Sunday April 10
I was in charge of writing and reading the petitions at mass today! As if that wasn’t great enough, Manuella ran up to me in the middle of it. Like I said, she refuses to stay still in mass, and we’re becoming quite good pals.
(offbrand) FROSTED FLAKES [they're more than good, they're great]. Yesterday Therese made some mention about corn flakes, and I must have gotten that wild I-remember-those-from-my-country look, so we picked up a box during our weekly post-mass family trip to Dovv. Cereal is good.
Monday April 11
In the field…but not “in the fields”. I’m learning a teensy bit about agriculture! I have a lot of respect for farmers--as proud as I am of our peach tree that we planted as a pit when I was in the 4th grade, I don’t think I’ve got the patience to do something like that for a living.
Tuesday April 12
The [streets] are alive with the sound of…cote d’ivoire. Every time I stepped outside today I heard the buzz, and I can promise you that what I’m hearing about it is not what you’re hearing about it (if you’re hearing anything at all…). I don’t generally follow politics very much, but I must say my motivation to stay up on things is pretty high right now; I mean, cote d’ivoire and Lybia and just a hop and a skip away. Since I actually do have an opinion for once, I feel inclined to get on my soap box and spout off about it, but I’m going to keep it to two words:
“Neocolonialism much?”
Find out what Oklahoma senator Inhofe is saying about the matter on his webpage:
http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.JimsJournal&ContentRecord_id=3218c4e9-b19e-9f09-3866-7981e5068dbf
Sights from the field:
-Need a car wash? Just drive a little ways into the river…
-A HUGEass snake. For sale. To eat.
-Plenty of graves…in people’s front yards
I’m spending something like 2 hours a day in the car, but I don’t mind, because I get some good views. Today’s village was in. the. Boonies. By which I suppose I mean, “in the jungle”. I have a hard time figuring out where one village ends and the next one begins or knowing how big they are, but let’s just say it’s quite different from Yaoundé. Pretty much all the houses are made with traditional mud-brick walls, which apparently are really good at keeping the heat out.
I like meeting the different groups. Most of the time is spent doing training sessions, though, so I don’t get much of a chance to speak with the members. The little time I do have I use to pass out my surveys (which, by the way, are slowly killing me—why on earth did I think 20 questions was going to be ok?). Probably my 2 favorite parts of visits are
1. Prayer at the beginning and end—generally they lead it, and so it’s in the local dialect
2. Singing and dancing. We either do this as a welcome, break from class, or a goodbye, and it’s awesome. Mainly because the women love it when I get really into it, which just delights me.
Overall, everyone loves me. Probably just because I’m white, but personally I like to think it’s because I’m friendly.
Wednesday April 13
Half of the office has already left for Bamenda for a meeting with the country base and the west Africa regional director, so it was just a few of us in the field today. It was my last day with my food-sharing-employee-friend because she’s going on leave for the rest of the month; it’s rather sad, but we did get a nice heart-to-heart chat in today, so that’s good.
In other news: I ate cassava in 3 different forms today.
1.uh, just regular ol’ steamed cassava, I think? First time trying it.
2. tapioca
3. couscous
