So I’m
officially an RPCV ! Somehow Claire
and I made it to Zanzibar and onto mainland Tanzania although it’s been quite a
whirlwind of a last few weeks.
I said
goodbye to all my friends in Tokombéré at a goodbye party my last night. It was really nice & I was so happy everyone
came. Arrived in Yaoundé and completed
all the necessary medical exams and paperwork.
I don’t have Tuberculosis or a whole smattering of other diseases so
that was a success. I spent my last
night in Yaoundé dancing till dawn at the club which was a lot of fun. It did not benefit my packing though…
Jeneca,
Claire, Boubakary and I took the VIP bus to Douala to catch our flights. The main perk being the AC …which was too
cold for Boubakary . We arrived late and
went out for poisson braise (grilled fish) at literally midnight, but the place
was really hoping. I think everybody’s
eating schedules are all messed up because of Ramadan. We dropped Jeneca straight at the airport
cause her flight left real early in the morning and then Claire and I attempted
to sleep a bit. However two hours later
it was time for pre-dawn prayer.
Boubakary tried hard to serve us couscous before 4am which we
resisted. I think it was all part of an
elaborate plan for us to oversleep, arrive late at the airport and miss our
flights out of Cameroon.
We did
make it to the airport just in time: Goodbyes were said, photos were taken,
gifts were given and we were off! Claire
pointed out that our departure on 11 August – the Feast Day of St. Claire –
couldn’t really have gone any other way but successfully. Boubakary had made us giant omelette
sandwiches which didn’t make it through security so we ate them at the gate
while making last minute phone call goodbyes to friends from village.
We had a
surprise stop in Malaga. Then continued
on to Addis Abba where we needed to change planes. It was about 10 degrees Celsius there….
Compared to 30/40 in Cameroon. I was
wearing a kaba, flip-flops and a tye-dye scarf…Consequences of the rushed
packing. I was also clutching my straw
“auberger” hat and embroidered market bag… it was pretty sad. It was the birthday of the lady in front of
us so Claire and I also got served champagne and a whipped cream situation en
route. I think I might fly exclusively
Ethiopian Airlines for the rest of my life.
(We already were thoroughly enjoying the plane food .)
Our
plane got in about 3am and I realized that I had also left all my useful
documents for getting the VISA in my checked bag (passport photos, WHO card,
bank statement) but the customs guy didn’t ask for any of those things, just
the cash monies! Then the guest house
was even waiting with a little sign for us which was the most welcome site
ever. Unfortunately there was a little mix
up at the guest house and our room wasn’t actually going to be ready until 10am
so we awkwardly slept on a mattress in their front office/lobby for a couple of
hours.
