Level 2: Complete

It seems like I’ve already been here so long, but it’s only been two weeks. Maybe it’s because if this were a vacation than I’d just be about done with the vacation. But this isn’t and I’m not. I don’t mean for that to sound bleak! I’m still excited to be here for the 27 months that I am, but for the first time I’m getting a good sense of time. It’s seems daunting but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Me and Papa Félix have been batching it since Friday when Mama Mimette left for Yaoundé, her daughter is about to have a baby! I feel like a huge burden though as Félix can’t leave me alone here, that would be a breach of his contract with the Peace Corps to house me, so he’s missing the birth of his grandchild. I think making the journey for a family birth is more of a female thing here anyway, but it makes me feel bad. We’ve been living pretty well on our own though. I ran into him at the market yesterday and introduced him to some white women, something I think he’s wanted to see for a good while now. He brought home sardines and a baguette for dinner. I’m a bit grateful, it’s not like I don’t like mama’s cooking but jesus lady, I can’t eat 12 batons de manioc. Sardines for dinner are much more in line with the amount I can eat. I’m blowin’ up like you thought I would. Call the crib, different number, different hood, but it’s all good.

Not too much new to report. I’m living a pretty slow life. I’ve eaten rat for dinner, twice. What’s more disturbing is that I loved it. Tastes like greasy beef, put that in some hot water and you’ve got a stew, baby. A bunch of us went to the market. Bought a carton of cigarettes for $4, it might be harder to quit than I thought. But yes, mom, I’m going to quit. Just not now. It’s my last “American” luxury and… carton for $4. We also went to the boulangerie, I bought banana bread, a baguette, and a quarter wedge of Gouda which I proceeded to eat and finish right then and there. I couldn’t help myself. I think two weeks without cheese is the longest I’ve ever gone.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I GOT POSTED. We all made a sorting hat that proceeded to determine our fates Hogwarts style.  I was as nervous as an autistic puppy on the 4^th of July. But that cleared up real fast when the hat (i.e. Maulay) told me I would be going to the village of Guzang in the NORTHWEST. Northwest is an Anglophone region. No French. Just the King’s. Couldn’t be happier, as much as I would like to learn this language I’m convinced a bunch of mentally deficient Franks got together around the 6^th century and had a convention to determine a tongue that would piss people off for hundreds of years to come. Seriously, what’s the point of conjugating a verb when it’s going to sound the exact same no matter how you say it? Why have singular and plural nouns? Why only pronounce half the damn letters? I’m sorry France. You make damn fine cheese, thanks for the ships during the revolution and all the fine paintings, but your language is completely idiotic. Now I’m going to start learning Pidgin English on top of the French, but the less French in my life the better.

I digress. Guzang is a small village in Northwest Cameroon that borders the Southwest region. It is known for its palm products; nuts and wine. (That’s right SG, treenuts.) Temperatures are cool, getting cooler at night. Soon us Anglophone volunteers will be going to Mbengwi in the Northwest for farming and livestock practicums, it’s extremely close to my village so I might even get to sneak a peek. Local farmers have been harming the environment for decades with unsustainable agricultural activities and there is a huge need to implement sustainable measures to help in soil fertility and scaling back deforestation. Sustainability was one of the key issues I was looking forward to working on and it seems I have my work cut out for me. There will be many other volunteers close to me; the Northwest is the most volunteer dense region of the country, and I will have electricity. All my wants have pretty much been met and now I’m just excited to get to work.

My garden here is going well. I think. We’ve got nightshade (not poison), amaranth, and today I’m going to plant some cowpeas. The chickens are doing decently well also. Only three mortalities so far, which is to be expected, but I looked today and one doesn’t seem to be doing so well. So it goes. You try and hope the things you’re in charge of don’t die but hope can’t ward off disease and parasites. The sad mortalities will soon turn into delicious mortalities.

I bet things are great in the States. How could they not be? Are the roads still paved with gold? Does everyone still have a private jet? I can’t remember that well. I hear Bernie is the new front runner, called it. Some evil guy raised the price of some HIV drugs? Broadband is a core utility now? Someone tell Paul Biya.

Also someone tell Colin to stop using my youtube account to watch Naruto, it’s destroying my browsing history and I can’t find all my one off songs I like to listen to.