Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year! So these last few days have been kinda up and down for me. I am in my village, but have yet to settle into my house. My landlord is being real slow about getting things done and even with my counterpart’s pressure and me bugging him every chance I get, he still is moving at a slow pace to get my walls painted and mosquito netting on my windows. Right now all my stuff is spread out in three places. I have been staying with the Catholic nuns in village and they have been amazing. They give me chocolate, which can seem like such a trivial thing, but when you’re out in the bush even a saltine cracker can seem like something special. I can’t wait to get into my house cause I have been getting furniture made and what an experience that has been. I have drawn some stuff out, but unless you explain to a T there is no guarantee on what things will look like in the end. And then there is the transport; trying to find someone to go out in the bush to deliver furniture is expensive and time consuming.
All last week I got to accompany my counterpart, who works in the lab at the health center in village, out into the surrounding smaller villages for a week long vaccination campaign. People say that I live in the Bush, but I don’t think people have seen some of my surrounding villages. For one, you can only reach some of them by moto or walking and at one point I had to get off the moto and walk up a hill cause it was too steep for two people to ride up. Most of these villages only have one well at best or they search for water in the dry river beds by digging holes. A lot of the children I noticed are mal-nourished and suffering from water related illnesses like stomach worms. I see a lot of potential projects in these small villages and can’t wait to start work. I am looking forward to collaborating with my post mate who is in agro forestry on some soy and moringa projects (check out this wonder plant that grows all over Cameroon!).
So Christmas here is interesting cause for the past three days there has been this overcast of fog or smoke I can’t really tell, but it blocks out the sun and actually makes it slightly chilly. In the morning I have had to wear a sweater and the moto rides are quiet brisk. It really felt like Christmas for me when I was on a moto and I had this real strong smell of food cooking and I thought that food is what makes my holiday, second to family of course. I’m not homesick at all and the volunteers that are here now are awesome to hang out with. We are making the best Christmas possible in a Cameroonian situation.
I hope all is well with you and yours and hopefully next time the internet won’t be so slow and I can upload some more pictures!