Woah America

Well I made it, thirty-two hours after I left Yaounde, but safe and happy despite the many hours. I'm glad to be home, but feeling a very confusing mix of emotions. I left Cameroon with a sense of guilt, feeling too privileged to be able to just fly out of the country to America, "land of gold and opportunity" in the eyes of most Cameroonians. But at the same time, I left unbelievably happy to see my family, friends, eat cereal with cold milk, etc. Luckily I have easy access to internet and my non-pay-as-you-go cell phone to keep up with my other SIT friends who are going through similar emotions. It's a lot of thinking and I don't know if I'll ever make sense of some of my questions. But I'm okay with that as long as I keep asking questions.

Now that I'm home I thought I'd try and share some of the pictures I promised. The two links are my facebook albums and the boat photo is one of my favorite pictures from one night in Kribi.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040998&id=1433160036&l=561f0c2ee1

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034018&id=1433160036&l=47aeae636d

Thanks again for reading and hopefully I'll keep writing more "bodacious reports" (as my grandparents like to call them) when I feel the need!

Love from America,

Courtney

A Forty-Eight Page above the World Homestretch

Well, I can say proudly that I am finished with my ISP. After sitting in the same wooden chair in the cyber for 4 days straight I created the finished 48 page product, "On ne Souvent pas le Choix (One doesn't often have a Choice): Why Girls Leave School and Become Filles Libres in Kribi, Cameroon". I ended up discussing the four main reasons girls are leaving school in Kribi and becoming prostitutes( poverty, early pregnancy, lack of parental guidance, and the result of Kribi being a tourist town), what the schools are currently doing to address these issues, and potential solutions. It was a really rewarding experience and I'm proud of what I've done, despite the fact that I don't think I can read my paper again for another few weeks. But in reality all my friends here did really amazing research and I'll be excited to hear about it all during presentations this week. It's so cool to see what a group of 20 year olds can do when given four weeks to research.

So after all that writing and editing and drafting, the reward was a trip to Buea, Cameroon to hike Mt. Cameroon with five friends. We all planned our ISP time around this, finishing early so that we could make this trek and let me tell you, trek is an understatement. Mt. Cameroon is the second tallest moutain in Africa but a hidden treasure in terms of African tourism. Phoebe, Zach, Laura, Liza, Sonja, and I started hiking the 29th with our guide Joesph and six porters who carried our food and minimal belongings in potato sacks on their heads while wearing flip flops. We started on the trail passing a pituresque prison on the hillside with prisoners yelling "good luck!" and "don't give up!" as we began which was pretty amusing to all of us. The moutain starts off with about 3 hours in the rain forrest which was really unique, but also had a similar feel to a lot of hiking I'd done before. However it was when we emerged out of the rain forrest to the open slope of the moutain when we started hiking in some of the most landscape I've been lucky enough to experience. We did a little song and dance/prayer with the guides and porters for the mountain god Eekgaca (?) to keep us safe. So we spent the next five hours hiking straight uphill, passing a few huts and a magic tree on the way up. We made it to our homey campsite around 430 with a few of about 4 Cameroon towns/cities, and clouds swooshing past below us. I felt like I was no longer really on earth but in a middle space if that makes any sense, and the only visual I can give is that of being in an ascending airplane looking at the window. The next day we got rained in, and Joesph told us it was too dangerous to climb to the summit in the weather so we hung out, had random conversations and drank tea in our little cooking hut around smokey fires. We met a man named David from Holland who told us he was climbing to the summit the next morning and he invited us to join him so four of us woke up at the ungodly hour of 3am and starting the upmountain climb with the help of headlamps and warm clothes. We saw the sunrise at 645, an hour shy of the summit, but still awe-inspiring as it it climbed over the moutain and over us in what seemed like seconds. And finally around 730 we reached the 12,000 or so feet, freeeeeezing which is ironic considering I've been sweating for three months, and look out over what we had just climbed as the ocean and sea-level was spread out below us. Bascially it was one of the wildest things I've ever done and despite the fact that I know it's hard to hold on to images like the it, the feeling of being on top of the summit while the rest of Cameroon was waking up will be hard to erase.

The descent took about 6 hours in total with a few breaks. I suppose the combination of all that physical activity, the lack of good food in my stomach (a handful of spaghetti, a piece of bread, some peanuts, and a lollipop) freaked my body out and my legs kind of crapped out. I was really angry as about 3/4s of the way down I couldn't actually walk without the help of Joesph but then I decided I shouldn't be mad and just laugh as the worst possible time for your legs to go out on you might be the second tallest mountain in Africa. I laughed along with my friends at the rediculousness of the situation and was unbeliveably grateful to the porters and guides who got me, and everyone else, down the steep incline in one piece. And I suppose it's a good story to tell that I "rode" down a portion of the moutain on the back of a prince! No need to worry though, after a little protein my legs are back in action.

So now after many a reunion I'm back in Yaounde with the group preparing for reentry into America and saying goodbye to life here. I'm ready but also completely in shock and unsure of how to make sense of all I've learned. I'll probably write once more before the days of traveling home, so until then happy May! Shout out to Meegy Meegs for making it to the big 3-0 in a few days.



Lots of loveeee.

Radio Celeb

Sorry for the ten day lapse, I’ve been in the thick and heavy of research and it is going SO well. One, the independence of ISP is just wonderful. I figured without the structured time and fullness of our group, in a foreign country nonetheless, that I might be bored or too much out of my element but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The freedom has been so refreshing and has let me get to know the country without someone ‘holding my hand’. And I wouldn’t necessarily say SIT holds our hands in anyway, quite the contrary really; but during ISP you’re not waiting for a field trip, student night, or doing a homework assignment with your homestay family. I’ve been all around this city talking to this person and that person, delegates, teachers, students , NGOs, neighbors, etc. I have a little recorder, I write interview transcriptions, I frantically am writing down notes or new realizations throughout my days, not to mention my beach visits. I’m living such a weird life, but I absolutely love it. And it’s going to be over, well at least this chapter, shockingly soon. One week, ISP is done. Then off to Mt. Cameroon, and then only one more week spent in Yaounde. So. Wild.

Anyway before I start getting all worked up about leaving and the simultaneous sadness and excitement that comes along with it, I’ll share a few highlights from my past ten days.

1. I was on the radio today! I feel like a Cameroonian celebrity. This radio DJ person found out about my research and wanted to interview me on air. So Veronique (host mom extraordinaire and head of the NGO I’m working with) and a friend Carole who also as an NGO, talked on the radio for about 45 minutes about my research, my time in Cameroon, and my suggestions about helping young girls stay in school and out of the streets, etc. I certainly don’t feel like an expert on this issue but I’ve learned so much in my past three weeks that I actually could feel my progress while explaining to the DJ man. Anyway, point is I feel famous and it was a lot of fun, and better yet if people actually listen to Kribi FM 95.5 then maybe people learned some things?

2. I had a Women Writing for a Change writing circle yesterday with a group of ‘filles/femmes libres’ or free women /some of them would consider themselves prostitutes. For those of you who know what WWfaC is, it was a really rewarding experience doing it with these women for so many reasons. (For those of you who don't, www.womenwriting.org, WWfaC is a writing school/community that I'ven been a part of for a few years and where I learned how to lead creative writing circles, and thus did one with this group of women here.) Veronique really doubted it working, because a lot of the time filles libres aren’t very educated (hence my research) and it’s very un-Cameroonian to do a creative anything really. Not that Cameroonians are uncreative, but they just like to follow life by the books and writing circles for women do not fit into their books. But I decided to do it anyway because I felt like it couldn’t hurt and it turned out so well. The women shared what they wrote and despite the fact that the whole thing happened in French in a boiling little room in Cameroon the presence of WWafC was clearly there.

3. Veronique is wonderful, as I’ve mentioned. Well I met her husband for the first time this week (he’s a marine biologist and has been travelling for work) and it makes sense that they’re married. He’s very chatty, loves to eat but is on a strict diet (which apparently allows for stealing and eating my french toast), and plays tennis every night in the whitest outfit you’ve ever send with pants that stop above his ankles. So my nightlife at home has become that much more lively.

Ah okay, enough for one post. Hope that you all are doing well, and special shout out to Katie Grimm, Maddie Katz, Liz Smith, and Catreena Besb for the lovely mail.

Love from Cameroon,
Cootenay Booster (how the DJ referred to me the entire show)

Kribi is my Jam

Well, I must say that I'm living the good life. ISP (independent study project) is turning out to be really amazing, which I never doubted, but I'm more in love than I thought I might be. I wake up early in the mornings under my mosquito net with a whole list of things to accomplish. In the United States, this might cause some stress but here I feel absolutely no weight of anxiety. I walk down to the beach which is a mere 2 minutes from my homestay, take my journal, book, and watch the local fisherman bring in the mornings catch in these wooden canoes that litterally look like hollowed out trees misplaced in the ocean. I come back after an hour and eat some bread, eggs, jam, coffee etc. and gear up for a day of research. At the internet cafe I wait frustrating hours as the connection is often slow or non-existent and the power is always touch and go. But I've learned to be more patient then I thought possible, I now often transcribe interviews by hand, and get in quality reading time during these times of waiting. When I'm not doing secondary research, I'm walking around the small city finding the delegations/ delegates, NGOs, and randoms who I can interview for their perspectives on why young girls leave school to become prostitues in Kribi. My evenings are spent relaxing with Laura, another SIT-er who is sharing the same homestay with me (she's studying fisherman) talking about wide varieties of things that could range from religion to delevopment to our love for coffee; last night we indulged with chocolate and wine and candles as the power was out, again. Veronique, our host mom and my project advisor, is often there at night too and so we'll end up talking in French the whole night- last night it was marriage, her woes on gaining weight, and pygmy kids in school. She's an unbelievable woman who has such a passion for helping others, I feel so lucky to be learning from her. Before bed I normally take a shower, always cold (have still only taken one hot shower in my 11 weeks) but that is for the best because the cold water helps bring my core temp down so I can sleep- the heat here is unlike any other place I've been. I am always drifting off a little too hot for comfort but also always undeniably happy.

More updates to come. Hope all is well with everyoneeee!

Firsts of the Decade

So I'm about to bus off to Kribi to begin my month of independent research. I have made some modifications to my original ideas and it looks like I'm going to be studying the relationship between secondary education (high school) and prostitution. I have no idea what this month will bring but I'll be sure to keep the blog updated with how everything is going. Before I leave though, I wanted to talk about three important milestones/ firsts I have experienced since the last time I wrote:

1. Multi-cultural seder.... My friend Abi really wanted to host a seder for everyone in the group while we were in Ngaoundere. I had never been to a seder before and this one I have a feeling is slighly atypical and yet will probably be one of the most memorable Jewish holidays I'll have the honor of experiencing. The evening started off with all of us arriving at Abi's homestay, the only polygamous family in our group. We helped prepare the meal and then when that was under control, we all sat in the living room on the rug covered floor and began the prayers, which Abi and some of the other Jewish students led in Hebrew. As we were repeating the first set of prayers, the evening call to prayer came blasting out of the Grand Mosque (biggest in the city) right next door. So there we were, a bunch of mostly Christian Americans, a few Jews, and a few Muslims celebrating together in the polygamous family living room. Absolutely wonderful.

2. My first safari... On Thursday, we drove 11 more hours North into the "L'extreme Nord" to Park Waza, Cameroon's version of a national park. We drove through oven like temperatures to get there and arrived in a completely different Cameroon. We woke up at 530 on Friday and spent the entire day in the park on top of our bus and some of us in the back of a truck. Immediately we saw monkeys, antelope, gazelle, and a family of giraffes having breakfast. Let me tell you, seeing a giraffe gallop across a flat savanna-esqe landscape is an unreal experience. Despite the fact that it was 22 hours out of our way, the trip to Waza was unbelievable.

3. And finally, I experienced my first bout of sickness while in Cameroon. For those of you who know me pretty well, you know I haven't thrown up since May Fete 2000. Well, my ten year record of a strong stomach was broken in the train traversing the Cameroonian landscape. I'm still not 100 percent, but am sure I'll be better soon. At least it was a pretty cool place to throw up, right?

Okay, off to Kribi. I think I'll have skype!
Miss you all, happy spring, happy passover, happy easter. And lots of love from Cam.
Courtney

Zalinga the Nasara

So, despite the fact that I was under the impression that I was heading to the Muslim Cameroonian desert with no access to internet, here I am. I have discovered that a very small percentage of my assumptions about things that happen here are actually true.

So, Sanu from Ngaoundere! "Sanu" is Fulfude for hello as a fair amount of people here speak Fulfude before they speak French. Luckily for me, all but one of my family members is fluent in French but I still took a few hours of Fulfude so I could street-communicate, which basically means that I can say Hello, how are you, my name is, whats yours? I'm from this country and this city, thank you, byeeee! Say-yesso! Oh, and now instead of the everpresent "la blanche, la blanche!", I am now a "Nasara".

The culture and landscape here are extremely different than the other parts of the country I have visited. We arrived after a thirteen hour train ride, and I was lucky enough to be placed in the "boys' cabin" spending the night in a lurching train car with Ben, Clark, and Bobo. Zach, was placed with 3 girls and we can only imagine that somehow they assumed that Courtney was a boys name as TOUT LE MONDE (everyoneeeee) in this country cannot say my name. Who would have that that Courtney in Cameroon translates to Goutlay, Cour-ten-ay, Blanchney, and my most recent appointed title courtesory of host maman #3, Zalinga. She decided that Courtney was too hard and she told me within the first ten minutes of meeting this 69 year old firecracker: "C'est trop dificile pour moi. Je vais vous donner un deuxieme baptesme avec le nom Zalinga... c'est d'accord?" (Gout-en-ay, that's too hard for me. I'm giving you a second baptism and calling you Zalinga, okay?) Sounds good to me. Besides maman, I live with Mao (29), Wao (40s), and Faysal (13) in a beautiful, Indian inspired sanctuary forty five minutes from town. Oh and of course, Raul, the Fulfude and French speaking bird/parrot. Only in Cameroon. Our house is modest, but because my family is Muslim, all the floors are covered in multi-colored rugs and huge windows give the open areas natuaral light and a breeze. We're surrounded by mango, avacado, mandarin, and plantain trees among little shrubs, flowers and stone pathways. It's all pretty unreal. Faysal gave me a little tour around our garden and plants which also holds the body of my host grandfather, I discovered slightly abrubtly :

Faysal (in French): there are the avacado trees, and the mango trees, the hibiscus flowers, and there's the body, and the mandarin trees...
Me: The body?
Faysal: Oui, the body. Mon grand-pere. And the plantains...
Me: oh of coarse (?) okay. (carefully stepping back from those stones).

Like I said, rule number one of Cameroon, expect nothing and everything simultaneously.

I'll end this long post saying that I love Cameroon more and more everyday and honestly feel like I learn more with each random experience. My friend here describes things here as a "2-way zoo" (Flanigan, 2010), which feels pretty accurate as we are constantly looking around wide eyed, taking mental images and pictures of our aweome and wild lives as many Cameroonians tend to stare and point yelling nasara and blanche as we pass. It's not something I can accurately explain besides the fact that I feel my two worlds are often colliding and I'm constantly trying to understand and bridge differences. I suppose it's what this is all about. That, and realizing that there are even birds who speak more languages than me.

Until next time, say-yesso,
Zalinga

To the North

Heyo,

Heading to Ngaoundere tonight by train. This city is located in the north and is known for its large Muslim population. They speak Fulfude, have large families with young mothers (I was told I could have a sixteen year old host mom), and the city is located on top of a giant plateau. After my 12 or so days there most of the group is heading even farther north for Cameroon's version of a safari in Waza National Park. All in all, I think this leg of the trip is going to be extremely different and there's a good chance I won't have the best internet so sorry in advance if I don't respond to emails, messages, etc. Once I get back, I'll be in Yaounde for a day and then I'm heading back to Kribi with two other students for our month of independent research. Time is elusive.



I'll leave you with a funny story.



Yesterday, I bought a soccer ball for Wheat Freet and one communal soccer ball for the neighbors. Shout out to Camille for the awesome idea. I come walking down our road, all the kids start freaking out, running, yelling, etc. and we immediately start playing. About two whole minutes into the game the soccer ball comes zooming straight at my face and I was close to sure my nose might be broken. I took a break, pretended I wanted to clap with the babies as I wiped the shock tears from my eyes and checked for blood. All good. Moral is, I'm fine and the kids are happy. Now I'm off to the train station for a completely different place and culture.

Adios for now.

Just Call Me the Chief's Wife

Hello everyone,
Happy almost St. Patrick's Day and whatever else exciting is going on in the world. I'm feeling a little disconnected because I just spent a wonderfulllll weekend at the beach, Kribi, Cameroon to be exact. We left on Saturday morning and got to our hotel early in the afternoon, and then almost immediately jumped into the ocean. I was shocked by its warmth and was reminded how much I love to swim in large bodies of water. It was also interesting because the last ocean I was in was off the coast of Alaksa (shout out chilkittens) which probably couldn't be more different then what I experienced this past weekend. We swam, walked on the beach, relaxed at a waterfall that emptied straight into the ocean, and ate the most delicious Cameroonian meals breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am not exaggerating in saying that I ate the best shrimp of my life on Saturday night, probably caught just that morning. And despite the fact that it was only two days of a "spring break", it was exactly what we all needed. I'm also happy to report that I'm 99% positive that I'm going to be spending the month of April there doing my last and final reserch project, studying prostitution, sex trafficking and their relationship with tourism in Cameroon with an organization, WOPA (Women's Promotion and Assistance Association http://www.wopassociation.org/index.html). I met with the director, Veronique, and in talking with her I feel confident that my ISP (independent study project) now has a direction.

While in Kribi, we also got to meet with some indigenous camps of pygmies, some of the earliest inhabitants of Cameroon. It was really interesting to talk (through the aid of a translator) with these families as they still hunt and gather their food and they're one of the only ethnic groups who have a more equal relationship between genders. At the second camp we visited, I asked a question about widowhood rites and whether or not they re-marry and the Chief who is currently wife-less said he was in the process of looking for a wife and he would like me to stay and be his wife. Hahahaha. I almost died, all the women in the family started jumping up and down and pointing at me laughing and all my friends here have claimed spots as bridesmaids in our wedding. Catherine, you can come and be my maid of honor, I'm sure the rugby player will be thrilled. So, sorry friends and family, looks like I'll be the staying in Cameroon.

Hope you're all doing well, miss everyone immensely but am having the time of my life.

A Bientot,
Courtney

Skyline in Cameroon

Bonjour tout le monde,
I hope that you all are having a great start to spring. I heard that it's at least warming up a little bit in the Cincy area. I, on the otherhand, am too warm here in Yaounde... words I didn't think I'd be saying coming from an Ohio winter. But it is at least 85-90+ degrees most days and everyday I get a little more sunburned which is gradually transforming my skin from red to tan. I definitely woulnd't trade to be back in Ohio, but I have gained a nice appreciation for the four seasons we have in the midwest.

This week has been filled with lots of random things, including many organization visits around the city. In the past five days we've visited the U.S. Embassy and learned about the foreign service, the Peace Corps, an environmental-development organization, a few microfinance organizations, and we started this week by attending the much anticipated International Women's Day parade which is a huge deal here. Everyone buys the same fabric in different colors and then gets dresses and outfits made for the parade. It was fun for me too because my host mom decided to celebrate and not go to work so I got to spend some more time with her, eating popcorn and watching Spanish soap operas until the electricity went out because of a huge storm. When that happened we lit the candle I gave my family as a homestay gift and listened to Cameroonian music on speakerphone from her cell phone. On Friday I got a phone call from my Cameroonian rugby friends and they told me they had a game on Saturday so I invited a bunch of my SIT friends and made an event out of it. None of my friends had ever been to a game so I attempted to explain the rules while trying to understand how these guys were playing on the hard dirt ground. It was a really fun afternoon and I even got a jersey out of it, holla. Then on Sunday my older host brother took me to 2 soccer games at the big stadium and I spent about 4 hours watching those games and eating random Cameroonian snacks. All in all a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

I also have had some fun culinary experiences. I made a Cincinnati chili feast for my friends on Thursday from the Skyline packets I brought from home. I wanted to try it out on my friends before making it for my host families just in case it failed miserably. So 5 of my friends enjoyed Skyline 4-ways which surprisingly turned out really well, despite the fact I was cooking in a kitchen in Cameroon. Wish me luck because I'm planning on making the same meal for my fam tomorrow night. I almost died last night eating fish with the tiniest and sharpest bones I've ever encountered but I'm still kickin it...I have decided though that if I am going to die in Cameroon it's going to be from choking on a fish bone. And then finally I came home on Saturday to two live chickens in our yard which turned into a wonderful chicken stew for dinner last night. My Maman was cracking up at the fact that I asked if she killed the chickens herself, which she did. Cameroonians are intense.

And finally, to end this long post, I have been waking up this past week to the sound of bells which I think are coming from one of the nearby churches. However the bells sound exactlyyyy like the bell from camp and therefore I've been waking up really confused at where I am and whether or not I need to go jump in the lake. The bells, added on to the fact that I've been having some dreams in French and crazy nightmares, make for some tres discombobulated mornings. And for Tracy, who loves my Wheat Freet updates, I found out the Wheat Freet is actually my parents' grandson! Cameroonian families are all over the place and I'm still working out all the relationships, but I thought that it was pretty funny to only find that out now, 7 weeks into my experience here.

Okay that's all for now, off to the World Bank.
All my best from over here,
Blanch-ney ... my new favorite name from my neighbor Linda, a mix between white girl and Courtney.

Is it seriously March?

*I edited this post a bit, much to my frustration knowing that my overly-worried parents are sometimes right, but my academic director advised the group that it's probably not wise to write about political things on our blogs, facebooks, etc. so I'll share all those funs thoughts and stories once I'm home.

So, the end of my time in Dschang snuck up on me and everyone else in the program; a lot of my friends are planning on returning and so my goodbye felt a little more final. I bid adieu to the hole in the ground bathroom, bucket shower, seven siblings, maman, papa, chicken alarm clock, and beautiful scenery however I have a feeling that it will not be my last time experiencing any of those things while in Macaroon (Elizabeth's prefered way of referencing Cameroon).
We left Friday morning on the ginorm bus, all of our stuff strapped to the top and headed to Bamenda town for the weekend, one of the 2 English speaking provinces in Cameroon. While there, we had the amazing opportunity of meeting with John Fru Ndi, the leader of the biggest opposition party in Cameroon. John Fru Ndi maybe won the presidential election in 1992, but Biya is still kickin' it in office. Fru Ndi is the head of the Social Democratic Front and was kind enough to invite us to his house and answer our questions. We also were offered fresh honey from his hives which he claims have medicinal qualities so, awesome. I'm hoping it will stave off the malaria considering my mosquito net zipper is on the fritz. The next day my friend Phoebe and I explored the town and looked for some friends, 'once-removed'. My professor at Denison, Dr. Susan Diduk, has done most of her research in Bamenda and has many friends here so Pheobe and I spent the majority of the afternoon looking for them. In our search we met a "prince" (or so he said) who was actually very nice and helped us find the taxi park we were looking for. I was able to give one of the drivers a note and 200 francs (about 50 cents) to deliver to Dr. Diduk's friend and later that night was surprised by a phone call from her friend! I was amazed that the note was actually delivered and I was able to have a very pleasant conversation; I think it really shows the genorisity and hospitality of the Cameroonian people. After our search of friends, Phoebe and I ate a leisurly lunch at "Friendship Restaurant" (appropriate) and then took a taxi to the top of this giant hill that overlooks all of Bamenda. It was a fabulous day that ended with a thunderstorm and a wonderful phone call with Ginny Krone. I'm now back in Yaounde and was welcomed last night by my host family with cookies and relaxation.
Things are really looking up here as I'm making contacts for my final month long research and really getting the hang of Cameroonian ways of life. Please keep my friend Julie in mind as she's currently studying with SIT in Chile; she's safe but I'm sure she and her family could all use some extra thoughts sent their way.

More updates to come.
Happy March,
Courtney

Tick Tock Bawk

In Dschang... pronounced Chong, which definitely does not sound like what you imagine your typical African university town to be named.  This city of 46000 is wayyy smaller than Yaounde and overall I like it a lot better.  It's not that I don't like the capital, but Dschang is way more calm, not as many people yell 'la blanche' at you on the street, there are beautiful tree covered mountains everywhere you look, along with those unparalleled rust colored roads, and not to mention I am living with a wonderful family...which actually isn't calm at all but I love them.  I live with the Soohs, in a quartier named Foto and I have at least 6 siblings: Heve and Jordan are the older brothers, 18 and 16.  And then Noranic (11), Sinclaire (9), and Ashley (7 months!) are my younger girl siblings, and wouldn't you know it, another Wheat Freet!  He's 7 and just about the most adorable thing you've ever seen.  So all together with Maman and Papa we live in a small house with a well for our water which means I take a bucket bath each morning and have a hole in an outside hut as my bathroom.  Despite those changes which are way different than the US and even really different than Yaounde, I absolutely love living with this family who are kind and gracious and have immediately made me feel welcome.  We sing a lot, mostly American hits, which is where the title of this post was born.  Yesterday, 'Tick Tock' by Kesha was on the television and the younger siblings and I were all dancing and singing when I noticed that our chicken was bawking away outside at the same time.  While tick tock bawk makes for a cutesy rhyme, it really was one of those moments that made me stop and think about how globalization works and my place here in Cameroon.  

I still am having a lot of trouble thinking about and conceptualizing the relationship between the 'west' and Cameroon and despite the fact that Ive been learning these things for the past 3 years, being in this country is making me see it and even feel it like I never could have at Denison.  I can't begin to describe how much I feel like I'm learning here, about my areas of study but also about myself.  ahwh shout out: talk about living outside of the comfort zone.

Today we got to have fried plantains and beer with the equivalent mayor of the city, yesterday we spent all day at a Cheif's digs in Batofaum and on Saturday we're going to explore a nearby waterfall and cave.  It's really all pretty unreal and I am going to try and keep on explaining things the best I can on this blog until I can in person in a few months.  

I hope everyone is doing well and will somebody please eat a chipotle rice bowl for me?  I love the food here, but we were talking about those the other day and it was like I was in Isle Royale all over again.

Love love love!

Gout-lay (how Wheat Freet pronounced my name the first three days)

D'accord Princess

Happy Monday everyone,

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend, so thought I'd share:

On Friday after school I invited two friends, Libby from Montana and Camille from Oregon, to come play soccer with me and my neighborhood friends. We first stopped by this little bar/restaurant on the way home to have a pineapple"top" which is basically carbonated juice and everyone here is obsessed. So after the top we walked down my dirt road and I was really getting a little nervous because I had made a big deal about how great it is to hang out with these kids and I was worried that today would be the day when nobody would feel like playing. But right as we turned the corner everyone came running, and this time most were shouting Court-en-ay...progressss! So we played for awhile, letting our feet turn brown, and then the sun was starting to set signaling our time to go. I was going to show Libby my house and as soon as I opened the wall/gate every child stormed past me and started to run around our walled in house. I just stood there for a second looking back and forth towards Wheat Freet as the fifteen or so kids were running on the roof, hiding under the car, jumping off ledges, ect. Then the thought "one of these children is going to bust their head open, die, all my fault, etc" flashed through my mind and I started to run around after them, flapping my arms yelling "tout le monde, tout le monde!" (everyone, everyonnnnneee) but all they could do was laugh and keep running. So I finally took action and picked the smallest child, Princess age 1, picked her up and put her outside the wall. "D'accord Princess" (okayyy Princess, here ya go) while the rest of them were still on the loose. Libby had tears of laughter running down her face because I had choosen the harmless and most calm child to tackle first... start small, right? Eventually they all were ushered out (with some help from the older siblings) and Wheat Freet, Libby and I were left in peace. The end to a rediculously hectic and wonderful afternoon.

Saturday morning I woke up at my normal 630, walked to school, and hopped in a large van with everyone to head to a village outside of Yaounde. There, we visited a really cool art school and afterwards took a tour around Africa's largest gorilla sanctuary. There were a number of chimps, monkeys, and gorillas and even a few random donkeys. However I think one of the coolest parts is that the woman who gave us the tour was from the US and had moved to Cameroon to work at the sancutary after 30 or so years working as an interior designer for law firms; talk about making a job switch! Anyway, I just thought it was inspiring to meet someone brave enough to uproot completely because of a passion.

Saturday night I went out with some friends and danced for a little bit which was really fun and the next morning woke up to lots of French homework. Sometimes I forget I'm here for academics. Then, my older brother Patrice took me to a soccer game between Yaounde's team and a team from the west; afterwards we visited a friend who gave me a coconut (did you know that you have to use an axe to break them open?!) and then we stopped one more time to another friend who had just given birth so I got to hold this 13 day old baby for half an hour. We got home, I ate one of the spiciest meals of my life, and called it a night. All in all, a wondeful weekend.

FYI, I should be more connected this week before we leave for Dschang (chong) on Sat. for two weeks which is a much smaller and not as connected city. Thanks again for all your well wishing!

Love,
Courtney

La Blanche

Bonjour to all from Golf, Yaounde, Cameroon, Africa.

Before I delve into my new series of stories, I must make a reference and correction to my last post... I suppose I was in a hurry to utilize my internet cafe minutes as best as I could and made a big typo saying that my host family doesn't speak a lick of "french"... I clearly meant to say ENGLISH, they speak absoluetly no english, so sorry for the confusion. Also, I asked one of my French professors if "Huit Freet" is a common Cameroonian name and she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about so we tried a few different pronunciations and she started cracking up. Turns out my brother's name is Wilfrid; I guess with a really heavy Cameroonian accent it starts to sound like wheat freet... who knew. So that solves that.

This week Ive really been feeling good; I finally feel like Im getting a grasp on this city, this language, and the ways of life here. My host family and I get along really, really well and I spend my evenings talking and eating with them. For those of you who had the assumption that I would be coming back to America 20 pounds lighter, think again. All I do, all everyone does, is eat bread. Not to mention the tons of food my host mother puts on my plate after im done eating; last night I got 3 extra large potatoes and unfortunately for me its really rude not to finish sooooo unless Im careful Im going to live up to my host mom's expectation of "tous les américans sont gros" aka all americans are fatties. But I walk close to 3-4 miles a day at least so I'm banking on that to help me out.

I've also become the favorite neighborhood "blanche" / neighborhood white girl and spend 430-6 pm everyday playing soccer and dancing with the group of 10-15 kids who live near me. Everyday as I turn the corner on the rust colored dirt road michelle, mami, chantal, jeano, jeanu, princess, lydia, stephanie, grace, sozzo, and stella run to greet me yelling " la blanche! la blanche!" Im working on them calling me court-en-ay (how everyone here pronounces my name) but its extremely heart-warming nonetheless. And yesterday, right before I turned the corner to greet all my new friends I happened to meet the first division professional Cameroon rugby team on the street. They initially stopped to say hi to me because I'm a La Blanche but when I saw them all wearing rugby jerseys I initiated a real 20 minute conversation and have now been invited to all of their games along with all my friends! I love how certain parts of home are following me all the way over to my small street in the neighboorhood "Golf" in Cameroon. Im working on getting one of their jerseys before I leave.

So that's a brief look into my life here; as soon as I can figure out how to upload pictures somewhere Ill work on doing that. Everything is going really well: my french is improving rapidly, I can navigate myself around the area, I love my family, the food isnt horrible (only a few experiences with intestines) I have a lot of great new friends, american and cameroonian, and Im just overall really happy. I grapple with my place here and what it means to be a la blanche in cameroon on an everyday basis but I really do feel like Im participating in an extreme exchange of cultures and when I think of things in that way it helps to put things in perspective for me. I miss home and my family and friends a lot, but feel the love travelin' through and over all the land and oceans. Hope you can feel it being sent back.

A bientot,
Court-en-ay

goat intestines, talking politics, and hot hot heat.

Well, I've made it one week! And I can't even begin to tell you what a whirlwhind it has been. The past week was spent at a monastery on Mount Febe (faybay) for our orientation into Cameroon. It was a really nice transition because the monestary/ Mount Febe overlook Yaounde and so we're removed from the hustle and bustle of the city itself. However, on Thursday, we had our first big challenge- "the drop-off". My fellow-Ohioan Clark and I were paired together for this activity (if that's what you could even call it) and taken in a taxi to be dropped off in a random part of the city. We each had 3000 francs or roughly $6 to make our way around the city and complete a list of tasks. We had four hours and in that time span we: had a soda at this dingy bar, bought some gifts, went to many different quartiers (neighborhoods), and took about 40986 taxis all around the city; and it must be mentioned that taxis here are nothing like the US... here, you pile as many people into a taxi as you can, whether or not you're going to the same place. Wild. So, all in all, the drop off was probably the craziest thing I've ever done in my life but we made it back to the monestary safe and sound by 630 that night.



On Friday, I moved in with my Yaounde host family, the Djonke Family. There's Michel and Daphne (Daph-nayy) and my two host brothers Patrice and Huit Frites (wheat - freet)... well I'm pretty sure that's his name I can never really tell- it sounds like wheat freet. The past two nights Michel and I have talked about a wide array of topics including unemployment in the US and Cameroon, politics, the Obama elecition, our thoughts on Burkas, socialism v. capitalism.... Honestly, there's a lot of those conversations I have missed because no one in the family speaks a lick of french. But I actually think it's for the best because I already feel a lot more comfortable and could fully participate in the 'unemployment' convo last night. But it does make me laugh that our conversations have started out on that level.

There's a nice breeze on the roof of our house which is really nice considering I've been sweating non stop since I got to the airport. You can sit on top of the roof and see the neighbor kids playing football (soccer) to the left, goats roaming, a bunch of tiny houses sprawling beneath us, and the one and only horse stables in Yaounde to our right. Not to mention the 3-4 churches that surround us which are constantly emitting gospel-y tunes. This afternoon, I helped Daphne and Wheat-Freet clean fish, season the fish, fry the fish, and fry the plantains for a giant lunch with "ah-nan-nan" (pineapple) for dessert. My life is great.

More to surely come, happy weekend!

28 hours later...

Im here! This keyboard is very different so im going to keep this short until I have some more time to figure it all out. But, to quickly update : I am here and just absolutely in awe. Im jetlagged and just a little bit 'off' body wise, but this country thus far is just amazing. To give you a tiny glimpse, five of us arrived off of the swiss air flight (everyone seems really great) to sweltering heat. I was not bundled, but couldnt necessqrily leave Cincinnqti in a skirt either. So all five us were lucky enough to get our bags and we easily got through customs, and health checks to a group of 4-5 mid-twenty cameroonian sit guys. We piled all of our stuff into two tiny cars and Annie and Sarah and I got in the back of one of them. Flobert (flow-bear) and 'Bobo' drove us through Yaounde to the monestary where we're staying for the next week. The cote d'ivoire v. algeria soccer game was crackily being broadcasted in french on the radio and as we drove through this new city you could see tons of groups of people gathered around tvs and radios on the street or in little outdoor restaurants intently following the game as well. Needless to say, when i finally settled into my bug net on top of my sleeping bag, i fell quickly asleep with my heart full- knowing Im exactly where I need to be.

I woke up to the sound of a rainforest of noises, plus a random rooster alerting me that it was 'matin'. I took a 'shower' / running my head under a cool water stream from a faucet that was knee level on the wall while simultaneously splashing water on the rest of myself as best i could. However, i wouldnùt have it any other way because im finally here and i knowi have so much more to live and see. for now, until the other 14 kids get here, we'll probably go back to the monastery and play with the random chickens and baby chicks walking around, the stray protector dogs, and casually speak french with all the passerbys.

im already in love. miss everyone though, and hopefully update soon.

Demain

Demain (tomorrow) is the big day.

I'll leave Cincinnati at 11:15 in the morning and just a short 28 hours later, arrive in Yaounde, Cameroon. I have taken over and transformed my sister's room into my "packing station" (unbeknownst to her- thanks Catherine!). I have made close to 37 piles of : clothes, malaria meds (a whole pile in itself- 151 pills!), gifts for my host families, books, random, etc... basically it's an organization style that only makes sense to me. However, slowly, surely, things are coming together.

I am still in awe that this is happening and have a good feeling that it won't sink in until the fourth plane descends into Yaounde. I have the tendancy to be so amazed by certain experiences in my life that I almost miss them, jaw grazing the ground as they pass (i.e. summitting mountains in Alaska, enduring a rainy but life changing Killarney, holding my cousin's beautiful three-week old twins, falling in love, graduating, or the simple joys of spending time with the ones I love). How could I be this lucky? How could life hold this much beauty? Learning how to grasp these moments, actually hold them close, is a skill I am constantly attempting to hone. I have a feeling these four months will present my biggest challenge, and yet, I feel ready. Despite these new nerves, like a tiny bird flapping its wings inside my ribcage, I know that tomorrow morning I am going to metaphorically and literally fly off into this new chapter of my life, savoring the new moments while staying tethered to the people and experiences who have made me who I am.

Thanks for reading, happy weekend!

Adieu, America.

Here we go.

Well, this is a first. First blog, first post, first time prepping for a trip to Africa. I didn't really expect a blog to be difficult to set up, and it wasn't. However, what was difficult, was choosing the freaking title. My original gut choice was "Travelin' Thru", a tribute to Dolly Parton's song, an ahwh favorite circa 2006. But of course, that was taken. So I looked down at my weekly planner/bible with my 48 item to-do list and saw the quote I had written on the inside cover at the beginning of last semester:

"Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise." -Maya Angelou

I don't remember where I found that quote, but it stood out to me. I like the message, but I also love the word bodacious. A quick search offers many dictionary entries including but not limited to: impressive, awesome, brave in action, remarkable, prodigious, thorough, unmistakable,

audacious, bold or brazen, gutsy, brave, unafraid, etc.

In naming my blog "to be bodacious" I hope to not give the impression that I think I am all of these things. I choose it instead as an optimistic, hopeful, even evolutionary, title. I think striving to be bodacious is a worthy goal and so hopefully through my traveling and life-living, I'll come to evolve and invent myself with bodacious attributes in mind.

So there you go. I'm 6 days away from flying to Cameroon to study Social Change, diversity, NGOs, and French. While I'm there I'll hopefully be able to update anyone who's curious about my whereabouts and experiences. However, I have a soft-spot for the antiquated letter, envelope, stamp, mailbox. If you give me your address through email, facebook, phone-call, whatever, I'll be sure to send you something. And here's my address if you want to send me something across the ocean:

Courtney Baxter

c/o The School for International Training

BP 33241

Yaoundé, Cameroon

Thanks for reading! Paix (peace, in french) and happy start to your week.