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