Hey all,
I’ve been having a pretty good summer traveling and relaxing. Right now I’m in Bafia in the South. I’ve been here for a week and I have another week left. I’m helping train the new volunteers, and so far it’s been going really well.
I got the opportunity to go hang out with my host family, which was amazing. They’re all doing really well, and it was nice to show that I’m a functional human being and I can actually speak French now.
Mostly, I’ve been having a really good time with my Cameroonian colleagues. Right now all of the volunteers are staying in the house with Claudette (who is in charge of all of the English Language teachers) and Sylvanie (who is a French teacher). I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Claudette better. I think she is by far one of the most progressive women (American or Cameroonian) I’ve ever met. It’s fun getting to sit around and eat dinner together or scrub our laundry on Saturday mornings. Claudette never loses her cool.
On Wednesday, Claudette, another volunteer, and I were still at the High School going over paper work and discussing the trainees we had observed teaching that day. Then, I got a phone call from one of the volunteers at the house to tell Claudette that the water had come back on, and evidently the tap in her bathroom was left on while the water was cut, so water was flowing out from under her bedroom door. And, instead of freaking out or running home, Claudette calmly packed up her papers and said “if it’s been running since this morning, it’s not going to make a big difference now.” That is a pretty great cross cultural moment.
Other than that nothing is too notable and life is good.
