First Day in Bertoua

The morning was spent repacking and Geoff organizing his peace corps things to return to the East (where Kentzou is). We left for the bus station around 11, the bus was scheduled to leave Yaounde at 12. The bus didn't leave until 1. We spent a lot of time on the old, run down coach bus. It took about 6 hours to get to Bertoua and the ride was pretty uneventful. Geoff said that this leg of the journey is the easiest because the roads are paved and we each get our own seat. Drivers in Africa don't really abide by many laws...lanes are more of a suggestion than a rule and if someone is driving to slow, you honk and go around them. I was definitely more comfortable in the city in a vehicle but the ride was not bad. In the city, drivers cannot get their speed up very high as they can on the country roads. I think that Africans drive the way they speak, which is very vocal and involved. When one tells a story, everyone else is a part of the story telling. Listeners are active, responding and asking questions. Cars or taxis are also very vocal, constantly honking at each other saying things like "I'm here" "get out of my way" "speed up or let me pass". Without the honking, there would be many more crashes I think.

In Bertoua, we are staying at the "case" (pronounced COZ) or the peace corps station. We met his post-mate (the other PCV who is stationed in Kentzou), Julia. She is very nice and accommodating. I can tell that she is ready to get back to the US, however. Her patience with Cameroonians is nonexistent. She has had a very challenging stay I think, teaching difficult children in a difficult region of Cameroon. We went to a shack called Secret Fish for dinner. We each got a whole fish (the type of fish the Cameroonians didn't even know...some kind of white meat fish) which were delicious. Fortunately, I have experience eating whole fish from Ghana so I did not spear my esophagus with any fish bones. The fins were really good, crispy from the fire. I ventured to eat the fish eye, since I'd never done that before. The worst part is the pop of the eye in your mouth, but I accidentally popped it in my hand when I was removing it from the fish head so I missed out. The eye tasted very oily without much flavor. Probably not something I'll do again soon. From Secret Fish, we went to a bar to watch the Germany vs. Greece game. I love that every time I come to Africa some sort of big soccer tournament is happening. Africans love soccer just as much (probably more) than I do.