Yaounde, Cameroon

Bonjour, mes amis! I have finally arrived in Cameroon. I was a little nervous getting here; I'd never traveled internationally before by myself completely. My flights were fine, I slept all the way to Paris and then got to watch movies from Paris to Cameroon. On the second flight I got my reintroduction to an oh-so-missed aspect of African culture: no personal space. Africans love to touch each other, it is a big part of communication. What results from this is no regard for personal space. The older gentleman to my left on the flight took up (or attempted to...I have elbows too) half of my seat with his arm/elbow. It didn't really bother me except for when I fell asleep for two minutes before his elbow kindly reminded me of his presence. Geoff was waiting for me with a taxi driver friend at the airport (I was so relieved to see him) and we went to our hotel. After dropping of all my stuff and giving Geoff his presents, we went to the peace corps headquarters (next door to the hotel) so that his friends who were there could meet me. They were drinking beer and watching office space. Not a bad night on the job I'd say. We then took a taxi to Bastos, a neighborhood in Yaounde, for some street food and beer. We ate pork with some spicy sauce on a baguette. The food was really good, albeit very spicy (which Geoff informed me is mild). I forgot how much Africans love their spice. My stomach hasn't spontaneously combusted yet, thankfully, but really its too soon to tell.

This morning we indulged in spaghetti omelets (yes, spaghetti omelets) which were amazing. The little shop (and I say shop loosely, this was more akin to a picnic table with the table portion replaced by the cook and his stove) was clearly a local hangout and I felt for the first time at a loss for my limited French. I can remember being bothered by not speaking the main language when I was in Ecuador, something I never had to contend with in Ghana. Here, it is not so bad because I can speak French but I am rusty. Cameroonians also speak an African version of French, which fortunately is focused less on grammar than French French. My vocab is pretty good and solely coming back to me but I would be lost without Geoff. It takes me too long to process what someone said and then formulate a response. I've been letting him speak for me, but I know I won't have that luxury in his village (or the "vil" as cool peace corps volunteers call it). In the vil they speak fulfulde, which is similar to Swahili (again, fortunately I can speak a mild Swahili).

We walked Yaounde today for a few hours and then decided it was nap time. I'm not really feeling the effects of jet lag just yet, I think because my adrenaline has been pretty high since I've got here. At lunch, I had plantains and chicken, which I haven't has since the last time I was in Africa. Change is hard to come by, at lunch we waited about 30 minutes for it. Africans run on their own time and since there is no tipping, servers give you what they want to give you and will and do take their time about it. C'est d'accord.

I can't stop comparing Cameroon to Ghana. They are very very similar. Everything looks pretty much the same in the city: bumpy streets, insane driving, stray dogs, vendors, make shift houses. The mannerisms and way people speak is the same, accounting for the obvious language difference. Geoff says that the tourist industry suffers because Cameroonians (especially men) bother white people so much. We didn't get bothered that much on our walk, a few cat calls and winks. One boy, attempting to impress/amuse his friends I assume, latched himself to us but Geoff shooed him. The call the white people LeBlanc, which is funny since that is my name. Geoff's peace corps friends didn't believe me until they saw my passport. There is no end to their amusement of me being legally dubbed "the white". This afternoon we are going to the US Embassy to play frisbee with some of his friends and then possibly meet up with his host family brothers (when he was still in training he lived with a host family, now he has his own compound). I'm excited to go to Bertoua tomorrow, the halfway point between here and Kentzou (Geoff's vil). I think Geoff is too, he is more comfortable in Bertoua as he knows more people and it is smaller. I'm going to get clothes made while we are there and do a little shopping. The next day is to travel to Kentzou (its about an 11 hour total trip from Yaounde to Kentzou) and finally see his vil. I'm realllyy excited for the vil since many of the villagers are awaiting my arrival (and throwing me a party...awesome). I'll have internet in Bertoua but not in Kentzou. The plan is to be in Kentzou for a week and then go back to Bertoua. I'll try to update as much as I can while I have internet.