My year ended with several memorable moments –
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The middle of December was my In Service Training (IST) with Peace Corps, meaning that it had been 6 months since I had arrived in Cameroon and 3 months since I was at post, it was time to move on to the next phase of my 27 months of service. Training took place in Kribi, a beautiful town next to the ocean. It lasted a week. We started every day at 0800 and finished at 1700, luckily though, we still found the time to enjoy bathing in the warm ocean before heading out to dinner. Most mornings I was able to take walks along the beach and watch the rolling of the waves as the sun appeared. I decided to stay one extra day, with some of my friends, to enjoy a whole day at the beach and just to disconnect. In Kribi, the specialty food was fresh caught fish or nice, large shrimps which were then grilled over coals by “fish mommies” and eaten while watching fishermen coming in with their new catches. It was a great week, training was good, the environment refreshing, but most of all, seeing everyone again was just the medicine that the doctor recommended :-)
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Came back to Bambili, the 20th of December, in time to celebrate the Christmas holidays. School had ended on the 18th. The majority of the students had gone home to their families and had left Bambili extremely quiet. It was hard, for me, to be away from the family during this period, but neighbors and friends from the village helped me get through it by extending many invitations to join them in their celebrations with their families. Their kindness and understanding were so greatly appreciated. How is Christmas celebrated in the Northwest region of
Everything is used, there is no waste. Meat inspectors were present to ensure that the animal had not been infected by diseases, amoebas, or worms. 
There was not only beef but pork and chicken as well. I learned that the meat inspectors examine the brain and the liver of the animals because this is where toxins accumulate and, for pork, this is where they can see if it is infected with trichinosis. So, though the pictures may be a bit gruesome, remember that all parts are used. - Christmas Eve was spent at my landlord and neighbor´s home. They had put up an artificial Christmas tree on the balcony of their house.It was the only outdoor Christmas tree in our village. No presents are exchanged at Christmas, in
- Christmas day started with a celebration at church. Though it was Christmas, during the service, there were baptisms performed as well, about 20 actually. I had been invited to witness the baptism of one of my friends whose grandchild was getting baptized. Once mass was over, she then invited me to come to her home to share in the celebration of the baptism. Once again, the food was traditional and excellent, but I ate only small portions because that day many more invitations had been extended to me. Once done, I went home to change and got ready to go to my neighbors , Gertrude. There again, wonderful food was served and I spent a great time with her, her granddaughter Sandra, who was real happy to show me their Christmas tree, her grandson Elvis, her daughters and son. Once finished, as I was walking on to the next invitation, my landlord asked me to first come and have a drink with them – how could I refuseJ. I spent a couple of hours with them and then was picked up by the assistant director of my school to come join him and his family to celebrate Christmas --- more food, more sharing of great times- By the time I came home, Christmas was coming to an end, it was 2200. I had started the day at 0700 by going to church, I had shared the day with 4 families and had eaten almost non-stop since 1000 --- what a celebration it was!!!!!
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I went to the Bafut Agro Pastoral Fair that took place after Christmas; it was like a country fair with the displaying of local products, vegetables, fruits, animals and crafts for judging. It was a nice and enjoyable diversion. It was interesting to see the local farmers, mainly women, display their crops and excitedly wait for the judges to come, look and hopefully award prizes to their products. The array of the different displays was colorful, pleasing to the eyes and smelled wonderful.
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We met a nomad woman that was tending the cattle and she took us to her home so that we could meet her family. She then offered to take us to the lake. Once we arrived we saw the magic of the place and why so many had told us about it. The lake is a crater lake. It is surrounded by mountains. It is, unfortunately, displaying eutrophication and is getting smaller as one can see by the demarcation of plant life that is advancing slowly but surely into the lake.
It was a hard climb, not that it was that steep, but the air was thin and I could feel my heart thumping hard, but, it was all worth it. We had left the house at 0830 and returned at 1600. It was one of the best outings that I have done since I have arrived here. Once home, we showered, changed and went to visit a few Peace Corps friends to finish 2010 together and to start 2011 as a NW group. It was a quiet evening, good food, fun games -- it was nice to be with friends.
So now it is 2011, school has started again. ENS has been declared as a standalone University for the Northwest Region, an Anglo-Saxon university, it is no longer part of the Yaoundé University (in the Francophone region) it is The New University of Bamenda and will be joined by other faculties in the near future. The fall term has resumed and it will end on the 21st of January. There will be an exam period and the start of the new term will be on the 21st of February. So, back to the routine and then hopefully time to look into other fruitful projects.
Until next time
