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