Only 8 weeks of Training to Go!!

Salut!

Sorry for the delay in posting. The last two weeks have been interesting ones, to say the least. They have involved enormous transitions and uncertainties. If you hadn’t known already, I do not speak French. Since my last post, I have moved in with a French-speaking Cameroonian family. Peace Corps calls this “emersion”. I call it total dependency and frustration. Ha.

Alright, I’ll admit it’s pretty effective. My french is improving daily, and I am able to communicate just about anything in broken French or fraglais. Such communications include. Le car, est pour moi? Ou est la car? Tu takez moi pour la maison blue pour l’ecole (direct translation. The car, is for me? Where is the car? You (franglais) takez me for the blue house for the school?) .

The Cameroonian family life is pretty good. My family has some Western amenities, such as an indoor (flush) toilet, running water and electricity. They even have a television that has one channel (airing mostly horse races, bad news and Mexican soap operas dubbed in French…). Some other trainees have home-stays that are not as nice as mine… pit latrines in the backyard, no indoor plumbing and there are a number who live on pork farms.

Thus far, I have consumed many things. I have not really enjoyed many of these things, but I am trying them all the same. My first night in Cameroon, I was served spaghetti and fish head sauce. Yes, fish head. I don’t even like mayonnaise. Fish heads? Since then, I have had fish soup, a dried-fish sauce over eyams (very dry tubers), and several omlettes with fish in them. My family likes fish, I think. Last night, we had the real sticker. Current PCV’s serving in Cameroon warned trainees about the “viscous soup” that some of us may experience. It is a “soup” made of okra and some kind of something that is taken from the bark of something (maybe if I knew it would be easier for me to eat). Essentially, its like eating snot. It’s green, warmish, and slimy. Viscous. My family ate it with their hands (they usually eat with silverwear), slurping and lapping it off their fingers. They use what they call cous-cous (think sticky, bland Cream of Wheat) to scoop the viscous matter out of the bowl. Totally grossed me out. Definitely ate a bowl and a half of the stuff with my right hand.

The training has been going great. Language classes are tedious most of the time, but they are very small and comfortable. Nathan, Yune and I have all made the cut as “Novice-Mid” french speakers (Novice-Low is the bottom rung…. Only have to climb 4 rungs to qualify for service). We laugh a lot in a small, blue room in the back of some house where we are taught by real Cameroonians. Agroforestry is also going well. We are beginning technical training next week (we received our machetes on Friday. I am not joking.).

My family is great. I have a host mom and dad, the brother of my host father, the sister of my host father, and then four children ranging in age from two to fourteen. However, I am not sure if all of the children belong to my mother and father. There are two fourteen year olds, and they don’t look alike, so I don’t really know what’s going on with that. I have decided I may never know… maybe when I speak better french. They are really great though. On Sunday, they took me to the “white man store” in Bafoussam… a grocery store. My mom got dressed up to go, and when we got there, they wanted to buy me all sorts of things. They ended up getting me a toilet brush, some peanuts, a bar of chocolate, six bottles of water, and a piece of cake. When we returned to their house, they explained that I am now a part of their family. So, that was a pretty important part of my experience so far.

The agroforestry trainees received their machetes this week. This is one tool among half a dozen… but really, who cares about hoes and shovels? I have a machete. The only real instruction I have received thus far is to think of the machete as an extension of my arm. A large, rusty, sharp extension of my arm.

This week-end, the agroforesters will begin to make tree nurseries at our homestays. We will be graded by Dr. Njiti, the zany professor that runs most of our technical trainings and activities. Zany might be an understatement. Njiti is maybe the most enthusiastic prof. I have ever had, and is definitely a well-read (and published) academic. I must also give a shout-out to TaTa Katie, who is a current PCV in Cameroon, and has been a great guide for we newbies.

Things are going great. I am liking it, looking forward to winning the pugnacious battle against the French language that I have been fighting since my freshman year of high school. I have not yet had any convoluted stomach experiences (I’m not saying its pleasant all the time, but no major issues). I do know that there was a health volunteer that pooped her pants. I do not know who this was, but I congratulate this anonymous person on her determination in being the first to “join the club”.

If the pictures aren’t up with this post, its because I am in Cameroon and there are more than a few technical issues that come up. Please be patient! Images are to come soon! Regular postings from now on (or at least during training).

Love you!



Peace Corps Trainee
B.P. 215
Yaounde, Cameroon
Africa

(Don’t forget to mark as Par Avion … more details on krosey.org).