Thursday, May 6th, 2004

Geez I'm behind! I apologize to those who were formerly loyal weekly readers of the blog who have now become dis-enchanted with my lack of up-to-the-minute thoughts and musings.

I will attempt to update you on the last couple of months in an abbreviated, yet entertaining and culturally insightful manner (if only all my other entries held up to that standard!).

So... I returned to Edéa after a wonderful, refreshing and cold trip to Spain and Morocco. I was terribly tired and was actually looking forward to returning to my home and sleeping for a few days, which I did. Until Monday morning...

Monday was International Women's Day- which seems to be celebrated everywhere but in the "westernized world". Here in Cameroon, its a day off work, and a parade in every city. George called me early that morning to let me where to meet the "ladies of the bank". Our bank's Women's Committee petitioned to the board of directors for funding for the day, and it was accepted. They carried signs with sayings such as 'Save Regularly'- in french, of course. I became the official 'Photograph' and was allowed access into the parade route as our women came up the main road. Although it was a hot day, it was fun and we retired afterwards to a bar for drinks and food.

The following weekend was the Annual General Assembly for the cooperative. This was to be the meeting where all the important items requiring full membership approval were to be discussed and voted upon. The largest item on the agenda were the elections for the entire board of directors. It seems that since the entire board started at the same time and had the same length of service, and had even all been re-elected three years ago at the last board elections. As a result, all positions were up for election and none of the current board could run for re-elected! What came to pass was about six hours of chaos with people jumping up and down, yelling and trying to keep order. Confusion reigned, and the old president pushed through a budget which was never fully explained- and was changed that morning with much disagreement from George and myself. The elections themselves were confusing, with our auditor from Douala seemingly making up rules as he went along- some for the better, others, not. For example, he insisted we stagger the terms of the board so that this would not happen again, but he was in such a rush to finish the meeting that unqualified candidates were allowed not only to run, but to win. Not many people seemed happy with the outcomes.

All of this upset George greatly, and for the next three weeks, he was out sick. I never found out exactly what it was, but it was somewhere between intestinal worms and malaria. I'm not sure he or the doctors ever knew either. I was just really happy to see him again, since it had been me and the treasurer running the bank in the meantime - neither of us qualified or wanting to be there without George.

During this time, I continued to work with the English Club of the Lycée Classique. Jacques Bissou is its president, and he is of the type to pester and pester until he gets his way, or until you're completely annoyed and tell him to leave. He had asked me numerous times to go to the beach, Kribi, with him for a day. Before going on vacation, I told him that I could go after the General Assembly meeting. And, after it was over, I could no longer come up with a valid excuse. So, Jacques, a 25 year old senior in high school (for the fifth year in a row) and I go down to the beach for the day. He asked me to bring my camera, which I did, but turned out to be a bad idea. He wanted to learn how to swim and walk up and down the beach. I really just didn't want to be there and figured if I sucked it up for the one day then he wouldn't ask me anymore.

The english club itself was, and still is, going well. We have new members who join each week and we always have lots to talk about. I had made letters and package sent by the school I was set up with in North Carolina (Charlotte Providence Day) a center for conversation for several weeks. Finally, I asked if they would like to send letters and start a 'pen pal' correspondence with the kids back in the States. They were very enthusiastic, and although there were only fifteen members who were advanced enough to write letters in english and thirty kids in Charlotte, most wrote two letters to compensate. A week later, I collected the pre-sealed letters and sent them in a large envelope. The class in Charlotte has already received the letters and has written some of the students back by email, while others are coming by post. Brian, the teacher there, says his students are loving the interaction, and I know my kids are overwhelmed with joy at the connection.

The weekend of the 28th of March was the 2004 Rallye du Club des Palmes held at nearby Ferma Suisse. This was one of those surreal events that can only happen in a place like Africa. One of the French teachers I teach with at the Centre Scholaire, Michel, asked me if I was interested in participating in the Rally, of which he was an organizer. He mentioned that it was kinda like a treasure hunt with cars. Indeed it was, and quite a ride... I was in my friend Gabriel's car and we proceeded to hunt for clues the Cameroonian way - taking illegal shortcuts and stopping along the way for a cold beer. I was one of the designated athletes in the car, so I ended up doing the bean bag toss and throwing rocks from a moving canoe into a floating tire. Not as easy as you might think... At the end of the day was the swimming competition, and since I was the only one in my group who knew how to swim, the relay became a one-man race. I still came in third place though, so I was pleased. That night was the awards dinner where our team came third to last (out of more than 30 cars). We each walked away with a prize of a t-shirt and two bottles of palm oil. We also had a great time, which is what really counts, isn't it?

It seems like the only things that happen which are interesting happen on the weekend... I guess it was like that in the US too... Anyway, there was a regional meeting for our bank network, CAMCCUL, in Douala the following Saturday. I met George at 7am at the bus and two hours later we were in Douala (an hour longer than it should've taken). The meeting started about 11:30 (three hours after schedule) and after sitting there confused as to why I was there at all, left around 4pm, before the metting had ended to catch a bus to see Brooke. Brooke lives about two hours on the other side of Douala in a village called Muyuka. I had never been to visit her (she was the previous generation of business volunteer), and now she was about to return to the US after two years of service. She had asked me to come up for a visit long before and now wanted help with moving and wanted to give me some very valuable items (kool-aid, wooden spoons, nice pots, etc). I got there just after dark and we went out for grilled fish. Brooke warned me that her "fish mommie" used lots of piment (hot pepper), but I wasn't fully prepared for the extreme heat that was inescapable. I had to track down a kid selling tissues to wipe the sweat off my brow and drank my beer quickly. It wasn't enough. I was able to finish the fish, and found the town's ice cream guy to cool down the body. The next day, we loaded a good portion of Brooke's stuff on the top of a mini-bus and headed back to Douala. She sent her stuff onwards to Yaoundé and returned to Muyuka for the rest while I met up Kristina who was coming down for a visit during her spring break (she's a teacher).

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