Here is a comprehensive list of every singe blog post I’ve ever written. Happy Reading!
Rolling Hills of Batié
Last week I visited the schools that I am working with for the Books For Cameroon project to check on their progress. On the way back, my moto guy, Emmanuel, took me on a different path home, and I saw a new side of Batié that I have not seen…
GRE Blues
One month after taking the GRE in Cameroon, I was able to find out my scores today via the telephone. I really didn’t intend on re-taking this excruciating test, since the scores I had from the first try were respectable; not fantastic, no, but passable. I suppose I thought I…
Celebrating Old Age
This past weekend my rich neighbor had a BIG fête! My moto guy is a family member of this rich neighbor and they live in the same concession. He informed me of this rare event that occurs only once every 5 years or so – a fête to celebrate the…
Progress Report
For the past two weeks, I have been visiting schools and communities that I am responsible for between Batié, Bapa and Bandenkop, and checking up on there progress in library readiness. Much to my surprise, the schools were mostly very engaged and are making significant progress in getting things off…
Holidays Abroad
With Thanksgiving in just a few days, and no plans to celebrate, I realized that I have spent more Thanksgiving holidays away from the U.S. than actually being there engorge in delicious Thanksgiving meal and then past out in front of TV watching marathons of the latest popular series (I…
Turkey Day!
Happy belated Thanksgiving to all! At the very last minute, a friend coaxed me into attending a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by other PCVs. If you didn’t know this about me, I am a very lazy person, socially. People like me in a crowd because I just follow whatever plans someone…
On va faire comment?
A frustrating day with things that I would rather, and probably should not go into. But I wanted to share this passage from another PCV’s blog that spoke to me. She was describing a terrible day with many things going wrong. If you spend even a few weeks actually working…
London? Paris?
In the end, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with fellow Peace Corps volunteers. And when I returned, I found my first graduate school acceptance in my inbox! After first deciding to return to grad school after my two years in Africa, I tweaked my decisions a bit and ended up…
World AIDS Day
As a Peace Corps Volunteer, one of the global, cross-sector initiative is HIV/AIDS awareness and education. In honor of World AIDS Day, Kate organized a day-long seminar at her post at St. Augustine School in Foumbot and invited volunteers in the surrounding area to participate. Up until this event, I…
Fancy Gas Station in Mbouda
To you, the above picture is just a normal gas station that you stop in all day long to pick up a soda, a cup of coffee, some snacks. For me, I almost fainted when I walked into this fancy gas station in the town of Mbouda. Mbouda is a…
Dear Santa, I made you cookies, please come by!
Christmas is upon us, and until few days ago, the holiday season really hasn’t phased me. I carried on with my everyday life and didn’t think much of it. But these past few days, I’ve been missing the Christmas spirit. Here in Cameroon, people do celebrate Christmas, but nothing is…
2009 Year-In-Review
Happy New Year to my lovely readers! In 2009, I spent the entire calendar year in Cameroon. The last time I spent an entire calendar year in the same country was 2004. The constant locality made me feel as though nothing much happened, but in close examination, 2009 was yet…
Limbé
Located in the Southwest region of Cameroon, Limbé is one of my favorite towns in the country, and my preferred beach vacation destination here in Cameroon. After Christmas, I spent a few days there both for business and pleasure. I needed to visit Limbé City Library, one of the participating…
Another New Beginning
Happy New Year to all! 2009 was a fulfilling year for me where I spent the entire calendar year in Cameroon with the Peace Corps. 2010 is the year that I will depart. When I received my invitation to the Peace Corps that read August 2008 – August 2010, the…
Tuck-of-War
Who is richer? A millionaire who has never left the continental U.S.? Or someone of the same age who has just enough money in the bank account for his next trip to his 150th country? With the arrival of the new year, I am becoming ever more anxious with the…