ReEntry Entry #4

It's been almost 6 months since I got back from Cameroon. I'm starting to miss parts of it more. The simplicity mostly. I actually kind of miss being a have-not in some ways. I feel like my life is cushy and I'm going soft here in the States. As frustrating as it was to not have access to things that would make life easier, there was something really gratifying in being able to improvise or compromise. Another thing that I miss is waking up and knowing that I'd probably see something I'd never seen before. No longer do I get to see people riding on top of tractor trailer's stacked way over their safe height. No longer do Muslim ranchers drive cows past my house. No longer do I get to attend open air markets (stressful though they were - I don't miss being catcalled). These days I still look forward to seeing something I don't every day, but those moments are less frequent here than in Africa. I also really miss the gym I worked out at and all the characters there. That place in and of itself was a people-watching treat.
 Tonight I decided to write after starting to listen to some of the Cameroonian songs that were popular while I was over there. Due to my studies I haven't been able to do a whole lot of French practice, but I was really surprised when I started listening to one of the songs and was able to get the gist of what it was saying! For the record, the meaning is rather unsavory. My memories of Cameroon are fading a lot faster than I wish they would, but I am so glad that I kept a daily journal. Of all the things I didn't do that the SM office recommended I do, I'm glad this one wasn't it! Another thing that took me back to thinking of my African home was that I received an email today from Mission 360 magazine saying that one of the stories I sent in will be published in February 2017's issue. Keep an eye out for it!

ReEntry Entry 3

It's one week shy of being 1 year since I first made it to Cameroon. In one week I will be facing starting my junior year of college the next Monday (part of the reason I'm writing this the week I am, I expect I'll be pretty busy next week!) I still remember getting off the plane and wondering what am I getting myself into? One year older, one year wiser, I do realize what I got myself into. It was another year of life, but it was a year that is nothing like any of the other 21 that I've been through. When returned SM's say they learned more in their year as an SM than they ever did in one year of school, I can definitely identify. I experienced all the ins and outs of near total independence (in a third world country this has some ramifications above and beyond cooking for oneself). A lot of things after returning have started to fall into place. I did grow as a person. I did get great, relevant experience in a field similar to what I intend to pursue as a career. I did learn how to take care of myself when I was hungry, sick, lost, lonely, an ethnic minority, and didn't know the language. I did fill out endless paperwork without going insane. Well not totally insane at least.

One reason I'm so excited to be back in Walla Walla is to network with some other returned SM's. Every former SM I talked to before embarking on the trip told me how great of a time they had and how much it strengthened their spirituality. To be 100% candid, I had essentially the opposite experience with my spiritual journey. Some of that's probably on me, I could have done more to cultivate my faith, but I questioned God, my purpose, and life in general more that year than I can ever remember. I suppose that's a healthy thing to do, but I still find myself waiting on some answers. It seems to me that the post-mission support is very strong at WWU and I'm hoping for that to come in handy as I communicate/commiserate with other returned SM's. Obviously I can't hope all of that will magically be fixed just by relocating myself to a college campus, but I also doubt I'm a unique case.

Bottom line, I think the next step in my journey is something that I hope to develop throughout this next schoolyear. I want my prayer to be (and if you want to pray this for me too, I would appreciate it) that, looking back on that chapter of my life, I won't see it all as something I did all by myself, but that I will look back and see God helping me through all of it. Not only that, but this entire experience wasn't ever supposed to be about me, but about helping others. I still struggle with feeling like I made a lick of difference there, but it comes full circle pretty fast when I remind myself that helping others for my gratification is still intrinsically about me, and I need to just let that go. I was willing and able-bodied and now I need to trust that God did the rest.

To at least end on a happy note, in rereading my 2nd reentry entry, I recognize that I'm now in a generally happier state of mind than I was 2 months ago. I have seen most of my friends, and everything seems to be returning back to "normal" in some ways. I would say that I've essentially reintegrated as far as I can tell, at least superficially.

ReEntry Entry #2

It's been just over 2 months since I got back to the States. It's kind of the same feeling I had after my first 2 months in Africa - the honeymoon stage is over. The novelty of eating good ice cream and having a fridge has worn off, but like a blurry image coming into focus, the longer I'm back, the more perspective I've gained on my experience in Cameroon. It's still not totally clear, but I'm finding I can articulate more easily the things I miss and the merits of my experiences over there. I'm becoming increasingly content with the amount of stuff I DID get to do, even though I spent an inordinate amount of time twiddling my thumbs too. The more I've talked to people about it, the more I've realized that I got to do some pretty neat stuff at the hospital that I couldn't have anywhere else really. Of course I would have liked to do more of the hands on stuff like starting IV's and giving injections, but I definitely came to the realization that a big chunk of a physician's career is spent doing the menial stuff: Paperwork, repetitive examinations, diagnoses, and writing prescriptions to name a few things. I heard a saying that I wish I had heard in Africa, and it goes something like this: Even if your job is tasting pies, you're gonna taste a bad pie every now and then. Not sure if that would have helped me feel better while I was IN the situation, but it sure seems applicable to me now! Another thing that's helped is the job I have now I'm getting a ton of shadowing and hands-on experience. It's keeping me steadily busy which is a nice change. I'm really grateful to have the job, and I feel like I'm making up for lost time and slowly stretching my mind back into shape.


Speaking of being busy, that's one thing I don't feel like I've completely gotten used to yet back here. Life is up and down as usual, but I feel like I was riding a bike over rolling hills in Cameroon, and when I got back home I'm now riding a pogo stick in an earthquake. The summer has been simultaneously great, awful, relaxing, stressful, and many other adjectives. I mean in 8 weeks of being back I've gone skydiving, celebrated my brother's graduation, coughed for 4 weeks and been diagnosed with bronchitis, attended 5 baseball games (checking off numbers 6 and 7 next week), lost 5 pounds, driven thousands of miles, hugged hundreds of friends and relatives, lost a good friend, sold a car, and worked full time for the last 6 weeks. I don't have the feeling of control I vaguely remember having pre-Africa. It seems like things are progressing so quickly and I don't really have time to process it all. I was feeling overwhelmed, out of place, and frankly a little beaten down recently. It took me until a few days ago to recall "Oh yeah, I just got back from the other side of the world. That must be why I'm feeling kinda off". The good news is that I'm pretty sure this is all normal. They don't mess around when they say it's harder to reintegrate in your own culture than it is to get used to another one. I catch myself wishing things would be more like they were before I left. I don't think it's "things" that's changed though, it's been me. I kinda hope the general feeling of gnawing discontent goes away though, it's pretty crummy. I think that right now I yearn for the old normal, and eventually my present reality will become the new normal. Being an SM was "life changing" that's for sure!


Just within the past week or so I've had flashbacks from Africa which is new. I'll imagine myself jogging across the street with a bag full of groceries or hailing a taxi, pretty mundane stuff but what strikes me is the color. These memories have such vivid amounts of color, the perpetual green of the jungle plants , the day-glo yellow taxis driving up and down the road, the blue sky that is almost eclipsed by the sheer size of Mt. Cameroon in the backdrop. The reddish dirt, black rocks, and even the multicolored garbage on the roadside sticks pretty clearly in my mind. I remember Cameroon being so colorful, which would have struck me as hilarious if you told me while I was there that I would be remembering the color later on. The suppressed painter in me (VERY suppressed - I'm a horrendous painter) really longs to see colors so intense again. Anyway, I still miss the gym, I still miss the excuse (and the time) to study and practice French, and I still don't miss the food that much.

Taking the Long Way Home

This entry is going to be more pictures than anything, but I've finally had time to sit down and write something after being home nearly 1 week. Unpacking has been a little tough to be motivated for since there's so much going on here, but I've finished finally. On my way home I stopped in Paris for 4 days, the pictures are documenting that trip (I have about 250 pictures, but I picked the 20 or so best ones). Since I've been home it's almost as if I never left. I'm still a little awestruck when I go to a grocery store and realize that there's more choices on one aisle than in most stores in Buea, and everything here seems a little expensive...    I spent enough on one banana in LAX to buy me about 25 in Cameroon. Airport food is kind of a rip off anyway, but that's beside the point. Also I'm really enjoying having a washing machine and fridge at my disposal. At any rate, on to the photos.

Sacre Coeur basilica. Pretty cool on the outside, crowded on the inside.

I stayed in the 19th arrondisement near the canal which was a really neat area

Gare St. Lazare. Just had a cool platform so I snapped a photo

Place des Vosges - Oldest planned square in Paris. Former neighborhood of Victor Hugo. Square trees and identical houses all the way around calmed the dormant OCD in me.

The dome above Napoleon's tomb

Napoleon is somewhere inside that big brown box

Right after a snack/picnic of bread and cheese in the grass

First time I've seen the Statue of Liberty (funny enough, it wasn't the one in the States...)

View from the Arc de Triomphe. Best view of the Paris skyline in my opinion

Louvre courtyard

My favorite thing in the Louvre. Count the legs!

Stained glass "rose window" inside the Notre Dame cathedral

Selfie sticks are finally getting the attention they deserve

Absolutely stunning stained glass in Sainte Chappelle. Picture is a poor representation of the grandeur. Interesting stories about this place in WWII. They took all the glass down and hid it in a basement to protect from bombings.

The iconic polar bear of the Musee D'Orsay

Formerly a train station. Great ambient lighting for the numerous sculptures there.

The Catacombs. Little boring after a while, but I went and saw old bones.

Jardin de Luxembourg. Quite a nice manicured garden, complete with tennis courts, a palace, and overpriced crepes

Adieu, Cameroon

Well, this is going to be my last regular blog post. On Sunday I fly out of Douala, with a layover in Addis, to Dublin. From Dublin I will take a 5 day detour to Paris, which I'm extremely excited about. After that I will return to Dublin and catch a flight to LAX, then SFO. It will be good to be back on American soil, that's for sure.

I've got a short list so far of what I'll miss in Cameroon. Most if it is pretty abstract. I am still so excited to be home that thinking of concrete and menial things that I'll miss is pretty hard, but I'm sure the realizations will come. I could write a real long list of things I don't miss, but I don't think that would be quite as constructive of an exercise, and it might taint the view that you, my audience, hold of me. At any rate, I'll stick with the positive parts of my experience here.

I will definitely miss the vibe at the weightlifting gym that I frequent 2-3 times/week. It's frustrating and crowded sometimes, but the place is so alive and busy, I think every weight room from now on will feel eerily lonely and empty, and almost institutionally clean. This gym isn't state-of-the-art by American standards, but it has character that I never thought a simple weight room could have. And the other people that fill the place just add to that character.

I am going to miss having the excuse, motivation, and most of all, the time to learn French. One great thing about being in Cameroon is that I have no shortage of time. I just have a shortage of things to fill that time with. Exercise is an integral part of my life wherever I go, but learning French is something that I wouldn't necessarily have dedicated myself to so seriously if I hadn't come here. Furthermore, I really really really hope I will have the determination in the future to stick with it and continue improving, not throwing away all that I've spent this time to learn.

Yes, I have sat and twiddled my thumbs for an inordinate amount of time here, but I have also had some opportunities to do things that I never would have been able to do in the States. Gee, that's vague. Let me expound: Watching ultrasounds, watching a baby be born, watching a circumcision, starting IV's, injecting medications, prescribing medications (with a doctor's approval), climbing the tallest active volcano in Africa, swimming in the Atlantic on the "west coast" at a black sand beach, seeing a naked guy walk unimpeded (by clothes or otherwise) down the street, eating a mango straight from the tree, seeing snails the size of a baseball, buying a week's worth of groceries for $10, and sitting in a 15 passenger van with 25 people in it. New things will happen in my life no matter where I am, but this "flavor" of unexpected surprises will be something that I will never really get again. Sure, these highlights were punctuations in hours of bang-your-head-against-the-wall boredom, but the highlights are what I'm gonna remember most.

While I won't miss it directly, I think the inefficiency and incompetence here will be something I'm acutely cognizant of when it's gone. Yes, it's a huge inconvenience, but I almost feel like the incredulity and dumfoundedness I experience almost daily is going to leave a hole when I don't have it anymore. I'm used to waking up each day and trying to guess what the dumbest thing I'll see or hear about will be, and yet...   I'm still always surprised. Maybe that makes jaded, but I really think that having something (or someone) to laugh about/at has helped me through this experience. Besides, it's teaching me to laugh it off, try to make the best of the situation, and  not sweat the small stuff.

I know most people find freedom of choice to be a life or death matter, but I've learned here that sometimes there's freedom in not having to make a choice. For instance I can pretty much only ever have 1-ply toilet paper here (Although two weeks ago I had a choice between pink or white). I don't have to choose the temperature of my shower, it's always chilly. There's one brand of chocolate here (you can find other candy bars, but for pure chocolate you get Mambo or you get nothing). I mean it's nice to be able to choose, but if my memory of the first world serves me correctly, there is an overload of viable choices (excluding our presidential "candidates"). Soap, shampoo, conditioner, "face soap with exfoliating beads". Sudoku or crossword puzzle. Cheerios and milk or granola and yogurt. Pandora or Spotify. Flip flops or wingtips. Whose car I'll drive. And then I gotta actually leave the house! Usually at the store I just pick whatever's the cheapest per serving, but I think the other decisions are gonna be hard for a while.

On the concrete side, I'll miss these small, lifechanging snacks called chin-chin. These little deep fried, sweet golden wonton chips of joy can't truly be appreciated until they're experienced. The flavor is most closely related to animal crackers, but they're so much more than that to me. I'm sure a recipe could be found online, but I think there's a secret ingredient that's closely guarded by some ancient African witchy woman.

Continuing with the tangible stuff, of course I will miss a number of my coworkers. The workplace is so much more interesting with all the different personalities, and I think each of my colleagues has brought a little something into my life and/or taught me something new whether I realize it or not. I think one thing that I'll miss is that any time I wear shorts and a t-shirt, people here at the hospital will ask me if I'm going to "make sport" (their funny way of saying exercise), and me explaining and reexplaining that, no, this is just the way I dress. I guess it's an honest mistake because sometimes I actually am going to "make sport", so it could be a little confusing. Following this logic though, I should go around asking everyone in blue jeans if they're going to "prospect gold", and everyone wearing flip-flops if they're headed to "make shower".

Even though it's ephemeral, I'll miss the view of the mountain. Most days it's not that good, but when it's good, it's great. Cameroon has very little to offer as far as wildlife viewing, and I'm still disappointed that the biggest "game" I've seen was a chihuahua sized rodent (so much for my aspirations of seeing elephants, giraffes, and zebras). On the other hand, as a closet bird-watcher I've found the avian life here to be pretty diverse and different than what I'm used to. I brought binoculars, but no field guide unfortunately. Next time I come to Africa I won't be caught with my pants around my ankles though, I'll  be better prepared.

Will I miss Cameroon? Parts, yes. Will I be back someday? Maybe. Did I have a good time? Yeah. Did I have a bad time? Yeah, that too. Was it really the hardest thing I've ever done? Not by most definitions of "hard". Did God put me here for a reason? I wish I knew the reason, but I have to believe the answer is "Undoubtedly".

TL;DR Leaving Sunday morning. Douala>Addis Ababa>Dublin>Paris>Dublin>Los Angeles>SFO. Will take the scenic route home through Paris! Looking forward to practicing my French. Abridged list of things I'll miss: Time on my hands, workout vibes, certain opportunities (although few and far between), the ridiculous stuff I see every day, some of the people, some of the views.

Quittin' Time

Today I logged my last day of regular work here at the hospital. As of today I will never have to write a single letter in that registration book again. The relief is indescribable. I think this Sunday is going to be a general cleaning of the operating room to get it prepared for use, so I might volunteer for that.  One of my coworkers just kind of casually mentioned that now that I'm done working I'm just a tourist. I had never thought about it like that, but he's definitely right! Also, a few people have actually told me that they're gonna miss me. I'm not sure if they're just being polite but it really made me feel good to know that they'll at least notice that I'm gone. I was a little unsure there for a while if anyone even cared that I was here, but it looks like maybe there are a few.

Yesterday I learned that Cameroon observes Cinco de Mayo. Actually it was Ascension day so it's just nationally observed so that everyone can go to their mid-day mass. Even though our staff is predominantly Adventist, a lot of people were late or didn't show up. Far be it from them to refuse a day off! I showed up because I'm a sucker and didn't know it was a holiday. We spent most of the day with a slow trickle of patients. After learning it was Ascension Day, I took an extended lunch break and did a little ascension of my own, up the hill to the grocery store. It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I had to get out and enjoy it some. It was partly cloudy, probably low 30s, and with a breeze so the humidity wasn't as bad. The mountain was in clear view. A 30 minute walk up the hill did me good.

You know, I'm just gonna come right out and confess: I've had phone anxiety for most of my life. I think everyone is a little bit this way, and I don't get really nervous unless I'm making a call to someone I don't know, or someone who is a notorious mumbler. Cameroon has made this problem 100x worse than it was before. First of all, the call quality is a dumpster fire. I would be better off using two tin cans connected by a string. Which would also be nice because of point number two: You pay for every second of call time. Each and every time I have to ask someone to repeat themselves, it's burning through my phone credit. Phone credit is one of the more expensive things here, and you don't get what you pay for (see point 1). The third and final grievance is simple user error. I've gotten a lot better at understanding the accents here,  but I've also learned how much I rely on lip reading to do so. When I'm on the phone, this technique doesn't exactly work. Additionally, there's nowhere you can go in Buea where there won't be a ton of background noise (that's another story though). The last thing is that if you ask someone to repeat themselves enough times, they will remove the phone from their ear, place the receiver about 1 mm from their mouth, and yell as loudly as they can (regardless of who's around or how small a space they're in). This is counterintuitive because yelling into the phone that close to your mouth is the best way to ensure that the other person won't have a prayer of understanding what you're saying. Fortunately, I see people talking in this fashion all the time, so I think I'm in good company when it comes to asking "Could you say that one more time?" For every ounce more phone shy I've gotten, I've found that I'm equally less pee shy at least! People go when and wherever they please. I've even been confronted mid-stream by someone saying I couldn't pee where I was currently peeing. I politely stared them in the eye and smiled as I finished the job, and while zipping up I offhandedly mentioned that it must be the only place in Cameroon where peeing is not allowed.

There's a running joke with me and the Cameroonian nurses here. One day after I was thoroughly tired of being badgered about marrying a Cameroonian and taking her back to the States with me, I said that I couldn't afford two plane tickets back to the States, so I would gladly marry one but she would have to take one of the sketchy big canoes across the Atlantic and meet me in New York. They all thought this was pretty funny, so now that I'm about to leave some of them have been joking to me about buying their boat ticket to New York. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I think making a joke out of it was a pretty good idea because now both sides can appreciate it cropping up in conversation. Before I always cringed and avoided, and dreaded the eventual accusation of only liking white girls. I mean I ain't blind, I've seen beautiful girls here, but my short life has taught me that you can find as many 10s as you want, but if your common ground is a 1, things will suck. There's just such a disparity between my background and a Cameroonian's. So now I just tell people that if a girl can swim or owns a good life jacket that I'm down. I'm still dodging around the questions, but now at least it makes them laugh.

TL;DR My work here is done. Yesterday I had a semi-holiday to celebrate Ascension day/Cinco de Mayo. Talking on the phone here has given me a complex, but Cameroon has increased my ability to brazenly pee anywhere I please. I'm bring back a few souvenirs but a shiny new wife is not one of them, much to the dismay of many eligible ladies here.

 Not sure why they have to overcomplificate things so much, but I suspect they're using fancy jargon to get customers to spring for a muffler bearing flush. Either that or George Bush wrote this sign.

Another One for the History Books

Well the week has been pretty mediocre. Last weekend I had nothing to do. I went to church which was hot, long, and uncomfortable. Sunday I had no plans so I decided to try and see if I could do 1000 pushups in a day. Got it done in just over 5 hours. The workweek saw me filling in more of the book. One might ask what the girl who came to replace me is doing. I honestly don't know. The hospital has a tendency of hiring people even when they don't have a use for them (which is probably how I ended up here, but that's not the point). Anyway, she is still around and spends a lot of time in the drug storeroom. Neither of us are very busy. Yesterday I taught her how to do sudoku and I think I've created a monster. After I helped her with two, I told her to look some up online or download an app for her phone. She was super excited about it, and it was cool to be able to teach somebody something new and have them respond so positively.  Another highlight of the week was subbing for the pharmacist for 3 hours. The pharmacy wasn't busy, but I got to sit in a more comfortable chair for a while! The good news is that as of today, I have 5 days of work left. I figure I can handle anything for just 5 days. Well, kinda 5 days. As I was quietly chanting TGIF to myself, the head nurse informed me that he wants me to come in on Sunday to help do a report. Not wild about that idea but he said it's gonna take only an hour. So I'll help for an hour. But I'm leaving after that whether it's done or not! There are 2 weeks left until I head out, and I told the admin staff some time ago that I want my last week here off so I can pack, get rid of the stuff in my apartment, buy some last minute souvenirs, say goodbye to people, and do some final planning for my visit to Paris on the way home. It probably won't take an entire week to do these things, but I'd rather have too much time than not enough. Plus, now that I'm back on book duty I'm really glad I asked for that last week off.

I've watched a handful of ultrasounds this past week, and I also attended a 7am staff meeting that almost became a fistfight. That was...     unique. I wasn't even going to go to the meeting since I'm leaving soon and it started an hour earlier than work usually starts, but I figured it was my last chance to go to one and it might be interesting. I wasn't disappointed! People really like harboring grudges around here, and then they dig them all up and unload on each other during staff meetings. As a completely uninvolved party, it didn't seem like much progress was made in this fashion, but it was a little excitement to start the day off. The rest of the day was pretty tense! It's funny (and when I say funny I mean distressing), these people are very quick to forget the good things that come their way but when someone does them wrong they carry it to their grave (which might be in the near future if things escalate too far!) I feel like I'm pretty good about letting stuff go and staying neutral when it comes to workplace drama, but seeing these ugly grudge matches here is a poignant lesson to me to stay determined to let things roll off my back. I've gotten pretty good at taking a deep breath, counting to 10, asking myself how important this will be in 5 years (or even months or days). Gotta pick your battles!

The weather has been pretty nice this past week. We had one day where it rained for 2 hours really hard, and another cloudy day, but otherwise I'm not convinced that the rainy season is on its way. I was under the impression that by now it would be stormy and stuff. Guess not! I'm still really enjoying being able to keep track of the Giant's games. Usually they're in the middle of the night so I just watch highlights the next day, but every so often one happens at a reasonable time and I'll keep tabs on it. Between that and working out at the gym, it makes the time pass a lot quicker!

I've started to think that I've had a backwards experience here. Just from what I've picked up from my SM peers, it seems that most of them started out pretty homesick and weirded out by the place, and now as the time comes they're sad to leave. For me I was the opposite. I showed up and was stoked about all the new experiences and didn't worry about home so much. But as my time to leave approaches, I am quite sufficiently ready. That's not to say I won't miss some aspects of Cameroon, but I don't feel like I have a whole lot of reason to stick around. I've pretty much seen all there is to see, done all there is to do, and I'm ready to move on. At this point, the list of things I'm excited to do when I get home is a lot longer than the list of things I'll miss here. I tend to spend more time thinking about the future than the past, so maybe I come by that honestly. And I'll probably realize more of the things I miss about here once I'm actually home and can't access them anymore. Definitely the few friends I've made here will be one of the things I miss, and I guess the view of the mountain is nice, but specifics are a little hard to think of right now. I almost wonder if I'll have any reentry shock. My understanding is that reentry shock is mostly due to needing some closure. I think for me, getting on the plane at the airport will be plenty of closure. I mean, yeah, driving myself around, not getting stared at and called "white man", having air conditioning, a fridge, and a washing machine will be a novelty for like a month, but I'm not sure it's gonna be too jarring. And I don't think that's going to negatively impact my general outlook on life. Course I'll be jetlagged too for a day or two as well, but after the initial exhaustion wears off it's just going to be a week of being hungry at odd times and having to pee in the middle of the night. But that already happens to me so I won't be any worse off!

TL;DR Lightning round of weeks highlights: 1000 pushups in a day, ultrasounds, lots of book filling, sudoku teaching, staff drudging up grudges, subbing in the pharmacy. Other stuff covered this entry: The weather (fine), the Giants (great), and my thoughts on leaving Cameroon (I'm ready)

Some Things Never Change

I've had several people ask me (well not really ask, but imply that they wonder) how I find something to blog about every week. Some weeks are harder than others, but even when I have a typical, same old, same old week, I've usually come up with a few original thoughts. Maybe not about something cool that happened, but something I've just noticed about living here. I write a daily journal for one thing, so that keeps my information and thoughts fresh in my mind to return to later, although I've lately been really bad about forgetting to journal (and take my antimalaria pill!). It gives me a chance to toy with my thoughts on paper - tangibly, not just in my mind. I also have hours on end to myself each day. I do spend a lot of time filling it with "white noise" distractions like the internet and movies, but for 5 or 10 minutes here and there (more when the internet's on the fritz!) I have a lot of time to just ponder stuff. Unfortunately this occurs most strongly when I'd like to be falling asleep, but I get my 8 hours 80% of the time so I'm not gonna complain too much. Like any other skill that can be honed with use, I've found that I'm getting a lot better at noticing things about my environment that are noteworthy just because I've been doing it all this time. The rest is just the ability to take that noteworthy thing and write enough about it to make it seem interesting. I think I've gotten a fair amount of practice at this too. Also the pressure to have something for both of my regular readers (That'd be you, Mom and Dad) is a bit of a fire under me to think up something good. Either way, I appreciate the feedback I get and answering questions is an even better exercise in relating my daily life here.

On Saturday night I got a chance to see a choir concert at the University of Buea. One of the girls who attends the Adventist church was in the choir and had quite a few solos! It was cool to see a fellow Adventist representing well on stage. The concert didn't start on time (not a big surprise! Went an hour late anyway and still sat around for another half an hour). I was really surprised at how good the choir was though! They undertook some pretty ambitious pieces, but I was impressed nonetheless. They also didn't use music at all, which was impressive in itself since they sang around 18 songs, and not short ones either!

This last weekend I went to Douala AGAIN (That's twice in 2 weeks!). This time the objective was to sell my guitar to a doctor who came and visited the hospital in Buea for a few days and stayed in my apartment with me. I took a minivan there, buying out both of the passenger seats in the front (yes, they put two people in the front passenger seat usually.) Anyways it was super comfortable and definitely worth every penny/franc. Funny how I no longer take a seat to myself for granted. The weirdest part of getting home will be being in a car by myself. Driving wherever I want, whenever I want, with whomever I choose. Anyways, once I got to Douala I met the doctor and we made the exchange without a hitch. It went so smoothly I could hardly believe it! After that I did a final blitz through the two supermarkets I frequent out that way to buy just enough groceries to last me until I leave for home. I left from Buea at 6 am and made it back by around 1, so I had the rest of the day to relax.

I did more nursing this week until Thursday, when I was told that the girl who replaced me has a project in the pharmacy department and they need me to fill in for her at the patient registry. During the meeting I brought up the fact that I'm leaving in 3 weeks, and this seemed to catch them by surprise a little bit. Basically what transpired is that they decided I'm better off just finishing my work here doing the register for my last few weeks of working. I'm not too torn up about this I guess. I liked working in the nursing department, but it was hard work! I definitely got to do some interesting things in my 2 weeks on the beat, but most of the time I was just a gopher, walking back and forth between the pharmacy and hospital, up and down between the first and second stories dozens of times per day. I think I could have managed with it for the rest of my time but I'll never really know!
I'm starting to get really excited to finally just be home and back in my element. I'm wondering how much of it is going to be exactly as I imagine though. I mean, I might get back and realize that I've changed so much that parts of home seem foreign to me. And it might not be as relaxing as I've been expecting. I think I'll come around pretty quick, but I've missed a lot in the past 8 months! My family has gotten a new couch since I left, and they may even have a gotten a different car by the time I'm there too. I'm sure that Merced will have changed some too. I'm hoping that most of the roadwork on the freeway is finished and they've opened the on-ramp that's been closed since I got my driver's license!

For anyone interested, calling the "collect" number for my bank STILL costs me an arm and a leg, and I get cut off every time in the middle of the conversation. Needless to say it's pretty freaking frustrating and I've wasted probably 10 bucks in my time here just in making 3 or 4 calls, none of which resulted in any progress. I could have lit a 10 dollar bill on fire and gotten more use out of it that way. All I want to do is notify my bank that I'll be travelling internationally so my account doesn't get frozen! Moral of the story: Calling collect is a lie.

TL;DR Went to Douala, got moved back to the registration book. Also got to see a choir concert which was probably one of the best organized events I've attended here. Going through the phone menu/corn maze of a large American corporation is even more frustrating when you have to pay like a dollar a minute to call internationally. Even when on hold!

Quite possibly the best view of the mountain I've ever had!

Unfortunately warnings like these don't stop the drivers from doing 75 miles per hour on windy, potholed roads

There's Something About Maryland

Today marks exactly one month before my departure from Cameroon! Last week I would have told you it won't be bittersweet at all, but after being transferred I might actually miss this a little! My new job in the nursing department keeps me a lot more busy! I almost wish they would have transferred me sooner. Funny to think a week and a half ago I thought I wouldn't have anything to do here. Now it seems like this last month I will do more medically related stuff than I ever did before! Since last Thursday I've observed 5 ultrasounds, one of which was a Doppler (during slow hours in the nursing department), started 4 IV's, and mixed and dispensed countless other meds via IV ports (gave one girl her meds as she was in the process of vomiting. Right before my lunch break. That was interesting). I've cut myself on glass ampoules of injectable vitamin B, almost stabbed myself and at least one of my colleagues with syringes (fortunately they weren't contaminated yet), but never let it be said that I'm not learning and improving every day! I was even THIS close to seeing a delivery, but the patient gave birth so quickly that I missed it. I feel like my day is coming though!

Last weekend I got to go see a chief's coronation. The husband of the lady who does echography here was "elected" so there was a big ceremony. It was pretty similar to most other ceremonies I've been to. Loud music during all but the most important parts, beer company advertisements everywhere, a micromanaging and MC who clearly loved the sound of his own voice, late start due to waiting for the most important attendee (some big wig "District Officer" or something), and a big lunch afterwards. Luckily for me I showed up 2 hours late which ended up being right on time! I beat the DO by only 20 or 30 minutes which couldn't have worked out better! The ceremony itself wasn't terribly interesting in actuality, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I can say I've experienced it! Plus, Mme. Suzanne has been really nice to me while I've been here so I was glad to be able to go out and support the family! I was the only white person there, and they put me in the front row, sent me through the food line basically first, so I felt like a real VIP.

Yesterday after work one of the nurses actually thanked me for my help throughout the day and told me what a big help I was. I cannot tell you how big of an impact this made on me. This is the first time anyone has thanked me since I've gotten here. Not only that, but she told me I was helpful. That made up for at least 3 of the last 6 months of thanklessly slogging through patient paperwork. I didn't come here for recognition, but everyone can use a little affirmation every now and again. It's just nice to know that I was even able to make a difference one day, and being able to contribute to the hospital's productivity is the only thing I ever wanted here. I didn't come here expecting to be saving lives, that would be naive, but I wanted to at least have some tangible effect on patient's recovery, which I now get to do theoretically for the next 4 weeks until I leave.

 I'm not yet sold on switching my major to nursing or anything. It's a lot of education to go through to spend all day on your feet, cleaning up all kinds of bodily excretions, and trying to show the patients that you care (even when you don't sometimes!). I've definitely come to respect the sheer amount of work that nurses have to do each day. Paperwork, constant complaints/inquiries/general monkeybusiness from patients (who think they know more about their treatment than trained medical professionals) and visitors (who never observe the posted visiting hours and also feel obligated to give their medical opinion on their loved one's condition). Not to mention admitting patients, getting medications dispensed, communicating well with the doctor, etc! They're definitely stretched thin during their shift! In my personal experience, the only ones I ever hear talking about "how busy nurses are" is nurses (and boy do they beat the horse to death sometimes). I always kind of just dismissed it as a biased opinion. I mean what vocation goes around bragging that they don't work very hard? Besides maybe day-traders, golfers, food critics, professional poker players...    but I digress. Basically everyone says they work hard. Now my opinion has changed though: Nurses have earned the right to say the work hard (as if they were waiting for permission). I get done with the day and I just really want to sit down on good days, and take a nap on hectic ones. Combined with working out 3-4 nights a week and an overactive mind at bedtime and I'm practically a zombie as I write this now! Take away for me? Go easy on nurses in the future. I'm not gonna go around saying all nurses are underpaid and overworked, but at the very least they're often underappreciated! I hope that no matter where I end up, whether it's a career in healthcare or otherwise, that I remember my time working in the nursing department here and how it kicked my butt.

Every once in a while I'll meet a person here who has a friend or relative in the States. Without fail, whenever I ask where the person's living the answer is always the same: Maryland. Actually for the past two months every time someone mentions an acquaintance in the States, I just ask how they like living in Baltimore. I even tried asking one person if their friend was an Ravens fan, but the response was a blank stare. I'm not sure why every Cameroonian picks Maryland. Doesn't seem like there's anything special about it, and besides, isn't it a little on the cold side? Maybe they don't really get a choice where to go in the States...   I'm not sure! Personally I've never been to Maryland, but it's an interesting mental exercise to mix two completely separate "compartments" in my mind that have never touched before. I see a typical American city with an honest-to-goodness infrastructure, but also with a bunch of roadside stands, open air butcher shops, and very questionable automotive repair shops, with gutted cars stacked 3 high as far as one can see (as some sort of testament to their success rate... or lack of success). Baltimore is on my list of cities to visit someday: I'll have to get there eventually if I want to see a baseball game in every Major League ballpark, but my mental construction based on what I know of Cameroon and the U.S. separately has to be a little off the mark. I kinda was starting to wonder if anyone lives in Baltimore besides Cameroonians! Although the cuisine here is really the antithesis of vegetarian-friendly, if I ever miss Cameroonian food at least I know where to go.

TL;DR I went from no job last Wednesday to working the morning shift in the nursing department. Changes are hard, especially when  you don't know what to expect, but the winds of change blew in my favor this time. It's definitely an interesting job, and I enjoy it, but it sure is a lot of work! After 6 months of sitting around most of the day a little bit of work is probably good for me though. I'll be leaving for home in a month! It has gone by pretty quick. I got to see a chief's inauguration last weekend. It was typical Cameroonian fanfare, complete with a late start, but I was a step ahead and came 2 hours late on purpose! They put me under a canopy reserved for fairly important guests near the front of the "stage" area. I'm glad I went to support my colleague's husband, and to say that I've been, but the actual coronation ceremony wasn't exactly a Vegas show. There really is something about Maryland. It draws Cameroonians like moths to a lightbulb. I guess the 49 other lightbulbs to choose from are either too dim or don't have enough other moths flying around them to attract anybody. Kind of a strange phenomenon, but it's given me some interesting material to churn when I'm sitting around.

Where the pawns sat.

Good view from my seat

Big wig shows up. Immediately afterwards the national anthem was sung in about 6 different keys and tempos simultaneously

The new chief on his throne.

Big changes

This past Sunday I made a trip to Douala to buy groceries in a real supermarket. This is the first time I've gone alone, and let me tell you, it was an experience. I spent 2 hours crammed into the backseat of a minivan, pinned between the side of the car and a stump of a woman who weighed probably close to 120 kilos. My hips were immobilized, as well my knees for the most part. I don't consider myself a nervous person, but I fidget a lot and when my legs are stuck in one position for a long time it becomes excruciatingly painful. At any rate I spent the last hour in a considerable amount of discomfort. We got stuck in traffic which made it even more tough, not knowing how long it might take to finally reach Douala. On the open roads the guy was driving upwards of 70mph which was actually a little scary considering the condition of most passenger vehicles here.

Once finally in Douala I ended up having to walk a few places. Just to set the scene, on Sundays Douala is a complete ghost town. Hardly any roadside vendors, very few people out walking around (but the bakeries and supermarkets are open, which is all I really cared about anyway). During one walk I saw a man out on parade with not a shred of clothing on. I also had two guys approach me (with no one else in sight) and start asking me for money, in French of course. I ignored them as much as I could until one of them began to reach into my pocket. I smacked his hand away, yelled "Me touches pas, laisses moi!" as loud as I could. That's "Don't touch me, leave me alone" in French. He got the picture. Later on a motorbike, the driver stopped to ask directions (kid was hopelessly lost and with my limited French and knowledge of Douala's layout I wasn't much help). I had the money I planned to pay him for the ride in my left hand, and as he was asking a fellow for directions another guy approached me and started trying to pry my fist open! I said pretty much the same thing to him, throwing a few more "colorful" words, and then told the driver to just drive and let's get out of here.

On the drive back I sat next to another member of the 100+ club, but she was a little more curvy, and I was in the middle so I had more space to wallow around. We hit a checkpoint where all the passengers had to get out and walk along the road past the guard houses. Everyone else was grumbling but I thought I had won the lottery! A stretch break halfway to the destination? Where was this on the trip going there when my adductors were trying to buck the system?! Anyway, on top of being a white guy I'm sure I left an impression since I was the only one doing jump lunges past the check point and indiscreetly massaging my butt cheeks while waiting for the van to pick us up again.

The workweek was pretty tumultuous. On Monday there was a new intern at the hospital. By training she's a medical secretary, bottom line is that she's here to take my only job. I don't know why they never turn away job applicants, but the hospital is absurdly overstaffed. At any rate, my job on Monday was to train her in. That took about 20 minutes, the job's pretty self-explanatory. Sat around the rest of the day. Tuesday I had nothing to do. I sat around some more in the clinic and decided to carve a bar of soap to pass the time. Wednesday wasn't any better. I was tired of sitting, so I wandered around basically begging for a job to do. Ended up helping mop, then sorted a few papers, but even still I sat around mostly, and left work an hour and a half early. Even though I loathed the secretary job, I was pretty peeved that they replaced me before I even left. By Thursday I had hit my lowest point and finally went in to talk to the admin staff. They seemed a little surprised that I was saying anything, which is odd since I had no job. At any rate for Thursday I followed a nurse around and dispensed medications. At least it was something to do!  Later on in the day the head nurse came and talked to me about scheduling and talked with me more seriously about observing a delivery. I've asked about this stuff before and they've usually been super patronizing and not very helpful, but maybe now a change is coming. The doctor and his wife are going home to the Philippines in a few days, so that's also going to be a little strange not having them around.

Today I worked with the nurses again and actually got to start an IV which was pretty interesting. Next week I will also be observing the lady here who does ultrasounds, so things are looking up a bit. But most of the week was very stressful and I spent a lot of time angry and wondering what to do with myself for the next month. I was ready to up and leave on Wednesday, but I'm hoping things are going to smooth out some for the month I've got left here.

Although it's hard to keep my work life and real life completely separate, I've still been relishing the moments of not working at the hospital. I've noticed that channeling my frustrations into exercise has given me some noticeable results over the past couple weeks, and seems to calm me down. I've gained back all the weight I initially lost and have actually been putting on some muscle weight thanks to some free soy protein I managed to score. I've also still been studying French, and my newfound enjoyment of carving soap may provide me with some future entertainment. I haven't really experimented much with cooking lately, but I've got a good rhythm going and it's getting easier and easier to cook for myself. My trip to Douala yielded some different future meal options so that's a refreshing change. I'm also eternally glad that the baseball season has finally started, and cheering for the Giants (and the prospect of good even-year juju) gives me something more to appreciate. Even if the games didn't occur at really wonky times (like 3-6 am for most evening games on the west coast), the internet here is too crappy to even stream the audio broadcast of the games. Luckily I've been able to keep up with the live stat  cast during some games at reasonable hours, and watching post-game highlights.

I've gotten to the point where I'm still surviving, but I wouldn't say I'm thriving. This past week I got some other news that wasn't really unexpected, but has still been and will continue to be tough to deal with. Anyway, I could really use your thoughts and prayers as I endure this final push. April's been a rollercoaster so far, and I'm starting to get burned out and disillusioned with this whole situation. I want to leave on a good note, but I'm being pitted against the occasional temptation to leave burning skid marks on my way out of here (kinda like the DeLorean in Back to the Future). But the game face is on and I'm digging in for whatever may come my way: Good, bad, or ugly.

TL;DR Saw a buck naked guy and almost got pickpocketed twice in Douala. During the trips there my luck was bad and I managed to sit next to/be partially crushed by women who outweighed me by a solid 50-75 pounds. My job has gone through some major changes (read: I went from a boring job, to no job, to ???), so I spent most of the week twiddling my thumbs and questioning if I have a purpose here. I'm trying to enjoy that which is enjoyable, but it was rough this week. It got to the point where I wished I had a fast forward button and I could just go home. I'm still ready to go home, but it seems like some interesting potential opportunities might be headed my way. Have to wait and see.

Picture taken several weeks ago on a Sabbath afternoon hike to a swampy beach with David

Soap carving from Tuesday

I used a frontal and lateral photo from Google images as a model, turned out better than expected!

Latest soap carving which I started yesterday. Still have some finishing details to do on this one.

Butchers in Blazers

On Easter I said goodbye to David, my best friend here. His program at the University finished and he headed back to Germany. While it was tough to see him go, his absence was replaced with the realization that I'm leaving in only 6 weeks. It seems like it's gone by really fast, but as I sit here typing this the workday sure is dragging by slow. Interesting contradiction, that. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel which has me feeling predominantly excited, but that's just the main course in a gastronomy of emotions. Bottom line, I think I'm gonna make it to the end with most of my sanity intact. Work is mostly monotonous as usual. I did manage to score a new desk (well, more of a table really). The doctor got rid of this table since he got an actual desk with drawers. Anyways, this table/desk is pretty key because its surface is actually bigger than the record book! Before it was on a rolling cart which was tiny and I had to do some serious wrangling to write and keep the book on the surface, keep the cart from rolling away, etc. I've also stationed this desk in a different spot, which is pretty great. The cart was positioned so that when a staff member came through the door and left it opened (No matter how many times I asked them to close it, they would only do it about 10% of the time), I would find myself being stared at by a bench full of people in the waiting room. You'd think I have a second nose the way people stare at me here. It's pretty uncomfortable really, and I'm looking forward to going back home where everybody gets me mixed up with every other average white guy they know. All things considered, this setup I have now is a a lot better, so that's been a nice alteration to the daily grind.

My roommate moved out on Tuesday, spending not quite a week in my room. He said that the bed was so bad he wasn't sleeping well (He's 6'4" and I pretty much touch the headboard and footboard when I'm sleeping on my bunk). So he moved in with another staff member and then found a house a day or two later. It's been nice to have a space to myself again. As much as I like the guy, it was pretty crowded in there with the two of us. The plumbing saga never seems to end around here. There are constantly puddles, leaking pipes, and shoddy faucets. This week we had a swamp in the clinic, and the (dare I call him a) plumber, was nowhere to be found. I suspect that he comes in at night and loosens pipes so that we'll give him more work to do. If it were me, I'd have sacked the guy ages ago after he worked on my sink for an hour leaving a puddle and a still broken sink. I'm tempted to describe him using the name of a notoriously stubborn and unintelligent member of the equestrian family, but I think even with hooves said animal might perhaps do a better job. No thumbs vs. all thumbs, pick your poison.

I got my visa back this week which, if anyone's counting, means that they finished and got it back to me in 1 week. In brief, I'm shocked! This is quite possibly only example I've seen of speed and efficiency. It made a big impression on me! I also got a care package from Walla Walla postmarked December 7! I guess it must have gotten lost in transit somewhere, but that's gotta be some kind of a record. I got a t-shirt in the package which is always exciting. I have tons of t-shirts, but it gets to the point where no matter how many times you wash them, they still smell like mildew and feel grungy. It's hard to put into words how nice a new, untarnished t-shirt feels. Normally a clean cotton/polyester t-shirt wouldn't be that big a deal but this thing is like putting on a cloud.

Cameroonians are obsessed with expiration dates. I've found this out within the past few months, and it now makes sense how I was able to get Kraft mac n' cheese for next to nothing at the local imported foods store last December. Cameroonians will literally not take anything a single day past the expiration date. Even on the date of expiration, good luck! This applies to food, drugs, laundry detergent, anything. I don't know if there's any credence to this, but I've heard that some former staff spent time in jail for dispensing expired drugs. It gets tricky when people see the expiration being "March 2016" for instance. If it's March already a Cameroonian won't take it. Even if you explain that not only is it unexpired until the end of March, but it's quite safe to take drugs up to 6 months after the expiration date, they're not having any of it. Also, if the product originated in the U.S. the convention for marking the expiration date can cause mix-ups. When Cameroonians see 09.03.16 for example, they would say that it expires the 9th of March. In the U.S. though, this would mean it expires September 3rd. This concept is nearly impossible to explain to them. You couldn't even GIVE expired stuff away, they won't take it. It's so funny to me because for half a century, I'm sure all they were getting as far as imported stuff was expired. Good grief, I'm American and I eat expired stuff all the time, get over yourselves! This piece fits nicely into my grand-scale theory about Buea. Being the capital of the Southwest region, people try to act sophisticated and cosmopolitan since it's a "capital city". The proximity to Douala (capital of the Littoral region, and the financial capital of Cameroon) also means a lot of people have the taste of big city life. Personally, what I see is a bunch of hillbillies in an undeveloped town trying to act like something they aren't - evidenced by the fact that we only have a single imported food store, daily power/water outages, absolutely ludicrous internet, etc. You'll see people all dressed up to the nines for their job: I mean suits and ties! No jeans and a t-shirt here. I've seen butchers in blazers. It comes down to pride though. The people here are quite conceited, which is part of the city-slicker-wannabe attitude, being too good for expired stuff, and NOW I'm gonna tie this into a corollary theory of mine about bad movies (is this getting seriously overarching yet or what?) The credits in these terrible movies roll soooooooooo slow. The clear (to me) reason for this is that everybody wants to get their due recognition for their role in the movie, even if that role was a nonspeaking part. If it were me, I'd be embarrassed to have my name attached to such a half-baked, poor quality feature, but nobody here seems to feel this way. I guess the other possibility is that maybe people read really slowly here? Literacy rate's low so maybe that's the reason. Anyway, now that I've essentially tied together nearly every cultural observation I've had, it's time to go out and make some more to add to this conglomerate theory which is snowballing into a full blown dissertation

TL;DR My best friend left, I'm coming home soon myself though. Got a new office configuration with a real desk which I'm diggin. My roomie moved out because the bed was bothering him. Don't blame him, the bed bothers me too, I guess I'm used to it by now. The hospital's plumber is still happily employed, much to the detriment of everyone except him. My visa came back to me in record time, and I got a new t-shirt that feels so clean it makes me want to shout. Cameroonian's aren't big fans of the scratch n' dent section here (unless you're talking about their cars). Expired food and drugs go begging here, everybody seems too aloof to accept anything less than the best. Not sure how they survive because I've been getting by on "subpar" for most of my time here. One of those mysteries I guess.

Over the Hills and Far Away

Today was a national holiday in Cameroon. I guess Good Friday is nationally observed here. I thought Easter was in April usually, but I heard about this day off on Wednesday and immediately started making plans so that I'd have a good reason to not be around and get snookered into working. I ended up going to the house of my American missionary friends to help them out with some moving/organizing at their school, as well as doing 2 loads of laundry in their washer and dryer. This was HUGE for me! The clothes I sent through are so clean I hardly recognized them afterwards. Not to mention it only took an hour to dry each load instead of all day! I also took a hot shower at their house this week which another story for another time but it was the first one I've had in 6 months!

This Sunday I'll be saying goodbye to David, my closest friend here. He's headed back to Germany since his program at the uni is finished. It's tough to see him go, but it also makes me realize that I'll be headed home myself in about 7 weeks! It's gone by fast in hindsight, but man the workdays sure do drag by slow. I made a point to hang out with David extra this last week or two. Last weekend we went to visit a farm out in the tullies. This was a pretty fun trip. We got 4 guys on one motorcycle (me, David, another friend, plus the driver). We rode that way over fairly rough dirt roads for half an hour in each direction so that was an...     experience.

Once we made it to the hinterlands, I was able to try the fruit of a cacao seed pod. The seeds themselves are used to make chocolate, but they're surrounded by a white slimy pulp that tastes super nice, and get this: nothing at all like chocolate. It's almost got a citrus flavor to it. At any rate, that was quite a nice treat. I trekked through the jungle with shorts on and got 30-40 mosquito bites on my ankles which was not such a nice treat. I also climbed a mango tree to harvest some mangoes, which was a new experience for me as well. Somewhere on the way to this village, I was upset to find that my pocket knife either fell or was picked out of my pocket. Served me well for almost 10 years! Got my money's worth out of it a few times over and now whoever finds it will probably get more of my money's worth out of it. Fortunately David offered to sell me his knife since he is headed home and can get a new one easily. Anyway, I'm not without a knife, which is a big plus when it comes to eating mangoes and doing other knife-y stuff (like opening care packages!)

I had good news on the visa front this week finally. I didn't have to go back to Yaounde personally, and my visa was mailed through a bus service to be taken care of by the Union office. I'm stuck in Buea until they've finished and returned my new visa, so hopefully they're quick about it. I'm not expecting it back any sooner than 2 weeks though. And if it goes off without a hitch it will be nothing short of a miracle. I'm sure there's some malfunction that's coming my way, but there's no sense in worrying about it because nothing I can do will make the process any quicker. I also have a roommate again. The new Cameroonian doctor who will be subbing for Dr. Bellosillo when he goes on leave next month.  According to the hospital administration, he's going to be staying "only a couple days" while he finds his own apartment (it's already been 3 nights and it doesn't look like he's moving out anytime soon). It's difficult to fit two people in such a small room, especially since we have different schedules, lifestyles, preferences, first languages, etc. Plus I've been in the room for a while so my stuff fills up most of the place and he's living out of a suitcase, so it's probably tough on him too! Guess it's cheaper than a hotel, but I'm hoping the discomfort is incentive for him to find a place quick!

There's a good reason that you don't see any advertisements for "Cameroon Airlines". After logging  12 hours on a bus with no better way to entertain myself, I came up with what one might expect on a flight on the prestigious Nglonkafac Air or whatever eventual name an airline like this might receive:

For convenience, you'll board our planes directly on the runway (Show up on time, but understand that flights are subject to up to 2 hours of delay due to motorcycles blocking the runway.) Nglonkafac Airl believes in economy, so there are 4 people to every 3 seats. Additionally, we dabble in freight services so your luggage will be conveniently strapped to the roof of the plane. Any luggage which has made it through the flight can be collected in a big pile on the tarmac at your destination. The plane will be stopping at every airport between the flight's origin and destination to see if anyone wants to squeeze in. Here at Nglonkafac Air, we believe in preserving the planet, so we use recycled tires from taxis on our landing gear! Don't worry about the nuisance of preparing for take-off and landing! Bacteria-abundant tray tables have been removed entirely, and we welded the seats in the upright position around the 4th time the cushions were reupholstered. Additionally, our reading lights are strategically positioned to shine directly in the eyes of those wishing to sleep, and to not work for those wishing to read. Our pilots are highly qualified with plenty of practical experience: Each has logged at least 100 hours in the cockpit, and has been in an average of 3.8 wrecks, so rest assured that they're well prepared to land the plane in the event of an emergency!
If you're really feeling royal, consider Nglonkafac Air's VIP section. Don't be deterred by the fact that the fare will cost 3 times the regular ticket, because your VIP experience includes the following  amenities: A seat to yourself. Air-conditioned cabin. 1 croissant. 1/3 L bottle of Coke. You'll never have to worry about purchasing overpriced headphones! The in-flight entertainment (actually just pirated music videos consisting of a tasteful blend of obscure 90's artists, Nigerian pop music, and karaoke tracks of the Carpenters) is played at an ear shattering volume for EVERYONE to enjoy! Once this DVD is finished, you'll be privileged with French news radio at an equally alarming volume. Nglonkafac Air caters to the Cameroonian aversion to tranquility. You're also allowed, even encouraged to use your cell phone! Don't feel bad about shouting over the noise of our in-flight entertainment system. We hope you enjoy your flight on Nglongkafac Air, treated to our Cameroonian hospitality!

TL;DR Lots is going on this week. We got Friday off so I was able to help out reorganizing a school run by American missionaries in exchange for the use of their washer and dryer. My clothes are SO CLEAN! My best buddy is leaving on Sunday for Germany, which is bittersweet. The visa thing isn't taken care of yet, but it's in the process and there's nothing I can do to speed it up. I have a "temporary" roommate, and it's a bit cramped in the man (now men) cave for the moment. Cameroon's buses made me realize that there's a good reason they don't have an airline service. I did a little piece exploring the likely conditions of flying a Cameroonian airline above which was pretty fun to write.

Found this Toyota in Ikata and stopped to take pictures

The owner came out and asked what we were doing. I told him we were trying to steal it and then started laughing. He stopped asking questions after that.

Inside of a cocoa seed pod. That white pulp is the part you can suck off the seeds.

Making palm oil the old fashioned way

Managed to winnow it down to 3 passengers on the way back to Buea