Today I’ve come to the realization that there is no break from sweating here except at night. When you get up in the morning, you sweat. You sweat all day and all evening until it gets cool out. Even when I shower in the evening, I sweat when I get out of the shower. It kinda defeats the purpose to shower to only sweat immediately afterward, huh? I will definitely appreciate air conditioning more when I return to the states! At night, Georgette and I have a fan blowing on us. It gets a little cool in the middle of the night, but a sheet usually takes care of the chill.
Let me warn y’all, I will not be wearing make-up or bothering with my hair while here-lol. I tried my hair straightener this morning and had no luck straightening my frizzy hair from this gawd awful humidity! Guess it doesn’t matter anyway, since it is so hot here, I wear my hair back all the time anyway.
In a taxi today, traffic was slowed due to an argument in the middle of the road! No idea what it was about, but I was amused at the nonchalance of the two men. If you own a taxi, you will most likely honk at someone every other minute-no joke. Mopeds are everywhere, there are no stoplights or signs, no lines on the roads, no one wears seatbelts, etc. The roads are a mess. I'm constantly holding my breath wondering if the taxi I am in is gonna hit the next person who cuts us off or if we'll be hit by the person my taxi driver just cut off. Also, most taxis are small 4 door toyotas, and if there’s only 2 riders and the driver, then there’s always room for 3 more! Ack! So let’s just say that carpooling can get to be a little too crowded…
Today I went to the orphanage with Vanessa to meet the children. I received hugs from nearly every child at the orphanage, including one child whose mother works there. The kids’ ages range from 2 ½ - 17. I figured with my being the new face among the crowd that I would take small gifts to wow the kids. Let’s just say that colorful pencils, stickers and silly bands were the hit of the day… J
Since Vanessa’s last day is Saturday, the orphanage made her an honorary meal tonight. They served fresh fish, African greens, chicken, salad, and fresh bread with Fanta Orange soda. Vanessa told me that tonight’s meal was a treat for the kids because they rarely get a good meal. Their meal usually consists of rice with some sort of dressing on it and water. I don’t think I saw a single plate that was not emptied at the orphanage tonight.
It looks as though I will be continuing the fundraising for the orphanage when Vanessa leaves, as well as mentoring /organizing the kids. They apparently have no structure and their grades are not good, so I’m going to see what I can do to somehow get them on the right track. Wish me luck…
All the orphanage volunteers and Akobe met at Bob’s bar tonight for farewell beers with Sam. Bob is a very cool dude who loves America, although he’s never visited. He said he had many Cameroonian friends in the U.S. and that he wishes to visit one day. I hope he does make it there one day because Bob seems to be a very passionate person. Bob was wearing a NY Yankees hat, although it was all red with the NY stitched in white. I was told that he absolutely adores Obama and that he has a collection of Obama stuff at his home-lol.
No comments:
Post a Comment