… I thought by now I would be good at things.. definitely not yet.
So things have been busy. I feel like I live at good ol’ Lycee Classique these days, and despite all of the work I’m putting in, I still feel incredibly behind on grading, calcualting averages, etc.
We’re currently in the process of switching from paper report cards to digital report cards that we get to print out (which is mind bogglingly modern in my part of Cameroon, most of the work is thanks to my friend Paul Timene who has his Masters in Computer Science. He has REALLY done a lot for the school.) But, what that means is that now we have to do everything in both systems. So, when you’ve got more than 100 kids in each class, it just winds up taking a lot of time.
Then on Saturday I was there for 8 hours surveying exams. Blarg. I feel like I live at the school sometimes, and I am definitely looking forward to winter break. I know that it will never be more difficult than it is now, because next time I’ll at least know what I need to do and how to do it. It is very difficult to go from being a mostly functioning human in the United States to a fumbling idiot in Cameroon. It is also tough that laughing in people’s face when they ask a valid question is not rude in Cameroonian culture. But, I will get less sensitive to that, I am sure.
Other aspects of life are going really well. Last Wednesday was the fete du Muton, so there wasn’t any school. That is the Muslim holiday that happens 40 days after the end of Ramadan. Basically it is exactly like the end of Ramadan party except people kill a lot more goats. I have decided that Muslim holidays are my favorite. You basically go from one person’s house to another person’s house and sit around and talk and eat. I even got to go to the traditional chief’s house, where he just fed me a big plate full of goat and cake and let me sit in his big comfy chair in front of his TV. Then everyone left me sitting alone in the room for like 45 minutes. It was very bizarre, but also kinda nice to watch some music videos on Vox African (which is like MTV here) and eat a bunch of cake. Then I went over to some friends houses and ate more food and watched more television. It was all very relaxing and enjoyable.
The wildlife in Cameroon has been very exciting lately. I had two mice in my bed room sometime a few weeks ago, and after emptying literally everything from my room except for my bed frame and still not succedding in catching them, I went to my neighbor Antoinette’s house. I told here that i had a big problem, and she looked incredibly concerned. I then told her I had mice in my house, and she just laughed and sent one of the neighborhood kids into my house. Bonne snatched the mice by their tails and slammed them onto the ground breaking their spine. Then he fed them to their pet dog. It was pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Then I bought him some cookies for a reward. So, I’m really excited that I have figured out a way to solve any future mouse problems.
It is also lizard season now that the rain has stopped. I’ve seen at least 5 chameleons this week, which never cease to be exciting. I saw Antoinette’s dog get into a fight with a chameleon and it turned red. It was very cool. The whole neighborhood sat around watching it. I also saw a lizard that was at least two feet long skuttleing across the road. My neighbors are trying to convince me that “the lizards here in the city are nothing, you should see the lizards in the village! They’re huge!” I may have to take a field trip out to the village in the near future.
That is all for now.
Love,
Emily
