happened yet. Everyone just sat there, not comprehending. And then the tears came, even from the guys. We had not even known him all that long, but it was just too much after such a week. And to see the reaction of the staff with whom he had been working with for decades… What a poignant reminder of how fragile we all are. It has been a long long week, indeed.
"If you've come here to help me, you're wasting your time. If you are here because your liberation is somehow wrapped up in mine, then let's begin to work together." ~ Lila Watson
“I’m siiiiiiinnnkkkkiiinnggg.” ~ Marcel
“I am going to evaporate.” ~ Matt
This may not make any sense at all, but this has been both one of the longest and one of the shortest weeks of my entire 21 years on this planet. It started out last Saturday with boarding the overnight train to Ngaoundere. The station was complete chaos. I saw at least a dozen people pick pocketed and a few who were just straight up robbed. People were everywhere, yelling and shoving and in every state of anger and/or confusion possible. I think I forgot to mention that we had 2 gendarmes to watch over us at the hotel, with their machine guns and everything. Our military escorts also came to the station and on the train with us, thank goodness. Ironic, I know. But like our CD told us the first night we got into country… a group of Americans of such a size… a collective walking ATM machine.
The train had to stop a billion times so that the drivers and some of the passengers could pray (Ramadan); and also once because one of the passenger cars caught on fire, so the car had to be evacuated and we had to wait around for about an hour for a new car to be attached. Did I mention that there was no air conditioning on this train? “But what of the beautiful rainforests which the train drove through?” those of you who know your geography might asked. Those beautiful rainforests were like a scene from Jurassic Park; I was almost certain that at any given moment a raptor was going to bash through and eat us all. Those African rains and jungles are no joke. Anywho, to sum up the train ride:
Hours it took: 22
Hours of sleep I got while on train: 1
Number of times I fell out of my seat due to startlingly abrupt stops: 4
Number of times I almost got arrested: 1
Number of times Jamie got hit in the face by a monkey: 1
Number of marriage proposals I received from random Cameroonians: 7
What? You thought the journey was over? HA! We arrived at the central transportation spot in Ngaoundere, all looking like we had just escaped from Chateau D’iff, and were met by 12 more military escorts (highway bandits from Chad, Nigeria, Congo, and obviously Cameroon, are notorious in the north). We then piled into numerous PC vehicles (including the escorts) and started our 4 hour journey to Garoua. The journey was long, bumpy, squished, hot, and absolutely gorgeous… at least until the sudden alarm we had when we noticed the unexpected drop in vegetation… um… grass… and green stuff. It was so odd that in the last 24 hours we had seen fertile, coastal land, followed by rainforests with canopies through the stratosphere, followed by a crazy lush landscape, followed by beautiful mountains… to… um… sand and dust. It was then that we remembered our destination… the Sahel.
By the time we finally reached Pitoa, we were so tired and so gross-feeling, that any anxiety which had survived the train ride about out our host families was pretty much forgotten. We just wanted a shower and some cold water to drink (sans amoebas and other various fun extras)… imagine our surprise later on that night when we discovered that neither of these luxuries are to be found in either Pitoa (training site for the Health) or Nassarao (training site for Agro).
The first night was far from pleasant. Though my host family is certainly nice enough, greeting me with “Ma fille! (My Daughter!)”, the communication barrier was frightening. It is hard enough to be thrown into a new culture, new atmosphere with new people, new foods… and then to not be able to understand anyone nor make them understand you? Now I know how Asperger’s patients feel. Whoa. My room is an 11x11 box with one 1x1 window… it is like a sauna. That night I swam in a pool of my own sweat and a larger pool of Francophobia, waking up 5 or so times that night, each time praying that mosquitoes had not eaten me. I think I have already lost about 10 lbs in water weight alone.
As we exchanged first night stories Monday morning, an audible sigh of relief circled the room as people realized that they were not alone in their experiences. I apologize for yet another long entry. For now I will just say that training is intense. Our days start at 6:00 AM and end around midnight. Class after class after class… so much reading… so much homework… so much to understand. But everyone has been doing very well, thus far. Although, we got some news today that has made the week more draining. During one of our Medical sessions today, in which we all had to draw our own blood to show that we could prepare a malaria slide, David (our training director), came out to tell us that he had an emergency announcement (how our minds raced then)… Dr. George had been found dead in his hotel room the previous night. It was so crazy. Dr. George was the APCD for the Agro program and one of its most accomplished trainers, as well as just a great guy overall. We do not know what happened yet. Everyone just sat there, not comprehending. And then the tears came, even from the guys. We had not even known him all that long, but it was just too much after such a week. And to see the reaction of the staff with whom he had been working with for decades… What a poignant reminder of how fragile we all are. It has been a long long week, indeed.
"If you've come here to help me, you're wasting your time. If you are here because your liberation is somehow wrapped up in mine, then let's begin to work together." ~ Lila Watson
posted by Me at 2:31 PM
2 comments
Hakuna Matata
samedi, octobre 07, 2006
Quotes of the Week:
“If you get worms, amoebas, or giardia… it means that you have just eaten someone’s sh*t.”
~ Nurse Ann, one of our PCMOs. She’s Nigerian J.
“I like your outfit! You look like a wizard! Do you know what a wizard is?”
~ Nadia to Dr. Njiti (one of the Agro trainers), who was wearing traditional Cameroonian garb [+ hat] at the time.
“I was in the lunch line…”
~ Jamie… after I woke her up… It was funny. Really! Well, I guess you had to be there.
Now, let me get you all up to speed. :::Insert your feigned enthusiasm here::: This week has flown by faster than… um… :::thinks of something fast and African::: … Kenyans! Yah. In a few short hours we will all be getting on the overnight train to Garoua, a 30 hour (hopefully) ride to the north. We will be leaving our sweet coastal cosmopolitan city life in Yaoundé to go live with our host families in the Sahel. For those of you who are stewped, the Sahel is that strip of land after the Savannah and right before the Sahara Desert. Nice, huh? Like the majority of the families in the North, my family is Muslim. My new father’s is named Danmanou and my new mother is named Haya; they have 7 children (8 now!). Gone are the days of our posh hotel with hot water, air conditioning, and food that is safe to eat… Hello pit latrines, diarrhea, and 113°F weather (No joke… on any of those points). Our PCMOs told us that we are all going to get diarrhea, so we should just get over it. Apparently, if diarrhea is the only medical problem which we encounter during our service, then we are incredibly, extremely, unbelievably lucky – aka – in cahoots with the devil. Did I mention that our medical kits include syringes/needles, so that we can take a sample of our own blood and send it to the lab if we think we have malaria? Awesome.
Moving on. Training has been long, and the intensity meter is going to be turned up about 900% on Monday. This week we had breakfast at 7:00, then left for the PC office by 7:30 each day. Did a lot of stuff all day long… Technical trainings, Medical trainings, Cross-cultural trainings, “Survival French.” We will be tested on our French all throughout PST (Pre-Service Training); anyone who does not reach the level of at least Intermediate High, as defined by the ACTFL (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages), will not be sworn in as a volunteer. The French ability of the Sahel Health-Agroforestry Stage (our group) ranges from nada to cheaters who have French parents and more cheaters who majored in it. Needless to say, this is causing much of our group some anxiety. I am on the lower end of the spectrum, but no worries here :] Two volunteers from the Stage that swore in last year have been with us all week, and one of them told us that she had never spoken French before and she made it. Speaking of, this is a testament to the trainers here. They are all amazing; and the PC language program is known as one of the most intense and efficient (and difficult?) in the world.
Miscellany: Erm… we have met a billion people this week. Sunday night’s dinner was at the CD’s house. Beautiful place, amazing food, lots of guests from the Embassy. On Wednesday we got to meet the American ambassador to Cameroon, who happens to be a former PCV and just an incredible guy, overall. Yesterday, the head of the EU Delegation Commission came to see us. A very smart and amusing Spanish guy. What else… Oh. After an incredibly depressing video about volunteers coming back from service with AIDS (Cameroon has the highest rate of HIV infection in Africa, and also the largest amount of volunteers who have come back HIV positive), Chad (one of our PCMOs) asked for some volunteers from the Health and from the Agro (Agriculture/Forestry) to come up. He then placed some “toys” on the table and the condom relay race began. Our team won, obviously. I mean, come on. We’re “Health.”
On a different note, it is a shame that more people do not visit Africa; otherwise, we would get credit for our incredible alcohol tolerance. Walking to and from the PC office, I have seen people outside of bars drinking at 8 AM. Those Russians and the rest of them Europeans ain’t got nothing on us. At dinner the other day, we were sitting with one of the PCVs, Jenny. She was the only one at the table who had not received her meal yet, so everyone was waiting. Then she looked at us and laughed, telling us to go ahead and eat; she then explained to us that in Cameroon they do not wait for everyone to get their food to eat, but they do wait for everyone to get their alcoholic beverage to drink. Such reverence. Hhmmm… In the past week I have received 8 vaccinations and taken 2 malaria prophylaxes, and there is much more to come. Not taking your pills will earn you the “Pan-Am Award,” which is what they used to say back in the day when someone was “Administratively Separated.” Yep, they will kick you out for it. Well, that is, if you don’t die first J.
And on that note… Fin.
"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."
~ Mary Kay Ash
“If you get worms, amoebas, or giardia… it means that you have just eaten someone’s sh*t.”
~ Nurse Ann, one of our PCMOs. She’s Nigerian J.
“I like your outfit! You look like a wizard! Do you know what a wizard is?”
~ Nadia to Dr. Njiti (one of the Agro trainers), who was wearing traditional Cameroonian garb [+ hat] at the time.
“I was in the lunch line…”
~ Jamie… after I woke her up… It was funny. Really! Well, I guess you had to be there.
Now, let me get you all up to speed. :::Insert your feigned enthusiasm here::: This week has flown by faster than… um… :::thinks of something fast and African::: … Kenyans! Yah. In a few short hours we will all be getting on the overnight train to Garoua, a 30 hour (hopefully) ride to the north. We will be leaving our sweet coastal cosmopolitan city life in Yaoundé to go live with our host families in the Sahel. For those of you who are stewped, the Sahel is that strip of land after the Savannah and right before the Sahara Desert. Nice, huh? Like the majority of the families in the North, my family is Muslim. My new father’s is named Danmanou and my new mother is named Haya; they have 7 children (8 now!). Gone are the days of our posh hotel with hot water, air conditioning, and food that is safe to eat… Hello pit latrines, diarrhea, and 113°F weather (No joke… on any of those points). Our PCMOs told us that we are all going to get diarrhea, so we should just get over it. Apparently, if diarrhea is the only medical problem which we encounter during our service, then we are incredibly, extremely, unbelievably lucky – aka – in cahoots with the devil. Did I mention that our medical kits include syringes/needles, so that we can take a sample of our own blood and send it to the lab if we think we have malaria? Awesome.
Moving on. Training has been long, and the intensity meter is going to be turned up about 900% on Monday. This week we had breakfast at 7:00, then left for the PC office by 7:30 each day. Did a lot of stuff all day long… Technical trainings, Medical trainings, Cross-cultural trainings, “Survival French.” We will be tested on our French all throughout PST (Pre-Service Training); anyone who does not reach the level of at least Intermediate High, as defined by the ACTFL (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages), will not be sworn in as a volunteer. The French ability of the Sahel Health-Agroforestry Stage (our group) ranges from nada to cheaters who have French parents and more cheaters who majored in it. Needless to say, this is causing much of our group some anxiety. I am on the lower end of the spectrum, but no worries here :] Two volunteers from the Stage that swore in last year have been with us all week, and one of them told us that she had never spoken French before and she made it. Speaking of, this is a testament to the trainers here. They are all amazing; and the PC language program is known as one of the most intense and efficient (and difficult?) in the world.
Miscellany: Erm… we have met a billion people this week. Sunday night’s dinner was at the CD’s house. Beautiful place, amazing food, lots of guests from the Embassy. On Wednesday we got to meet the American ambassador to Cameroon, who happens to be a former PCV and just an incredible guy, overall. Yesterday, the head of the EU Delegation Commission came to see us. A very smart and amusing Spanish guy. What else… Oh. After an incredibly depressing video about volunteers coming back from service with AIDS (Cameroon has the highest rate of HIV infection in Africa, and also the largest amount of volunteers who have come back HIV positive), Chad (one of our PCMOs) asked for some volunteers from the Health and from the Agro (Agriculture/Forestry) to come up. He then placed some “toys” on the table and the condom relay race began. Our team won, obviously. I mean, come on. We’re “Health.”
On a different note, it is a shame that more people do not visit Africa; otherwise, we would get credit for our incredible alcohol tolerance. Walking to and from the PC office, I have seen people outside of bars drinking at 8 AM. Those Russians and the rest of them Europeans ain’t got nothing on us. At dinner the other day, we were sitting with one of the PCVs, Jenny. She was the only one at the table who had not received her meal yet, so everyone was waiting. Then she looked at us and laughed, telling us to go ahead and eat; she then explained to us that in Cameroon they do not wait for everyone to get their food to eat, but they do wait for everyone to get their alcoholic beverage to drink. Such reverence. Hhmmm… In the past week I have received 8 vaccinations and taken 2 malaria prophylaxes, and there is much more to come. Not taking your pills will earn you the “Pan-Am Award,” which is what they used to say back in the day when someone was “Administratively Separated.” Yep, they will kick you out for it. Well, that is, if you don’t die first J.
And on that note… Fin.
"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."
~ Mary Kay Ash
posted by Me at 11:07 AM
2 comments
The Real World
mercredi, octobre 04, 2006
We were checking out of the hotel last Friday, hanging around in the lobby and waiting for our busses, when we got our first taste of “The Real World.”
Female Trainee #1: (points at the door) Ohmigod! Is that MJ?!
Male Trainee #1: Who?
Female Trainee #2: MJ! From the Philadelphia cast of The Real World!
Female Trainees (collectively): SQQQEEEE!! EEEEE!!! OOOHH!! It is!!! Ohmigod! So cute!
Male Trainees (collectively): Umm… sure…
By this time, MJ had realized that we had recognized him and exited the lobby with his friend. One of the girls then followed him out to ask him if he was, indeed, who we thought he was. We watched through the glass walls as she jumped up and down at his affirmation. Now, with the exception of one Angelina Jolie, I do not have much of a celebrity fascination. However, I will say that the boy was fine and much taller in person. Take that, Sheela! This soooo beats the time that you met Brad at Hard Rock. No one even remembers what cast he was on. Though he does make you look good (OOOooohhh!! Burned! Just kidding! I heart you! :D)
What was that? Ohh! You thought that by “The Real World” I was referring to my Peace Corps experience thus far. Well, if I suppose that is a little more real than reality TV.
Staging:
From Wednesday to Friday we had “Staging” in the historic district of Philadelphia. It involved a lot policy, a lot of patience, a bit of partying, and more vaccinations. I must say that we were very well taken care of. The hotel was incredibly nice and PC even gave us each a debit card with an absurd amount of cash on it to use for our meals until Friday. Our group started out with 32 (16 Health/16 Agro-Forestry) trainees. Quite the opposite of RPI, with 23 females and 9 males. 5 married people (2 couples and one guy who was here w/o his wife) and quite a number of others who are here without their significant others. I am one of the youngest (as always:p) at 21, with the average age of trainees being 23/24. It is a wonderful group of people from all over the map as far as location and life, in general. Of course you have the fresh off the boat undergrad grads, as well as the graduate school grads. But we also have everything else under the sun! Farmers, park rangers, physical therapists, educators, etc. And I have the best roommate luck in the world:D (Lob you, Kanene!)! Our original group of 32 is now down to 30. Anywho, the days were long and I saw my parents about a billion times before I left (My dad works 2 blocks away from the hotel we stayed in), yet I think that they were still not ready for me to leave. Parents :]
Arrival:
You would think that after being herded around by my tribe of a family, I would be used to traveling in large numbers. Our Staging director said au revoir to us Friday morning. We were at the airport by 2:00, where our Staging coordinators said good bye. It was a bit of a surprise that they were just throwing us on the plane and leaving. But I suppose that we are big boys and girls now; all edumacated with our fancy degrees and whatnot. Our plane did not leave until 7:30 PM… arrived in Paris at 2:30 AM (8:30 AM, Parisian time)… left Paris around 6:00 AM (Noon, Parisian time)… Arrived in Douala, Cameroon around 1:00 PM (6:00 PM Cameroonian time)… and finally Yaounde, Cameroon around 2:15 PM (7:15 PM, Cameroonian time). Jet lag much? Hardly anyone slept on the flights, and we were all suffering from cabin fever (airplane joke!) and feeling pretty dirty when we were met by the Cameroon CD (County Director), one of our PCMOs (Peace Corps Medical Officers), and 2 current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). Of course, all of the Cameroonians stared at such a frightfully large group of melanin-challenged people (oh! And myself!), but we were much too tired and confused to care. Surprisingly, everyone’s luggage made it safely to Yaounde. They piled all of us into the official Peace Corps vehicles (I got to ride in one of the Land Cruisers!! :D) and off to the hotel we went.
This is getting much too long, so I will stop boring you for now. Thank you all so very much for all of the lovely emails and comments and whatnot! I apologize for not being able to respond to them right away, but our computer time is very limited right now. But I will get to it:D Eventually :] Time is a strange concept in the third world… just look at my Mom. :/ Anywho, point is that I am doing more than fine. And I am so ready for this ride :] Hope all is well with all of you also :]
Lastly, for all of you who think that I am in the middle of nowhere, check what we saw on our tour yesterday:
We be ridin’ dirty.
“We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.”
~ Helen Keller.
Female Trainee #1: (points at the door) Ohmigod! Is that MJ?!
Male Trainee #1: Who?
Female Trainee #2: MJ! From the Philadelphia cast of The Real World!
Female Trainees (collectively): SQQQEEEE!! EEEEE!!! OOOHH!! It is!!! Ohmigod! So cute!
Male Trainees (collectively): Umm… sure…
By this time, MJ had realized that we had recognized him and exited the lobby with his friend. One of the girls then followed him out to ask him if he was, indeed, who we thought he was. We watched through the glass walls as she jumped up and down at his affirmation. Now, with the exception of one Angelina Jolie, I do not have much of a celebrity fascination. However, I will say that the boy was fine and much taller in person. Take that, Sheela! This soooo beats the time that you met Brad at Hard Rock. No one even remembers what cast he was on. Though he does make you look good (OOOooohhh!! Burned! Just kidding! I heart you! :D)
What was that? Ohh! You thought that by “The Real World” I was referring to my Peace Corps experience thus far. Well, if I suppose that is a little more real than reality TV.
Staging:
From Wednesday to Friday we had “Staging” in the historic district of Philadelphia. It involved a lot policy, a lot of patience, a bit of partying, and more vaccinations. I must say that we were very well taken care of. The hotel was incredibly nice and PC even gave us each a debit card with an absurd amount of cash on it to use for our meals until Friday. Our group started out with 32 (16 Health/16 Agro-Forestry) trainees. Quite the opposite of RPI, with 23 females and 9 males. 5 married people (2 couples and one guy who was here w/o his wife) and quite a number of others who are here without their significant others. I am one of the youngest (as always:p) at 21, with the average age of trainees being 23/24. It is a wonderful group of people from all over the map as far as location and life, in general. Of course you have the fresh off the boat undergrad grads, as well as the graduate school grads. But we also have everything else under the sun! Farmers, park rangers, physical therapists, educators, etc. And I have the best roommate luck in the world:D (Lob you, Kanene!)! Our original group of 32 is now down to 30. Anywho, the days were long and I saw my parents about a billion times before I left (My dad works 2 blocks away from the hotel we stayed in), yet I think that they were still not ready for me to leave. Parents :]
Arrival:
You would think that after being herded around by my tribe of a family, I would be used to traveling in large numbers. Our Staging director said au revoir to us Friday morning. We were at the airport by 2:00, where our Staging coordinators said good bye. It was a bit of a surprise that they were just throwing us on the plane and leaving. But I suppose that we are big boys and girls now; all edumacated with our fancy degrees and whatnot. Our plane did not leave until 7:30 PM… arrived in Paris at 2:30 AM (8:30 AM, Parisian time)… left Paris around 6:00 AM (Noon, Parisian time)… Arrived in Douala, Cameroon around 1:00 PM (6:00 PM Cameroonian time)… and finally Yaounde, Cameroon around 2:15 PM (7:15 PM, Cameroonian time). Jet lag much? Hardly anyone slept on the flights, and we were all suffering from cabin fever (airplane joke!) and feeling pretty dirty when we were met by the Cameroon CD (County Director), one of our PCMOs (Peace Corps Medical Officers), and 2 current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). Of course, all of the Cameroonians stared at such a frightfully large group of melanin-challenged people (oh! And myself!), but we were much too tired and confused to care. Surprisingly, everyone’s luggage made it safely to Yaounde. They piled all of us into the official Peace Corps vehicles (I got to ride in one of the Land Cruisers!! :D) and off to the hotel we went.
This is getting much too long, so I will stop boring you for now. Thank you all so very much for all of the lovely emails and comments and whatnot! I apologize for not being able to respond to them right away, but our computer time is very limited right now. But I will get to it:D Eventually :] Time is a strange concept in the third world… just look at my Mom. :/ Anywho, point is that I am doing more than fine. And I am so ready for this ride :] Hope all is well with all of you also :]
Lastly, for all of you who think that I am in the middle of nowhere, check what we saw on our tour yesterday:
We be ridin’ dirty.
“We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.”
~ Helen Keller.
posted by Me at 2:30 PM
3 comments