Le Depart

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.