Yes, This is My Movie Audition

Auditioned for a vampire movie today at Alliance Francais. Internet is too slow to upload a video, but have no worry...my drama skills for the "Best Actress" Award back in high school came alive :)

I believe this is the most random post on my blog thus far.

Random Cameroonian Things I See From my Front Porch in Ngaoundere

Title says it all.

If that's not a baby on board, I don't know what is...

Ya know...just a man selling egg sandwiches and mayonnaise on his head

Peanuts and a cute, sleeping baby!


Anyone need a bucket?

No matter how hard I try, I'll never be able to balance anything on my head
and walk at the same time


Awesome traditional outfit

This One's For You, Kid: Skype Session!

This post is a shout-out to Nick Kump. He religiously keeps up with my blog (even though my updates are months behind) and even throws in comments for good measure.

I'm a pretty lucky as I'm one of the 5% of PCVs in Cameroon that has internet fast enough to video Skype from home (go Ringo!). So here's Nick!


Fun fact: Nick was a good college friend and moved to Sacramento after graduation. My brother moved to the city for work and they happened to live in the same apartment complex. A few months later, they became roommates without any introduction from me whatsoever. Small world!

Cameroon's Election Day

Happy Election Day, Cameroon! As a PCV, I'm restricted from publicly speaking or publishing my political opinions (see disclaimer on bottom of website). Thus, this post will provide a bit of background of Cameroonian politics and how Election Day works!

Paul Biya, Cameroon's current president, has been in power for the last 29 years. Presidential elections are held every 7 years and before 2004, there was a two-term limit for Presidents. After Biya was re-elected in 2004, he revised the Constitution eliminating the term limits.

Peace Corps Volunteers were put on "No Travel" during the election period as we patiently waited to see the outcome. As everything in the city closed down for voting, I wandered Ngaoundere with Abdul, my 12-year-old sidekick/neighbor to check out the election process in action.

Like in the U.S., people must register before Voting Day. The day of, each voter receives a ballot for every candidate that is running. The ballots are color-coated with the candidates' photo as the illiteracy rate is high, so voters can just look at the ballots without reading.

The ballots of the October 2011 Presidential Elections of Cameroon. Twenty-three ballots for each of the 23 candidates.

Polling place. Voters put their respective ballot in the envelope behind the curtain and then into the ballot box.

I know who you voted for!

After voters put their ballot into the envelope, they leave the polling place with the other 22 ballots to do as they wish. Thus, for the next few weeks, locals will use the ballots as scratch paper, etc.

Things are relatively peaceful, so this PCV won't be evacuated from the country anytime soon! And yes, Paul Biya won again.

Daily Life in Cameroon

Since the beginning of this blog, I wanted to focus on travel and the adventures that came with it. Thus, I've always written about that one-in-a-million exciting event and the once-in-a-lifetime trip. Let this post; however, be just a glimpse into the everyday, no biggie part of my life here in Cameroon.

Hail for the first time in Ngaoundere in years! Everyone ran so fast and it sounded like my tin roof was caving in.

Little Seurah, my next door neigbor! This is the coloring book you sent over Mom! She loved it though we had to talk to her about sharing habits (or lack thereof).

My neighbor making cous-cous Cameroonian style. She is sifting the corn before mashing it and turning it in a cauldron-like pot.

"I love my country, I love peace!" Let's hope this holds true for the
national elections in a few days.

Buying oranges right outside the market. You can't see the baby attached to her back, but the little guy is there!

I always buy garlic and onions from this neighbor who is always preparing some type of food regardless of the time. Here she is cracking open the Cameroonian version of sunflower seeds.

C'est la vie.

Daily Life in the Peace Corps

From Day 1 of service, a Peace Corps Volunteer will be told that "cultural integration" is a large part of your job as it increases one's safety and understanding. Thus, as I am organizing calabash design classes for women as an income-generating activity (see 'My Peace Corps Projects'), I decided to take classes myself!

Note: The calabash is a fruit that is not eaten, but rather utilized in many traditional ways, such as a drinking bowl. In this case, the calabashes are carved, painted, and sold/given as traditional wedding presents!

Calabash design artist, Haowao, teaching me how to cut my calabash

The finished products! Don't ask me why this blog/internet published this photo side-ways

So by day, I take calabash design classes and by night? Well, I go dancing with the members of my micro-credit cooperatives of course!

Breaking it down with 4o-year-old Cameroonian moms!

Yes, this is a baby in a bar. C'est la vie!

And This Is Peace Corps Life...

Came back from vacation to water that looked like this...

And a sunset that looked like this...

Peace Corps life. Can't help but love it.

Running From the Border: A Journey Across West Africa

We knew that before we finished our service, we wanted to explore other parts of Africa. So on a rainy night in Yaounde, we bought our tickets to fly to Mali in July! We’d head overland to visit Lindsey’s best friend serving in Peace Corps Burkina Faso, bush taxi down to Togo, and fly back from Benin.

Getting there was a triumph in itself as direct flights weren’t an option and we first flew to Ethiopia. Though we searched Couchsurfing for a place to spend the night’s layover, Ethiopian Airlines took care of us by putting us up in a swanky hotel complete with hot showers and an all-you-can-eat buffet. The next day, we flew to Togo to pick up some more passengers, and then finally landed in Bamako, Mali.

Our journey flying across Africa!

The whirlwind trip included climbing mountains, butterfly hunting, canoeing across lakes and rivers, napping on beaches, dancing all night, and shopping for everything from Obama pagne to hand-woven and decorated mud cloth. The trip was even more memorable as we met world-famous fashion designers, Peace Corps Volunteers, chiefs of villages, and some of the nicest random people that helped us out from time to time.

Hiking between villages in Dogon Country, Mali

A small boy sells fans at the Grande Marche, Bamako, Mali

People always ask us of the trip “Was it the same as Cameroon?” On surface level, yes, pagne was everywhere and transportation was uncomfortable, but when you take a deeper look, each country was beautiful in its own way. In Mali, we found not only mud homes, but ones that were multi-storied creating an ancient town of varying building heights. Burkina Faso, being a transport country, had remarkable roads and the nicest people (no “white man” or “nassara” yells!). Togo was a mix of tiny villages in the North, lush rain forests in the South, and beautiful beaches on the coast with voodoo culture thrown in. Benin was a great place to end with a trip to Ganvie, a village that rests on stilts!

The largest mud mosque in the world, Grand Mosquee, Djenne, Mali

Banfora Waterfalls, Burkina Faso

Stilt village of Ganvié, Benin

However, this is not to say that the trip was without its challenges! Bush taxis almost every day, a car accident with a visit to PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) Burkina, five-hour long hikes beneath the beating African sun, worm and rash outbreaks, monkey attacks, and a brief runaway stint from the Togolese border are just the realities of backpacking West Africa. Luckily, we’ve mastered the fine art of negotiation; I saved us from paying 5.000CFA in Mopti, Mali for a “mandatory” visa extension fee and let’s just say that Lindsey Dattels has a future immigration officer husband waiting for her in the Contonou airport who allowed us to board the plane back to Cameroon.

Monkey attacks are no fun on a vacation

If you’re looking for an adventure (because it was anything but relaxing!), consider backpacking West Africa. We’ll send you our Excel itinerary!

*Note: The first version of this article appeared in the November 2011 edition of the US Peace Corps Cameroon's Small Enterprise Development Gazette.

Stilt Village of Ganvié, Benin

This village on stilts should be noted as an official World Heritage site! Just outside the capital city of Contonou, Ganvié is home to about 30,000 Tofinu. The entire village’s buildings sit on 2 meter high stilts above the water.

Back in the 17^th century, the Tofinu fled to Ganvie to escape slavery by the Dahomey. Their attempted captors, who were afraid of water and disallowed to enter it due to religious reasons, thus left the residents alone.

And what do the residents live off of? Fish of course!

*Tip: Take public transport or a private person’s canoe if you can sneak it! The Ministry of Tourism will charge you 25x what locals pay (and they are a government agency).

The Beautiful Beaches of Grand Popo, Benin

After three weeks of intense and uncomfortable traveling (backpacking West Africa is far from relaxing my friends!), we spent a necessary day sleeping and strolling on the beaches of Grand Popo, Benin. Nothing to report on this blog post, just a beautiful beach!

Grand Popo, Benin

Togo: Love Your Beaches, Scared of Your Voodoo & Monkey Attacks!

What’s the best way to say goodbye to a place? Relax on its beaches of course! Before checking out of Le Galion Hotel, I spent a couple hours reading on the Lome shore and yes, my guilty pleasure is a good ole’ Nicholas Sparks’ book!

Lome, Togo

We soon made our way to Chez Alice (chezalicetogo@hotmail.com), a German-run hostel 12km outside of Lome in Aveposo. Unfortunately, the street was under construction, so few clients meant no music or dancing like usual Wednesdays, but at least we (finally!) had peace and quiet! All except for the noise of the monkeys!

The little guy may look cute until he attacks you!

We took a 500CFA (~$1US) taxi to Lake Togo where we would canoe over to Togoville, Togo’s “voodoo” island. It would be here that those who practiced voodoo were taken to Haiti as slaves. The driver initially believed the canoe would sink if I drove, but to his surprise, I was one of the best rowers he’s seen! Note: If you get a private “tourist” canoe, it’s 4.000CFA (~$8US) one-way. Otherwise, I highly recommend taking public transport as they were paying 200CFA (~$.40) each!

I was a pro!

The Artisanal market at Togoville is only one room but proceeds go towards a local organization and you can find a few gems. After exploring the German Cathedral, we headed off to the voodoo market. We could have paid 2.000CFA (~$4US) to see “voodoo-in-action,” but decided to pass based on the creepiness factor.

Togoville's port (top), stage at the German Cathedral (middle), and voodoo market (bottom)

Back across Lake Togo, we searched for the elusive promise of water sports, but it turns out everything but the paddle boat was broken. So while the other girls napped on the shore, I jumped in an 800CFA taxi to Aneho, home of arguably the best beaches in Togo. With a chicken sandwich at La Cote du Soleil, I could agree!

Beach at La Cote du Soleil, Aneho, Togo - beautiful!

Short on cash, we had a delicious street food dinner of spaghetti, turkey, and French fries – all for 300CFA (~$.60US) mind you! Tomorrow, Benin!