November 24

November 24, 2007

Thanksgiving was a smashing success, or shall I say a mashing success. In order to fill the bellies of 50 volunteers/staff teams were created for food prep. Our team later claimed the name Team Ireland/Mashed potatoes. Preparation of potatoes in Africa requires 4 Irish lads, beacoup de butter, quite a bit of garlic, and a visit from gangster…Papa of Megan. We donned pilgrim top hats and bonnets in recognition of the special day, along with quite a bit of political incorrectness. Anywho since a turkey wasn’t found, 11 chickens were sacrificed instead. There was an abundance of wonderful comfort foods. Not to mention quite the performance from a soon to be named band and in my opinion covers Stones tunes quite well. All and all it was a fantastic fete, without famine. Here’s to hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Stage is winding down. Though the amount of work has done the opposite. I suppose they meant to do that, keep us out of trouble. One more week of classes, head to Yaounde for logistical things, and back to Bangante for swearing in. It’s officially been over two months since we have arrived. Though time here is difficult to gauge. I blame this on wearing dresses and sunglasses most everyday of the week. Though overall things are well. Since my language has improved things are better with my host family. I tested to my French level so I can begin Pidgin classes as well.

I recently learned a grand difference between American families and those here in Cameroon. This was brought on when I learned my host sisters aren’t actually sisters, they’re cousins. That’s how it works here Nieces, nephews, sisters, cousins, or whoever lives together. Since my host folks are quite well off and live in the city they take on family members to put them through school. Marian is the only child of my host parents and my other 3 siblings are cousins. Their parents live out of town in petite villages. Marian is the youngest of 5 siblings, the rest are grown. I find there is something beautiful about a family really taking care of each other, which extends far past the “immediate” family.

A note on packages/mail:

Thank you to everyone sending things. It feels like Christmas when things arrive – no joke! Mostly because the build up is over a month – ha! When they said it was slow this was the truth. Unless the package is sent DHL (which costs a good arm and a leg) it’s going to take over a month or so. It seems that packages sent via flat rate boxes (through the US postal service) get here in pretty good shape. Also write “Sister Katherine” on it. Religious symbols like crosses help too. People in the postal system tend to give religious packages priority, or that’s the rumor here at least. If it has religious verses or symbols people are less likely to rifle through it. If you are sending food make sure to put it in Zip Loc bags so it doesn’t leak on other things.

What I’ve received so far:

2 postcards from Lauren @ John Hopkins!

1 Halloween card from Dad and Carol, which I received ON Halloween - nice timing folks!

1 card from the Shaddy Shack

1 Turkey Day card from Momma and Bill

1 card from Veronica – aww shucks!

My first package from Dad and Carol – fantastic! Just wonderful: a box filled with Luna/Cliff bars (great for traveling), hand sanitizer (Carol’s got me set for the next two year – yea!), deodorant (I’m good for about 4 months!), nail polish which I painted my host sisters nails with, a journal, a pumpkin Pez, gum (great cause its hard to find sugar free here), and perfume (a lovely scent to lessen my stench).

Thank you SO much!! I understand it takes a lot of time, money, and patience to send things all the way over here. I appreciate it so much. I can’t imagine being here without a family and friends at home who supports and loves me, so thanks again.

My next entry will be as an official Peace Corps volunteer!

Love,

KT

November 18

November 18, 2007

Site visit came and went. I finished up with that malaria business just in time. Kate was a fantastic host to have. All of the health volunteers headed to Bamenda together and stopped for a bite to eat at Uncle Sams (how fitting for a bunch of white kids) before departing for village. It was the first slice of pizza I’ve had in a long time, sure not Dream but still fabulous! We did a bit of food shopping at the “white mans store” (has imported products mostly from Europe) and the open market. On our way out of town Kate introduced me to a pharmacist she has been working with on diabetes education. Pharmacy, eh? OSU has a good pharmacy program now that I remember it. Little did I know he was a graduate of OSU! A picture of commencement in Gill along with other Corn-valley memorabilia threw me – that’s what life in this country is like. You never have a clue as to what or who the day may bring.

After a 20 minute taxi ride we ended up in Village, dropped our bags and went to do the rounds. Basically meet as many people as possible. First stop, the Fons palace. Present gift to Fon, which was a bottle of wine. Stand up when he walks in, sit down when he does. Say a few words oh and don’t cross your legs. There is something taboo about showing him the bottom of your feet. Check and check! We met up with some members of the HIV/AIDS Compassion group. It was great to see so many welcoming faces whom I’ll be collaborating with soon. After that we were off to greet the Mayor and other important officials. At first the 2 Kate’s jokes were awfully funny and silly as we laughed along with everyone we greeted. Though the jokes only got better when the 3^rd Kate, an Agricultural volunteer who will be posted about 45 minutes away from my village stopped in for a visit. It will be lovely to have her so close especially since we’ll hopefully collaborate on projects. I’m pretty sure these nice people in village will only think of American women as people whom are tall and come with the name Kate. So folks you know what that means – I’m changing my name again!

For those utterly confused with my name changing over the past few years, I am here to settle the score. The folks name a gal Katherine, she goes by Katie till university, which turns into crew/rowing Katherine, then into Frisbee Kate and now back to Village Katherine. The queen of the palace gave me the name Suri so I’ll probably go by that too.

Back to post. Went to my first water committee meeting, overwhelming but good. It’s great to see people coming together to work for the common good in their village. It’s a very interesting and complicated project which I’ll gab about later another time. Though the important thing is that things are moving along and motivated people are on board, which is more I could ask for in my first major project. That evening we had dinner with the sisters of the convent. There are about 25 of them and they are quite the gals!

One afternoon we went out to toss the disc near the girls boarding school. There were quite a few children playing soccer and came over to throw. It was a nice warm evening and we could hear the girl’s choir singing in the background. The kids were having a lot of fun playing a new interesting game. I was thinking oh how great is this, I can’t wait to swear in and move here. Then bam! I smack some innocent little girl in the face with the disc. That’s life in the Peace Corps, you think its all fantastic and then back to reality! She ended up getting a bloody nose. Sheesh, I felt terrible. Though she was fine and we kept playing. Some of those kids had some pretty sick one handed grabs! It was great to see for sure. I am hoping to integrate the sport into a health club at the school.

Now we head into the next two weeks of training. I only have one level of French left to meet then I can begin French classes. Fantastic!

November 1

November 1, 2007

My alarm went off this morning, I first thought “ugg, I need more sleep” then the thought of post announcements came into my head. I sprang out of bed, only to be shut down by the mosquito net…whoops.

Anywho back to post announcements! We all were handed a piece of paper folded in half with our post – ahh! Then we all looked at the same time – it felt like Christmas, without the commercialism and wrapping paper though. I will be posted in the Northwest Province in a small village working with a Medical Center along with other community groups. The NW province is quite developed for the most part in comparison to the other 10 provinces in Cameroon. The town I’ll be living in is about 30 minutes away from Bamenda, which is a rather large city boasting a population of 235,000. I am absolutely thrilled with my post!! The Northwest is an Anglophone region, which means it’s technically English speaking along with Pidgin English. After I meet my French level I will begin taking Pidgin classes. I will be replacing a current volunteer, whom by coincidence is also a Kate. She was in town last week and I had a chance to speak with her. It sounds like a wonderful place to be posted with numerous opportunities for interventions.

As I understand the main focus will be a water project. In addition to the water, I will hopefully be assisting a VIH/SIDA compassion support group. On Monday I will meet my counterpart. He or she will help me integrate into the community and get things rolling. I will know much more about the post after that meeting. Also, on Wednesday all volunteers leave for a weeklong site visit to check things out. I am really looking forward to this. The idea of Peace Corps has been such as ambiguous idea in my mind for so long. It is really fantastic to be at this point in training. Being able to actually SEE the site and meet community members is really exciting. Also, quite a few trainees will be posted within an hour of Bamenda so it will be great to meet up with them once a week or so. There are also volunteers close by to Bamenda who are currently working already.

My home is situated in the medical center. From what I hear it is quite nice and not what I expected at all. For a few months out of the year, the guest room will be occupied with European doctors or nurses whom are visiting and working at the med center. I had the option of having my own home off site. Though I think this sounds like a wonderful chance to meet new folks. Also, if it doesn’t work out I can always change living arrangements. Overall, this post sound very structured, though with room to explore new projects. I am really grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to travel to Bafut next week! It feels like the right fit and I couldn’t be happier.

I moved from the Northwest, only to move to another Northwest. YEA!

Cheers and much love!

KT