and then we ate rabbit

caution - sensitive persons should skip to paragraph 3


After an insane week (or two) we are officially Peaces Corps volunteers. The night before our swearing-in ceremony our host family decided to make a feast of sorts for us. I left the house at a very inopportune moment to meet a friend and saw my host brother and sister holding a white rabbit down with a giant knife to its' throat. Now as most of you know, although not a vegetarian I did have pet bunnies growing up and thus it was quite unfortunate that I stumbled upon the scene. After sprinting past, one hand blocking my vision, I heard the rabbit utter its last, yet very loud screams.

The whole experience was rather like killer rabbit scene in Monty Python Search for the Holly Grail, except of course the ending: Dinner was served, guests were invited, and then we ate rabbit. (yes, I did manage to choke it down. . . Matt thought it tasted like chicken, but I beg to differ).

So swearing-in was pretty incredible. The US ambassador to Cameroon was there along with the Country Director and some ministers, etc. We all wore matching fabric that is the design of the local Bamileke people. After the ceremony, there was a dinner with the families, one last meal at our favorite omelet shack, and a neighborhood party. I got to dance with all of my favorite kids to the same four songs, which played over and over the entire night. We will miss everyone in Bangangte, but we are ready to start the real adventure!

-S

Real Men Wear Jellies and Carry a Machete

Our jungle guide was a real man. I don't know if I was more surprised when he twisted a leaf into a cup and drank directly from the stream or when he stuck his fingers in a pile of elephant dung to see how fresh it was. He tracked gorilla prints through the forest mud and every so often he would freeze, listen, then point emphatically towards some dense foliage. Some words I recognized: les gorilles, l'elephant, le serpent, and other needed no explanation for instance les singes were obvious enough because the monkeys made a lot of racket and could be seen swinging from branch to branch.

In other news we will actually be spending two years in a small village called Mambele.

population: 500
stores: 2 (maybe)
food: sardines and bread baby
attractions: Lobeke National Park (our backyard)
birds: 300 species
mammals: 50 species
fish: 121 species
trees: 211 species
butterflies: 215 species
distance: 800km from Yaounde (2-7 days travel)

note - we are back from site visit (3 days out, 3 days back, 2 days at post)

-S

And the Post is. . .

Exciting News!

We received our post this week and we will be spending the next two years in Yokadouma, which is in the East Province of Cameroon. Although we will be doing some agroforestry, our main project will be working with both the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and USAID on natural resource conservation and park management. Our guidebook describes Yokadouma as being sort of like a Wild West frontier town (except of course in the jungles of Africa.)

Anyway, we are thrilled and will get to check out our post for a week starting tomorrow. Well, almost a week because it will take us two days to get there and another two to get back. Enjoy that Colorado snow for us as were heading to the rainforest!

Best,

-S

Clothes or Lack There Of

My neighbor exposed himself to me yesterday. . .

I saw him and stopped to say hello and before I knew what was happening, he ripped the towel off of his lower half and shouted "Sarah, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love yoooouu!"

(I should probably mention that it was 5 year old Blanco, who is so funny, and might be my favorite kid in Cameroon, plus. . he said the I love you bit in English)

In other news, I had my first outfit made with African fabric. I was really excited because I brought pictures from the States of what I wanted and I thought that I had picked out the perfect pattern. Let's just say that it did not turn out exactly how I imagined it would (a lot of brown, a lot of orange, shoulder pads, high stiff collar, you get the idea). After a humiliating fashion show in front of my entire host family, Matt and I laughed for 10 minutes straight in our room, and I put the dress in the bottom of my bag. My host sister asked me later if I like the dress; I replied by saying "a little." Then she asked me why and I did my best to explain. Finally, she demanded that I give the dress back and I learned the French words for shorter and tighter (I have it back now and it is much cuter).

So anyway, we are having a great week. Last night we ate an entire fish with our hands, and it was awesome!

-S

A Little Dirt Never Hurt

We have just completed our 4th full week of training in country, feels good to reach a bit of a milestone. Training is progressing nicely, getting closer to the half way point, which will be very exciting because we will learn about our project, meet our counterpart, and travel to our site for a weeklong visit. There are a few rumors floating around about Sarah and my post, we are trying not to get too excited about the prospect because it sounds pretty unique. I will hold off telling you all until we find out for sure.

Regardless, we had a bit of an exam today to quantify our progress in learning french. The exam went off well, but in the process of walking home in the rain, I got a bit dirty. Which brings me to today's topic, how to stay clean - during the rainy season.

I am sure all of you are aware, that in a mountain town (such as Aspen), we like to call the spring off-season the "mud season." I hate to break it to you hardened Colorado mountain men and women.....that is not a mud season.

Today it rained most of the morning, and since nearly all roads are dirt, they inevitably turn to mud. Here is a brief list of all the things I have tried in order to stay clean: wear rain pants to destination and take off when you arrive, roll pants once....or twice...or three times..., wear shorts, wear sandals, walk bow-legged. I think you get the point....but no matter what I try, my pants still get dirty. And in a country that is very clean (and our host family is even cleaner), wearing dirty clothes is not an option.

Here is a little dialog to further my point...

The scene: Sarah and I, on our way to town today, are walking out of our neighborhood when we see one of the cute neighbor kids Blanco...

Matt: Bon soir, Blanco
Blanco: Salut Matt
...long pause as we walk past him
Blanco: Ton pantalon est sale
Matt: Merci Blanco...

translation:
Matt: Afternoon Blanco
Blanco: Hello
...pause
Blanco: Your pants are dirty
Matt: Thanks...

Even the five year old children notice your cleanliness. To further the problem, I have three pairs of suitable pants for daily life and class. This is normally not a problem, but In Cameroon and the tropics I assume, there is a little something called the Mango Fly. If you don't let your clothes dry for 3 days, or iron them, the eggs of the mango fly (that are laid on your wet clothes as they dry), hatch. The larvae then burrows into your skin and is described as "a needle poking you every couple of seconds." Don't believe me? Google it! Anyway, the whole point of this is that three pairs of pants, three days to dry, two hours to wash, and rain every day...I think you get the picture.

Anyway, the moral of the story: Keep your clothes clean or else the mango fly might get you. . .


-M

When It Rains It Pours

Every night for the past week it has been raining and sometimes during the day too. Supposedly we are heading towards the end of the rainy season but I have yet to see it let up. Our roof is tin (ordinarily this would be great. . .you know falling asleep to the gentle sound of raindrops) except when I wrote that it pours I meant it literally. A fair comparison would be to say that it sounds like our house is under a waterfall.

A typical day for us starts at 5:30 when our alarm clock goes off. We have class from 7:30-4:30 (French, Technical Training, and Cross-culture). Six days a week we are in training with Sunday as our free day. So we are kind of exhausted in general. Yesterday I told my French tutor "Je suis un peu fatigue aujord'hui" (I am a little tired today) to which she replied "you said that yesterday" and I finished with "Je suis fatigue tout les jours" (I am tired everyday).

We are getting very comfortable talking about the big D-word, yes diarrhea (Ivy - you would be proud). I had bacterial dysentery in Yaounde, the capital city, but I have felt pretty good since I have been in Bangante. Occasionally our water goes out and we have to use the outside latrine, which is alright unless you have the D.

Last Saturday, we went to a funeral which was really interesting, definitely more festive and less somber than services in the States. My favorite part was when all my host mom's friends danced around her and put money on her forehead. She was one of the bereaved, her grandmother who was 90 something, passed away last week. All of my host mother's friends wore matching dresses, which I thought was a nice touch.

Thank you for your comments! I am hoping that one of these days I'll have time to write some individual emails and letters. If I don't have your mailing address please email it to me. I hope that all of you are doing well!!

Love,

- S

We are in Africa!!

Wow! This is my first post, which I have been putting off because I figured that it had to set the tone for the entire blog, etc. So, anyway here it goes. . . . . .

We made it, we are safe and healthy! Currently, we are living with a host family in the small city of Bangangte. The surrounding hills are beautiful, very green and lush. Most of the streets are red dirt or mud (if it has rained recently). The people here are very friendly, especially our host family. We live in a modest house, but we do have electricity and running water. The director of the Peace Corps stayed with our host family when he came to visit earlier this summer.

There used to be a rooster that crowed at all hours of the night and morning. . .but we ate him for dinner the other night, it was a little tough and I am not sure which section I was eating, but on the whole not too bad. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, which usually consists of french bread, avocado, and hot chocolate.

Yesterday morning when I was making the bed, I found a gigantic cockroach on my pillow. Apparently, I had slept on it because little bits of its body were strewn about bed, and yet the cockroach was still alive. My host sister graciously disposed of him and then did a rather accurate imitation of me running from the thing. Our whole family thought it was hilarious and we have had lots of laughs over it since. (note - we have definitely learned to laugh at ourselves).

There are more stories to come, I promise. I miss all of you and will write again soon!

-S