Site Visit!

(* note: I just added a photo and video to the previous entry, so check that out!)

Last Wednesday we got a little break from Bafia to go visit current volunteers at their posts!  I went with Maureen and Kim to visit Bali, a post in the Northwest region.  We stayed with Georgia, a youth development volunteer who is at the end of her two years and will be heading back to the US in a few weeks.  Someone from our stage (maybe me!) will be replacing Georgia at her site, so it was extra neat to see the place that one of us will be living and working.

            About 24 out of the 55 of us were visiting the Northwest, so we all took a van up together.  The driver had one CD of American-friendly music, which was full of heartfelt love ballads.  The first time we heard Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero”, everyone laughed.  The second time, we got really into it, everyone belting at the top of their lungs.  It was only by the fifth or sixth time that the majority of the van would have preferred a bullet in the head to one more round of “Hero”.  Overall, it was a fun 6 hour bus ride to the regional capital, Bamenda, and it was cool to drive through a new part of the country and see what the West and Northwest regions look like.

            When we arrived in Bamenda, famished, Georgia whisked us off to PresCafe.  It took me a while to realize that I haven’t been to a single restaurant since arriving in Cameroon!  But PresCafe is no ordinary Cameroonian restaurant.  In addition to flushing toilets, it has very western-friendly food including salads, pasta dishes, coffee drinks, and chocolate cake.  I have to admit, I went a little crazy, getting a fruit smoothie, cappuccino, mushroom bruschetta, and chocolate cake.  We were all in heaven.  Although I’ve been enjoying Cameroonian food for the most part, it was still really nice to get a break from it.  And I hadn’t even noticed how much I miss mushrooms!  We returned to PresCafe a few days later and I had the best burger of my life – fried egg and caramelized onions with the meat cooked in a balsamic reduction.  It cost a whopping $7, but every bite was pure ecstasy.

            Georgia’s apartment is amazing and she was a magnificent hostess.  She has it pretty posh corps – wifi in her apartment, electricity and running water, finished walls and tiled floors (re: not cement).  During our visit, however, water and wifi were out, so it was TOTALLY hardcore Africa.. right?

            Since the Northwest is an Anglophone region and we had a break from host family life, the whole visit felt like escaping from Cameroon for a few days.  We went to a couple of  “white man stores,” which are basically just store full of things that white people like, like peanut butter and hand sanitizer.  I got a bottle of French wine (if it’s not sold in a box, let me at it!) and we all salivated at the Lindt chocolate display.  Georgia made us delicious fruit smoothies each morning and we even had a visit to “little America” (as I now call it in my brain), the home of some incredibly generous and kind missionaries.  Every Friday, they open their homes to other Americans (including missionaries and Peace Corps Volunteers) and serve pizza.  REAL pizza.  With real cheese!!!  I had five slices.  Or maybe I’m joking.  But I’m not.  Plus, salad, cole slaw, brownies (I ate three of these), and other dessert bars that were magnificent. Their house is gorgeous – seated on the top of a hill, looking over the city of Bamenda - and has running water, fast wifi, and is full of kind people who speak English.  And to top it all off, after spending the night there, we got to use their HOT SHOWERS!  My first in a month.  It was a glorious moment.

            One of the objectives of the visit was to better acquaint us with Cameroonian transportation.  We took a couple of cabs “Cameroonian style” (as in, four passengers in the back seat and two in the passenger seat) when it was just us Americans.  We also had the chance to squeeze in with some Cameroonians already in the cab, for a total of seven passengers.  In this case, the taxi will have what is called a “petit chauffeur,” which is when someone shares the seat with the driver.  Don’t worry, it’s all very safe.  Kim got the honor of being our petit chauffeur as we crammed four people in the back and four people in the front.  Also, there aren’t really lanes here.  Technically Cameroonians drive on the right side of the road, but in reality they drive on whichever side has fewer potholes, even if that means swerving back and forth in front of oncoming traffic.  I have been using Cameroonian transportation as a chance to improve myself – reduce my anxiety and exercise tranquility.  It hasn’t been working, but I’m hopeful. 

We also rode motos for the first time!  It’s Peace Corps policy that if a volunteer rides a moto without a helmet they are sent home immediately on the first offense.  I think this is dumb, but I’m not about to break the rule… mostly because I’m so nervous about the safety of any types of transportation here that I am even considering wearing my helmet on bus or taxi rides.  For my first moto ride, my knuckles were white from gripping the seat.  I also realized that I had no idea where he was supposed to be taking me, since Georgia had given him the directions, and it would be really easy for him to just whisk me off to his evil lair and turn me into his slave or something.  Luckily, this didn’t happen and I arrived safely at my destination after a few excruciating minutes.  The second ride was better.  I’m learning.

            The Northwest is absolutely beautiful – mountains and waterfalls everywhere, a colder climate without humidity, warm sun and cool breezes.  We hiked near Georgia’s apartment and took hundreds of pictures of the landscapes (to be uploaded sometime soon).  Walking around the big city of Bamenda we could see three or four waterfalls off in the distance – it’s like paradise there.  Maureen, Kim, and I all debated texting our program manager and changing our first choice post to Bali.  And a big part of what made the visit so nice was that we just didn’t have to deal with training, and sessions, and French class, and homestays.  Even though I love my homestay family, speaking French and being polite and trying to help with chores all the time is exhausting.  It was great to have a few days of relative freedom.  Plus, we got to hang out at the cause (I don’t know why they are called this, but that’s the name for Peace Corps buildings/offices in regional capitals where volunteers can crash for the night or use internet or a printer, etc) and meet some current volunteers.  On the last night, all the trainees got hotel rooms in Bamenda so we could leave early the next morning, and we went to the hotel night club and celebrated our first night without a 7 pm curfew.  Much fun was had by all!

            Although I was almost dreading coming back to Bafia and the humidity, sessions, and constant French that come with it, as soon as I opened the gate to my family’s house, Djiebril and Ericka and Michael came running up to hug me, screaming in delight with huge smiles on their faces, and all I could think was, “Home sweet home.”

            Later today we find out our posts!  I am so excited!!!  I wanted to squeeze this entry in under the wire to really build up anticipation for this important news.  Cameroon is a very diverse country my expectations are very dependent on where exactly I will be for the next two years.  Can’t wait to find out!  Will update soon!