Sunday, August 14, 2005

I MADE IT TO YAOUNDE!! I arrived yesterday evening. I had such a long journey here. The trip took well over 24 hours. I left on Friday, arrived Saturday evening and now it's Sunday!!! It feels like I've lost one day. I think it hit me that I'm in Africa when I looked out the window of the plane and we were flying over the Sahara! We then passed over lush greenery! It was so amazing. On the long flight, my legs cramped so much. I think they got numb after awhile. I didn't sleep on the flight from Atlanta to Paris. Instead I played 3 hours of Solitaire (I'm obsessed) and watched Be Cool. In Paris I met 3 of the other new teachers. From Paris to Yaounde, I slept most of the way.

The airport was somewhat hectic. We had to pass through health control (where there was one person checking EVERYONE'S yellow fever certificate) and we then passed through passport control (with 3 people checking). We met up with some of the folks from the school and went through customs.

There is so much greenery and plant life in the city. It is beautiful. There are some paved roads and some dirt roads. Driving is quite different! We had a couple close calls on the way to the apartmetns. I haven't seen much of the city, but can talk more about that later.

Our apartments are wonderful! They are quite big. But, I guess anything is quite big when I just moved from a studio apartment. Taking a shower was funny. I have a stand up shower that is about 2 feet by 2 feet. The water pressure was so so so low!

I live on the third floor. We have a balcony that overlooks the city! Its a wonderful view.

Today we went to the Hilton to have brunch. The food was great. I did try a typical Cameroonian dish called Ndola (I'm not sure of the spelling). I guess its a local vegetable crushed up into a paste. It was no doubt an interesting taste and can honestly say I didn't like it. It tasted very bitter. There is nothnig else I can associate it with. I also had I think the best pineapple I've ever tasted. It is picked ripe, therefore the taste was so sweet.

Well we are off to take a tour of the school. I would love to write more, but will later on. Everyone from the school is making the transition smooth. I don't feel quite lonely, although I don't really know anyone well. I slept well last night and am not sure how I feel tonight.

Thanks for the comments. They are awesome! I'll talk with you later.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm so happy to see you enjoying Cameroon, you've worked hard and deserve this adventure.

Do you think the Ndola might taste bitter like the Wheatgrass at JambaJuice? ;-)

10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ciao,
I am glad to know that you are in Cameroon safe and sound. Wow, that bitter dish sounds interesting I got to try to look it up here in lala land.
take care,
Cesar T

7:23 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home