Moldy French 33
How fo you?! I walka fayn.
You may be thinking that I have forgotten you all because it havent written... its actually a good thing, as I am having more fun doing other things than finding the nearest internet cafe to check my email box (which was fairly empty anyway, donc...). I might actually make it in this country!!
This last weekend, the agroforestry crew headed northward to the Kumbo area in my province. We visited an agroforestry center at an old Peace Corps site, now called the Riba Center. They have all sorts of agroforestry demonstrations and its a beautiful setting in the mountains. Had a lot of discussion with the Cameroonian adminstrators there, ate lots of passion fruit (kinda feel like raquetballs on the outside, with little green-alien-pod fruit inside. We walked the grounds under big African skies and danced the night away in Kumbo. We all had unimaginably bad gas pains from some cabbage stew we had for lunch (except for Reese.. but he might not have bowels at all... its just the way God made him). All and all it was a great adventure and a very bumpy road.
Swearing-in is next week. Very much looking forward to it, though I am one of four people in the whole stage who has yet to pass her language requirement. That franglais that was so funny in high school is... just not funny anymore. If I don’t pass, I will have to stay here two weeks more. If I don’t pass the next time, I go home! But, I don’t think it will be an issue this time... one of my fellow stagiares has already passed, though his French is rapidly regressing into the dark side of anglophone... his french is plus crappy que mine.
Other things... I ate half a loaf of blackly moldy bread last night... my phone text message to Matt...“In Africa, never trust a whole wheat loaf in poor light... its a mistake to believe a Betty Crocker degree of moistness exists here...”
I lived, however. I have also been living through the pain in my abdominal region... the meat sticks and Bafoussam “salad shack” has finally caught up with me. I will be making scones and washing my green beans in bleach water in a weeks time!! I have taken up poker and I won last night with three 6’s.... which I just realized is some satanic number... maybe I shouldn’t play poker no more. Ohhh.... we went on a fantastic tour this week of the Trent-Trois (“33”) Export brewery. It was like an developed country wonderland in the midst of poverty. Everything was painted red and white... we saw the mechanized bottling of thousands of bottles of beer.... huge brewery things, shining with chrome. We even got to sample some... coke. One of the “advanced” French classes set it up by writing a letter, and all the agros attended the Francophone tour. I guess it doesn’t sound that cool.. but I love tours anyway, and it was clean.... not like the local palm wine bottling facility.... aka any ground space where empty glass bottles have been picked up off the side of the road and amassed.
I will be sure to get some photos up this weekend, and will leave another note after swearing in. Think of me at 10am on the 14th (4am EST). See you!
You may be thinking that I have forgotten you all because it havent written... its actually a good thing, as I am having more fun doing other things than finding the nearest internet cafe to check my email box (which was fairly empty anyway, donc...). I might actually make it in this country!!
This last weekend, the agroforestry crew headed northward to the Kumbo area in my province. We visited an agroforestry center at an old Peace Corps site, now called the Riba Center. They have all sorts of agroforestry demonstrations and its a beautiful setting in the mountains. Had a lot of discussion with the Cameroonian adminstrators there, ate lots of passion fruit (kinda feel like raquetballs on the outside, with little green-alien-pod fruit inside. We walked the grounds under big African skies and danced the night away in Kumbo. We all had unimaginably bad gas pains from some cabbage stew we had for lunch (except for Reese.. but he might not have bowels at all... its just the way God made him). All and all it was a great adventure and a very bumpy road.
Swearing-in is next week. Very much looking forward to it, though I am one of four people in the whole stage who has yet to pass her language requirement. That franglais that was so funny in high school is... just not funny anymore. If I don’t pass, I will have to stay here two weeks more. If I don’t pass the next time, I go home! But, I don’t think it will be an issue this time... one of my fellow stagiares has already passed, though his French is rapidly regressing into the dark side of anglophone... his french is plus crappy que mine.
Other things... I ate half a loaf of blackly moldy bread last night... my phone text message to Matt...“In Africa, never trust a whole wheat loaf in poor light... its a mistake to believe a Betty Crocker degree of moistness exists here...”
I lived, however. I have also been living through the pain in my abdominal region... the meat sticks and Bafoussam “salad shack” has finally caught up with me. I will be making scones and washing my green beans in bleach water in a weeks time!! I have taken up poker and I won last night with three 6’s.... which I just realized is some satanic number... maybe I shouldn’t play poker no more. Ohhh.... we went on a fantastic tour this week of the Trent-Trois (“33”) Export brewery. It was like an developed country wonderland in the midst of poverty. Everything was painted red and white... we saw the mechanized bottling of thousands of bottles of beer.... huge brewery things, shining with chrome. We even got to sample some... coke. One of the “advanced” French classes set it up by writing a letter, and all the agros attended the Francophone tour. I guess it doesn’t sound that cool.. but I love tours anyway, and it was clean.... not like the local palm wine bottling facility.... aka any ground space where empty glass bottles have been picked up off the side of the road and amassed.
I will be sure to get some photos up this weekend, and will leave another note after swearing in. Think of me at 10am on the 14th (4am EST). See you!
posted by K at 4:31 PM
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