Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
I'm here in Maroua hoping to have a makeshift Thanksgiving with the other volunteers.... I'm making pumpkin pie!!

Unfortunatly my computer is broken! It survived flying out the trunk of a bushtaxi only to just spontaneously combust the other day while I was listening to music :-( Soooo in the meantime I'm borrowing my friend's here in Maroua but I can't access internet from my village. So there won't be many new blog posts for a while.

I'm hoping to talk to the Kellys tonight and my Summit girls pre-reuninon tomorrow... if the internet holds up!

Eat lots of turkey for me :-)

The pizza was not good.

I mean, I ate it… but it wasn’t everything that could have been hoped for. For starters the sauce/cheese ratio was all wrong, but I don’t think I’m ready to discuss the details yet, it will just make me upset. (Philly pizza, I miss you.)

In other things frustrating, I’ve discovered something common to both American and Cameroonian culture: volleyball ball-hogs. I played a game of volleyball with some teachers and students (all male). Turns out that men all over the world like to jump in front of girls every time the ball is coming toward them. They do this 95% of the time, and then duck out of the way at the last minute one random time when the ball comes and then they’re like why didn’t you get that? I was so annnnnnnnnoyed. I didn’t survive 4 years of what I won’t hesitate to call borderline Olympic-level volleyball competition in the SHS holiday volleyball tournament to get jumped in front of during a stupid match over a soccer goal. I’m not putting up with this. I got the girls club playing on Saturday (well 3 members + me and the gym teacher) but we were pretty good. My inner arms are really sore from all the bump-passes though. And everyone at the lycee has commented on me “faire-ing les sports” all weekend.

The home-owner’s (or rather renter’s) update: Moussa at the musinerie has bought my screening and once the wood-cutting machine starts to work again he can start replacing my broken window screens. A neighbor came over and started to take apart the overhead light in my bedroom. So, while I don’t have functional screens or a bedroom light yet, I’m hoping they will be fixed soon. There’s been no progress with the wall or water tank. I don’t think either endeavor is very promising since my landlord is avoiding me even after I tried to entice him with the idea of coming to pick up the rent.

Hmmm the updates about the house were supposed to end the blog on a positive note but now I’m just thinking about all the work that needs to get done in this house. This is positive, my friend Martine’s younger sister is coming tomorrow to help me with stuff around the house… aka cleaning. I’ve characteristically managed to spread my stuff out onto every available surface/the floor. I’ve managed to rally and straighten up a little but I have zero energy for sweeping, mopping, etc. You probably wouldn’t either after you did your laundry and dishes in buckets. I’ve convinced myself that I’m really not that bothered by the spider webs because they kill any mosquitoes that come in (through the broken screens) and therefore are practically malaria prevention. Anyway, my friend Rose popped by on Tuesday on route to the hospital. She admitted that the cobweb situation in my kitchen is “kind of gross” and then she left me a note which I didn’t unearth until Saturday afternoon. Basically it’s every reason why Maureen refused to go up to the third-floor back home.

I went on my first extreme north bike excursion on Thursday morning. I rode my bike to another nearby village, about 2 hours away, to observe another volunteer teach her English class. My friend in village went with me since I didn’t know the route, but you really just keep going straight. My village is sort of at the bottom of a bunch of mountains while Meri is up in them. So the way there was pretty difficult and we had to walk our bikes in several spots. The way back was quicker, but less enjoyable in the afternoon heat. I took some pictures I’ll be able to post in a week or two. It was cool to see another village and see Melanie’s school. I hurried back for an afternoon girls’ club meeting that only one girl ended up showing up for so that was pretty frustrating.

Friday night was my first “amicale” meeting. All the teachers got together for a dinner party type deal at someone’s house. I got there “early” aka right on time, so I helped get the food ready. Deep frying patates and plantains. Fortunately I had learned how to fry the plantains with my host mom during training so I sort of looked like I knew what I was doing. There was also chicken, but it’s pretty impossible to eat because I’m not sure that there is even actually any meat on the bones. Before dinner, everyone shared what was going on with their families. I have to say this was a little bit morbid because most of the news was regarding who was sick. I wasn’t really sure what to say when it was my turn, so I told them that my belle-soeur was expecting a baby and I hope that brightened the mood!

I ordered pizza for tonight, how crazy is that? Last week I ended up going to the bakery to see how the bread is made. They bake it in this huge oven, its super hot and super delicious. It had been difficult to actually buy the bread though because they don’t make it every day and it’s always at a different time. However, I think I’ve got the schedule down now. The boys (my students who make the bread) mentioned that on the days they make bread, their dad makes pizza in the evening. So, I put in an order and I’m trying it tonight, super excited! Additionally, the boys stopped by my house today on their way home from the bakery with bread for me which I thought was really sweet. I’m hoping the pizza will make my Saturday evening of grading quizzes by myself a little less depressing.

Scenery!

I know I've been a little mia this week, I lent my computer to the French family since their's broke. I was so happy there was finally something nice I could do for them considering I've been showering and eating dinner over at their house... all the while they're super nice about my French progression. Then just when I got it back, the power went out again! But things have been pretty good and quiet here. I'm legitimately sore from attending the teacher's Saturday morning workout session. I watched the local kids' theater performance Saturday night.

There’s this really good juice here made out of these red leaves called fulfulerra. I impulsively picked some up at the market and I decided I was going to try and make it. Thank God my friend took a look at the little baggie I bought first. Turns out what I bought was a traditional Muslim incense, not the juice-making leaves. You do put this in boiling water too, but you don’t drink it! So, now my house smells like a mosque and I have no juice. Maybe next week.

Today was sooo hot I insisted on having my language lesson over a cold drink at the bar. However, the power was out all day and there were lots of people in town because of the market so the only thing cold to drink was non-alcoholic beer! They have this combo beverage here of vitamin enhanced Guiness, sort of like a quasi-energy drink. Anyways it was cold so I drank it.

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween!