The days have been speeding by lately. Training has taken a turn for the intense, and all of the projects that always seemed so far away now have deadlines looming. Beginning this week, I’ll split my language class time between French and Fulfulde, the language primarily spoken in the Grand North of Cameroon (where I shall be moving very soon!). As of now, I know only one word in Fulfulde, jam, which I think means “good”? But I really could be wrong about that. That’s what language classes are for!
Meanwhile, life on the home front continues on. Electricity has been super spotty for the past week, and I’m currently writing this post by kerosene lamp-light. I’ve written, read, showered, and generally done much by kerosene lamp-light as of late. When we first arrived in Bafia, we were told that sometimes the electricity company just decides to arbitrarily cut service about one day a week…but it is practically every day at this point! I challenged my host sisters to name the last day we went from sunrise to bedtime with electricity, and got the response of “Maybe Thursday?”. To compound the issue, Bafia is experiencing a gas shortage, so backup generators that people usually rely on are no longer an option, or will soon cease to be an option.
The gas shortage also impacts our little light-less lives in that our stove is now OUT OF GAS, so we cook solely on a wood fire on the back porch. Au revoir, morning omelets, I shall forever remember the sweet times we shared together. When I asked my host mom what we’ll do about the situation, she said “On souffre maintenant” (Now, we suffer). Good. Jam, if you will.
Logistically, I suppose these were the kinds of problems I was expecting to encounter in the course of my Peace Corps service. I don’t really mind the kerosene lamp gig. As my host family cooks dinner for me (keep the silly American as far away from the couscous de mais-making as possible!), I don’t have to directly deal with the fire-cooking-sitch. Also, no working TV means no constant stream of Dragon Ball Z hour after hour, which has been a nice change of pace.
Our new divertissements include lots of coloring and Go Fish playing, which I seem to perpetually lose to my 8-year-old opponents. Last week when Nina’s mom and brother were visiting, I pulled out the sweeeeet glow-stick bracelets my mom sent me (thanks mom!), and gifted them to everyone (while explaining the innovations of Mark Wrighton, of course!). This provided several hours of entertainment, and I even got my point-and-shoot out to take funky glow-stick pictures. Funky glow-stick pictures proved less interesting to everyone than posing for cutie-pics, which then ensued. The kids then learned that the camera has a video feature and FREAKED OUT. Somehow, recording your voice in the dark seems like a great way to pass the time when you don’t have electricity. I’ll upload the video of the kids singing when I figure out how the internet works. Am I a Peace Corps stereotype yet?
Colleen in Cameroon 