7th Week (much-needed) Funtime

I went to a college that had the good sense to use a trimester system. There were three 10-week terms that made up the academic year, and we took a manageable three classes per term. So it's been pretty easy for me to draw parallels between a familiar Carleton term and my 10-week Pre-Service Training. There were always peaks and valleys during each term in college, and it's seeming like those patterns are holding fairly true for this as well. We're in the middle of our 7th week, and I'm hoping all my Carls out there will have a good idea of how I'm holding up. It's the calm before the storm. The end is in sight, but it's still too far away to start coasting. Luckily, the Peace Corps has been doing this long enough to anticipate all of these feelings (it's a little scary how predictable our emotions seem to be) and have conveniently planned another trip out of Bafia, at least for the LIFE (Linking Income, Food, and the Environment) volunteers. This is my program, so my friends and I boarded a bus headed for Bangangte, in the West Province last Sunday. We spent two days there and learned various technical skills and the accompanying French vocabulary. Some trip highlights included a visit to a teaching farm that trains local farmers in ecological practices and a practical session in grafting and marcotting. I've never been one to get very excited about plants (as my friends in my Plant Bio class can attest), but it turns out that plants can do some pretty cool things. I'm not going to describe marcotting here, but look it up. So cool. Learning technical skills in French was a new experience for us and definitely had its challenges, but the accompanying demonstrations allowed us to get a pretty good grasp on the skills. The trip also allowed us a much needed opportunity to spend some time together outside of class, which we took full advantage of. The first night brought singing on the balcony into the night (including some T-Swift!!), and the second a movie night complete with snacks and wine. Not too rough. Other recent happenings-we had a soja (soy) demonstration (also in French-turns out they're pretty serious about this language learning) this past Saturday where we learned how to make soymilk and tofu. The Peace Corps heavily stresses IGAs (Income Generating Activities) as a way to assist local communities, and this one seems like it has a lot of potential. The tofu can be skewered with a little bit of pepper and onion and sold on the side of the road, which seems to be a main sales venue here. It takes quite a while to make soymilk, and even longer to take tofu, but that definitely isn't an obstacle for cooking here. In fact, it seems to be a prerequisite of sorts for any potential meal in Cameroon. There is one type of plant that requires intensive scrubbing before it can be cooked. With a sponge. But I digress. After the women teaching us finished making the tofu, they mixed it with some vegetables and sauce and ended up with the best tofu I've ever eaten. Side note-I heard rumors before I came here that the main seasoning in Cameroon is MSG, which I couldn't possibly believe. The rumors are true. All prepared food contains Maggi, a soy sauce lookalike that is basically straight MSG. I was ardently opposed to it for the first few weeks until I realized that it's in almost everything that we've been eating. My low point came when I caught myself adding it to my lunch at one point during our trip to the West. My last point for today will be on clothing, both new and old. It was pretty tough to pack for this adventure, as I was told that no one wears shorts but that the weather is always hot and sticky. I've been surviving just fine with what I brought, but my stage-mates and I have begun the adventure of having clothing made. The process is completely different than clothes shopping in the US, and begins by picking out the fabric that you want your clothes to be made out of, called pagne, (pan-yuh) which is usually extremely colorful and patterned. You then take the fabric to your favorite tailor, along with a sketch or picture of what you would like made. Theoretically you could just explain exactly how you want your clothes to be made, but this requires a higher level of French competency than I possess and also probably a high degree of trust in your tailor. My first foray into Cameroonian fashion was a dress, with a moderate degree of success. It looks pretty much nothing like I expected (or my picture looked like), but I'm happy with it nonetheless. This summer in the US I finally achieved my longtime goal of finding denim overall shorts (romperalls, if you will). It was with a heavy heart that I left them back home, but I was determined to get a similar (longer) pair made here. It took quite a bit of explaining (and three fittings), but I finally received the finished product yesterday. Pictures will hopefully come soon, but I would say that they're a huge success. TL, DR: My trip to the West Province served as a much needed break and bonding experience for the LIFE volunteers, but we're getting close to finishing up training. We're even starting to look the part!

Teaching farm in Bangangte