An African Blessing

After we landed at the airport in Yaounde, we packed into like 6 or 7 Land Rovers, Land Cruisers and vans. I was in one that only had a front seat and a back seat as the rest of the back was full of our back packs and we crammed four people into the backseat, “Africa-style” as they said. This small girl named Christina was sitting in the front and had the whole passenger’s seat to herself, she kept asking if somebody wanted to get in there with her because she felt bad that she had that whole seat to herself. As we were pulling away, a peace corps worker named Tiki stopped the car and hopped in with her, so she sat on the console between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. We all laughed and the driver said in his heavily accented English, “Welcome to Cameroon.”
As we were driving into the city it started to rain, slow at first--big fat drops that smacked against the windshield with a crack. After a few minutes the rain started to pick up and Tiki spoke up and said that when you arrive at the airport in Africa and it starts raining before you get to your first destination, it’s a blessing.
A few images from the drive in:
a shaggy green canopy with slender trunks and cloud-like heads pop up; mud and cinderblock houses with tin roofs and dirt yards; trash collects in any drain or recess between houses, yards and roads; big, fat raindrops tumble from the dark clouds that reached up for miles; [orange] signs on the corners of bars, restaurants, and road-side stands (what’s that? –fruit? –mobile phone minutes, I think?); fruit stands with large, tattered umbrellas selling green mangoes and fist-sized tomatoes; beautiful hand-crafted furniture stashed in groups under palm trees with thin blue and clear tarps stretched over; a large headstone next to a smaller one in a house’s yard, facing the road; a 15-20 story, abandoned building with a top-to-bottom World Cup advertisement; the slightly sweet, slightly bitter, poignant smell of sweat; dented, rusted yellow Toyota cabs beep and swerve in and out of lanes.

Eesh!

I'm in Philadelphia right now and will probably be waking up in a little over 5 hours to get ready to head out. We're getting our shots in the early morning and then heading to New York to go catch a flight to Cameroon! The Surreal-ness of this whole venture is beginning to slide away and the reality that I will be spending over two years in Cameroon is slowly taking it's place. I almost lost it on the way to the El Paso airport yesterday after I said goodbye to my dog who I will probably never see again and was preparing to say goodbye to my step mom. Insanity. But I am incredibly comforted by the fact that everyone here is essentially in the same boat as me and we're all kinda freaked out. I'm scarred shitless and honestly afraid of what is about to happen, but I'm also so indescribably excited (I don't really think the two can ever truly be separated, right?) that I think all the fear, self-doubt, anxiety, and probable hardships that have and will come will be worth it.

I've met some very cool, nice people here in Philly and I think we have a good group of people. I also think that I'll be able to get along with and make some good friendships with a good number of them.

Too many other things to think of now so I'll just leave off with two quotes/saying that have hit me particularly hard in the last few days:
-This is what Derek told me when I left Seattle: "Hey man, this isn't goodbye. It's see ya later." It's hard to say how much that simple line has helped me when parting ways.
-A tattoo a girl I met today named Stephanie (who is going to Togo with PC) had on her arm: "Make the most of today because tomorrow is a promise to noone." I'm sorry if I got the quote wrong, I'm just typing it from memory, but I think it's a pretty good way of putting how I feel right now.

Thank you for reading. I will be back with more once I'm in Cameroon. I'm not religious, but if you are... pray for me.

Soooo: Cameroon!

Anxiousness: check.
Nervousness: check.
Fear: check.
Excitement: double-check.

As I write this I'm watching the US Open and I wonder if I'll get a chance to see any tennis while in Africa. I'm resigned to the fact that I won't be able to see any baseball, basketball, or football but I wonder aside from soccer what will be popular. Alright, so it is a little over a week until I leave (again), and even with the jeopardy of jinxing it again, I'll share some thoughts and information.

I'm just beginning the packing process and writing down the few things I still have to get. The current plan is that I'm flying to Philadelphia on the 15th for some orientation/shots/introductions that start on the 16th, which means I'll have almost 24 hours to explore a city I've never been to before! I believe at last tally there's something like 33 of us heading over to Cameroon which I'm happy about because it will make it easier for me and my horrible skills with linking names and faces. On the 17th, we'll be flying out of JFK, through Belgium, arriving in the capital on the 18th. My address for the first three months of training will be:

HH, Peace Corps Volunteer
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 215
Yaoundé, Cameroon

If you mail me something, keep in mind it'll take at least 3 weeks to get to me. Number your letters so I know if one gets lost. If you mail me a package of some sort, don't send something that would majorly suck to have stolen as mail theft is pretty common. That doesn't mean not to send me a CD or something but think twice if it's something sentimentally significant that might not make it. Lastly, I'll have a new address sometime in November or December so make sure to check back and then start sending letters there.

Well, I'm pretty scatterbrained right now and packing is calling me. More later.