CaMarooned: The Rich, the Famous, the Expats

This last Sunday I made an impromptu trip to the beach. During my visit I met a really nice French couple (who both spoke English perfectly, as much as I could have used the French practice). All I wanted was for someone to keep an eye on my backpack, but they went the extra mile. They invited me to move my stuff into their cabana, and we talked and swam together for a while. I played a lawn game with them that was a little like a cross between bowling and throwing a stick. They even gave me a ride back to the main drag in Limbe, which was awesome of them! That was the first time I've been in an air conditioned car in 4 months - remarkably plush! Oh, to be an expat. I mean, 4 windows down, 70km/hr works, but only so well. A/C's the way to go. In talking to them I learned that my keen devotion to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is quite a stereotypical "American" thing. They said that they've never tried one and it sounds repulsive to them. They don't know what they're missing! I'm really thankful that they extended such hospitality to me and let me crash their "party".

At the beach this time, the waves were much bigger than I've even seen them before! They were actually scary a couple times. There's a boogie board that seems to "live" at the beach, but the leash is long gone, so I either had to try and throw it over a big wave, hang on and get hammered, and/or let go and then have to slog back to the shore to get it. Diving under the waves with a leash would have been way easier! I managed to get a pretty good nasal flush a couple of times. I blew my nose Monday morning and could see a few grains of black sand, and later in the week when I cleaned my ears I noticed more. Maybe I could bring some black sand home and give a few vials to some people, as long as they don't have any qualms about me having smuggled it in my sinuses.

The work week has been extraordinarily mundane, except for getting a new outpatient registration book. Since that seems to be my fated job for the rest of my time here, I've been learning the pros and cons (mostly cons) of filling out this new book. It asks for much more information, which I have to hound the receptionist(s) to ask the patients for. Not super fun! The only good part about it is that it takes a LOT more time to fill out. This means less idle time which makes the time seem to pass by more quickly. Fortunately, I've seen the light with my job a little bit, and have conveniently redefined what "medical experience" means to me. Before, well... Thursday, it consisted of hands-on stuff: giving injections, starting IV's, delivering babies, etc. Now I've kind of blurred the lines and am counting consultation interviews, physical exams, ordering lab tests, and prescribing meds. Taken as a whole, I've actually had quite a bit of relevant medical experience. I do spend a lot of time filling out that God-forsaken book, but I also have gotten to help the doctor out with a bunch of the previously listed things. It's not always as exciting as giving an injection, and I've still only done 2 IV's (not to mention I haven't witnessed a single delivery), but I'll take it for what it is. When not working I've been hitting the French hard. The past week I've probably spent an average of 2 hours per day studying. At this rate I'm hoping I will be semi-conversational by May! I also went to the gym a few times this week. Other than that, nothing remarkable has happened.

I'm a little bummed that I'll be missing the Super Bowl this year. Even if I did have a way of watching it, it starts at like 12:30 am on a Monday morning. I guess that'd be a good excuse to take a day off, but I don't think it's airing on any of the channels here in Africa. My team just missed making it in, but still, it's an American tradition for pity sakes! I'd even eat an entire bowl of guacamole during the game if it made the difference between seeing it or not seeing it, and I hate guacamole.

I know I spend an inordinate amount of time talking about food on my blog post, but this weekend I really have some lofty cooking aspirations. I decided I want to make grilled cheese for dinner tonight. That meant I had to go buy sliced bread (I've only ever bought French baguettes before, sliced bread in "loaves" isn't common here) and cheese, which is also hard to come by (read: expensive). The cheese wasn't gonna keep and I wouldn't need it all for grilled cheese, so I plan to make a cheese omelet tomorrow for breakfast. I only used like 6 slices of bread, leaving me with leftovers of that too, so I decided on French toast for Sunday's breakfast instead of the usual pancakes. That meant I had to buy milk and eggs this afternoon. Well, French toast wouldn't use up all the milk, so I bought cereal too for later this week. Wanting a grilled cheese sandwich (or 3) turned into buying a freakin boatload of groceries. Funny how that works. I have to carefully plot out my meals based on what I'm planning to buy so that nothing goes to waste. I don't have a fridge, though I've been known to sneak things into the fridge they use in the hospital for drugs from time to time. I only leave it in there overnight though because I'm afraid it will get eaten or thrown out! I know for certain that when I'm back in the U.S. I'll never take kitchen appliances for granted again. Having a refrigerator, dishwasher, garbage disposal, heck, even a toaster oven, is a serious luxury! These things are all technically available in Cameroon, but I only have 2 outlets in my room, and the price tends to favor ownership by the rich and famous. Or expats. I guess maybe there's no difference. Anyway, I don't see the point in shelling out $400 for a dorm sized fridge that I'll just have to turn around and sell again in a few short months. That means I either have to go shopping for fresh food every couple days OR suck it up and eat that overripe banana that has the consistency of Vaseline. Also foods with a lot of preservatives are definitely a lifesaver. I honestly don't know what I'd do without peanut butter. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to survive.

TL;DR I went to the beach. Again. Got so caught up making new friends that I didn't get any photos. Later on the week kind of ambled along, nothing too exciting happened. I'm missing the SuperBowl this year, and although the Seahawks aren't in it, I'm still somewhat disappointed to not be able to see it. I went on the grocery shopping trip/scavenger hunt of a lifetime today, and it all started with a hankerin' for some grilled cheese sandwiches. They turned out better than I expected, and I'm hoping the French toast planned for Sunday meets or exceeds my expectations too.