The rains went away...

So I am aware that I owe ya'll a blog about South Africa but you aren't going to get one just yet. Sorry. First, while it is fresh in my mind, I am going to tell you about the last month here in Northern Cameroon.

I got back from my whole schnanigans in South Africa and ran right back up to post. I took the train up north on the fete for the ending of Ramadan and there was NO ONE on the train. My couchette car was half empty - that is unheard of here. It is always oversold. I made it back to post in record time. I was in a rush to get back because I was helping Phil to put on a day long AIDS training in his village that our mayor paid for and we are hoping to replicate in Bibemi. So, I spent lots of time in Adoumri that week helping sort out the details like the price to pay the women who makes food and how much beef to buy and drawing the pictures for different parts of the training - like portals of entry or a map of the world for when we gave the epidemiological statisitcs. The day before the training (which we were planning to basically co-facilitate with an NGO from Garoua) the man from Garoua called and told us he had to go to Yaounde and wasn't going to make it this weekend but he could come next weekend so we should just change the date. He was the person who was bringing the PVVS (people living with HIV/AIDS)from Garoua as well. This PVVS was the biggest deal. That was an intergal part of our training - having the PVVS talk about living with AIDS and having them meet a person who they had lunch with and have them talk about AIDS and help reduce stigmas and everything was essential. So, we called the most amazing person in the world - Amadou - the Peace Corps staff in Garoua - and he found us a PVVS that day who would come. It was awesome. So, crisis averted. The training went really well. Mike came and was great - asking questions when other people didn't, willing to read things when other people wouldn't, etc. We made a few faux paus like we didn't have drinking water as well as coffee and sodas. Little things. But, all in all soooo successful. The next week we brought the mayor our actual budget (the prices things turned out to be) and we gave him the remaining money (something unheard of in Cameroon). Then, we pitched him the idea of doing a training like it in Bibemi and he seemed very receptive. I spent the next couple days preparing the budget. I used Phil's from Adoumri as a foundation, talked with my counterpart, Mike, etc. My counterpart came over and we talked about which 25 people we would invite from Bibemi, who would present topics, etc. So, Wednesday I brought the budget back to the mayor and ended up getting sucked into a meeting (with Mike) for 7 hours about development in Bibemi. It was brutal. Honestly so bad. It could have been great - but it was just so poorly organized and people just soapboxing there different positions. But, it was good that we showed our faces there.

All in all since I have gotten back I have been really productive. It is 63 days til I go home for Christmas. I am quite excited. The rains have been intense. Rainy season ended with a harsh winds filled two weeks. We lost power about half the time I've been back. My electricty shorted out and caught on fire. Long story. I'm fine. The house is fine. I have electricity again thanks to Abel (a village friend), my counterpart Bouba, Mike, and duck tape. It will eventually get really fixed. I have pictures. It is fairly impressive. I went to the Lycee (the local high school) this past week. They have no electricity because bandits stole the lines. Got to love this village life right? But, I got to see the library. It was depressing. It has about 25 books - max. 12 of which are leather bound books from the 1980s on Africa - with countries like Upper Volta and Zaire. 1 of them is a world geography book with a section on the USSR. The teachers at the Lycee asked Phil and I if we could help them to get more books. So, my sister Courtney happened to call that day and ask me about any project I had in my village that she could take on for a school class project - I got talking about the Lycee and now she is working on getting us books. And that my friends is how shit gets done here!

There were rumors going around here all this past rainy season about sorcery (which is a very popular belief here that I haven't met someone who doesn't believe in it) and a group of people from Nigeria who steal people's sex. So, let me explain. The belief is that these socerist shake your hands and that act alone can take away your penis (I mostly heard about it happening to guys) and leave you completely penis-less OR they can switch your penis and leave you with a very small one. So, there were many many people who claimed they saw evidence of this and a Lycee student in a neighboring village was stoned to death over it (they thought he was one of the sex stealers). It was a bit tramatic and very strange but, that seems to have died down now so that is good.

Alright I am drawning a blank as to what else there is to talk about now. So, signing off for now. Promise a more detailed blog about South Africa soon!