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.