Trip to Yaounde

A few weeks ago, I got a call at 10pm on Saturday night that we had to go to Yaounde (the capital) on Monday to do the visa paperwork - leaving at 5am. I had been preparing to give tests to my students that week, but this was priority so I changed my plans. I spent Sunday getting things packed and sorted in Tatum, then got a taxi down to Kumbo in the evening to spend the night in the Bishop's house.

The next morning we left at 5:30am (only 1/2 hour late) and arrived in Yaounde around 1pm - which is making pretty good time. There were 8 of us, plus our bags, in the car (a small SUV made to seat 5-6 comfortably). Besides me, it was Frank, Ilan (a Texan who is working with Frank), 3 sisters from Zambia (or Zimbabwe - I can't remember which at the moment), the driver (Alfred), and Fr Dan (who had picked us up from the airport. And we all had over night bags because we knew it would take at least 2 days to get everything done including the travel time.

Fr Dan was great, he was able to get the paperwork started on Monday so that he finished everything on Tuesday. We left Yaounde early Wednesday morning and had to stop in Bamenda on the way back because Bamenda is the regional government headquarters and we had to get photos and fingerprints done there for everything to be complete.

Ilan is a recent college grad who is teaching at SAC with Frank because his philosophy prof (at Univ. of Boulder) is from Kumbo and suggested the idea to him. (Miki - maybe you could look the prof up. Oh and many of the cars here, including one of the bishop's have cracked windshields like the Beast.)

As we were finally getting ready to leave Bamenda (after a lot of "hurry-up-and-wait"), we got stuck in traffic because the leader of the opposition party (who is from Bamenda) was returning home and the security force was blocking traffic. There was marching and shouting and we had to find a different route out of town because the road was blocked.

We got back to Kumbo about 7pm and had dinner with the bishop. I spent the night in the Bishop's house again and then was able to get a ride back up to Tatum with a priest on Thursday morning. It was a long, tiring week and I was glad to be back. I took a long weekend and then had to give all the tests the next week.

That's my latest adventure in Cameroon. Today (Nov 7) is a public holiday in Cameroon because it is the start of Ramadan. I managed to get down to Kumbo to do some shopping and use the internet. It's getting drier. During the day, it's warmer but in the early mornings it's colder than it was before.

International Teachers' Day

Did you know that October 5 was International Teacher's Day?  I found out when they announced the celebration they were having in Tatum.  I guess that usually it is celebrated in town, but because the national elections were on October 9, the government requested that each school have their own celebration.

At St. Pius, the festivities were mostly sports - teachers versus students at handball, volleyball, and football (soccer). The weather was perfect for it - mostly sunny with some scattered clouds and a nice breeze. No rain because we're getting to the end of the rainy season. There was enough sun that I got a little pink, but I'm back to white again.

The week before that was CATs (continual assessment testing). Only about half of my students
passed the tests I gave.  I think they're still getting used to my accent, but one of the other teachers told me that the students usually do very poorly on the first test.  Because of the results, I spent some classes reviewing everything and am doing continuous reviews each week.

I haven't been able to get online much at all in the past several weeks.  Janice visited to check up on us (the LMHers & MDers in Cameroon) and I was able to give her my last blog post a few weeks late. It was a very short visit, but it was nice to see a face from home and she brought chocolate (which is always good).

Not much else happening here. The weather is getting dryer. I've been told that in the dry season it gets very cold in the mornings, but warmer during the day.  I might even get a little tan! We'll see.

Thank you to those who have sent me mail and thank you for your continued prayers and support. Quick update on my parents: They're both back in Santa Barbara now and I have been told that my mother is back at work at the Boy Scout office.

Settling In

First a bit of news from home, for those who haven't heard. My sister Becca gave birth to my newest nephew, Owen, on August 9 in Colorado. A few days later, my parents were driving from California to visit them when they were in a car crash. They were flown to a hospital in Denver. My mother was released from the hospital after a week or two and is staying at my sister's house. My father is still in the hospital, but he getting better and is making progress every day. Thank you to James and my family for keeping me updated and thanks to everyone for their prayers.

I'm still struggling with internet access, between the cost and the reliability. Along with everyone else at St. Pius X (SPX), I'm looking forward to when they get the new internet installed here. Unfortunately, that probably won't be until October.

A few days after my last post, I was finally able to move into my place (once they had finished installing the new front door). The place is spacious for me. There are 4 rooms: a parlor/living room, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms (one is currently for storage - but will be a guest room once I get spare bed), plus a spacious bathroom and a back patio area - to be shared with my neighbors. It took about three weeks to get the new back door finished and the kitchen sink installed.

School just started last week. The first week was hectic since the teaching schedule had to be changed a few times due to "clashes" (scheduling conflicts). I still don't have all the books I need for the classes I'll be teaching, but I'm managing without for now. I'm teaching Form 2 English (approx. 9th grade), computer studies for Forms 1, 2, & 3, and Music in the Teachers Training College (TTC).

Before classes began, I spent my days reading, going for walks, and cross-stitching. I hired a "house girl" who comes in on weekdays to cook lunch and clean. She always cooks enough for a two or three meals. I asked her to cook Cameroonian foods so I can get used to them - corn fufu with jamba-jamba is pretty good. I was mostly underfoot for her, but now that I have classes I'm not at home as much. She has also helped me practice my Pidgin and Lamnso.

I have a tutor who has been teaching me both languages. So far I have the greetings down pretty well. I still need lots of practice though, which I try to do by greeting people when I am out and about. Everyone is very friendly and, since they see very few white people in Tatum, I attract attention wherever I go. On Sundays, some parts of the Mass and the songs are often in Pidgin and/or Lamnso. I am able to understand most of the Pidgin and catch a few of the Lamnso words.

There is a family with 6 kids that lives nearby and before school started the kids would stop by regularly to visit, particularly two of the younger girls. They've taught me some card games and I taught them Go Fish and showed them a couple card tricks. They've also helped me practice my Lamnso and Pidgin.

First Weeks in Cameroon

My flight left LAX at 7am on July 18 and after changing planes in Newark and Zurich, we landed in Douala at almost 7pm on July 19. Getting off the plane in Douala was almost like walking into a sauna. We (Frank & I) were met in the airport by a priest from Kumbo, Fr. Daniel, who helped us get our bags and get through customs quickly. We had dinner at a Mediteranean restuarant and spent the night next door to the cathedral. The next day Alfred (the bishop's driver) drove us up to Kumbo. I slept most of the drive. On the way, we stopped to buy some fruits and vegetables. We got to try Cameroonian plums (more like avocados than plums and eaten hot) and some roasted plantains. When we got up the Northwest, the roads got quite rough. They're mostly unpaved and get very damaged by the rain. We arrived safely in Kumbo and were welcomed as guests to the bishop's house. I was at the bishop's house until yesterday (Aug 2), when Br. Ivo came to take me to Tatum. Br. Ivo is the principal of St. Pius X Colleges in Tatum where I'll be teaching.

The Friday after we got to Kumbo, Bishop George invited us to a celebration at one of the churches in the diocese. They opened a new Eucharistic Center and blessed a new nursery school in a town called Ntumbaw (pronounced something like: ntoom-BOH). Because they had the bishop there, they also did quite a few confirmations and had 3 weddings during the Mass. It ended up lasting about 6 hours. In the last couple hours, there were a number of speeches that they decided to do inside during the Mass instead of outside after Mass because it started raining. But the rain on the roof made it difficult to hear. The offertory procession was amazing. At the end of Mass, they also brought up gifts for the bishop and I noticed at least 3 chickens and goat. On the way back to Kumbo, Bishop George called it our "baptism by fire". I've since found out that many Sunday Masses last 2 hours. We also were able to go to the graduation Mass for the nursing students at Shisong. That one was "only" 3 hours.

We did make it over to Bamenda and up to Njinikom where we met with some of the Mission Doctors. It was nice to see a familiar face there (Tim Cavanaugh). The road to Bamenda was pretty bumpy.  On the way back it was even worse (and slippery!) because it had been raining most of the day. We even saw a truck that was on its side at the edge of the road and had to drive under its wheels. It's the rainy season and I think it's rained at least a little bit every day since we arrived. They say that August is usually worse than July. Oh yeah - while in Bamenda we got cellphones.

The power has a tendency to go out fairly often in this part of Cameroon, so most places have backup generators, but they take a lot of fuel so they aren't run the whole time that the power is out. The bishop's house had wireless internet, but it was pretty slow. In Tatum they don't have internet yet, so my only way to get online here is through a sim card for my laptop which can be a little iffy. Otherwise, I have to go into Kumbo and visit the internet cafe. They are working on getting internet for the school and hope to have it in the next few months.

So for now I'm still figuring things out. Tomorrow I may go back down to Kumbo to buy a few things that I need for my place. Once I'm all moved in, then I start language training in both Pidgin English and Lamnso (the local language) so I can communicate in the market better.

Cooling My Heels

After a time of soul searching and prayer, I made the decision to join the Lay Mission-Helpers about a year ago. Once I had gone through the application process and was accepted into the program, I thought I'd be heading overseas as soon as the training was finished. The classes started in January and we finished them in May, but it turns out I won't be leaving until mid-July due to logistics.

I now get to spend almost 2 months cooling my heels before I actually get to Cameroon. The top two things I will be doing  with extra time are: spending time with family and friends in Santa Barbara (and elsewhere) and buying stuff that I will need (or want) for this 3 year adventure. Once I found out that I'd be leaving later, my procrastination kicked in. So, I'm taking a two week road trip to visit family in Northern California and Colorado and then coming back to Southern California to wrap up the shopping and packing. I might even get to see the last Harry Potter movie before I depart.