Last weekend, Akobe, Jeromie and the THEX volunteers all went to Mt. Cameroon to move a volunteer into the new THEX rental there. Akobe had told us that she had rented a car, so we were glad to hear this news since there were 3 people sitting in the front of the car and 4 of us in the back. The car we were in looked like a taxi, and it had a big crack in the windshield and a big splatter of dried bird poop right in the driver’s view. It wasn’t until about 30 minutes into the trip that all of us volunteers realized that we were crammed into the ACTUAL rental car. It was quite an uncomfortable hour and a half ride to Mt. Cameroon, but somehow we all managed to survive it.
The crammed ride was TOTALLY worth what awaited for us. The weather was nice, as a cool breeze came down the mountain to the new charming rental home. There was no humidity outside, so we were all very content. Unfortunately, the rental did not have running water yet, so we had to bucket flush-which I am a pro at by now. There were 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a storage room, and a huge sitting room. The volunteer that moved into the rental, Tom, was from Scotland. He is a nurse and is working with the HIV¬/AIDS program in the next town over. He was very nice and quite interesting to talk to about Scotland.
Before bedtime, I started to do the math in my head in regard to sleeping arrangements. There were 4 single beds and 8 of us. Akobe had planned on there being 2 people per bed, which I must say was not a very wise or comfortable idea. I ended up sharing a room with Daniel and Valentino, a British couple, and sharing a bed with Mary Claire who I had promised that I would not spoon-lol. Mary Claire is the house maid where Valentino and Daniel live in Douala. They said that she never goes out, and she is rather a young girl. I thought it was very nice of them to invite her to join us. Mary and I went for a long walk so that I could take pictures, and we chatted a long while. She has a sister who is studying medicine at UNC-small world, huh?
The four of us were pretty tired and crashed at the same time, although I ended up playing the game 20 questions with Valentino and Daniel. Daniel mostly asked the questions, and I answered questions about the NFL, college stadiums, how big NC State’s campus is, how big NC State’s football stadium is, the RBC arena, etc. He and Valentino couldn’t believe how large NC State’s football stadium is in comparison to the football stadiums in the UK.
During the night, the temperature dropped considerably and a big storm came through. What I must explain to you is that in Africa, hardly any windows have glass on them unless it is an elite person’s home. The only thing that covers windows here are screens and/or ornate iron covers or rows of glass slats that can be shifted to point out, up or down, but can never be completely closed. Valentino had pointed the slats completely down in our room, but the cold air could not be kept out. I woke up to Mary pulling up the mattress cover,and we both slept under it trying to get somewhat warm-no sheets or blankets are on beds, which is typical of African people since it is mostly a hot, tropical climate. Poor Mary had to endure my waking up feeling as if I were falling off the bed about 4 or 5 times, so she woke up my jerking awake and accidentally bumping her. It was just too close for comfort-lol.
The following morning, we all left to have lunch in Limbe, a small beach town close by. I had been told that the fish served there was delicious, and I was not let down in the least when we were served grilled fish. It was absolutely delicious. We also had grilled popcorn shrimp and calamari, but they weren’t as good as the fish though. There was horseback riding on the beach, so it was pretty cool to see people ride up and down the beach. What I disliked was the fact that vendors constantly interrupted our meal wanting to sell stuff to us. We paid our server for everything, and when we were getting ready to leave, let’s just say things got very interesting…
Tom and Jessica had ordered a bottle of wine for lunch. Our table was never told that it had to pay separately for it versus our other drinks and meal. The guy who was running the stand where the wine came from had a conniption and accused us of not paying for the wine. He wouldn’t allow anybody to hardly speak and disbelieved us when told that we had paid our server for everything. In the meantime, our server was not exactly speaking up, which was no help whatsoever. Finally our driver confronted our server and told him to pay the wine guy what was owed to him. Even after being paid, the wine guy was still moaning and groaning, and all whole time I was thinking, ‘‘Would you like some cheese with your whine?’’ LOL
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