Happy Leap Year!!!

Happy Leap Year!!!Where to begin? I'll start with the most recent event because it sticks in my mind most readily! For the past 3 nights between 11:45 and 12:15 I have been woken up to strange noises right outside my bedroom window. Animals, I initially thought might be goats, but they were not making the usual goat noises (oh I am oh so familiar with every part of their being) more like some random huffing noises and sniffing around in my compost pile. Then whatever it was (I think there are 2)takes off at a full speed sprint around the back and side of my house on my little cement "patio" and it sure didn't have hooves, and goats DO NOT run that fast. So initially, the first night I was absolutely terrified. The next night I was slightly scared and then last night I got all excited trying to figure out what it was but still haven't had the nerve to just go to my window, lift back the curtain and get a sight of it with my flashlight locked doors and a mosquito net(surprising even how much the second one) give me quite the sense of security against whatever it is maybe tonight I'll be at the "courageous" point and take a look! Other random animal news: the parrots have been out and about by the office I work near, it's really cool to hear them and then see them flying in the forest. There was also a group of enormous black birds with really long yellow beaks that I took some time to watch. My bird knowledge here is seriously lacking but I'm excited for the rainy season when the birds will beout (and hopefully the little monkeys) in full force for some entertainment. Lastly, there are a pair or lizards (largest ones I've seen in my house yet) that have begun to live in my bathroom. they go in and out of a big hole that was left in the plaster by someone who didn't attach the showerhead to the wall very well. I'll often walk in in the middle of the night to see just a lizard head poking out of the wall at me. This comes with its downfalls (hard to imagine downfalls with lizards living in the bathroom eh?) including lizard poop on my bathroom walls and floor.

Work wise I've have THREE (heck yes) semi productive days!!! Tuesday Obam and I planted a row of yams just right behind the office (I'm thinking it's suppose to be an example garden of sorts). It wasn't alot but it was extremely exciting since I finally got some blisters, a backache, and dirt under my fingernails…WOOHOO!!!! The feeling of doing actual physical work was pretty wonderful. I kicked Obam's butt with the shoveling part of this and everyone still thinks I'm weak;>) After planting, Obam and I went to the little "bar" that's right next to my house and had some interesting conversation about medicinal plant people around town. Some guy who can transfer a baby from one woman to another with no surgery needed, and some other woman who can put some plant over your eyes to make you see all the spirits (he said"fairies" but I'm thinking more along the line of spirits was meant)around you. I told him that, being an American, and a pretty scientific minded one at that, I would need to see this before I believed him. He told me they wouldn't trust a white girl seeing this stuff so I guess I'm out of luck. The baby thing would be pretty amazing however, and I'm disappointed. He also told me we'd go tothis tourist (here that doesn't really mean the same thing it does elsewhere) place like catacombs where you walk through the graves andend up leaving having been marked on the skin (I think he said with ashes) by the dead people. This is also something I'm waiting to see - interesting! On Thursday we had planned a meeting out in avillage near me. Obam shows up late, his motto broke the day before. Now that causes a few problems, since it's his (and many other's invillage) only way of transport and he doesn't have the money to fix it until mid March. So we ended up walking to the village, getting there an hour and a half later, and having everyone "forgotten" about the meeting again!!! So third strike. But, as we were passing back through, walking home, we spotted the leader of the group we were suppose to meet with. He spun some yarn (is that even a phrase my English is beginning to escape me not and I think I'm making things up a lot) about how he had a headache and forgot about the meeting and was sleeping and yadda yadda. Obam gets very frustrated with the situation and sometimes I feel he makes it worse but who am I to say?! It's been his life for far longer than mine and I know already it's driving me a bit crazy! So, then on Saturday,in a random way I went out to a village towards, and close to, the border of Equitorial Guinea, with this guy that I'd met in Bangangte and who'd been keeping in contact with me since then. He's a really wealthy man, head of some organization in the West province (I always am weary ofthe money/power thing) but I was happy to see that every weekend hegoes back to his village and uses the money to fund projects his GIC(organization) does. He took me on a tour of all the different projects he currently has going: orchard, palm plantation, variety offields with different crops, cocoa plantation, he's even attempted rice (which I've never seen here. He once again fell into the routine of praising me and being amazed that I'd walked about 2 milesthrough the forest (WOW) which actually starts to get on my nerves abit, everyone thinking I'm weak constantly with no grounds for the assumption, besides the white skin but I got over it:>). He wants me to help him build a fish pond (which I have NO IDEA how to do) so I suggested we raise Cane Rats instead (it's a little rodent thing,kinda like a guinea pig that people raise to eat) because its one of the (only) things I have a small book on how to do correctly. He seemed ok with that though! He seemed very eager to work with me, which is a nice change and since he has the money to do projects, and the land it seems like it'll be a good starting point for me. Needless to say, this was exciting! It was his birthday as well so we hung out with his family, I met his 88 year old father who walked around in a bathroom all day giving me little plastic packets of whiskey, and we went to a bar where I ended up with his 2 year old niece sleeping on my lap for an hour. I also met the guy who is the head of the south division of the (pretty much only) television channel in Cameroon,which was also random! No water yet at home but I think I would miss going with my ever increasing entourage of neighbor kids to the source for water. I taught my favorite little neighbor boy how to give "high fives", so every time I come home he yells HIGH FIVE and runs at my with his palm in the air. I like kids more in this country than in the states (I know that may be a bad generalization to make so I'm sorry!). Maybe it's because they are my only friends…haha…yeah but they are definitely more well behaved and listen extremely well. Well,that's all for now, feeling a bit more hopeful on the workfront,it increases a bit each week, and when I have an actual project started and going I will be SOOOOO happy!