September 30, 2009

I have been invaded by flies and I am not in the least bit joking (or enjoying it for that matter). I have killed around 15 just today with no help from Pockets. I will say that I am glad to know that she likes eating flies but I really wish she would master the art of catching them. I keep picturing Jeff Goldbloom in that fly movie, God – I really hope that I don’t become that person. At this very moment Eric is off to find “gum” to close up the space underneath my front and kitchen doors (where the nasty little intruders are coming from). I really hope it works, if not I may just go crazy from the constant buzzing!
I have visited a rural women’s group twice with Bridget (the warden of center). The second visit we asked them to fill out a few questions about their group. The questions were simple things such as when the group began, how many members there are, what are the goals of the group, etc. Basically all we got in a response is that they want to help the rural women of the area and they need money to finish their meeting space. It is all really frustrating but hopefully I learned from this experience. Next time I plan to sit there and go all lawyer on them (Jeff – hopefully I’ve learned a thing or two from you over the years). I will not accept simple answers, I plan to lead them to get the answers I want. I really want this information so that I can figure out how to help them, what skills would be beneficial for me to teach them and to begin a database of all the local women’s groups for contacts purposes.
I am meeting with Mr. Clerkson tomorrow to set up my pidgin schedule. I am really excited to get started on this. I have learned how to say hello in the local patoi and really hope he will teach me a few other needed sayings in that as well. After my meeting with him Bridget is going to teach me how to cook something. I am not sure what yet but I had to buy corn and palm oil (whad-ya-know). I will pick up some huckleberry tomorrow when I go into Bamenda. So far it is sounding pretty interesting but I am fairly certain that it will not be too healthy! I did make really good fajitas the other night. Whoever would have guessed that I would know how to make salsa, guacamole and tortillas four months ago?
Speaking of eating, I do have one interesting story to tell before I sign off. A couple of weeks ago I was eating at a restaurant with two other volunteers. After finally understanding that they only had chicken or tomatoes with rice we all ordered “poulet avec pommes frites”. About an hour later we should have known something was up when the waitress brought out plates for us. A few minutes later we were served a big platter of potatoes, greens and chicken. We all dug in and were enjoying the meal when Thyrn noticed that all the chicken parts were crappy. A neck piece and a foot made an appearance along with other parts that were less meaty. We didn’t think too much more about it but Thryn and I stopped eating the chicken and Ben kept on. I wanted another serving of potatoes and green beans so I flipped some of the chicken parts out of the way and in the process turned over the whole chicken head. I almost threw up then and there. It didn’t help when Ben picked up the foot and started shoving it in my face. Finally Ben put the head in a napkin and placed it on his plate. Needless to say, I have not ordered chicken since.
I am not sure if I will ever really get used to this country…