Today was the 1st day of orientation. I woke up at 3am to the sound of some animal chirping, crying, or screaming. This lasted for almost an hour. I also found 3 huge mosquito bites on my neck. Of course the only part of my body that was exposed got jacked up. I am definitely spraying myself down tonight. Besides those 2 little incidents, I was fine. Our orientation today consisted on a lecture from an awesome Regional English Language Officer (RELO) named Alice Murray. She is pretty much our contact person if we have any questions on teaching English as a Second Language. She’s based in Dakar, so having that Senegalese connection is awesome. She gave us some pretty good advice and was very down to earth. I also got the chance to see Auntie Gla again. We met Gerald and Yolanda who are our main point of contact in country.

I also learned a bit more about what is going on. The University of Ngaoundere has offered to provide housing and Gerald actually put money down on it, but they are just waiting for me to see the place before agreeing to anything. This is soothing for me because I was clueless. I’m also taking the 12-16 hour train ride up to my new home. I do not know when exactly but I now have 2 less things to worry about. We have our conference calls tomorrow with our institutions so hopefully our last burning questions will be answered.

Today, I also had my first Cameroonian dish Folong aux arachide (fish and cassava leaves with peanut sauce and yams). I actually liked it. It was a bit spicy but that was to be expected. We are going out to eat at a restaurant called La Pallot tonight. We were getting ready to leave La Pallot when 2 Americans strolled in. The just happened to work at the Embassy. There were the Marines who check our passports upon entering the embassy. We talked to Sean, who is 27 and is from Kentucky and Logan, who is 22 and is from Alabama. Logan does not seem too interested in Cameroon and is very excited about his new post in New Zealand. Sean actually likes it here and is still unsure of where his next post is. After dinner, the Marines invited us to the Hilton. No do not get any ideas. The Hilton is the tallest building in Yaounde and has a bar on the 11th floor, with the best view of the city. Once we were done, we were escorted back home in their armored car. I like the American lifestyle here in Cameroon but it is time to meet some Cameroonians!!

Anastazyia and I at La Pallot

On Friday, we met with the members of Cameroon English Language Teacher Association (CAMELTA). They expressed their concerns about membership and the need for publications and other resources. We also met with students who went to the states for an 8 week English Immersion program. They had a lot to say about the differences in education systems.
According to them, the US education system values the opinions of the students. There is more of the student-centered approach. While in Cameroon, the teachers are perceived as the all-mighty. You are expected to reiterate verbatim what the teacher has said. Classes tend to have more than 100 students. During my conference call, I was told that I can have up to 500 students in my class; while my counterparts only have about 75 students.

After wards, we met the Ambassador, attended a debriefing presentation on safety and went out to lunch with the PO and RELO. The Marines invited us over for Poker Night. None of us played, we just talked and met new people. We sat around the hookah all night. A lot of funny things happened. For example, Angela, who works at the American School got her hair burned with a blow torch. She dared someone to do it and he caught her hair and her eyebrow. I’m still cracking up just thinking about it. She’s originally from Nepal but taught in the Bronx for 6 years. There were a lot of teachers from the American school so maybe that’s another option for the future. Angela also invited us to her party tomorrow.

I notice tonight that I seem to get overlooked a lot, by both Americans and Cameroonian. I have only met one woman in the US Embassy who is of African descent. I wonder if that’s the case for the Foreign Service in general. I have notice that it is hard for me to mingle with people even though I am not shy. When people go around and greet the other Fulbrighters, I tend to get left out until someone takes notice that there are 3 of us not 2. Cameroonians, well I guess I should clear that up. People who have alternative motives tend not to look my way. I guess that’s a great thing because I can weed out the true people. I also been told that I resemble Cameroonian women and it is hard to believe that I am American. This society is really complicated.

On Saturday, we slept in until 11:30am and received an invitation to the house of one of the workers at the US Embassy. She came to pick us up at our apartment in Bastos. We met her year and a half year old whose name is James. He is very adorable. We really have not had the time to explore Cameroon as extensively as I wanted, but Yolanda took us around.
We drove up Mount Febe and looked over the entire city. Below are a few pictures.
We later discovered the hustle and bustle of Mboloko Market.

Mt Febe

The view from Mt Febe

The crazy market scene

Anything and everything u want can be found here. Unfortunately, that means that one must take care of their belongings very well. Petty theft is high in the market because of the congestion. We then went to the Mahima super market. I do not cook so super markets give me the heebie geebies. However, I did manage to buy some soap to wash my clothes. YES I’M WASHING MY OWN CLOTHES. I can also hire someone to do it, but I’m not at my post yet so that’s not going to happen. Once I get up there…just maybe. There was a little incident at the super market. The cashier did not want to ring me up for no apparent reason. Yolanda was not having it. She then proceeded to speak to the manager about the lack of customer service to Americans in his super market. Supposedly this is an on-going thing hence why the embassy did not order anything from them for a year. Yolanda was hoping that things changed but clearly not.

James and I getting ready for a late lunch.

I know this is a really long and detailed blog but I’m sure you are fine with it. I’ll keep you posted on when I’m leaving Yaounde and all that good stuff. Hope the semester is going well thus far.
~Cynthia

Posted by Cynthia David at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Guess what? I’m in Cameroon!!!! Before I get into the details, let me backtrack to where I left off last week. So I had lunch with Lindsay from Breaking Ground on Thursday. She gave me great tips for living in Ngaoundere. In order for you to get a picture of my new home, here are a few things she said.
1. Be prepared for the heat even though there are much hotter places in Cameroon
2. Get ready to take a motorcycle as a cab/taxi
3. Sand will be your best friend
4. People are nice and finding friends will not pose a problem

So that’s Ngaoundere in a nut shell! Stay tune for pictures!!! In the midst of packing up my life, I did decide to take some time to just relax and have fun. If you have not seen I can do bad all by myself by Tyler Perry, please go see it. It is an amazing movie which racked up 24 million during the 1st week. I am just in love with Tyler Perry. He is a prime example of the rags to riches story. I also invited my good friend Erika to come try out food at a Senegalese restaurant. She enjoyed the food and became nostalgic about our wonderful adventures in Senegal. Below is a picture of the 2 of us in Senegal.

On Friday, I attended the Alumni Boat Ride. I had a great time!! It was nice to see people I haven’t seen in a year or 2. We danced and party the night away. Just cruising through NYC at night was breath-taking.

On Saturday, I was suppose to go to a wedding but got invited to Six Flags Great Adventures and preferred to go there instead. It has been about 2 years since I last went to 6 Flags more Flags more Fun lol!! It was a nice day out and the park was not very full so getting on rides was not a problem. We stayed in the park until 7pm so it was a nice, long, and eventful day.

The next was the big day. I finished packing quite early and had time to run around to get me hair done and tie some loose ends. My mom was getting nervous even though she was putting up a great façade. I knew she was going to crack at the airport and she cried a bit. It was not as bad as I anticipated. With Skype, I am sure we’ll do just fine. Yes I cried a bit, but I kept saying that I had to remain strong and I did. Going through security was tough but I made it. I looked back, waved, blew a kiss, and walked away. My first flight was from Newark to London. Once I arrived in London, I had to claim my bags and trek my way to check in with Swiss Airlines. I had to pay 200 dollars which is the equivalent of 120 pounds for an extra luggage. I was so not a fan. I stayed in the airport for about 5 hours. I had the best tuna wrap ever. I called my mom to tell that I had arrived in one piece which made her very happy of course.

From London, I went to Zurich, Switzerland. I have never been to Switzerland or Europe at that so adding more stamps into my passport was very pleasant. In Switzerland I stayed at the Park Inn hotel which is literally 10 minutes away from the airport so it’s very convenient with a free shuttle service. Not to mention that a McDonald’s was adjacent to the hotel!!! I enjoyed my stay there and went to the airport Tuesday morning to catch my flight to Yaounde. I met with a fellow Fulbrighter coming from London so we chatted it up. So far, so good.

London

Zurich Hotel

Zurich Room

Switzerland

Posted by Cynthia David at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A week from today I will arrive in Cameroon!! I am getting really excited yet nervous at the same time. I have traveled a lot and living in different places is not new to me. However, moving for 9 months with the possibility of not coming home to visit is totally new for me. I have started packing but… Everyone keeps on saying pack lightly but how is that possible? I am very efficient with packing lightly for weekend and short trips, but how can one pack up their lives in two 50lb or 23.5 kilo luggage? I’ll let you know next week how it went. I am meeting with a founder of an NGO I will work with in Ngaoundere and hopefully I’ll get a more accurate idea of what I am getting into. Let me just give you a snippet on the NGO and what I will do. The NGO is called Breaking Ground and in Ngaoundere, they host the Women Entrepreneur Program (WEP). A six-week workshop which provides women the tools they need to become successful business women. Breaking Ground provides them with a grant to jump start their business. In recognition of the support received by Breaking Ground, the women must repay 20% of the grant. Stay tune to find out more.

Last weekend, I attended my cousin’s wedding. I have not seen her in a long time so it was nice to see her and her Kool-Aid smile. Many family members attended and they were really surprise to see me. I am a family person but between school and traveling, I rarely get to see them.

In other news, on Friday, I will attend my first Alumni event!! There’s a boat ride in NYC cruising through the harbor. Many of my friends from Class of ’08 will attend. I guess class of ’09 is waiting until next year. The boat ride will mark the beginning of my last weekend in the US of A. I’m sure it will be a blast.

Be prepared to do a lot of reading next week because I am sure my blog will be extra long!!

Posted by Cynthia David at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is September 11th. Let us not forget those who were lost on this tragic day 8 years ago. On a brighter note...

I would like to welcoming everyone back to campus. I hope you all had a wonderful and productive summer. A big welcome is in order for the class of 2013!! Welcome to the U! I am sure you are in for a great time both academically and socially. You're probably asking yourself "why is an alumn blogging? Does she not have anything else to do?" Before I answer your question, let me tell you a bit about myself.

My name is Cynthia David and I graduated from the U in May '09 with a BS in Elementary Education and a minor in French. I was very involved on campus and even went on 2 international service trips with ISP (International Service Program). I am currently getting ready to go on a Fulbright to teach English as a Second Language in Cameroon, Africa. The Fulbright is a highly competitive fellowship for graduates to teach or perform research abroad. This year the U of S has 3 Fulbrighters going to Macau, Germany, and Cameroon. If you want to learn more about the Fulbright please do not hesitate to contact me or Dr. Trussler. I will blog from Cameroon starting on the 25th of this month. You wil get the inside scoop on living and working abroad. I'm really excited to share my experiences with you all. Please feel free to leave comments and ask questions. Hopefully this blog will open up dialogue about the continent which is barely spoken of or when spoken of, only negative things are said.

Throughout the summer, I had my fair share of travels. Two days after graduation, I sat in Newark airport with 10 other people waiting for our flight to Ecuador on the ISP program. his was also the location where I found out that I had received the Fulbright. Of course I bawled in the airport because I did not think I was going to get it because I was an alternate. But I did, and literally my life changed in seconds. I was supposed to teach in California, but I had to turn it down because of Fulbright. Also, my schedule was pretty much booked for the month of June, except for one week and that just happened to be the week of orientation. I missed my brothers graduation but he understood. Let me take you through my summer with pictures.

First is a picture from Ecuador

This picture is of my mom and I vacationing in Orlando

After Orlando I had orientation in DC and then visited my homestay family in Senegal for 3 weeks. I am fortunate to have many moms!!

After Senegal, I relaxed in the Bronx for a bit before going back to Scranton for an apartment reunion

I then went to visit my new cousin in Boston

In order to go to Cameroon for 9 months, a visa is needed. So off to the Cameroonian embassy in DC I went. I also met up with some Scranton friends in Baltimore, MD

Don't worry I'm almost done!! Next on my list is Atlanta. I enjoyed my time in the south with a wonderful homestay family I have known for 2 years.

Last but not least, back to Scranton I went for one last hoorah and for the ISP retreat.

I hope you enjoy the photos and I'm looking forward to next week!!

Posted by Cynthia David at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)