December 2nd, 2014 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
• Dry season is underway in Cameroon, and I can’t decide which season I prefer, dry or rainy. In Cameroon, we have only two seasons, dry and rainy. Rainy season clearly means lots of rain and cloudy days. It certainly also means cooler temperatures. While dry season of course means lots of sunny days but it also means lots of dust. During dry season, we never have to worry about the unpaved roads being muddy, slipping and falling, and getting our feet dirty. Most importantly, we don’t have to worry about muddy water being splashed onto our clothes by motos passing by us. However, during the dry season, we still get dirty. The unpaved roads are so dusty that with the winds, the dust can get onto our clothes. Plus, during dry season, I see lots of tiny little bugs crawling on the floor. I’m thankful for the bed bug spray I brought with me to kill them.
• There is no such a thing as personal space. When taking taxis in Bamenda, I do not have a taxi to myself unless I pay extra money. On top of that, the taxis do not always take me from point A to point B unless I choose to pay a large amount of extra money. Also, if I want a taxi to come directly to my apartment to pick me up, I have to call a taxi driver. The way the taxis work in Bamenda is that it primarily drives on the major streets, and it picks up people along the way who want to go in the same direction that the taxi is going. So, here’s an example, I walk about three minutes from my apartment to the closest major road. Let’s say I want to go to a restaurant inside the International Hotel. It’s not on a major road. The closest major road is Commercial Avenue. I walk across the road because most taxis on the other side of the road is heading towards the center of the city where Commercial Avenue is located. I flag a taxi, and one stops, I tell the taxi that I want to go to Commercial Avenue. The taxi just takes off. That means that taxi is not going in that direction. I flag another taxi and this time, that taxi is going to Commercial Avenue. I get in. There is already a person in the taxi. A couple minutes later, the taxi stops and catches another person who is going in the direction that the taxi is going. That person gets in. The cycle can repeat until the entire car is full. The definition of a full car is when there are three people in the back and two people in the passenger front seat and plus, the driver. Once the taxi arrives at Commercial Avenue, I get out. Then I walk a couple minutes to the restaurant. It’s almost like taking a packed subway ride in some way. The only modes of public transportation that exist in Bamenda are taxis and motos. Taking a moto is a better option if I want to go from point A to point B without paying a huge extra amount of money and not be squashed in the taxi. However, I have to carry a helmet around which is not always convenient.
• “I see a Peace Corps Volunteer!” My counterpart called out while we were in a taxi the other day. She then said that she knew it was a Peace Corps volunteer because she was wearing a helmet while riding the moto. We, Peace Corps Volunteers, are likely the only ones who wear helmets while riding the motos in Cameroon.
• Getting internet figured out has been a nightmare. I first purchased 2GB of internet from Nexttel, a cellphone company, on SIM card and turned my iPhone into a wifi station. It was the best internet connection I’ve ever had. The speed was fast as it was on 3G network. However, I used up all 2GB in 24 hours. I switched to MTN with unlimited internet as it was cheaper than 5GB of internet from Nexttel, the biggest plan the company offered, except it was much slower. However, it was too slow, and it often went down. After talking to other Peace Corps Volunteers, I learned that getting an internet key from Camtel, a Cameroonian internet company, with 100 hours of internet was the best option. I was told that it was still slow but not as slow as MTN. I got an internet key from a very friendly gentleman with mobility disability who works for Camtel but it wouldn’t work on my Mac computer. It turned out that the key was defective as it didn’t have the Mac version of the software installed on the internet key. I went back to the gentleman, and he gave me a new USB key. It still didn’t work. I went back to the gentleman again, and he went all over the city looking for a key that would work on my Mac computer. He finally found one, and I’m now typing up this blog from the Camtel internet key. The connection is still slow but it’s fast enough for me to at least read. Therefore, I’m satisfied. I just want to at least be able to use e-mails and social medias, read news, download eBooks and blog. According to my counterpart, Cameroon should have better internet options by the end of 2015. Every person’s phone number in Cameroon was changed recently by adding 6 in the front of the number, and I was told the reason was because it would help improve the internet system in Cameroon. I hope this will be true because it would be nice to be able to do video chats with my family and friends.
• I bought a custom made mosquito net holder made of bamboo. The bamboo shop gave me a set of cut up bamboos and nails and directions on how to put it together. I put it together by myself, and it was a nightmare. It was like building an Ikea furniture, meaning that the directions were unclear, and keeping all the parts attached was difficult. Once I finally just almost got it put together, it collapsed. I took all the bamboos back to the shop. I created a new design myself that should be more sturdy and not require me to build at all, but I have to wait until I can meet with the owner of the shop to see if my design can work. For the time being, I have the mosquito net attached to the curtain rods next to my bed, and then the net hangs over my bed like a half triangle. I can only sleep all the way on the end next to the curtain rods because the net doesn’t touch my face. Making sure I don’t get malaria is far more important than being comfortable while sleeping.
• I miss cheese. I just made pasta with olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, avocado and onions. It didn’t taste good. I think it was because it was missing parmesan cheese. I just had a bag of Cheez-Its thanks to my grandmother who sent it. Cheese is very hard to find in Cameroon, and when it’s found, it’s very expensive as they’re imported from France.
