April 12, 2010

While riding into Bamenda this morning, I was once again amazed by Cameroonian’s ingenuity. Throughout the 19 kilometer ride the man kept hitting the defrost button and for the most of the ride I was able to control myself and not ask what on earth he was doing. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer, my curiosity had bested me and I finally asked (of course stating what the button is usually used for in cars – because I thought he was a moron). I then came to learn that the man had rewired the car so that the defrost button was his starter. He thought this was genius in case anyone tried to steal his car, they would never figure it out. For my part, I think he is quite right, who in their right mind would think to hit the defrost button to start a car? He then demonstrated the button’s usefulness the last mile of the trip. I swear I will never cease to be amazed by anything in this country...
My business classes are trucking along with only three women being avid attendees. They seem devoted and I am very thankful for their devotion. A woman from my first class was in an accident where a moto driver ran into her leg, I thought that she might be crippled for life but I just recently found out that she actually ended up dying. It is sad that something that we would fix fairly easy in the states can lead to death here. I am not sure what the cause of death was but my guess would be infection. When you ask a Cameroonian, they never have a good response and they seem to normally blame it on malaria or voodoo. Life in a third world country is much more fragile and I have definitely become more aware of this fact.
Peace Corps Cameroon’s new country director is visiting the North West Province this week and we are all looking forward to meeting her. Since I am the regional representative I will have dinner with her tomorrow night. I am slightly nervous because I have no idea what to expect. My understanding is that she is very easy going and I will have no problem feeling comfortable around her. She is from North Carolina, so I guess if all else fails I can always talk about that.
I just found out this week that I will be a host for the new stage that will be arriving in June. I am extremely excited and feel very special that I was chosen from amongst such a great group of volunteers. Now I just need to use my spare time to brush up on my French. I will spend two weeks in Yaoundé in May planning and training for the new stage and then will return at the beginning of the month to greet them at the airport. I can’t believe that it was a year ago that I was where they will be. Some days it seems like yesterday and then others feel like a years!!!
I forgot to mention that I have a new roof. It is not finished yet because they actually are raising the height of the building by adding cinder blocks, but the new roof is there in all of its red splendor. I no longer have rain seeping in at odd places but for now I get to deal with a lot of noise and plenty of dirt raining down from the cracks in the ceiling - hence the picture.