If you’d told me 3 months ago that yesterday, on my third day in my village, I would meet with the men of my village and introduce myself in French and Fulfulde, I’d say you had pretty high expectations of my first week in village.  When I arrived in Cameroon in September, I wanted to learn French and become bilingual, but I was also aware that going to the Northwest region of the country was a possibility, and I was looking forward to learning to speak Pidgin (an amazing language of its own that is by who means easy to learn, but is comforting in its relative familiarity).

This was not in the cards, however, as the Anglophone-Francophone crisis reached a boiling point the day my stag (cohort group of Peace Corps Trainees PCTs) landed in Cameroon.  From the moment we arrived and throughout the first few weeks of PST (pre service training) we were told that PCV’s were being consolidated from Anglophone regions as a precaution and then finally that those volunteers were being reassigned (if they chose to remain).  Though I’m sure many volunteers were sad to leave their posts, the staff at PC Cameroon and PC Washington DC take the safety of PCV’s very seriously, and suddenly my stag were all guaranteed to be placed in Francophone regions.  So learning French for more than just travel and security became a very real challenge for me and my stagmates.

As we quickly realized, due to the unrest our Northwest training site was off-limits and thus we relocated ( a few bus rides and some nights in a hotel later) to APADER, an agricultural post in the Western part of Cameroon.  We lived in dorms with four to a room, and had the unique opportunity to really get to know one another.  Four weeks in close quarters proved to form strong bonds in the aggie (agricultural) crew, and although we missed out on four weeks of homestay experience, we had a great time and eventually did conclude our training with a six-week homestay with a local family.  I would not trade either experience.  Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, and you must make the most of what you have at hand.  That is certainly what PC staff and the aggies did for those weeks, and what I’ve been learning to do ever since landing in country.

French isn’t easy, but neither is not knowing how to communicate!  So as it turns out, the best motivation for my learning is necessity.  I know how to say ATM in French because I really really needed to find one.  I know how to say bed frame and bed slats because I really really need a bed for my mattress.  Petit a petit.  Language learning during PST (and now) is tough, but there are always people around who are more than willing to help if you just ask.  I’ve found that my biggest obstacle is not wanting to sound dumb when practicing language.  I’ve learned that this is not a helpful attitude!  No one starts learning a language and says everything perfectly right off the bat!

At the end of PST I was relieved to pass my LPI (language test) and was able to ship off to my post here.  In retrospect, PST was crazy and I made the most amazing group of friends, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t glad to be in my own home with NO CURFEW!  That said, I do miss my group of aggie volunteers as we are all posted in different villages and towns, and even though I don’t have a 7 PM curfew any longer, it is pitch dark by 7 PM and so I am home by then anyway.  On the plus side, the star gazing from my porch is AMAZING without the lights of cities interfering with the night sky.

So where is home?  Well, I am in the Adamawa region of Cameroon.  (We are discouraged from sharing the actual name of our village in the interest of our own security).  This is the region that is the Northernmost reach of PCV’s and is home to a high concentration of people of Muslim faith, the Fulbe people(and the Fulfulde language) and herds of cattle.  The capital of the region is Ngaoundere which is the most wonderful city that I have seen in Cameroon so far.  I am in a beautiful village relatively close to the capital and I am fortunate to be in a cluster with 4 other volunteers in nearby villages,  one of whom is a good friend Casey, another agriculture volunteer.

I arrived at post on Wednesday this week and have already met with the traditional leaders of the village, the head of the Gendarmerie, the Centre de Sante, the Poste d’agricole, and the Poste d’élevage .  Yesterday I had my first “reunion” with the men of the village outside of the Mosque and I did a short presentation in French and Fulfulde about myself and my job here in the village.  Finally, it felt “normal” to be presenting in my new languages and I realize how great the strides I’ve made since I’ve gotten here.  Three months ago (I arrived 12 weeks ago) I had no idea how to flag down or give directions for a moto (taxi motorcycle).  I did not know how to hook up a gas stove, how to take a shower from a bucket, buy pagne fabric to have new clothes made, or properly eat fufu.  I did not know the Adamawa existed and had never heard a word spoken in Fulfilde.  And now I live here and will be speaking Fulfilde for the next two years!

In my first few days in my village I went on a short walk down the path near my compound and watched the herders water the cattle in the lake near my house.  Yesterday, my landlord gave me a gift of oranges and offered me a bed frame that he has in his house.  I don’t think I could ask for a more beautiful location to live and work for the next two years, or nicer people to work alongside.  I am excited to start this journey in this place.  I anticipate some very hard days, and some lonely days, but I do know that whatever happens it will work out for the best.

I know that my family is waiting for details about my house so here goes.  There is a main living room/dining room/kitchen which is huge and has a vaulted metal ceiling.  My very first night sleeping here I discovered a bat in the bedroom but managed to shoo it out the back door.  There may be more in the ceilings, but I will find someone to help me with those. There is a small hallway and a sizable bedroom with an indoor latrine attached that has plenty of room to set up a “shower” area for my solar or bucket showers.  I much prefer the latrine (pit toilet) to a bucket flush toilet at this point.  All the walls are painted a clean bright white, the floors are cement and the windows are frosted glass with bars (security measure).  I feel very safe here, there are locks on the front, back and bedroom doors, and two sliding bolts on each door. The well is in the side yard, so water is easy to tote! I’m also the first person to ever live here as my landlord just told me that this house is brand new.  I feel very fortunate.  I hope to have electricity hooked up at some point.

The bedroom is large enough that I foresee purchasing a desk, armoire, and bookshelf at the market in the nearby village on Tuesday.  My town does not have a market of its own, so residents go to the nearby village for big purchases.  It is only about 5.5 miles from my village so is an easy moto ride.  My house also has a large veranda, and a big dirt front yard (soon to be a garden with radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, edible nightshade and amaranth).  It’s dry season here so an odd time to plant, but our Peace Corps staff wants to see a garden growing when they visit in the next few months.  I’m hoping my sunken bed plans work out for my garden.  Today I measured the land, mapped out the beds to ensure proper spacing and did a soil sampling.  To test the soil I put dirt in a bottle, shook it up to see the settling and distribution of parts of the soil).  For household chores, I carved a new hole in my belt, mended a favorite dress, and washed all my luggage and shoes.  Not bad for a days work.  I am including a few photos but uploading photos is almost impossible until I return to a larger city.  Until later…….

Au revoir and Bakkude!