Pictures!!

Community group - note my beautiful pagne dress which matches my friend Anna's


Woman in Pitoa selling peanut butter and beignets


View from the top of the mountain


Drinking before the big football game!


Me half way up the moutain on our climb


Drinking Billy Billy (millet wine) at the Thursday market in Adoumori

PST Week 9

Old Car next to a mud hut with a kid playing the tire game - typical of my quartier in Pitoa (this is outside my homestay house)


Me with the cookstoves in my pagne dress



So I made a cook stove this week with mud. An improved cook stove to be more accurate. And, when I say that I made one, I mean that I attempted to make one, but I sucked pretty badly compared to the local women who showed us how to make one. She made a beautiful, perfect cook stove and made it look easy. Then, I made a mini version of something that a 10 year old would bring home from pottery class – but I got the basic idea down and I have 2 years to perfect it. I do have pictures of them that I will try to post. I feel I need to share this experience because it was very interesting, amusing, embarrassing, etc.

In French class this week we did riddles (enigmas in French) one day. Surprisingly many riddles do cross cultural barriers. For instance, the “what is black, white, and read (or red since they sound the same when you say them) all over” has a French counterpart. The answer is of course newspaper (or journal in French). As does “what first walks on 4 legs then 2 legs then 3 legs”. Kauleen and I introduced our French teacher to the “a child and father are in a car accident and get taken to separate hospitals, the doctor at the hospital with the child says that they cannot operate on the kid because it is their child – how is this possible?” She didn’t know and we had to tell her it was because the doctor was the mother! When I tried to play these enigmas with my host brother that night I got to the one about “what is black, white and read all over” he knew the answer was journal. I then tried to explain to him that in English the word for red and read sound the same and so in America many children answer “a sunburned zebra” to this riddle. He found this extremely amusing – which it is. Keep in mind that all of this is occurring in French and feel free to be impressed by how much French I have learned since being here – I am a bit impressed with myself to be honest. I have a huge test to see if I have reached my required “intermediate high” level in a few hours and so I have my fingers crossed. My host brother has wished me “bonne chance” (good luck) and so we shall see I suppose. I won’t know until Monday.

One night over dinner my host brother and I got to discussing recipes for the local food. He explained to me the dishes that he thought I would be able to figure out and when I asked about how to make these coconut balls they sell he told me it was too complicated for me. That made me laugh. He is probably right but I will try nonetheless. That is the things about Americans, we like to try and see for ourselves before we accept defeat. But, I know now how to make ham ham and fullery sauce and peanut sauce. That should hold me for awhile.

My trainer told me yesterday that he was impressed with me and my willingness to try all the different foods off the street or whatnot. He said he hadn’t ever seen a volunteer jump into the food like I have. I suppose that was a complement and took it as one. I figure, the sooner I figure out good food that is here and how to make it, the happier I will be. I told him about my love of piemont (peppers and spicy food) and he seemed fairly impressed with my stomachs ability to handle the spice and food. Apparently the majority of Americans that people here have come in contact with have weak stomachs and don’t enjoy food with copious amounts of piemont in it the way I do. I have started to be known in Pitoa for my stomach and experimentation with food. For instance, the women who sell ham ham get upset with me when I don’t have it for lunch. The children who sell the sesame seed balls know me and what I am buying and are ready for me. The children who sell the coconut balls sell them out of a closed pot you cannot see through – when I walked down the street they removed the lid to show me that they had them, knowing what I was looking for. The omelet man was shocked when he was being a jerk and took a huge scoop of piemont and was pretending to dump it on my food (after I asked for more piemont) and I told him to drop it and he did and then I ate it and he was shocked. It was hilarious to me.


This past weekend we all went to a huge soccer game in Garoua. It was the finals for this inter Africa cup. The two best regional teams in African were facing off and one of them happened to be from the province I will be living! The Coton Sport team from Garoua is one of the two best regional teams in Africa – pretty cool right? Well, the other team was from Egypt and they beat us. Egypt always beats us. But, the game itself was so entertaining. They gave all of us these awful marigold yellow tshirts that we had to wear. Then, two guard stood on either side of our section – real “immersion” type situation right? Well our group was quite the commotion. One of us (the boy who will later be my post mate) got the entire stadium to do the wave. Multiple times. It was so funny. It may have been televised so try to you tube that if you get bored. I would love to know how far this made it around the world. The final score of the game was something like 3-1 but it came down to this stupid penalty kick that gave them the lead and took the steam out of Coton Sport. Prior to the game I went to the market and attempted to find a jersey and realized this is a complicated process with many options, many different styles, many different qualities, etc. I have started the process of shopping around and I will eventually find one that fits all of my qualifications I am sure of it.

Found a store in Garoua that sells cheese and wine. Last weekend directly after finding this I ate a block of swiss cheese, a box of crackers made with olive oil and rosemary, and drank a bottle of South African Merlot. Be jealous. It was the best thing in the world and I ate it with my hands at a bar with two other volunteers. It is pretty much awesome and I know call it the magic store – a name I had previously conserved for a store here in Pitoa that sells vashe (the cheese that doesn’t need refrigeration).

So today we have our “final” language exam. Cara and I took bets yesterday that we would go last because this seems to be the general rule with language tests. Low and behold Cara and I arrive at 7:30 to find that our exams are the last and will occur at 12:30 and 12:00, respectively. You would think they would work on switching it up a bit. But, no, you would be wrong. Anyway, wish me luck – time to watch a movie and consume a lot of peanuts in preparation for my exam!

PST Week 8

Today I saw some truly bizarre things on a motto. I saw 6 – yes count them 6 – grown men on one motto. While that was truly amazing and highly entertaining, the most amazing thing I saw by far was a man driving a motto with a table overturned on the back and in the table was a live cow and on that cow was another man just sitting. Seriously – how did they get that cow into that table and onto that motto? I cannot picture that occurring.

Okay so some things appear to be universal. Sibling rivalry. I have seen a number of siblings here in Africa bicker the same way I do with my siblings and the same way I witness countless other people in the states bicker with theirs. Love of cold beer. That transcends all cultures I believe. Curiosity. I think all people are curious about things they don’t know much about or understand – like the children here with us.

So I have had some fun this week experimenting with random street food and the market. There seem to be many possibilities for food here if you are willing to put enough time and effort into the process of experimenting. Rice beignets could make an English muffin like base for a personal pizza. Parle G cookies could be crushed up to make a pie crust. These types of things. Also, I am super excited to have time to get to experiment with food soon. I have found some winning foods on the streets of Pitoa. The bakkaroo (crunchy sticks of peanut butter basically) are rather tasty. This beautiful ginger candy has appeared lately. Spaghetti omelets with beans. Fullery juice (which tastes like hibiscus) with a bit of ginger. Fresh peanut butter – which apparently I am suppose to boil before eating but haven’t yet done that. Rice beignets I am partial too. This street soup called Ham Ham that is basically fullery and peanuts (which are cooked to taste kind of like tofu) – this Italian wedding soup with peanut like tofu instead of meatballs. The food situation is getting better and will certainly get much better once I can cook for myself and control the amount of cotton oil and magi that is going into my food. Right now I cannot and so I have just given up being healthy.

So exciting news, most of the trainees are going to the final regional African soccer match on Sunday. Coton Sport (The best team in Cameroon which happens to hail from Garoua – my provincial capital) will be playing the other best regional team in African who happens to hail from Egypt. I am super excited and think I will celebrate by buying a jersey to wear to the game. Score and such to come.

Okay so Christmas presents, don’t expect them. I have yet to figure out the mail situation. I have been sending letters slowly but surely and don’t worry if you haven’t received one – I got more envelopes and plan to send more soon. I will send things to people as I find and buy them and once I figure out the mail system. Know that I love you all and am thinking about your potential birthday or Christmas presents. I will text you for sure!

Let’s see. Since site visit not much has happened. We are all pretty over the whole training situation and ready to get out there to our villages and start some projects. That being said, I think I for one am also equally terrified of being on my own in my village and having to speak French with everyone and terrified that I will suck at my job as a community health promoter, that no one will understand my French, etc. But, petite a petite as they say in French (little by little in English). I have my next French exam next Friday and while they claim it is our last we all know there is a secret one right before swearing in for all those of us who still need it. I am learning more and more French but it is still hard as hell to communicate health messages.

This week we got to go to a local school and first observe a health class and then teach a short health lesson. The health class we observed was super interesting. It was suppose to be about communicable disease with a focus on palu (malaria). The information they learned was learned verbatim from all the students who could tell you things like that you take quinine for malaria and that it is spread by the anopheles mosquito (things I doubt most health classes in college would expect all students to know in America). But, at the same time these students didn’t know much about malaria life cycle or how this knowledge they had applied to them or impacted their chances of acquiring the disease. School in Cameroon is extremely focused on memorization. When the teacher makes a note on the board under a certain heading all the students break out the notebooks and copy word for word the paragraph, then all the students memorize this exact paragraph and can spit it back at you. No critical thinking is done. The whole time we were at the school many students raised their hands to answer questions (verbatim stating things they had memorized previously) but not one question was asked by a student. I was pleased to see that both girls and boys seemed to contribute in school fairly equally. To be called on they raised their hands and snapped – it was bizarre. For our session we chose the message of hand-washing. Short and simple. We first did two skits (one with good sanitation practices and one with bad). Then we asked them about the two skits and to tell us the differences and what such. After analyzing these skits we taught them a song (Si tu veux le bon sante lave le mains – if you want good health wash your hands). It was entertaining beyond belief. Then, we played a good game of telephone (which we taught them) with health messages like “wash your hands after you go to the latrine”. It was certainly an interesting experience. Keep in mind we did all this in French and I understood it enough to at least write about it!

The other impressive French thing I did this week was during our community groups. We were doing an animation (which is the PC buzz word for presentation that is interactive) about the fecal oral route and diarrheal diseases. I was in charge of facilitating the discussion about which diseases were diarrheal diseases and whether they were viruses, bacteria, parasites, or worms. It was interesting. Then, I was also in charge of making the oral rehydration solution with them. I did manage to get both of these messages across in French. Quite a personal accomplishment might I add. Other than that we make a poster about the fecal-oral route and how each leg of it could be prevented. Then we talked about what type of diarrhea needs treatment. Super fun and lots of talk about poop and diarrhea – that seems to be a PC theme.

Still no packages. Apparently there have been problems with the embassy pouch and apparently the mail man who gets to mail from the embassy and brings it to PC has been sick. Anyway, I probably won’t get anything for at least 2 weeks since that is the next time I know of someone coming up here from the south. No one got anything this week and all of us were expecting something. We were fairly sad but I suppose that’s life here and we all are just trying to adjust our expectations with the mail system. But honestly, no one even got a letter. Bogus.

Alright well not much else to report here on the Africa front. Found a magazine that is published weekly here in French that talks about world affairs that I will be buying to practice French and try to stay connected to the world. Also, listen to BBC focus on Africa fairly regularly now. BBC here is hilarious and does things like holds English lessons. It does the job though – fills me with basic worldly information. Miss all of you and send me emails and blog comments! Two double fist pumps to Obama – which is all we seem to get here (with at least5 daily Obama shout outs). Bye for now!

Site Visit

Sunset on the road to Adoumori, with cows.



Me biking around Pitoa


Baby being weighted in Bibemi!



Site visit was this past week. This was the first time I got to spend the night in my new village, meet my future co-workers, go bar hoping in my new town, meet my new cat, meet my new neighbors, go to my new local market, actually help cook Cameroonian food, etc. All in all, a huge success I think. There are going to be 3 of us in the Bibemi district of Northern Cameroon – me, Mike, and Phil. Mike and I will be living in Bibemi and Phil in a neighboring town of Adoumori. Mike is an agro-forestry volunteer and Phil and I are both health. Alright so the 3 of us leave with the two volunteers who are currently living in the Bibemi district, Sarah and Andrew. Sarah is a health volunteer in Bibemi and Andrew is ag in Adoumori. We couldn’t procure a ride on a truck that was leaving anytime soon and rent a whole car was rather pricey sooooo we took mottos the whole way. Now this is only about 30 kms as the crow files but it took about 2 hours on mottos. In part it took this long because Sarah’s motto blew a tire, but mostly it took this long because you cannot go that fast on this dirt roads. But, it was a beautiful ride – it looks so very African in this part of the country. Honestly they could have filmed the Lion King on this route, if the Lion King was a filmed movie to begin with. Phil and Andrew left us in Adoumori and Phil would rejoin us in two days for the election and to do protocol. Mike, Sarah, and I arrived in Bibemi and ate some mac and cheese for dinner. Sarah was nice enough to share a package of her American sent mac and cheese cheese powder with us!

Monday was our first full day of site visit. Made an omelet on my stove (yes I have an oven, stove, and fridge) for breakfast that was fairly delicious. Then, Sarah took me to the health center I will be working at/with for the next two years and I got to observe and pseudo help with (as in write down the weight and blood pressure of the pregnant women when the nurse said them in French) prenatal consultations. I just helped with the in processing part. It was great to get to experience this with Sarah there to translate everything. My French is still far to poor to communicate much with people. Also, most women coming to these consultations don’t speak French (or much French) but rather they only speak Fulfulde. So, I need to get on learning that too! It was really interesting to get to observe that and got me excited for the next two years. After work (which is in the morning) we ate at the house of the head of the health center. His wife is a great cook and a super nice women who speaks French and made us chicken (which is very rare) and cous cous and it was delicious. I am very much looking forward to getting to know enough French to communicate with her and learn to cook some of her dishes. After lunch we headed back to Sarah’s house for some afternoon/heat of the day relaxing. We hit up the “veggie” market in Bibemi (a slightly expanded version of the daily market but smaller than the weekly Friday market). I got to try corn beignets there and we bought the stuff to make “stir fry”. We made a sauce/stir fry that consisted of hoola halla (that is terribly misspelled and probably not even the correct phonetic attempt but it is a double H word), aubergines (eggplant for you non-Francophones), okra, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, pimont (super spicy peppers that are ground into a powder most of the time) and rice. On the way back from the market we stopped at two bars to meet some of the people in the town and I was introduced to two gendarmes (one very large man and one Anglophone who I can speak English with), I met a number of very nice community members at these bars – beer makes people so open and friendly and gives you an automatic in. Plus, everyone was so excited about the upcoming election that we were invited to two different celebrations for the election day. After visiting two bars and leaving a beer on reserve for tomorrow that someone bought us that night, Sarah and I heading home to make our delicious stir fry. It was honestly amazing. Tasty beyond belief. Mostly, it had LOTS of flavor and spices which most Cameroonian food I have gotten doesn’t because I think they are scared American’s cannot handle spice and therefore give me bland food. We ground up ginger root in a mortar and pistol made of wood, added garlic and pimont to make a delicious spice mixture. Cooking the hoola halla was interesting. It looks slightly like spinach and is rather bitter tasting until you cook it enough. Then you have to strain it, add cool water to cool it, restrain it and squeeze all the extra water out and then put it into a frying pan with all the other veggies. It is a rather long process but well worth it in the end. Mmm, in Joey’s words “mega tasty”.

Day two aka election day. For breakfast (as I wanted to eat as much of the food in Bibemi as possible) we went to a place by my new house that sells beans in the morning that are already prepared so we bought some of those and ate leftovers from last night with beans. It was also amazing. Amazing food was a theme for me (even sans real cheese) and that makes me excited so stick with me. Today at the health center we childhood vaccinations. Now, they were out of regular needles. So, we could only do BCG (TB) vaccines (which use a needle similar to the one they use for the TB skin tests), oral polio, and baby weighing. I got to watch babies being weighted in this sling that was hung from a tree branch and attached to the bottom of a scale. I cannot properly describe how adorable this scene is so I will try to post one of the photos I took of it. Again, I just helped with in processing and it was very fun. Great to see how all that stuff actually works in a health center in semi rural Cameroon. I learned that for it to be economically, they can only do BCG vaccines on days when at least 10 children need them. Once they open the bottle of vaccine they must use it that day and each bottle will be enough for 20 vaccines and therefore they won’t open it if that day there aren’t at least 10 people who need them. Tuesday there were 13 so we could give them. The little babies screamed a cried at the vaccines but they were fine soon after. They seemed to take the whole being weighted thing very well. It was so adorable. Once again, after work we went to eat at the head of the health center’s house. This time his wife had made a green fullery type sauce (which is one of my favorites) and again I ate way to much lunch. Then, we went home to prepare for the election. Let me just point out that I wore an Obama shirt this day and I was very popular. Everyone was so thrilled for the election, asked me if I voted and if so who for – but only one answer was acceptable for them. Phil joined us this afternoon and then we set out for our fetes. Problem number one: the electricity went out around 3:30pm. Problem number two: the radio wasn’t working to pick up BBC. Problem number three: the brassiere (place that brings beer to all the rural areas) comes on Wednesday and maybe Saturday so Tuesday nights are always low on beer and EVERYONE was out celebrating the election. Word got around that one bar (that never had electricity and therefore only was able to offer warm beer) had alcohol and so everyone headed there. The whole evening was spent cheers “OBAMA” and learning a gendarme drinking command type game where the gendarmes would tell us to pick up our beer, drink our beer, and replace our beer. It was hilarious and all in French and I got maybe 1/3 of what was going on. We stayed out for awhile and then heading home for a late dinner. Despite the lack of electricity and the beer consumption we created a very tasty dinner of tomato sauce, pasta, and a peanut sauce. Literally the minute we were done cooking on the gas stove via light from a kerosene lamp, the electricity came back on. Of course, right.

Day three: protocol. This means that we spent the day going around to all the important figures in town (the majority of whom we had seen at the bar the night before and cheered Obama with). My sister (who rocks!) had been awesome enough to call the moment they declared the election (at 5:11am my time) and tell us that Obama had won. Apparently they waited til the polls closed in California, Oregon, and Washington and then called those states for Obama almost immediately and he won the election. I then got a text from Emily (thanks dear!) telling me Obama won. Everyone wanted to make sure I heard and I was glad. I swear Africa might have been happier than America. Kenya I heard declared a national holiday. There were literally Vive Obama signs that popped up in Bibemi. People were thrilled and everywhere we walked people yelled OBAMA at us. We yelled it back and it became quite and entertaining game. During protocol, we went to the house of the city chief. He is Muslim and the majority of the people are Christian. He lives in a Palace that has about 10 peacocks and a man follows him around and does things like hold his chair when he sits. It was incredibly odd but fascinating. Everyone was extremely welcoming to us and it was a great way to get a tour of the town as these buildings are all quite spread out. We stopped for a breakfast of spaghetti omelets (which are exactly what they sound like, eggs made into an omelet with spaghetti in the middle). It was much better than it originally sounded to me at least. Add some pimont and I enjoyed it. Throughout the day we would find radios playing excerpts of all the election night speeches and got to hear the most pro-American BBC broadcast I had ever heard. Everyone in Cameroon kept telling us that the election of Obama was going to save the world. The people hear were ecstatic to say the least. After all the protocol we returned back to Sarah’s house to make Mexican food. Yes, that’s right, Mexican. We made tortillas from scratch (quite an experience), guacamole that was sooooo amazing, used vache and velvetta to make quesadillas – it made me really want a Margarita. Then, seeing as we actually had the results of the election – we of course had to celebrate with the rest of Cameroon. More Obama cheering (this time with ice cold beers) and delicious food at Mike’s counterparts house. Then, we returned home to top off the beautiful day with a viewing of the Simpson’s Safari episode. It was as classy as it sounds.

Day Four: Went to the Catholic Mission to meet the nuns and check out the large pharmacy they have there. Apparently they are resource that I should tap into in the community and someone I can work with to do nutrition and cooking demonstrations and whatnot. They also have the best stocked pharmacy. Oh, did I mention they have running water when no one else does – another major benefit! Then we headed to the largest cattle market in the country and the region to be honest. It is in Adoumori. Got to see the cattle market, the regular market, and the Bil bil (home made local alcohol market). Want to guess which was most crowded? We caught a bush taxi (large van that is crammed with almost twice as many people as it should be) there and it was a pretty smooth 20 minute ride. But, I did get to see my first person riding “petite chauffeur”. This is when a person sits in the front seat straddling the gear shifter so that when the driver shifts gears he does so between that persons legs. It is as awkward as it sounds. The man next to me had that privilege. Lucky him. Then, the fun started as we caught a bush taxi home to Pitoa. We caught one no problem, put our bags on the roof and climbed into the 15 passenger van with 20 other people (totally 23 now with us). Two of these people brought chickens (live ones) with them that proceeded to head butt my legs throughout the ride. Two of the people brought giant AK 47 style guns in the bush taxi. 20 minutes into extremely bumpy ride we had to stop because our axle was shredded down to the point where the axle and wheel had no groves between them – raw metal on metal. The sounds this bush taxi was making are not describable and certainly not sounds a car should be making. We stopped on the side of the road for about 30 minutes while the took the whole tire apparatus off and did something and then put it back on. The car still sounded awful. About 15 minutes later we get stopped by the gendarmes who are planning to make everyone show there ids and give some unlucky passengers some trouble possibly. But, the three of us knew of the gendarmes. Sure enough, one of our new Pitoa friends! So, rather than being stopped and searched we stuck out heads of the window and told him we were heading home but would be back in a month – then we ended the conversation with a friendly round of OBAMA shouts and our bush taxi went on its marry way. I can only imagine the thoughts going through the minds of our fellow riders. Well, 20 minutes later, one of the metal bars that was helping hold the overweight ceiling up fell onto Phil’s lap. People then began helping to hold the ceiling of the van up as we went over large bumps. Then, we broke down again about 20 minutes outside of Pitoa. Another 20 minute stop and tire fix and we were back on our way. We did make it home successfully this time. What a beautiful site visit.

Some information about my house: It is near a river about ½ the year and near a giant sand bank the other half (there is only water in the river during and soon after the rainy season). It is basically in a eucalyptus forest and smells faintly of vicks outside (which I like). It has electricity (complete with oven, stove, and fridge) but no running water. There is a bucket toilet (which means it is a toilet but you flush it by pouring buckets of water on top of where you just went to the bathroom). At some point when an NGO was in my house it had running water and that is why there is a toilet, sink, and shower. None of them work currently (as in they lack running water) but I get to take a bucket shower in a shower stale and the drain works. The sink is currently clogged but that is getting worked on. There is a nearby pump and I pay to use this and then pay to have local children bring me water with their families cart. I have a cat that has kittens basically every 3 months like clockwork – she is black and white. My house is cool inside because it is shaded by the forest. I have a porch that is pretty sweet so that I don’t have to invite visitors into my house but can host them on the porch. The temperature at night is very tolerable and I even used my fleece blanket at night (keep in mind that what feels cool to me now would make all of you sweat still). I have a guardian at my house that lives nearby and looks out for me and the property. The bugs are minimal in the house and it is pretty well insulated. I have windows that provide light and can also be closed with metal doors to make it darker if I wanted to sleep in (not all the windows have this but the biggest two do). All my windows have screens and bars. I have a screen door (which is key to allowing cool night air in but keeping mosquitoes out). I have cement floors which help keep it cool. Hmm, I cannot think of anything else to tell you all about site visit or my house. Bibemi seems like it will be a great experience. Sarah has left big shoes for me to fill in the town but I feel I am up to the challenge. I am going into Garoua tomorrow to post this on the internet soooo hope everyone is doing super duper. Don’t forget I got a new number and it works much better so I expect to hear from all of you shortly!

PST Week 6

This is going to be short. I typed up some stuff but I am at the internet place with the viruses so I won't be using my flash drive!!

Basically my news is this: I got a new cell phone chip so check the number on my blog and update your phones accordingly. The service I had wasn't working and I couldn't ever talk to people and it is worse in the new town I am moving to so I changed numbers!

Second, I got my POST!! I will be working at the Health Center and Hospital in Bibemi! I am very excited and promise details and photos to come. I will be spending all next week there so I will learn all about it before I move there on December 5th.


Oh, my French moved up to level Intermediate Low! Woot! I got the "most improved" apparently! That basically means I sucked the most upon entry! But, at least I am improving!

I have found amazing avocados here now and I am living up the peanut butter and all the strange foods I don't have the time to describe. Just wanted to give everyone the new number, tell ya'll I got my post (it is in the North Provience about an hour, hour and a half outside of the provincial capital of Garoua).

I have learned to talk on my cell phone while riding on the back of a motto with my helmet on. Yes, feel free to laugh at that image. I talked with mom today in that way and my motto driver laughed. The helmet holds the phone jammed in place!

Oh, I also broke my big toe. Ha, yea, soccer games in Cameroon. I was playing and I broke it somehow. It is fine. No big deal but the big toe on my right foot is disgusting looking. Purple and huge and yea, but I am fine and taking advil and about to wrap it in tap! Lucky me right??

Promise details to come!!!! Thanks for all the comments! Miss Tammy your long one was awesome! Thanks for everyone who text me and for the packages that I will one day recieve!

GO VOTE FOR OBAMA ON THE 4th!!!