October Happenings

Hello my loyal readers!

I am still around, and the excuse for the lack of update? well, the lack of activities. The month of October so far has been a lot of GRE studying, money-begging to fund Books For Cameroon by the end of October and preparation for graduate school applications.

Concerning the project: we are making very good progress. With just $2k left to go, we hope the project will be funded by the end of the month. Actually, we have to. We don't really have a choice since I received an email from Peace Corps Washington with pressure to get things off the ground. Since this is very much an all-or-nothing project, we really need your help! Don't let the $9k we've raised go to waste! Spread your Christmas cheer early this year. Rumor has it the decorations are already up in some part of the States? Donate today!

This past week I visited the schools in Batié, and aside from one school that doesn't quite have a room ready, the rest all have at least a room, and some even had the shelves built. I was really impressed by the engagement of the school staff. While the challenges are still ahead in successfully implementing the project, I can already envision the rewarding feelings in the end.

Last week was Mid-Autumn Moon Festival for the Chinese, so I went to spend it with my Chinese family. I am quite sure I celebrate more Chinese holidays here in Cameroon than I did in the United States... Just two days before the holiday was China's 60th anniversary of the current government. My Chinese family has no other channel but CCTV - the State-run television- and it broadcasted special programming for both of the holidays.

After watching all weekend worth of CCTV with coverage of the celebration and also holiday programming, I began to think of China as this wonderful, heaven-like place, and why wouldn't all of us want to spend our lives there? Until I got home and was reading articles on the uncensored world-wide-web. And then I realized I was probably being brain-washed.

Yesterday was October 10th - the independence day of Taiwan. A day in my childhood when we didn't have to go to school and can watch fireworks. I was not at the Chineses' this weekend, but I can almost guarantee there was no coverage of the 10-10 holiday in Taiwan on CCTV.

As a Taiwanese/Chinese-American living in Cameroon, I don't have any particular strong feelings regarding the Taiwan/China politic. However, during times like this, I do get slightly lost and not sure which side I'm suppose to be "rooting for". This is precisely why we need global citizenship!

On an unrelated note, I had created a personal online portal for all the virtual contacts that I've been making via social media tools. Asian Polyglot will be the blog where I talk about everything outside of my Cameroon activities. But for the time being, they will overlap somewhat. Feel free to take a look!

3-Way Culture Exchange

Tuesday morning, I traveled back to the West with two French tourists, Laure & Fabien. They are friends of a French volunteer in Yaoundé, who didn't have time to travel with them. Laure & Fabien were going to travel alone and asked me if I knew a good hotel. I offered to take them in and play tour guide for a few days.

I must say it is quite refreshing having tourists around; it provides a new perspective. Or rather, it reminds me just how funny/absurd life is here. We get to the bus station at Binam Express and a bus was nearly full, but one of those small buses where they sit 5 to a row when it's meant for 4. We piled on and waited for the bus to depart. Every time another person gets on, Laure says, "there is no way." I tell her, "there is always a way."

We arrived in Bafoussam, stopped off in Akwa for some food before heading back to Batié. Laure & Fabien would point out things that I take for granted - the view, the warm and welcoming nature of the people, etc. They were amazed at my hole in the ground "bathroom", my Cameroonian "oven" and the fact I have Internet in a house without running water. On a day-to-day basis, I don't think about how my life here is still absolutely fascinating to many.

In one day, I took them on many "first-time" experiences - first time on overly crowded bus/taxi, first time on a moto, first time eating poisson braisée & baton de manioc, etc. The fascinating and incredible thing about being a globetrotter is the ease to form friendship with other amazing people. Three days prior, I had no idea they would even be visiting, and just like that, I now have new friends in Lyon, France who will welcome me if I ever visit. I think by the end of two years here, I will have friends all over France!

The next day, we visited the Mifi waterfall near Bafoussam, lunch in Akwa, a tour of the Market and then visited the chefferie in Bafoussam. That evening, I was going off to the joint-birthday celebration at the Chineses'. Coincidentally, it was Fabien's 30th birthday. Per usual, my Chinese family invited them over and housed them for two nights instead of letting them stay at a hotel. Once again, I was conducting a 3-way culture exchange; also acting as a translator between the Chineses' French & the Frenchies' French. I grow more comfortable with the French language everyday, and I hope there will be a chance to continue using it in the future.

Peace Corps China?

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! I spent the day with my people celebrating the holiday. I am now officially more Chinese here in Cameroon than I ever was in the U.S. I don't remember the last time I celebrated this holiday. When it comes to celebrating, the Chinese loves to incorporate eating. The food (食) and drink (酒) cultures are deeply ingrained. Kate can vouch for that since her stomache has been benefited a great deal recently due to the culture exchanges. True to form, we had another feast. This time, the center of the meal is hot pot and the main ingredient is lamb. Now, not just some chunks of lamb that you get from the supermarhe, but a whole lamb - head and feet and all. The animal has been skinned and gutted, but it definitely stayed in its original lamb shape. I then see Mr. Z skillfully chopping it into pieces. If this didn't turn me into a vegetarian, I don't think anything else will. Feasting chez chinoise is always a multi-hour event. Today was even more so. We ate, we break, we drank and repeat. At around 1pm, the Chinese TV was broadcasting the celebration in China, but the power was out. Go figures. Thankfully, the power came back for us to catch the last hour of the programming. I became rather nostalgic watching this and the feeling worsened when the celebration beamed to Taipei and I saw scenes of old familiarity.

To prove that I am in the Peace Corps and exchanging cultures, this morning, I made French toast for the Chinese. They've never had it and loved it! Now they want to learn to make more "American food", so next time, I am teaching them spaghetti and pizza (very American, I know). Throughout the day, we had conversations about life in China, life in the U.S. and every now and then I throw the comparison with Taiwan in for kicks. Ah, to top it off, I attempted Chinese calligraphy for the first time in a decade. The first few tries were disasterous, but then it started coming back! Never thought I'd find my Chinese roots in Cameroon! I am learning a ton all the time! In this regard, I am more in Peace Corps China than I am in Peace Corps Cameroon.

Back to Peace Corps Cameroon, I am loving my town more and more with each passing day. This week, Billy, a 12-year old kid who stinks less than the others, has been showing up at my house a lot. His dad is a Peace Corps Driver, and also the chief of our cartier. He's really talkative and loves to fetch water for me! He's a breath of fresh air from the other kids who have been deranging a lot. Other than the kids, my house had a new improvement when I got a guy that came to reroute electricty. It's now twice as bright in my living room and I've officially transformed the house out of a brown dungeon!

The carrefour of my village

Where I spend most of my time at home

My "Kitchen"

My "Bathroom"

The other day, when I was waiting for someone at the carrefour, I chatted with the gendarms. They were all really nice and seem to have a good grasp of the Peace Corps. I should start hanging out at the omelet shack more. Lots happen there! On the topic of people, I discovered two French people who live in my village! The other day when I was walking to walk, I saw a white person. I got really excited and went up to her to see if she spoke English! And she did! She's French and is here with another guy working with the fish farm. They are staying with families, much like my homestay experience. I offered my house for western getaway! I think next week I'll invite them over for some yummy goodness. Hopefully, I can learn some proper Frenchy French from them. Other work related update: I am going to visit members of a GIC this week with my counterpart. He needs to check on their income generating activities before granting loans. I'm quite excited to see some real work in action. Sitting at the bank only gets me so far with limited French.

You run into herds of cows more frequently than white people.

Kate found an apartment! So I think this week some time, I will have to spend my first night alone. It's about time. We've been at post for nearly a month now! It's time for me to get some real work done and not sit around making food with Kate all day and watching the same episodes of Grey's Anatomy repeatedly. Okay, more updates to come! Stay tuned!

Volunteers for Volunteers

Happy Birthday to moi! Last year yesterday, I submitted my application for the Peace Corps, and a year later, here I am. First birthday in Africa, but completely Chinese style. Thanks to my wonderful Chinese friends and Kate, my would've-been-lonely-birthday this year turned out to be quite fun! The morning began with Kate buying a variety of goodies from the boulangerie. Follow by lunch where we had homemade noodle! It's the first time I've ever seen noodles made completely from scratch. I must say, it's quite impressive.



The festivity continued with a great feast of food. Pictures worth a thousand words, so I'll let them do the talking.

Me making dumplings!

Kate is becoming quite the chopsticks expert!

Look! how pretty!

My Birthday Feast
everything made from scratch!

My Chinese family in Cameroon

I am really lucky! The first day that I met these great people, Mr. Zhang told us that he admires our work here and while he can't serve Cameroonians like we do, he will be a "volunteer for volunteers". Right now, he wins the "Volunteer of the Year" award for volunteers. What a blessing! These next two years would've been very different! Low expectations yield high satisfaction. That is going to be my motto for life. I had no expectation for my birthday, or even this Peace Corps thing in general, and now, I can't be more satisfied.

Au Village

Second week at post is coming to an end, and I am starting to feel more like a member of this community. My house is coming along nicely. The walls are painted baby blue and I've added a few personal touches to make it mine. As Kate puts it, I've turned the place into Pottery Barn (as much as possible for being in Africa). If I were in the States, this would be even more ridiculous. The other night, I had a dream that all of us went to IKEA to buy things we needed for the house. What I would do for a trip to Target/IKEA right now!

I still have yet spent a night alone since Kate is still chez moi! I am enjoying the company though. Throughout college, I've only really lived in a studio-esque space alone. Suddenly, I have this gigantic house all to myself. It can feel a little scary at night. The first few days at my house, I was extremely paranoid and quadruple-locking everything. The paranoia can partly be attributed to the malaria drugs; it's better now. Except, the paranoid feelings have turned into vivid dreams about going to IKEA and the like.

In other exciting news, last week, Kate and I hung out with the Chinese consulates. They were in the West province visiting government officials, and fellow Chinese people. By association, Kate and I were invited to the gathering. I have never been happier to be Chinese than I was last week! I talked Chinese with the consulates and they were impressed that I spoke as well as I did having only elementary level Chinese education. Besides the great food, I also tasted the best Chinese alcohol, one the Chinese government use to treat foreign governmental officials. On the bottle, it stated the alcohol came straight from the manufacture and is used for Chinese foreign diplomatic purposes only. So, diplomatic purpose it was, we talked Cameroon, USA, and Taiwan. First week of my volunteer career, and I was fulfilling goal II & III, exchanging cultures, like nobody's business!

Since getting to my village, life has slowed down a lot. I have a lot more free time than I ever did in my short 21 (almost 22) years of life. The other day, Kate and I were watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy and one of the character said, "I feel like I am on a train going 200 miles and hour, and I wish it would just stop at a platform." I said, "Join the Peace Corps." That is precisely how I feel. 3 months ago, back in May, when I was studying for exams, making financial models for StudioSTL, running reports for rich people in St. Louis, preparing for life in Africa and trying to spend time with family and friends all at once, I felt like I was on that train going far too fast. Suddenly, the train stopped and now I am not quite sure what to do with myself.

The pace of life is slow here, far slower than what I am used to. Getting accustomed to this lifestyle is an adjustment in and of itself. I still can't get away from my list-making habits, so everyday I write things on my list just to feel accomplished. Yesterday, my list consisted of the following, "go for a run, go buy food in town, wash floor, organize my room, nail artworks on wall, make lunch, shower, make dinner and get water." Surprisingly, those things took a while and nearly filled up my day.

My house is a 25 minute scenic walk from the "center of town", which is one road with some shops. If I am lucky, I can find essential food that I need. Yesterday, I wasn't so lucky. All I could find in town were bread, eggs, tomatoes, garlic and onion. I’ve wanted some potatoes to make fries and I couldn't find them for the life of me. Thankfully, Kate brought some back for us from Bafoussam. I cook a lot now. Before May, I was pretty much the worst cook you've ever met. Now, I think I do quite well. Cooking takes up a good chunk of my time; I often joke that I joined the Peace Corps to become a good wife. This past week, I made: pancakes, raisin scones, fried rice, cream of corn soup, crêpes, oatmeal raisin cookies, fries, rice soup, and of course, ramen (old habits die hard). Tonight, Kate and I will have a go at lentil taco!

Not sure if I've mentioned, but my house is without running water. I spend a good hour of my days "organizing" my water source. I have 20 water bottles and a few buckets that store water. Luckily, it's still the rainy season, so I can simply put the bucket out and catch water. Otherwise, the neighborhood kids like to visit me all day long and ask if I want water. These kids are funny and stinky. They like to come to my house and stand at the door just watch me do whatever I am doing. I would let them hang out more if they didn't stink up my house. Maybe next week I will start handing out bars of soap for them to shower before coming in!

People in this town are really kind and I don't get déranged much. People are getting pretty used to me and they are incredibly friendly. The guy in town that sells tools is really nice, after I showed him that he couldn't rip me off. He tried to sell a water jug to me for 2,000CFA, and I bought it for 1,000CFA. I've become pretty darn good at bargaining. It's a way of life here. I've been going to the bank (MC2, the microfinance institution in town) a few hours a day just observing and showing my face to the community. It's pretty interesting. This week, I made my first contribution by redesigning their sign for school loans. Changes start with the little things.

Phew! This entry turned long. I will try to be better about posting shorter entries and more frequently! I miss all of you and modern life in general. But things are well here, and I am very happy!