The robbers came back to our house last night. I was woken up around 1:00 to a squealing pig outside of my room. Luckily Eric heard and got up and ran them off, his pig is safe for the time being. The pig sty looked a little rough though; the thieves had torn it up to get the pig out. I feel really bad for Eric and hope that this is the last time they come back.
We had In-Service Training (IST) last week in Kribi, which is in the South Province of Cameroon. It is a beautiful beach and I took advantage as much as possible considering we were in sessions until 4 everyday! The sessions were helpful and got me excited about being here and starting work. We learned how to apply for money through Peace Corps or Embassy’s for projects. I got some good ideas on how to teach illiterate women business classes (which I will start in March). So far, there is not been much done with illiterate people and if there is it has not been reported or written down for other volunteers. I am really hoping to learn teaching techniques for these women that I can pass along. I also asked to be one of the editors of the SED gazette when our now SED volunteers COS in August. This is the time where we apply to be on committees such as Gender & Youth, Environmental, Diversity and so on. I may apply for Diversity or Environmental, not quite sure yet. All I know is that I really want to be involved.
On the way to Kribi we passed through Yaoundé and there I had the best night. I will have to say that during my 7 months here, this ranks pretty high as one of my favorite experiences. The group that was staying at the case (transit house) consisted of people COSing, Mid-service and our IST group. Needless to say there were a lot of people present which made for a great weekend. We decided to go to a “Rasta party” not too far from the case. I was reluctant at first because I was tired and really was looking forward to a good night sleep. Thank goodness I was talked into going. The party was outside where there was a bonfire, bar and tables. In between the fire and bar there was a group of men sitting on stools, rocks and what not playing some of the best music I had ever heard. As the night progressed people started dancing. It was fun to watch because Cameroonians can dance beautifully and in ways that I know are impossible for my body to move! Unfortunately, towards the end I was pushed in front of the band and had to dance. I felt so incompetent in comparison but I threw myself in and just had fun. I don’t take my camera out at night any more but I really wish I had pictures to post of this.
While I was gone I put out rat poisoning to try to get rid of the mice. When I arrived home on Tuesday, I was welcomed with a horrible smell. The poison had worked! I found two dead mice. I was doing a happy dance until I got Pockets home, where lo and behold she finds a baby mouse. I am starting to think they are never ending!
I almost forgot to add, that while riding down Commercial Avenue the other day, I happened to glance over and see a nice looking 4 Runner. Now this isn’t too unbelievable but what made my day was the beautiful palmetto tree and moon sticker on the back window. It is amazing how far South Carolina’s popularity has reached!!!

December 2, 2009

First I need to start off by telling everyone that I ate grasshoppers and they were amazingly delicious. There is about two weeks out of the year where they come in swarms to the North West region. Market mami’s catch them and then sell them live at the market. The grasshoppers that I ate were cooked and actually tasted like pork, just crunchy. I would recommend trying them at least once, if you ever get a chance. I will admit that I still prefer our “grasshoppers” in the U.S. (you know, the pecans covered in chocolate).
Thanksgiving was a success although extremely tiring. Kristin and I met in Bamenda on Wednesday morning to take care of all the shopping. The plan was to buy 3 chickens (alive) and all the other ingredients for macaroni casserole, fried rice, mashed potatoes, coconut pie, banana bread and sweet potato pie. Luckily for us other people were bringing things such as homemade stuffing, mac and cheese, brownies and pecan pie. There ended up being around 25 people at my house, 20 of who spent the night. It was definitely a full house but great to be around a lot of American’s on such a special holiday.
The highlight of the day (besides the actual eating) was when Erin killed her chicken. It was an experience to watch and is one that I have to admit I could never do, nor do I really want to. I was proud of her for following through. She was a part of the entire process: she bought it, killed it, plucked it and then ate it (I am actually the one who cooked it). By eleven o’clock I was dead to the world even with a house full of guests but waking up at 6 to begin cooking really took it out of me. I love being a hostess (as most of you know) but man oh man is it harder in Cameroon! The entire time I was cooking, I was day dreaming of being in mama’s kitchen with two ovens, ones that you actually can tell the oven temp.
The dry season is finally here and although I have been looking forward to it for some time, I have to admit I miss the rain. The roof of my house is tin and it makes for a soothing noise to go to sleep to. On the up side there is no more mud or getting soaking wet every time you step out of your house. The down side of dry season is the dust, which I am told is not even bad yet. I have to soak my feet in steaming hot water to get them clean, which is a pain because I have to warm the water on the stove. I never realized that cold water doesn’t remove dirt that well. Kind of a gross thought actually, considering that I have been taking cold showers the whole time I have been in Cameroon.
I have just thrown a mouse out of my house for the second time in two weeks. Instead of eating them, which I thought is what cats do, Pockets likes to play with them. I think that the mama mouse had babies and I am dreading finding out how many there really are. The first night I found Pockets playing with the mice she was in the bathroom and would catch it in her mouth then let it go just to catch it again. Well, it got away from her and she became very upset. Luckily for her I found it on the counter in the kitchen and threw her up there with it. She happily put it back in her mouth and continued playing with it back in the bathroom. Finally I got sick of her torturing it so I threw it out side. A couple of hours later I hear her again in the bathroom, playing with something. Lo and behold it was another mouse but to my dismay she let this one get away too. Unfortunately it went into my bedroom and which made for an interesting night. For a couple of hours all I heard was scratching and running around and then I heard it messing with some things in my chair. I hopped up grabbed Pockets and threw her in the chair with it. Pockets could have been less amused. I basically shoved her face within an inch of the mouse and she could have cared less. She looked at me as if to say, “You woke me up for this?” The next thing I knew the mouse launched itself at me and then ran under my bed. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night. I kept having visions of little tiny mice running all over me in my sleep. Yuck.