Everybody was Dancing

You have to love Africa on Sunday morning. Everyone is going to church and they are all in their best clothes and the kids take off their shirts with the holes in them and their broken shoes and wear their one nice outfit and they all go to church. Somehow they all sit for 3 hours and listen to a very long sermon and sing and dance their hearts out. And me, I get up early and I go for a run. Often in the mornings it is lightly raining and I put on my trail running Nikes and I take off. I run to the football field which is really just a dirt clearing and I run laps and then I run up and down the hilly paved roads of Bangangte. It’s crazy because the people here all look in wonder, some look at my shoes and say in confirmation, “tu fais le sport?” “You are doing the sports?” They really like to point out the obvious here it sorta cracks me up and sometimes it makes me really annoyed. For instance, last week when I was washing my clothes my host cousin who has been living with us for a few weeks sat down and watched me and even took a picture of me saying, “Tu laves” yes I wash, its pretty amazing to see a white woman doing work I guess.

Anyway this morning was fabulous because I think I got some of my frustration out by taking my run. Its also great because the power and water are back on. Yesterday I used all of my computer battery on writing lesson plans and the final exam for the 6eme class I’m teaching but I really wanted to watch episodes of Alias. Have you seen that show? It’s awesome and I didn’t even like Jennifer Garner, but I do now! Go check it out, the pilot is amazing. Anyway, yesterday was also pretty sweet because I had my final test in French which determines if I am qualified to be a volunteer or if I have to stay behind for two weeks for more training (this would suck because I’d have no down time to move into my house before school starts and I wouldn’t be able to go to the cool parties we are going to have after swearing in). But my test went pretty well and I’m pretty sure I’ll go up one level and be able to move to my site with everyone else. Then later on Saturday we made chicken and onion rings! Oh yeah. I’ve taken to being one of the top chefs here in Bangangte because I like to feel useful. Also I’ve really stopped drinking a lot here and since most people are drinking beer and chit chatting during our Saturday soirees I feel like I am more useful in the kitchen. So I took over the onion ring duties and by the end of the night I was saturated with the onion smell, all of my clothes reeked of onions, but let me say- they were delicious. Another interesting change that I have encountered is that I think I’m going vegetarian. I’ve said this before but I thought back on it and I haven’t had a piece of meat (with the exception of 1 piece of chicken 4 weeks ago and maybe a piece or two of ham on a pizza I split with someone) for about 2 months. Yesterday we paid two local kids to kill 5 chickens for us and piece them and help us get them to unrecognizable pieces that we could eat. Let me just say- if you were there you wouldn’t eat it either. I have a picture and I’ll try to upload it and you can decide if you can identify the different body parts of our former farm friends.

So this week was a bit hard because we all received our instructions to go to site because we only have three weeks left of stage. Here’s what that means. In three weeks I say goodbye to the best friends I’ve made here who are going to Adamowa (the northern center province) and the North West ( on the coast of Africa- couldn’t be farther than me) and the the Extreme North (By Chad and in the hot section of Cameroon). Evidentally I thought it was a good idea to make friends with people who I will never see again. I feel like the last 6 months of my life have been spent saying good bye to people, and I get to do it again. Also, I’ve come to really love stage, and bangangte, and I have found a routine here that I love. I really enjoy teaching at the Model school and my host family, though sometimes loud and insane, are truly supportive and the most chill of all the host families. I am going to be very sad to say good bye to this part of my PC life. Also, I have much trepidation about my site, but I finally got the number to my post mate so I hope to ask her a ton of questions so my transition will be easier. It is going to be a little shocking to move to such a small town where Rachel and I are the only white people who speak English. We just had a meeting on diversity where we talked about how you don’t think you are diverse when you are a white female in America, but here I make up about .01% of the population. But I am trying not to dwell on the things I can’t control so I have created a list of things I’m excited about at my post:

1. Cooking for myself finally

2. Planting a garden

3. Having my own house with no roommates!

4. Really being immersed in French

5. I stole a ton of movies from my friends who burned them on their computer so I have those to watch.

6. I have internet on my computer now so I know I can be in touch with the people I love anytime

7. Reading! I plan on reading tons of books

8. Writing a play or two

9. Teaching at my new school and starting a theater club

10. Going to Batouri for Thanksgiving

Well that’s a far as I got, but it’s all good stuff to look forward to. If you want to get on Aim and chat for a while because you don’t have money for a phone card email me and let me know what day and time are good- remember it’s an 8 hour difference, but I really want to chat with you kids. I love you all I will write again soon!