Learning the roads and everything else...

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.

Adjusting to the new place....

1/12/11

This morning, I woke up to a rooster crowing and a dog barking/whining. The poor dog sounded as if it needed to be put out of its misery. I don’t know how it could continue to bark and whine as long as it did without being exhausted. Thank goodness I was able to fall back asleep eventually.

I got up about 9:30 and ate 2 oranges for breakfast. Georgette had the TV on and a commercial for Desperate Housewives came on. It was interesting seeing the characters speaking in French to one another. I later heard the Scooby Doo theme song and saw that the movie was on; watching Scooby Doo in French was quite entertaining.

I was looking at the baby’s walker and toys and noticed their simplicity. His walker has no sounds, lights or whatnot and is half the size of an American walker. The design of it makes no sense whatsoever. There are 3 wheels in the front and one wheel in the back middle. There are two rubber legs in the back that really prevent him from moving around more so-very odd. His toys are nothing but various baby toys with rattles in them. He has no toys that are colorful, interactive, light up, musical, etc. I think the funniest thing is that his baby mobile hangs from the mosquito net over his bed.

Akobe and I took a walk last night to familiarize me with the area. On the way up the street, Akobe was on the phone arranging for my French lessons while I was walking outside of her on the street. It seemed as if people were aiming to hit me, and I was kinda puzzled as to why I was a target. I then looked down and happened to notice that there is a speed bump with a gap to the side of it. People were only going around the flat gap part, so as to avoid the bump altogether. We visited her friend, Deanna, at her salon where I also met her son and husband. Her son, Enzo, was adorable and I guessed him to be about 6 (he was 6; I’m getting good at guessing ages now that I tutor). He was quite shy at first with me, but he warmed up pretty quickly. His mother encouraged me to speak English to him since he was learning it in school. He brought out his “Just Do It” backpack and showed me his English book. I flipped through the pages and nearly fell over when I saw that the letter “g” was used in the book for pronouncing the word “gun!” Ack! Really?!

After we left the salon, we walked to the store below Akobe’s apartment complex. There was a group of men who were gathered outside watching football (for those of you who may not know, soccer is referred to as football here) on a small TV outside on the patio. Akobe and I sat down and watched some of the game and talked a bit, while I had my first African beer called “33” Export. It was pretty good, but not cold enough.  When we returned to the apartment Jeromie and Georgette were watching the movie Moonstruck on TV. After seeing what is on in the mornings that Georgette watches, I can see why there is so much American TV/movies on here.

Off to Douala-finally!

While in the lobby waiting for the airport shuttle, a man asked me about my NC State t-shirt that I had been wearing the day before. He was of Cameroon descent originally and now lived in Raleigh. (Can you say, “Small world?!”) He works at the RBC bank there; however, his wife and son live in Charlotte. He’s commuting back and forth on the weekends to be with his family. His wife told me that they haven’t put their house on the market since it’s not a good housing market, otherwise they’d move elsewhere or to Raleigh.

The group of us from the hotel leaving for Cameroon pretty much stuck together at the airport. One woman in our group was attending Howard University in DC and was going home to visit her family. She was talking to a man outside our group who seemed to be flirting with her and exchanged numbers. I wasn’t paying any attention and didn’t care to meet him-I just wanted to get to Douala.

We were served lunch not long after taking off; however, there’s no need to mention it. Blah! On the plane, I realized I was the only white female on the plane. There’s nothing like being stared at from your seat in the front row when you’re walking all the way to the back of the plane to the bathroom-lol. When I returned to my seat, I was getting settled in for a nap when the flight attendant came up to me and said, “A gentleman wants to buy you perfume.” I looked at her and said, “What gentleman? Tell whoever he is that I say thank you, but no thank you, as I am allergic to perfume.” The flight attendant laughed and then the guy who was talking to my friend prior to us taking off came up and introduced himself. I then was able to tell him thanks, but no thanks…

When we got off the plane, the heat and humidity hit right away and my sweatshirt came off. The airport was open air, so the walkways were all concrete with openings for air flow (no windows) in the concrete walls.  In the passport/visa check in line, I felt like I was in Target at home; 2 lines for the 100 people waiting. After finally checking in with the not-so-friendly lady, I head off in the hopes that my baggage has arrived from NC. As soon as I stepped in the baggage area, which was so tiny and crowded, I immediately saw my bag on the belt. What a relief!

I head outside in the hopes of finding Akobe, pronounced A-ko-bay, my hostess and contact from The Humanity Exchange. As soon as I walk outside, before I know what’s happening, some dude just grabs my luggage and proceeds to walk fast down the sidewalk. In the meantime, on my other side, I have a lady flinging a hotel card in my face asking if I need a hotel. Once I realize what’s going on, I grab my luggage handle and yell, “Non!” and stop in my tracks. Thankfully, that’s when Akobe approached me and the guy with her grabbed my bag. Whew! Whisked away by the right people! BUT, as soon as we reach the car, I’m approached and asked for money by a man. Once again, I am assumed to be rich…

At Akobe’s house, I was shown around the apartment and met her 8 month old baby, David, and sister-in-law, Georgette. David is absolutely adorable! I could just eat him up with those chubby cheeks and when he sucks his thumb. The bathroom is very small and there is no shower stall. The toilet is broken, so we have to dump water down the toilet to flush. The kitchen is tiny. There is a small fridge, much smaller than a regular fridge and not much bigger than a mini fridge. The stove is about ¾ the size of a normal stove. I can imagine it would get quite hot in that tiny kitchen when cooking. Akobe insisted that I eat and rest after she showed me the apartment.

Georgette served me fried fish and pineapple, and afterward, I took a cold shower (no hot water) and took a nap. Georgette and I are sharing a room together, which I don’t mind, I’m just grateful we have a fan in the room! Much to my surprise, my bed sheets are red and white checked-how appropriate! (In case you’re wondering, Akobe did not know that these are my school colors.)

My nap was later interrupted by a volunteer, Vanessa, from the orphanage where I will be interning. Vanessa was very friendly and went to undergrad at Maryland. She will be attending grad school soon at George Mason, concentrating on peace and development conflict and resolution. She leaves for the states Saturday, so I’ll be sad that I won’t get to know her better or hang out with her more.

Akobe woke me up when she got home after 8, and we sat and talked a long while. She told me about her 2 daughters, who are 9 and 19; both are attending school somewhere in the Ivory Coast. She is a Christian woman and proceeded to tell me that after having 2 daughters, she wanted a boy. Her sonogram revealed that she was having another girl, and she said that she prayed hard and asked the Lord to bless her with a baby boy. She said her husband missed the birth of their son, so she called him and told him that they had had a boy. He thought that she was joking-lol. I told her that the power of prayer is an awesome thing and proceeded to tell her about my friend, Brandon, and his recovery from a brain injury.  Brandon is now in rehabilitation and doing extremely well in his progress since his accident on Dec. 9. I also shared with Akobe why I am here and what changes I made in my life this past fall after my best friend, Tommy, died. I told her that I hoped that my experience here will help with my healing and grieving, and that I want to make new, good memories while in Africa. Tommy would have loved the fact that I am here and most likely would’ve wished he could come with me.

Akobe told me about how they do not pay taxes, and we discussed how there are so many people out in the world who do not appreciate what they have in their lives. I definitely agree with her that people (especially Americans) have no idea what opportunities they have been blessed with, as well as how lucky we are to have education provided to us. Those who are poor and have children, often cannot afford to send their children to school here in Africa. 

Jeromie, Akobe’s husband, invited us to dinner when we were talking. We had fresh bread, something like a stew beef soup served cold, and a tomato, corn, and chick pea salad with vinaigrette on it. It was a delicious meal. While we were eating, we watched an obvious American show on SWAT teams, spoken in French. Basically the men on the show were showing how badly the weapons can damage a by showing the damage done to dummies they used-crazy! It was actually rather interesting, and I felt as if I were watching Spike TV-lol.

Traveling Days, Jan. 9-10

Warning: My blog may be too detailed as I tend to observe and take in everything I see, experience, etc. I apologize if my blog is too detailed, but I guess you could say it’s my personal online journal. I don’t want to leave anything out!

Traveling Day, Jan. 9-Jan. 10

After staying up all night, I left the house at 4:30 am for the airport with my good friend, Cheryl.  I arrived in DC to catch my connecting flight to Ethiopia. For those of you who know me and my travels, you know it never fails that something always goes wrong or happens nearly every time I travel. This time was a 2 hour delay by Ethiopian Airlines. Due to the delay, I missed my connecting flight to Douala. I can’t complain too much though because the airline gave all of those who missed a connecting flight a $150 voucher and paid for an overnight hotel stay, 3 meals and transportation to/from the airport. It was actually nice to have one unplanned day in a country you didn’t expect to see any of at all.

The flight over was 12 hours, which I managed to sleep mostly through. The airline provided passengers with the usual pillows and blankets, but also provided a toothbrush with toothpaste pack, eye cover and the ugliest gold socks you’ve ever seen. Why socks? No idea. It was either hot as hell or cold as ice on the plane-no in between. Thank goodness I bought a warm blanket for the plane just in case! On the flight, I was reminded of how much I do not miss airline food when traveling abroad, particularly on Ethiopian airlines (EA). EA has topped my list of worst airline food ever.

 Prior to landing I was quite ready to get off, especially after listening to a baby scream for the last 30 minutes and the gawd awful elevator music that was playing overhead. I was nearly ready to jump through the window after the man in front of me stood up to go to the restroom prior to our landing. Cameroon is called the “Armpit of Africa” due to its location; however, this dude gave a whole new meaning to the “Armpit of Africa” after a 12 hour flight-ugh! I would have to sincerely argue that the “armpit” exists everywhere and not just Cameroon after getting a whiff of him and later passengers…Peeyew!!

The time difference in Ethiopia vs. home is +8 hours, so when we landed in Addis Ababa at 10 am, it was 2 am at home. I had to go through a very lax security, which I nearly walked around looking for the hotel waiting area. Airport security is not even close to American airport security, which is why I nearly walked right around it. I would’ve been tackled by this time if I would’ve been in an American airport-lol.

The weather was perfect, in the 70s, when we got outside to the airport shuttle. On the way to the hotel, I am immediately exposed to the first signs of the poor in Ethiopia, as well as the poor roads, run down stores and businesses, and poor landscape in general. There are no traffic lights or lines on the roads, so people just wing it and somehow manage to avoid accidents.  Raleigh traffic suddenly wasn’t looking so bad after the ride to the hotel…

At the Riviera Hotel, I met some new friends from the states. We all shared 2 taxis and went downtown to cash our vouchers at the EA offices. On the way downtown, I saw many, many slums. It is quite sad that people live in such squander, and the stench in the slums is horrible due to no sanitation. At the EA offices, many solicitors hung outside the building in the hopes of selling us a map, pirated DVDs or whatnot. As white Americans or really white in general, we attract the poor who assume we are all rich.

After we left the EA office, a few of us decided to go to the local museum. The museum was quite small, and you could tell the people were proud of it. The building was beautiful, and I estimated it to be about 25 years old by the damages inside (cracks, peeling walls, etc.). The building was only 10 years old! I came to the realization as to how simple the African architecture is and that the building materials here are not even close to the quality of American buildings (depending on the builders that is!). Riding in the taxi over to the museum, I particularly noted the log scaffolds used for building. There were many, many abandoned buildings that we passed surrounded by log scaffolding. One can’t help but wonder why they were never completed. While riding in the taxi, we were told not to take pictures of the president’s home or any government buildings. If caught taking pics of them, your film or disks will be confiscated.

Fried fish, various salads, meat dishes, fresh bread, etc., was served buffet-style at the hotel for dinner. All of us were so exhausted from traveling that most of us were ready to crash about 7:30. Somehow I managed to stay up until 10:15, so as not to screw up my sleeping schedule too badly. I had to be up at 6 am to get ready, eat breakfast and then be picked up for the airport by 7.

Visa

The visa has arrived. I repeat, the visa has arrived. :)

Will the Cameroon visa arrive in time?

In order to do an internship with The Humanity Exchange in Cameroon, I had to apply for a visa at the U.S. Embassy of Cameroon. When applying, one has to have an official invitation letter from the organization you're volunteering from. I didn't get my invitation letter until the first week of Dec., so as soon as I received it, I sent off my application with the letter and other 100 items required to go with it (2 applications, 2 separate money orders for visa and application fee, passport, travel itineraries, etc.).  I had not yet received the visa or my passport(!) as of last week and have been calling the Embassy nearly daily trying to get a person on the phone. Either no one answered or I received the v-mail box stating that the box is full.

I finally got ahold of someone yesterday and was told that he had not yet seen my application-yikes! I left the guy my name and explained that I was supposed to leave for Cameroon this Sunday, but that I had not yet heard anything. He told me to call back today (really dude?). I just got off the phone with him, and he said it was in Fedex's hands and scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I'm thinking that my finally being able to talk to a real person two days in a row now at the Embassy that this was all truly meant to be. Thank you, God!

I am literally shaking with excitement and have still like what seems 100 errands to run. Let's hope FedEx comes through for me tomorrow!