Two Americans, dog in tow, move from Washington DC to Nice, France and then to the Netherlands. Stories about the trials and tribulations of being Americans abroad, musings about the things we learn and see, and of course chronicling any adventures we go on!
Bogo, Cameroon. My post. My soon to be home. My life for the next two years. I know almost nothing about it. I'll be the first health volunteer there though they have had an agricultural volunteer before. It's a fairly large town compared with a lot of other posts. I won't have water. I should have electricity. Might have internet. It will be hotter than the blazes of hell, as in a high of 130 degrees Fahrenheit. In the shade apparently. It's really close to the capital of the region--the Extreme North--called Maroua. You might actually be able to find information about that place. Feel free to clue me in via email. I won't actually see anything till I move there in two weeks. I'ma have to learn another language on top of French called Fulfulde. That should be fun. And... yea. Basically, from everything I can tell, all systems are go. The plan is coming along nicely. ...
I have a post mate. Her name is Erin and she's kinda awesome. The best thing about her is that she and I approach the Peace Corps in much the same way. Everyone here thinks the world of us and that we will revolutionize their lives. Then they laugh at us when we propose the idea that maybe they should let women outside their compounds and effectively double their workforce. "Haha, things are just different here". Yes, yes they are. We spend a lot of time talking about what exactly we can do or change and how exactly we can do it. Then we realize that everything is incredibly daunting, nothing we do will really stop poverty or make an oasis in the desert, and we begin to question what the hell we are doing here in the first place. After that we laugh, make lemonade, and go climb a tree. When it comes down to it, we are just along for the ride and we are damn well going to enjoy it. I kind of won the Peace Corps lottery....
Let's chat. I have never been particularly good at language. Even after living in Italy for six months, my proudest moments were the first five minutes of a conversation before any given person realized I wasn't Italian. After about five minutes--when we exhausted the simple pleasantries--there was always that moment where it would dawn on them "hey, this guy isn't from around here". I was proud of those first five minutes. I'm not even anywhere near that; I've only been here for three months. Of course, such a moment isn't even possible in Cameroon with me sticking out like a sore thumb, but you get the picture. Oh right, I'm also learning two languages at once. And here is a kicker: I am learning Fulfulbe THROUGH French. It isn't as if I have an English speaking teacher. No, when something is too complex to explain in Fulfulbe (at this point: everything), it is explained in French. One of the strangest moments of my l...
It looks like you're being chased by a magical purple laser!!
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