Rats and Diarrhea

                                       Rats for sale at Batie carrefour.  It's what's for dinner!

That’s the rat part…..no there are none in my house, alive or dead! And they don’t have diarrhea...that’s me...tho the spider wars continue…. I feel like a wimp complaining about spiders when many of my fellow vols do (or did) have rats in their houses.  Most got cats and that has more or less resolved their situations.  I have my geckos for my own personal war….and RAID!….tho I hate to use it.  Many of the larger spiders stagger around the house for a while wildly before dying...and other actually survive it...tough buggers….scary!  I had these huge ants for a while that refused to die….some tough ass ants that I had to chase down and smoosh several times….God!!!!  I finally found their entry point and plugged it with duct tape.  Wouldn’t want to meet one of them in a dark alley.  Things learn to survive under harsh conditions here and that makes them TOUGH!…me included.  Bring it on!!!!!

Well, maybe not so tough.  I seem to have developed a mild diahrea problem.  It’s not too bad yet….but each time I eat, it follows.  I’m thinking I have gotten some kinda (un-american) parasite in the deep dark recesses of my guts.  But!...God bless Pepto Bismol (I never thought I’d hear myself say that). It’s a miracle drug and seems to resolve the sitch for a day or two...but then….May have to go to the local hospital (and I use the term loosely) for some meds.  We’ll see. It’s not too serious compared to what some of my fellow vols have been thru so I am hoping it will resolve itself….ahhhhh “hope”.  But, on the brighter side, it’s a way to lose weight!  (now that’s American!)

It’s Weds. eve and I am sitting here writing to you and drinking an icy cold huge beer.  Yes, icy cold…..whaaaaat???  I got a little fridge!!!  It makes little ice cubes and makes things cold….YEAAssssssss!!!  Now I can have cokes with ICE in them and COLD horrible beers. I’m in heaven! (with spiders). 

I am knee deep itno my business classes now and am starting to learn how to teach...tho being in a foreign culture makes teaching more difficult.  It’s not the language (tho that doesn’t help), it’s the culture….for example, the idea of organizing things (like your day or week or business) doesn’t exist here. It’s an alien idea that takes a long time to teach. I actually realize that I enjoy teaching tho...who knew???  It’s fun and rewarding….especially because my 19 students are charming and really want to learn about business...or more specifically...how to make money.  This is especially challenging in a village where nobody has any money to spend!

In the future, I hope to start working with the women’s group in my neighborhood who are desperately poor and work like dogs every day of every week with very little to show for it, how to work as a group (another alien idea) to create a business and build on it to get ahead each year.  They have chosen elevage des poulets (raising of chickens to sell for meat) as a possible idea.  Now all I have to do is teach them to work as a group, and then find a place to do it and do a feasability study and write a business plan and apply for a grant to get started, and get someone to come in and train them on how to do it...and...and…..this should keep me busy for a while.  But, don’t be surprised when you get a message on how to contribute to the grant for my Peace Corps Elevage project in many months….possibly.  I ran into a woman today who told me I would never be able to convince Cameroonian women to work as a group…..oh boy….may have to rethink this. But, it’s a learning experience...for all of us. 

Okay, now it’s time to watch “Modern Family” episodes on my computer for the evening’s entertainment….or maybe “True Blood”…..or maybe “the L Word”….the list is endless….thanks to my fellow vols.  It’s how we survive.  A bientot. Love.

Yesterday, there were 13 beautiful Mama’s at my house for a compost formation….my first formation in Batie.  The picture above was taken in my back yard, after the practical demo part of my presentation.  They really got it! which is thrilling for me. They are very eager to start in their own fields.  Because of the harsh weather, I decided to teach them to dig a hole (meter squared) (rather than just make a pile) and to keep it covered with grass mat and palm fronds….etc. etc.  Anyway, I suggested they have their men dig the holes (sandy ground is like cement) and they laughed.  They will do it, each one helping the other…...my mama’s!!!!!  They wanted to hang out and eat and drink after, but I hadn’t prepared anything…...ooops (I’m still learning how things are done here)...but they laughed and said they would come over soon to help me plant a garden and I promised cookies and cake and jus (pop) for that event, although the mama’s can put away the beer, so I will probably stock up on that too.

Over the weekend, some fellow vols were here.  We ate and laughed and played cards, etc. They are so bright it blows my mind. The Peace corps really gets the best and the brightest and the most socially adept of the American youth. It is such an honor to be surrounded by them! I know I keep raving about them, but the more I meet, the more they keep knocking me out!

That’s it for now.  It has been such an exciting week for me, I just had to share.  More to come….

A big box of reading glasses (236 pairs) just arrived from “Eyes on Africa”, a California non-profit organization. I probably mentioned it, but Batie has a large population of aging village people who have lived here their whole lives. Of course, there are those of all ages here (place is crawling with kids, for example, most of whom found me terrifying at first and now find me irresistable….la blanche avec les bon bons). People around town have spoken to me often of the need (probably because they see my glasses hanging around my neck all the time) so finding glasses for them was high priority for me. The village Chief is coming over this morning to discuss with me the best way of distributing them. (I hope!  The Cameroonian people have a habit of not showing up when they say they will.) This is not a “sustainable” project like the other ones I will be doing, but I’m happy about it none the less.  

I was invited over to a lovely woman’s house (about my age) for lunch and she prepared  taro with sauce jaune.  This resembles a big plate of mashed potatoes (in appearance) but stickier with the sauce jaune placed in the middle like gravy...then you eat it with your hands which is very messy and lots of fun.  I actually enjoyed it, the sauce jaune (yellow) is very tasty. It is extremely heavy and she served me a huge plate of it, but try tho I did, I could only get thru about half of it.  An elderly lady (late 80’s?) stopped by and joined us.  She ate a huge plate of it and then finished mine off!  She was so beautiful, stooped from years of work in the fields) but so strong (beautiful strong hands) and full of life.  She had just come in from the fields (they are starting to plant corn now) and returned to her field after lunch.  These women here are AWESOME!!!! and so warm and wonderful. They are the glue that holds Africa together.

Last night I discovered an itchy rash (or so I thought) I on my inner wrist and went to bed wondering what it was. (I’m never been prone to rashes at all).  This morning I got up and discovered a huge web of tiny spiders (hundreds of them) right next to the chair where I use my computer and realized that they had tried to eat me.  One of my resident spiders had birthed a shitload.  Talk about the heeby jeebies!!!!  I went on a killing spree but many of them escaped (they are so tiny, for the moment) so I am on major spider watch!  No more catch and release…..they all must die!!!!  I have a lttle gecko (a baby) that I have seen around the house lately (at night) who is helping me get them! I am going to try to find some insecticide next time I’m in Bafoussam as there are too many of them to battle in hand to hand combat. (Of course I will remove the Gecko to the out side before applying…)

On Thursday, I will be going to Bafoussam to help 2 other volunteers teach English to a “Women in Leadership” group organized by a wonderful “Non Governmental Organization”  called RIDEV.  That should be interesting and I’m betting the women are pretty spectacular.  (Thursday….D-day for the little flesh eaters if I am lucky enough to find “RAID!!!!”.)

Last week….boring!  This week…..interesting! (and creepy!).  C’est la vie en Afrique. Hey!  The Chief just arrived!!!!  Yes!

Love!