Well, IST came and went in a blink of an eye –
as has all my time here. It was a week spent much like PST: hanging out with my
close friends, drinking, and not paying attention in training sessions. Oh, and
did I mention, much of the time was spent being endlessly teased by Spencer and
having many of my belongings tagged by Spencer with either pictures of penguins
or the words ‘l’eau pour table’. So as you can see, not much has changed
between PST and IST. We are still a bunch of immature goofballs. Ain’t nothin’
wrong with that.
Before IST I traveled to Yaoundé and met up with
the North crew, with whom I attended my first Hilton Happy Hour and a round of
house shots at Route 66 bar. It was unbelievably refreshing to see Spencer,
Rachel, Liz, Cody, Ampson, Hannah, and Alexi and my other friends up in the
grand North. While in Yaoundé, Spencer and I spent time in Western-style
grocery stores and eating poisson braiser. After just a few days in
Yaounde, the group rented out a bus to Bamenda where we each got 2 seats to
ourselves – quite the luxurious travel experience, especially for me.
On the first night in Bamenda we had a welcome
dinner and ceremony with our counterparts. Most of us had not eaten that well
since America. So much food – so much variety! The rest of the first week was
spent sitting in on endlessly boring sessions about stuff we had already learned,
but which was new for our counterparts. I always sat with Sylvie, my
counterpart, Spencer, and Moussa, who is Spencer’s counterpart. While Spencer
and I would surf the internet and goof off all session, our counterparts would
be diligently taking detailed notes. At one point, Sylvie leaned over to me,
hit my thigh and asked me ‘Are you going to pay attention?!’ Shocked that my
counterpart had the balls to put me in line, I paid attention for the rest of
that session. I also spent many of the sessions translating for Spencer, since
he couldn’t understand some of what his counterpart said – but I must say,
Spencer’s French has greatly improved from the ‘viche viche’ days of
PST. Moussa at one point told me ‘You must come North and give Spencer French
lessons for a month’. Unfortunately, I think Moussa greatly overestimates my
French abilities and greatly underestimates Spencer’s French skills.
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Spencer and I at Hilton Happy Hour |
On Saturday our counterparts left, which means
the next week our sessions were spent in the larger
group of my stage, or
broken down by sector. Sessions ranged from applying for grants, applying for
committees, and on best practices for projects. Spencer and I are both applying
for the Food Security Committee and are just about guaranteed to be accepted
because 2 people are accepted per sector, and only 3 of us applied, one of whom
(Alexi) doesn’t really want to be on the FS Committee – so yay!
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Art Shopping at Handicraft |
When not in sessions, evenings were spent
watching movies, playing cards, eating (a lot!), and drinking either at the
hotel or at local bars, many of which are super nice in Bamenda/Bamerica
(Hello, one even had flat screen TVs and a firepit!). The internet access,
albeit unbelievably slow, allowed me to FaceTime and Skype with friends and
family, and also with people who practically feel like family, such as Spencer’s
parents (don’t worry mama Judy, I made sure Spencer ate a lot). I also spent a
few days at Pres-café eating Greek salads (with real feta cheese!), carrot cake
and sipping on real cappuccinos, or at Pres-craft for Handicraft buying
new home décor for chez moi.
IST also provided me the time to really think
about my project ideas for the next two years. I solidified my moringa project
with the Agro PM, who is coming to Lomié to give me 200 seeds in a few weeks,
and to create a new project at the persistence of Sylvie to test and educate
people in Lomie for HIV/AIDS and then to start a secretive People Living with
HIV/AIDS Club for those we diagnose as HIV+. We also plan on gathering local
prostitutes and those at-risk for prostitution and teaching them income
generating activities so they no longer have to prostitute. Lastly, I plan on
making care groups in my community, where each quartier will have one
health representative whom I and Sylvie will train in various health topics and
who will then return to their quartier to teach those living there. We’ve
got many project ideas and a lot of work to do before we launch the HIV club in
December. Time to get started!
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Welcome Masquarade in Bamenda |
Overall, IST was great, but honestly, also quite
stressful. With a group of 53, it’s impossible to know and be best friends with
everyone. Most of my stagemates (particularly those not in health) I haven’t
talked to since PST, so seeing them was weird. We all get along, but at times,
we are all reminded about how we are all really mere strangers. There are even
those in health who I haven’t talked to since PST, not because we don’t get
along, but because there is either no reception in their village or just
because life gets in the way. But for those I stayed in contact with, my close
friends, we rebounded immediately and it was like things have never changed.
IST reminded me that it’s better to have a solid core group of close friends
than be mere acquaintances with all my stage. While I didn’t get time to talk
with everyone at IST, I was able to have real quality time with those who I
consider to be my best friends in country. I even got to know a few new people
from other sectors as well, whom I’d never really had the chance to get to know
during PST. So all in all, IST gave me the chance to really invest time with my
closest friends, it also gave me the opportunity to better know some others.
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New Yaounde Case |
Now IST is over, I’m back in Yaoundé, and
already missing those I left behind. I’ve decided that though I love Lomié, I
will be henceforth taking 1 week trips to visit others every month for mental
sanity reasons. I love my village, don’t get me wrong, but I’m one of the most
isolated volunteers and I live in some pretty rough conditions. I didn’t really
realize the effect all that was having on me until I arrived in Yaoundé and
compared my mannerisms with the Cameroonians around me and I realized I’ve
become a pretty defensive and ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ type of person. Being with
friends and being in new scenery allowed me to let go and relax. For the first
time in three months, I was able to go a week without having to knee a guy in the
balls for grabbing me from behind and trapping me, and I was able to understand
all that was being said around me, and I was able to make jokes in my own
language again and be the goof that I am. It was liberating and much overdue. I
want to continue to love Lomié, because there is so much to love, but I
realize that for my own well-being, I need to get out in regular intervals. I
want to do a lot of effective work in Lomié, so I plan on dedicating 3 weeks
per month to hard work, and 1 week per month to recoup my enthusiasm and remind
myself that I am myself. But first, I’m spending the next 1.5 months
traveling, because, well, I deserve it after all the things I’ve been through
the past three months!
So here’s to the next month-worth of adventures
with Spencer – we are spending a few days beachside in Kribi, then trekking in
the rainforest for 5 days, then headed up North. It’ll be a hectic, but fun
time. I’ll do my best to keep you posted, internet permitting.
Oh, and by the way, if you are only interested in photos and don't care about reading what I'm up to, feel free to check out my new, photo-only blog here: http://saidbyredphotos.wordpress.com/
I'm so glad you were able to make it through the last two weeks without having to knee and guy in the privates!! I guess we are now going to have to put you on the payroll as head chef and language tutor! I'm glad to hear his French is improving. His high school French teacher called to congratulate him this week! I'm glad that IST is an opportunity for you guys to compare notes and war stories and sounds like the counterparts do as well! I think all the PCVS from the isolated villages
ReplyDeleteshould get to be on the Food Scarcity Committee! Hopefully, things will improve there!
You guys have fun and be careful!