Thursday, September 27, 2007
off to bagnante
ok, this must be quick!!! this is the last of my few minutes in yaounde...in a few minutes i'm off to bagnante where i will be meeting my host family. as of yet, a lot of people have gotten sick and of course mine is starting to hit this morning...nothing major...just iffy stomach (which will be fun for a long bus ride) thank you for all your comments! i got a cell phone and will be sending the number out soon (i can't remember it right now) other news: we got to meet the US ambassador, and also an african drumming group...lots of fun experiences. i didn't get quite the french rating i thought i would, but oh well...room for improvement! alright, i'm off to find out my homestay family. more soon!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Le foudre violet
Bonjour! wow...the last few days have been a complete whirlwind. we travelled for 30 straight hours...i slept for um...3. it was very exhausting but everyone made it with all their luggage...my backpack cover ripped, :>( and my bag was actually wide open but everything was still inside!? we arrived in douala, cameroon and found out our plane had been hit by lightening in the sky, so we ended up sitting in the airplane for over 2 hrs with only a 30 minute flight ahead of us to the capital: yaounde. i sat next to a cameroonian woman on the plane and i ended up talking to her towards the end of the trip in my horrible french..but she put up with me and we sorta had a conversation about the most basic things, of course. she was very animated and kind and it was interesting, she pretty much ended up sleeping on my shoulder. the rest of the people on the plane for the most part did NOT like us (i guess a group of 42 twenty somethings has that effect)...the french especially the flight attendents were not very nice :>( Peace Corps sure took care of us though, they got all our luggage organized, moved, took us to the hotel, fed us...
when i woke up the next morning i looked out my window first thing, since we'd driven to the hotel in the dark the night before...it's beautiful here! so red and green...and i love the rain (as of now) we got to leave the hotel to buy laundry detergent only, but then the water in the hotel didn't work for a day and a half...so no laundry, nor shower has yet taken place!!! other than that we sat around the hotel ALL sunday playing cards, and it was incredibly fun...too many stories/details about people to tell!
food: lots of potatos and rice...i had my FIRST bite of fish in a long time. everyone keeps ripping on me for not liking beer, meat or cheese and being from WI, and i get made fun of for my accent (and the words bag and bagel ;>) ) constantly.
we had our first day of "training" today...lots of medical info. and our french interview...yeah, that didn't go so hot...i know all the things but i get so incredibly nervous my mind doesn't work...but i'm pretty sure i'll be in the intermediate class...better than novice after 5 yrs of french i guess. i am however about the 2nd most qualified person here for agroforestry..which made me happy! lots of people with no classes/experience in the area. our training for agro. sounds SOOOO interesting, and i'm sooooo excited for that to start.
other than that everything has been going very very well...i'm very happy about where i am!
i miss you all and please let me know how you all are!
when i woke up the next morning i looked out my window first thing, since we'd driven to the hotel in the dark the night before...it's beautiful here! so red and green...and i love the rain (as of now) we got to leave the hotel to buy laundry detergent only, but then the water in the hotel didn't work for a day and a half...so no laundry, nor shower has yet taken place!!! other than that we sat around the hotel ALL sunday playing cards, and it was incredibly fun...too many stories/details about people to tell!
food: lots of potatos and rice...i had my FIRST bite of fish in a long time. everyone keeps ripping on me for not liking beer, meat or cheese and being from WI, and i get made fun of for my accent (and the words bag and bagel ;>) ) constantly.
we had our first day of "training" today...lots of medical info. and our french interview...yeah, that didn't go so hot...i know all the things but i get so incredibly nervous my mind doesn't work...but i'm pretty sure i'll be in the intermediate class...better than novice after 5 yrs of french i guess. i am however about the 2nd most qualified person here for agroforestry..which made me happy! lots of people with no classes/experience in the area. our training for agro. sounds SOOOO interesting, and i'm sooooo excited for that to start.
other than that everything has been going very very well...i'm very happy about where i am!
i miss you all and please let me know how you all are!
Friday, September 21, 2007
leaving town again...a different one this time
alright, so i'm writing on here a lot when i can, so it looks like i actually kept up with this.
we got shots this morning, and i had to get all 3...a lot of people didn't, my arm is kinda sore, pity me! the lady at the clinic called me a "petite pretty darling" and made my day :>)
yesterday staging went well, we did a lot more interactive stuff: skits, songs, etc... and i think i have most everyone's name and hometown down...we are kinda forced to keep moving around and joining different groups, so that made it easy.
a group of us went out for indian food, i got my last good ice cream for a while (i'm assuming) and then we went to a bar for a drink...still got back to the hotel around 11 though, since we had a 6 am. wakeup this morning.
we leave at 11 am today, take a bus to JFK, takeoff from there at 7 pm and then go to Paris, then down to Cameroon. We arrive in Yaounde, the capital, at 6 pm their time (1 pm EST). We get all of Sunday free to sleep and whatnot...which will be needed after 26+ hours in transit. Sunday evening we have a semiformal dinner at the Cameroon PC director's home, so that will be something to look forward too. We'll see how long my vegetarianism lasts, i keep hearing in Cameroon it's pretty easy to maintain...who knows!
alright, my roommate and i are off to buy food for our long trip! can't wait, i'm definitely excited right now...we'll see how i feel after a few hours of driving/flying.
we got shots this morning, and i had to get all 3...a lot of people didn't, my arm is kinda sore, pity me! the lady at the clinic called me a "petite pretty darling" and made my day :>)
yesterday staging went well, we did a lot more interactive stuff: skits, songs, etc... and i think i have most everyone's name and hometown down...we are kinda forced to keep moving around and joining different groups, so that made it easy.
a group of us went out for indian food, i got my last good ice cream for a while (i'm assuming) and then we went to a bar for a drink...still got back to the hotel around 11 though, since we had a 6 am. wakeup this morning.
we leave at 11 am today, take a bus to JFK, takeoff from there at 7 pm and then go to Paris, then down to Cameroon. We arrive in Yaounde, the capital, at 6 pm their time (1 pm EST). We get all of Sunday free to sleep and whatnot...which will be needed after 26+ hours in transit. Sunday evening we have a semiformal dinner at the Cameroon PC director's home, so that will be something to look forward too. We'll see how long my vegetarianism lasts, i keep hearing in Cameroon it's pretty easy to maintain...who knows!
alright, my roommate and i are off to buy food for our long trip! can't wait, i'm definitely excited right now...we'll see how i feel after a few hours of driving/flying.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
phillie arrival
i arrived safely in philadelphia today and had a LOOONG day of training...after less than 4 hrs of sleep and flying, blah!
mrs. kurth (high school english teacher) ended up being on my flight out from wausau and that was wonderful (she was in the PC too a while ago) and it was so great to have her for reassurance at that really weird/tough momemt! THANKS MRS. KURTH!!! :>) :>)
everyone here is amazing...such nice nice smart fun interesting people, we just got back from having vietnamese food, i took my first picture...many more to come you can bet.
on the shuttle from the airport i met 2 people who came in at the same time and was with them until staging started, so this is the first time i haven't been talking nonstop all day...man. staging was nonstop grade school games and icebreakers all over again (not exactly my favorite part of the day)
soo...other news: the first duffel bag i bought broke the first time i tried to pack it. then this morning, RIGHT as i was trying to leave my new one (which was more expensive...thus better?!) ripped!!! i'm a little nervous about my flight to cameroon with this bag...oh well. miss you all already
mrs. kurth (high school english teacher) ended up being on my flight out from wausau and that was wonderful (she was in the PC too a while ago) and it was so great to have her for reassurance at that really weird/tough momemt! THANKS MRS. KURTH!!! :>) :>)
everyone here is amazing...such nice nice smart fun interesting people, we just got back from having vietnamese food, i took my first picture...many more to come you can bet.
on the shuttle from the airport i met 2 people who came in at the same time and was with them until staging started, so this is the first time i haven't been talking nonstop all day...man. staging was nonstop grade school games and icebreakers all over again (not exactly my favorite part of the day)
soo...other news: the first duffel bag i bought broke the first time i tried to pack it. then this morning, RIGHT as i was trying to leave my new one (which was more expensive...thus better?!) ripped!!! i'm a little nervous about my flight to cameroon with this bag...oh well. miss you all already
Monday, September 17, 2007
leaving town...
So...I'm leaving in under two days...weird!
I went to Madison this weekend and did nothing but see people and then cry because I had to leave them...it was fun and wonderful but also a horrible reminder of the time I'll have to go without everyone just down the street. Thanks to everyone who came to say goodbye :>) but :>(
I visited my grandparents today...which was also good but too sad...
this mix of emotions is not a combination I can grasp very well, veeeeerrrry confusing...I just want to leave, I think, and am more than ready to!
I decided that I'm going to get everything packed tonight so I can just get that over with! I actually have too much space, I'm working on trying to fill it up! My big backpack is about 1/3 full of books alone, I don't know what else to fill the space with (I didn't think that this would be a problem but apparently I'm cursed with the weird ability to always pack far too light) Tonight I'm visiting my swim coach at the pool during practice and having ice cream with a Wausau friend...then tomorrow I'm doing NOTHING since it will be the last time for a long time that this will be possible!
Also, I feel awkward writing on this Blog, I don't know what to say unless I have some exciting story to tell...I've never been very good at keeping a journal...I prefer pictures. I guess I'll have to figure out how to get pictures on here to tell my stories for me!
Anyway...GOODBYE WISCONSIN!!!
I went to Madison this weekend and did nothing but see people and then cry because I had to leave them...it was fun and wonderful but also a horrible reminder of the time I'll have to go without everyone just down the street. Thanks to everyone who came to say goodbye :>) but :>(
I visited my grandparents today...which was also good but too sad...
this mix of emotions is not a combination I can grasp very well, veeeeerrrry confusing...I just want to leave, I think, and am more than ready to!
I decided that I'm going to get everything packed tonight so I can just get that over with! I actually have too much space, I'm working on trying to fill it up! My big backpack is about 1/3 full of books alone, I don't know what else to fill the space with (I didn't think that this would be a problem but apparently I'm cursed with the weird ability to always pack far too light) Tonight I'm visiting my swim coach at the pool during practice and having ice cream with a Wausau friend...then tomorrow I'm doing NOTHING since it will be the last time for a long time that this will be possible!
Also, I feel awkward writing on this Blog, I don't know what to say unless I have some exciting story to tell...I've never been very good at keeping a journal...I prefer pictures. I guess I'll have to figure out how to get pictures on here to tell my stories for me!
Anyway...GOODBYE WISCONSIN!!!
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