One week down...
on Tales from a Mud Hut (Cameroon), 07/Sep/2008 09:41, 34 days ago
How to start this blog?  When I expressed my intention to join the blogosphere at lunch last week, I was informed by several seasoned bloggers that a blog is not something one simply 'starts'.  There is apparently a finely honed skill to blogging, helpfully described by a French-Canadian colleague as 'l'art du blog' - the fundamental principle of which is that blog entries should be brief, concise and coherent.  If this is the case then I am clearly going to be a terrible blogger and apologise in advance for my protracted, rambling posts. So my malaria tablets and I are now safely in Cameroon.  I arrived in Yaounde last Friday, having misread the date of my flight in true Emma style.  I can honestly say that I know so little about Africa and my expectations prior to arriving here were so confused that if, upon arrival at the airport, a lion had thrown itself up against the window of the plane, I would not have been the least bit surprised.  However, so far everything has been comfortably familiar.  Yaounde is like any other large city (although perhaps with more chaotic traffic than most), the climate is pleasant, terrifying mutant insects have been kept to a minimum and so farI have not seen a single lion.  My home until now has been a Catholic Mission about a kilometre from the city centre. I must admit that I did not expect this kind of luxury from VSO!  I have a large room with a double bed and en suite shower (although the latter gives me an unpleasant electric shock every morning that leaves me with pins and needles until almost lunch time).  There's even a passable wifi connection up on the covered terrace, meaning that I can sit with my laptop on warm evenings and watch the sun set over the city horizon.  This is also by far the best place to witness the mindblowing thunderstorms that are apparently scheduled to perform every evening around 7pm.  Unfortunately, besides classes on cultural awareness (do not pass anything with your left hand) and prevention of HIV infection (complete with condom demonstration through which I giggled like a ten year old schoolgirl) not a lot has actually happened!  Veteran Africanists will not be surprised by this: it seems that Africa considerably outclasses Latin America when it comes to the concept of mañana.  They're also leagues ahead in other areas, most notably flirting, as I discovered when a quiet after-class beer in the local bar turned into anepisode of The Benny Hill Show  While the Latin Americangringahunter gives a certain degree of credit to his prey and will avoid out-and-out cliches or obviously insincere statements, the Camerooniandragueursoldiers through an exhaustive list of Mills and Boon lines and can conjure up authentic surprise and devastation when you still refuse to marry him. On that note I'll draw my first post to a close.  In theory I will be travelling to my VSO placement in Maroua today; however, as we've already been delayed by a day due to the inconveniently-timed derailment of our train, this might be slightly optimistic.  If all goes to plan, however, my next entry will be from the Far North Province.  Apologies for any ramblings, please leave comments, and useko djurr!