FAQs Answered

Hello again!

To everyone that has emailed me, bless you. Thank you. Bonus points to Shila, as I believe our email thread may be longer, more detailed, and in the long run, more effective for keeping track on how I’m doing than my journal.

There have been some common questions though, so here is an FAQ Answers blog post for you all.

Q: How are you REALLY doing, Maura?

A: Well world, I am doing pretty well. Still rockin’ and rollin in the honeymoon phase. I thought my iPad died a couple nights ago and there was about 5 minutes of my life that were rapidly spiraling out of control, but luckily it was just having a temper tantrum and is working again. I thought I downloaded skype on my computer before I left, but I didn’t and now skype is having major issues downloading, and I don’t think it will ever work. So, that is pretty frustrating. But, other than that, all is well. I am sweaty all the time, but I am get a fair bit of sleep and I am pretty good at taking my multi-vitamins in the evening and my malaria pill in the morning, so I am even vaguely healthy.

Q: What’s the weather like? How sunburned are you?

A: Broad statement: Cameroon is hot. BUT, where I am living in the mountains, it is SIGNIFICANTLY cooler here than it is in most places in Cameroon which is something I am grateful for. Our place is like a 10min cab ride out of the downtown area, which is good because even from our house to downtown there is a major temperature difference most days (we live on a very large hill). We are still in the rainy season, apparently it is hotter in the dry season, so I am hoping that I am less sweaty at the end of the rainy season so I can adjust to the dry season with a less sweaty transition. I don’t know what it averages temperature wise, but I just checked and it is ~10:30am and 26C if that is a point of reference for you. In regards to sunburns, the battle of Irish skin vs Cameroonian sun is ever raging. I wear a lot of sunscreen. To date, I have not gotten burned. There were a few days where I was quite pink (and had a really cute sunglasses outline on my face) but a little aftersun cleared it right up.

Q: Why aren’t there any photos on your blog?

A: Because it would take my entire workday to upload them. The internet here is not as fast as it is at home. For all the X Alumni, you know when you would be on webfx and the connection would be crap and you would become frustrated that your library procrastination is delayed by having to wait almost an entire minute for you faebook page to upload? I crave the day that my internet was that fast. There was like 30min last Friday that the internet at work was unreal, like home fast, but I was doing real things like attaching documents to emails and such. I’ll get some photos ready on my computer incase that speed happens again.

Q: What do you miss the most?

A: I recognize the correct answer to this question is “you!”. To be honest, I don’t really know, there isn’t one thing that I miss the most. I miss my friends, obviously, but I know I will see you all again soon. In terms of material things, I am pretty particular about my bed pillows. Anyone that has ever seen a room that I lived in knows there is a mass amount of pillows of various sizes and densities. I don’t like the one that is on my bed, but I brought my thermarest pillow, so I have just been using that, so that is good. I miss youtube too I think, just the availability to find new music, and watch funny videos. That one of the woman dancing to single ladies with a gorilla mask on and then she crack her face off the TV makes me laugh every time; infact, I am laughing right now just thinking about it. I don’t even really miss having internet at home at all, I check my emails at work, save them to my computer, respond at home, send them the next day. I do wish that I had sync’d my music from my mac to my iPad or computer before I left because I downloaded a bunch of good music that I don’t have with me. (it won’t sync now off icloud re: the answer to the above question) Teary times. I think in the fall I am going to miss the 2 TV shows I watch. If anyone tells me what happens in the fall of TV I will be so so sad. In terms of things I miss, there are a lot of food items that I can incorporate into this category.

Speaking of food…

Q: What is the food like?

A: Well, the girls and I have our own place, so we have been doing our own cooking which is nice. We have been eating lots of rice, beans, lentils, veggies, and such. We went out for Cameroonian food with a coworker which was cool. My main dish jama jama (which is also known as ‘fried vegetables’), which was described as huckleberry with some tomatoes and onions, but it isn’t huckleberry like we have at home, it was like a limp shredded kale and parsley in palm oil. I think I liked the meal more than the meal liked me, but it is all part of the experience. The same meal we also had fried plantains, which make my life and I have been craving them everyday since. There is a lot of meat and fish in everything, and since I jumped on the vegetarian train (other than a bite of beef I had from peer pressure, my last serving of meat was at the Bicycle Thief in Halifax) which makes for a bit of a challenge. One of our coworkers is coming over on Thursday to show us how to make a dish, which I don’t know what it is, but Leah ensured that the crayfish was removed from the ingredients list. I also had something called a spaghetti omlette. Which is literally an omlette, with pasta, tomatoes and onions in it. Sounds strange, but it was oddly satisfying.  There is going to be an entire post about food, I am going to try to wait a month or so to do it, but it will be a post on what I have eaten what I can make (which is hopefully something) and food that I miss (which right now roast chicken dinner is topping my list, movie popcorn with white cheddar seasoning a close second and stockwoods baked goods (cakes, cupcakes, and shortbread) coming in the bronze position)

Q: What is your living situation like? Do you have internet at home?

A: Living situation is great, we live in a nice part of town which is like a 10min cab ride to work. (though we normally walk for 20 min to get halfway and then get a cab). We each have our own bedroom, a cute little living room and a bathroom.  There is a 5 burner gas stove (no oven), and a fridge in the kitchen, a couple of chairs and a loveseat in the living room, and a little table for three. In the washroom there is a toilet, and sink in one room, and a tub/shower and sink in the other. There is no warm water, but I am getting pretty good at showering in the cold water. No, there is no internet at home, but as previously mentioned, I don’t really miss it that much.

Q: What is the city you are living in like? Do people speak English? What are the amenities like?

A: Bamenda, where I am living, is the capital of the North West province. The North West and South West provinces are English provinces, the other eight provinces in Cameroon are French. So officially everyone speaks English, though there is a bit of French that does creep into day to day life. Most of the locals speak pidgin; sadly my pidgin isn’t improving as much as I would like, but it will get there, it hasn’t even been a full three weeks yet! The city itself is a fair size, I don’t know the exact population but I would guess it is around 400,000-500,000. In terms of amenities, you can get everything you need here from produce to electronics to everything in between. There are no malls, only stores or street vendors, there are no brand names I recognize (other than laughing cow cheese) no Walmart or McDonalds or anything like that. But, I can still get everything I need as long as I am willing to haggle for it, and still get ripped off. (The other day I paid 200 CFA [~40 cents CDN] for a bag of hot peppers that I really only should have paid 50-75 CFA for [~10-15 cents CDN] it’s ok, I clearly didn’t break the bank, but if you look at the numbers I paid 300% more than the value, which is a lot no matter the numbers involved)

Q: Exercise, is it a thing for you there?

A: Bless you for being optimistic. On Sunday I walked (from a restaurant to a bakery) if that is an answer to your question. But let’s talk about that bakery for a second. There is a grocery store in it, with real wine, like real French bottles of wine (which are vastly overpriced), and cereal and lots of other fun things. Then there is the bakery with little donut things and various pastries. And guess what is above the bakery and supermarket? A bar. With a balcony. One day soon I want to go and sit at the bar and double fist beer and cake and then I feel like everything will be right in the world. But to answer your question, exercise, ha.

That is most of them for now, keep those emails pumpin’ kids.

Sending you all of my love,
Maura

Alive and Well in Bamenda

Hello World!
I am alive! Sorry for the delay in the update, it has been a busy week or so, and we don’t have internet at home.

Travel was long, but good. I recommend Turkish airlines, lots of food, lots of movies. We flew from Halifax to Toronto to Istanbul to Douala. Sadly, I did not get any baklava in Istanbul, but there were a few very interesting looking Turkish ice cream stands that I will certainly be investigating on our way home; who even knew that Turkish ice cream was a thing, but it looked delicious. I also found a place in the food court that has something very similar to pizza, and right next door somewhere to get profiteroles. Delicious.

Once we landed in Douala (at 11:30ish at night) I was hit with the heat almost instantly. Thankfully, where I am living now (Bamenda) is significantly cooler than it is in Douala. 

We were greeted at the airport by the executive director of our organization, who got us settled at a hotel for the night before the 6/7 hour drive to Bamenda. After a good, but too short of a rest, it was time to embark on our journey. What a pretty drive, the landscape here is quite unique, the trees are tall and dense like in Costa Rica, but the hills were rolling like the Northern part of the South island of New Zealand, but it was dusty too. Very different, but very cool. The roads are actually quite good, to be honest the highway to get from Douala to Bamenda was as good as, or better than, some of the highways in rural Newfoundland (if my memory stands correct). We also had some unreal jams on the drive up, definitely a good omen of things to come.

We arrived (and have since settled in quite nicely) into our new home for the next 6 months. We are living in the basement apartment of our executive director’s aunt. It is a nice spot, 3 bedrooms, nice yard overlooking the city, and there is even a little convenience store at the end of our road. We have a double layered front door, which locks almost a little too well, considering we have already had an encounter with a welder to get us back in. Overall, the family has been very very kind to us, even hosting us for dinner on our first night there. For the record, incase anyone needs a welder in Cameroon, welding is a team sport. It requires many tools, some of which don’t need to be plugged in, just incase the closest outlet is on a second story window.

Our organization is great, they allowed us this week to get settled before we dug in too deep on our work. A couple of the ladies we work with took us into town to show us around and take us to the bank and show us the market and such, which was very much appreciated. The office itself is great, the organization runs some great programs, the people are so kind and helpful, and there is even an amazing view of the city, and mango trees in the yard. I could not ask for anything better. The programs are really cool, I am helping out with the café that the NGO runs, as well as youth entrepreneurship workshops and related activities. I just found out that I am also going to be assisting on a project with some imprisoned youth as well, very cool.

In terms of my adjustment, I think I am doing pretty well so far, though I am still very much in the honeymoon period. Every time I go to the market I end up trying to speak Spanish to people, for who knows what reason, but it is definitely a thing. I am getting pretty slick with the gas stove, thanks to many years at camp and my mother dragging me outdoors. I have done my first (small) load of laundry, which went pretty well if I say so myself.  

Yesterday I even greeted my first person in Pidgin! (the local dialect) it went like this:

Me: Good Morning
Man: Morning, sister. How fo you?
Me: I dey fine, how fo you?

Then he just looked surprised that I could respond, and I prayed quietly that he said nothing else to me in pidgin because that is all I know. Luckily one of our cowokers typed up a 2 page document which is basically pidgin for dummies, which I am forever thankful for, and will be practicing frequently.

We got a mirror for our place yesterday, and though I am still undecided if it was a good thing or not, it does make it feel a little more homey. We have even found a couple of cool places to eat, and you all know up there with couch napping, eating is my #1. I missed Knoon at one point when we were eating out, so I got a cola and slammed it in her honour; it was the biggest one on the menu, you’re welcome. My next task is to find a guitar, and I am yet to find anywhere selling musical instruments. A challenge in finding a guitar will be nothing compared to the benefits it will give, because if I don’t have one it will be a very long 6 months. I’ll give skype concerts, don’t worry.

I even have a cell phone, which I am happy to give you the number if you facebook/email me, incase you ever get lonely and want to rack up your phone bill with a call to Cameroon. I would certainly appreciate it (hint hint).

All is well, though I miss most of you reading this, it is comforting to know that there are 19 other Coady interns adventuring in various corners of the world (well, 17, if you remove the two other girls with me here). Besides, I am thinking it would also work well for me to combine my birthday and coming home event to a mega brunch. Only time will tell!

All my love,
Maura

Game Day

Good Morning, from the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax. As I sit in my plush double bed, with air conditioning pouring into the room, I thought it would be a good time to remind myself of something...

I move to Cameroon today.

Orientation in Antigonish was fantastic. We had some fantastic sessions on ABCD, Power and Privilege, Micro finance, and so many others. Yes, we had a session on safety and security, Scottie Mac. Hopefully that means the chances of me using my going away present have decreased exponentially. Becky, please still stand by, we both know in that situation you would be the one calling the shots.

(Another common question, "how do I find out if you are sick/dying/dead", well world, it is a pretty informal phone tree, basically my sister just calls Kathryn, and then Kathryn has a couple people to call and then from that word should spread.)

How am I feeling? Well, to be honest, I keep forgetting I am heading out. My mama came into Halifax last night and Aileen joined us for dinner at the Bicycle Thief. Needless to say I ate and drank my face off, and when I am sad in Cameroon I will think about that Gnocchi, and probably become more sad (item #14 that makes me sad). To be honest, I know I'm not ready. But realistically, who is ever ready for something like this? If you are thinking that you would be, you're lying to yourself, and I bet your pants are gonna catch on fire. The orientation was so inclusive and essential, and I am as ready as I will ever be. Some of the people who are going on placements are just so fantastic. If someone could explain to me how I was able to smile in life before Carmen's positivity surged into my soul, I would really appreciate it. Leah and Dana are now officially stuck with me for the next 6 months, so good luck girls; but I have faith.

To all the Coady interns, you're beautiful, I love you, and keep smiling. You'll do great, and I am so proud of all of you.

To Shila and Steph, thank you for keeping me sane for the 3 weeks prior to orientation, for that I will always be indebted to you. During the orientation I cannot express how nice it was to have a smiling face in the room, someone to ask my dev'sy questions to and challenge me on my ideas. You are both beautiful humans. Shila, thank you for also being my personal chauffeur, I will always treasure our chats in the car, especially when they are sweat lodge themed. I love you both dearly.

Well, I should probably jump in the shower and get ready for the long flight path ahead. All will be well; how do I know? Aileen is psychic and told me.

2013, makin' it work. Next time you'll hear from me, I will be in transit or in Cameroon!

All my love,
Maura