Done and Doner

On June 3, 2010, I finished my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer and was "gonged out" by the PC admin at the Yaounde office. It was nice to hear the words of thanks, inspiration, and reassurance that we had actually made a difference in Cameroon. Although, I'm still on the fence on whether or not any difference was made with my presence, I guess I'll never really know. As my program director said, "Being a teacher isn't as clear cut as being an agro volunteer, you don't plant trees and see them grow....who knows, maybe one day some one will come and cut them down (lol), but in teaching, your students remember you and the things you have taught them for years to come", so let's hope that I taught them some things worth remembering.

Unfortunately, my last month in Cameroon was a difficult one. Saying goodbye to friends that I might not see again was difficult. You feel bad that you are leaving and going back to a better place and leaving them to stay in that dusty, malfunctioning world where standing in line is a revolutionary concept that most people aren't willing to accept. Honey's passing made the last 3 weeks worse and I may have, probably for sure, left Cameroon a little (very) bitter. We both loved Honey a lot and it kills me that we got so close to bringing her home and we couldn't. I think of her often and see her in Cricket believe it or not, so I take joy in that and try to remember Cameroon with out that part of my service.

Getting Buddy and Cricket home turned out to be a lot easier than I had thought, the worst part was dealing with the baggage handlers at the airport in Cameroon, each one of them wanted me to give them "motivation" for putting Buddy on the plane....in other words, they wanted me to give them money to do their job. I didn't give them anything and had the flight attendants tell me when he was loaded on the plane and he made it without delay.

I'd just like to say to my fellow volunteers of the 08' SED/Ed Stage and my 2 post mates, that it was a privilege and an honor to serve with you all. I'm lucky to have spent 2 years with you in Cameroon and hope to see you in the near future, and as Bill Murray once said, "Buddies for life I think".

Fare well.

Spaghetti Omelette (Western)

Here is an entry from my Aunt Linda who came and visited me in Cameroon. 

 

The hotel's hot shower and comfortable bed were amazing -- especially after arriving in Cameroon, with the long flights from Cleveland to Washington, D.C. (where I first met Carol's mom, Ruth), to Brussels and finally to Yaoundé. That first night of exhaustion flew by and morning arrived.  I wondered what would be for breakfast.  Allen asked if we would be interested in "spaghetti omelettes."  This was something new to me and a cup of strong coffee was my first priority.  Ruth and I had agreed that we would be open to most things on this trip.  We didn't really know what to expect.  Having never had a "spaghetti omelette," I decided to give it a try!  The spaghetti was boiled and then added to the middle of three eggs which were cooked until set.  This omelette was a lot of food and the coffee was, in fact, strong!  That was the beginning of the adventure. 

 

Now that I look back and have had a chance to process some of what occurred on this trip to visit Allen and to meet Carol, it did remind me a bit of a spaghetti western.  Spaghetti westerns were a group of films from the mid-1960's that were mostly produced and directed by Italians.  They were about cowboy adventures and the border conflicts between the U.S. and Mexico.  They included some famous American personalities as well as European actors.  Most were produced in Italian, filmed in Europe and had low budgets.  The stories were epic. 

 

How does this compare to visiting two Peace Corps volunteers in Cameroon, you ask?  There were the four main characters (Allen, Carol, Ruth and me).  The language spoken by the locals was not our native language (mostly French).  We traveled through the "old west" of Africa on trains, a bush taxi, motos (on unpaved roads), and with crazy taxi drivers.  We experienced hot days, bright sunshine, starry nights and a lot of dust. We did see men on horseback as they were riding right through the middle of town.  Also, we had a relatively low budget and not much in the way of tourist amenities available.  We often slept rather soundly on the floor; lacked for hot, running water; and ate what was available locally.  We climbed a mountain (Mount Ngaoundere).  We were accosted by critters (lizards, mosquitoes, large spiders, crickets, cockroaches, chickens, goats, etc.).  We saw a lot of cattle at the ancien marché du boeuf that was very close to Carol's house, and cattle were often just grazing or walking along the road elsewhere.  We saw wild animals (mostly in the zoo in Yaoundé) and dwelled with the domesticated (Buddy and Honey).  We had heart-warming experiences with Cameroonians and those of other nationalities as well.  We accommodated each other's foibles and enjoyed each other's company.  We encountered some mean hombres who tried to overcharge us for our moto and taxi rides, and some who insisted that they had the right to carry our bags for a fee.  We were a team, against all odds.  And in the end, Ruth and I rode off into the sunset.

 

It was a trip that I will never forget.  Thank you Allen, Carol and Ruth, for the experience of a lifetime! 

 

Hasta la vista and happy trails to you…jusqu'à ce que nous nous rencontrions de nouveau (until we meet again).

Meet Cricket

A very happy Honey with Cricket

Here is Cricket! Born on May 15, 2010. She is the sole heir to the Honey Elizabeth Iversen crown. She is about 5 days old and seems to be doing well. We've been feeding her a homemade puppy formula through a baby bottle. She sleeps a lot and her eyes aren't yet open, but she still manages to wake us up a few times at night to feed her. We are planning to bring her home with us along with Buddy.

Sadly, Honey became badly infected from the tear in her vulva from the 3rd puppy and passed on to a better place on May 18, 2010. She was a beautiful dog, a great friend, and wonderful to have around. Carol and I truly miss her, the words I have written here cannot express what she meant to us and I'm extremely sorry she's not here with us now. She will be in our thoughts and memories daily.

Here's a slide show of some of our favorite pics.

Just Set Me Free

Here I am again, and as I predicted more than 2 months have passed since my last post. During that time some monumental events have taken place in my Peace Corps world. The first of which is I had a visitor, my Aunt Linda. Secondly, I attended my Close of Service Conference or for some others in my group Continuation of Service, either way COS Conference.

From March 9 through 26, 2010, Linda and Ruth (Carol's mom) had a desire to see exotic Africa, so they came to visit us. For a long time now I've seen it as dusty, nothing really works and when it does it breaks Africa, so it was good to see Cameroon through fresh eyes. I guess you don't realize how much you adapt to living in a place until you're around someone who hasn't seen this stuff. So when someone points out the bugs in the train, the goats that are everywhere, and the babies getting mashed up against the back of their mothers while everyone storms into the train station, you just say, "yep, that's what they do". And you don't really know what else to say. All in all I think they both had a great time and did very well with the conditions they were given. At the particular time we were at my house the electricity and the water were cut for 3 or 4 days...so that was fun. But they survived and it was a lot of fun having them. I could tell you more about their trip but I really feel like Aunt Linda should write something up to tell you, because if I tell it, it's not going to have that fresh, new foreigner to Cameroon feel to it.

The COS Conference was a nice time. It was only the second time in my service when all the people I came in with in June 2008 were all together again. The hotel Peace Corps put us up in was pretty nice, although I imagine it was really nice about 5 or 10 years ago. We didn't have great swimming weather though, and that was a little disappointing because when was the last time I swam in a pool? The food at the hotel was pretty good, I'd say it might even be the best I've had in Cameroon. Although the breakfast was pretty weak, they need to step that up.

But it was a weird time, there are 35 people there and they all feel like family even though I haven't seen them since December 2008, and now is possibly one of the last times I will see them for years to come. I remember leaving home was pretty hard to do, but at least when I did that I knew that I'll see them when I get back. But this is different because you don't really know when you'll see them again. I guess the important thing is to not lose touch with them. One thing I've learned here is that being far away shouldn't be an obstacle in keeping up a friendship.

I'm at post now, waiting to finish up the school year, pack up my belongings, and make the trek home on June 4, 2010. America is on the horizon.