My Visit to the White House was dirty

Hello from beautiful Yaounde, Cameroon!

I've been in the capital city of this crazy country for the past 2 nights attending what they call "counterpart workshop." It was basically a two day event where we (the Small Enterprise Development volunteers) got to meet the people we will primarily be working with during our 2 year service (called our "counterparts"). Aside from getting sick (I only get sick when I come to this damn city, when we stay in a nice clean, hotel, and eat good food, go figure...) and puking my brains out, it's been great.  I'm over the illness now, and enjoying some FREE internet time at the "Case" (the Volunteer "dorm" at the PC office in Yaounde). You can really see the Peace Corps budget cuts in action here, some of the beds are older than the Peace Corps itself. It's kind of like a frat house, lots of noise, and loudness at all hours (although it is quiet right now). Our, Pat and my (Pat being my roommate and coworker for the next two years) counterparts seem to be great people. They are very excited to have us and it seems like they have plenty for us to do. I was a little nervous they wouldn't be so excited about us coming to replace two of the best volunteers this country has ever seen (seriously). But they are great, and we already started developing a nice friendship (they're in their early thirties, so we get along great). One of them said "Nous sommes ensembles, et nous sommes d'abord freres, apres collegues" meaning, "we are together (a cameroonian saying), and we are first brothers, then coworkers.) Sounds like a great time to me, they said they have much to show us in the big city, where we will be moving in just ten short days.

When we got to Yaounde on Saturday, we made a point to check out the Hilton in town, supposedly one of the nicest hotels in country. It was like being in Miami for the afternoon. I honestly forgot I was in Cameroon. We had some friends staying the night there, and they snuck us into the pool. I ate (a really expensive) pizza, drank a pina colada (or two), and swam in the pool with exotic parrots staring at us from their little cages. We then went up to the very top of the building (the 12th floor) and played pool and watched Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France. It was nice to see civilization again, but it was, in the end, a waste of time and money. I'm sure that a year or so from now, I will be dying to spend a few nights there. (Dad, if you're reading, I've already made reservations, bring your credit card ;) )

I went to the White House last night. I ate fish with my hands, and drank beer with my mouth. The president was quite amused. The white house is actually a restaurant in yaounde (had you fooled, didnt I?) where they serve grilled fish and chicken. Really good food, and a favorite hangout for volunteers. I met some more volunteers who I will be seeing quite often in the West province where I will live. Should be fun...I have a feeling, in fact I know, we will be getting a lot of visitors at our apartment. Being in the provincial capital, and having a guest bedroom, a lot of volunteers will be stopping in to stay there. We will charge a small fee per night, and turn down people we dont like (there are unfriendly people in the Peace Corps, believe it or not, not that many though,). Everyone keeps saying "ooooh, you got that apartment in Bafoussam? It has hot water! I hate you! I hope you like visitors!" It's starting to get really old.

I went to a Cameroonian talent show last week. It was organized by the Cameroonian communty center in our training town, and some of my fellow trainees performed in acts such as: Cross dressed performance of that one song from the movie "Grease", a poetry reading by Stanley (the coolest 79 year old in the world), a salsa perfromance by Richard (aka Ricky Martin), some blues singing, and many more acts. Many of the Cameroonian acts were good, but there was this one group who performed about 6 times throughout the show. Two guys, a girl, and an old synthesizer. Horrible voices, horrible songs. But I was rooting for them because they were getting hissed and yelled at (Cameroonians dont actually say "booo", they just yell and tell you how they really feel). The audience was quite large and very loud.

I've been following the Tour de France. I think it gets more coverage here in Cameroon than it does in the states. Lance Armstrong is the most amazing athlete ever. People here love him, how could you not? 38 years old (or so), he beat cancer, and has won 6 times in a row. Thats amazing, no matter where you watch it from.

It's 12:20am and I'm really tired. Not much sleep in the past few days, and I just used whatever remaining brain power I have winning a game of scrabble. Tomorrow I tour the headquarters office of ADAF-the NGO I will be working with. Bonne nuit.

PHOTOS! PHOTOS! PHOTOS!

Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The moment you've all been so impatiently waiting for, my first selection of photos are ready for viewing...
 
The link to my photos is: http://photos.yahoo.com/allenbanick3
 
I'm at the Peace Corps Office in Yaounde using high speed, free internet, and uploading photos.  I'm actually not supposed to be using these computers until I am officially a volunteer, so this is a risky operation...
 
I wont say much in this blog entry, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.  They are in chronological order from the moment I arrived till yesterday. 
 
I've spent this past week travelling around the country visiting current volunteers and seeing what their life is like.  I will give more details later.  But I can say that no two volunteers, cities, or volunteer houses are the same.  Traveling on bush taxis in cameroon is interesting to say the least, and very uncomfortable for tall people such as myself.  But it is entertaining and I got into some really interesting conversations with my cameroonian co-passengers.  On one of the buses there was this guy trying to sell "magic potion" that helps: lose weight, lower cholestoral, clear acne, cure malaria, typhoid and AIDS, and increases male potency.  What a product!!  Believe it or not, I think about 5 people ended up buying the stuff...go figure.
 
I will also say that I spent one day traveling on the back of a motorcycle on muddy dirt roads, going around blind curves at speeds exceeding 55 mph.  This was almost as exhilirating as long boarding down the hills of Boulder, Colorado.  It would have been more exhilirating had I not been wearing a helmet.  The motorcycle trip ended up in this small village.  The type of village I envisioned seeing in Africa before I actually came here.  Naked children, goats, mud houses, and people who LOVE having their pictures taken as you will see in the photos.  You will also notice some photos of this really really old looking woman.  She is 105 years old.  Amazing, considering the fact she's lived in this tiny, remote, backword village for her entire life.  It is my favorite picture yet.
 
I ate pizza, kanga fish (giant river fish).  I met interesting people, including bank presidents who I will be auditing and reviewing in the near future (I am SOO powerful!).
 
It was great to get out of training for a while, and its crazy to think there are only three weeks left before I get sworn in as a true Peace Corps Volunteer.  Believe it or not, I was selectd to give a speech in Pidgin English at the swearing in ceremony (attended by many Cameroonian dignitaries and the American Ambassador to Cameroon).  Since I already speak french, I have begun taking pidgin lessons while my fellow trainees continue to learn french.  Pidgin is a language spoken all over Cameroon.  It is basically what i would call simplified, dirty english, with a touch of french, portuguese, and german, and topped off with a lot of cool expressions and proverbs.  My favorite is "small small, catch monkey" which translates to "little by little, we can achieve our goals."  Also "walka fine" which means "take it easy dude."  Hopefully, I will be able to better understand Reggae music once I get this pidgin thing down.  Bob Marley would be proud.
 
For now, enjoy the photos, I will write a more extensive entry when I get a chance.  Thanks for all your support regarding my assignment.  I miss everyone, and I will email you individually as soon as possible.
 
PS:  Any photos of animals that you see, ended up in my stomach, including the worms.
 
Walka Fine my kombehs (take it wasy my friends)

I've been posted!!!!

I’ve been posted! On Tuesday morning, our trainers, Fran and Ted finally informed us of our posts (our hometown and work for the next two years). The decision was based on our performance in training, language and technical ability, and our own input. Let me say this: My post represents the exact opposite of what I envisioned my Peace Corps service to be, but that is fine, I’m actually very excited about it. I imagined a small village; I’m in a large city of 500,000 (the third largest in Cameroon). I imagined a simple little house with a pit latrine; I have a large (very large) apartment with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, hot water, lots of furniture, a refrigerator, a four-burner stove, and two fireplaces (really useful for the equatorial climate here). I imagined solitude (being the only American for miles); I got a roommate (who happens to be a good friend from training). I imagined grassroots level, low impact work; I got something a little more high profile than that…

The story behind the story: Fran and Ted (wife and husband) are current Small Enterprise volunteers in Cameroon, and they have been in charge of our training. They are a year into their service and after training they were supposed to go back to their post for the remainder of their service. Before announcing our posts to us yesterday, they informed us that they would be leaving Cameroon at the end of training to be with their family, thus ending their service early. It was very sad news for all of us; they have been great resources and great trainers. They were sort of parental figures to most of us young trainees, helping us and advising us through any difficulties. They chose Pat and I to replace them at their post; which is an honor for me, personally.

Why it’s a big deal: The post we have been given is considered to be the highest profile post in the country. The other Small Enterprise volunteers are assigned to work in small micro finance institutions (like credit unions designed for the poor, rural populations) in medium to small sized cities. Pat and I will be working for the NGO (called ADAF-Appropriate Development for Africa Foundation) that is in charge of overseeing 28 of these institutions, basically a headquarters office (albeit, a small HQ office). We will assist people that are high up in the chain of command, some of them holding PhDs. We will travel around our Province auditing many of the institutions. We will basically assist in overseeing all these little banks. We will be moving to Bafoussam in August to take over Fran and Ted’s apartment and their work at the NGO.

Why me? Good question. Fran and Ted have about 80 years of business experience between the two of them, me: about 0.5 years. Pat holds an MBA and about 10 years experience working in banking in the States. They chose us based on our performance at training, and just their personal judgment on our ability to perform at this post. This assignment will be a huge challenge, a great learning experience, and it will certainly open many doors for me in the future. The combination of my language ability, and Pat’s experience should make for one great volunteer!

We will have a guest bedroom, visitors are welcome!

I can’t express how much of a relief it is to be posted. It has been on everyone’s mind for sometime now. The fact that I have such a great post makes it even better! They also placed most of my best friends from training in my area. Pat is my roommate, the other Allen is about 90 minutes away, Stephanie is about 30 minutes away, Tiffany is about 2 hours away, April is about 3 hours away, and last but not least: the volcano and the beach are just 4 hours away (down a nice, paved road-a luxury in this country).

The West is the BEST! My province is known to be the most beautiful, with rolling hills, many chefferies (chief’s palaces), cool weather (60’s at night), and access to many tourist sites. Also, my town is a commercial hub, and the market is supposed to be great with many excellent fruits and vegetables. I think Pat and I are hiring a cook (yeah, this is Peace Corps) to prepare all this great food.

Back to the now. We have about three weeks left of training, of which one week (next week) will be spent traveling around visiting current Small Enterprise Volunteers. I leave on Tuesday and return next Sunday. This will be my first experience traveling extensively in Cameroon; I hear it’s always an adventure. Long distance travel is done in what they call “bush taxis” which are basically big 15 passenger vans that are stuffed with about 30 people, goats, chickens, and anything else that needs to go anywhere. I’ve heard many stories about these bush taxis, I’m sure I will have some of my own to share soon enough. This will be one of the few times I will say, “it sucks to be tall!”

We had a great 4th of July party last Sunday (I hope you enjoyed yours!) We ate hamburgers (sort of…the meat tasted funny, and the buns were strange), watermelon, beer, and some other stuff. We also danced. Good times were had by all who attended. The Cameroonians really enjoyed the hamburgers; it was the first time eating them for some. The leftover meat was donated to the underfed dog that guards the training house, his name is Shasky, he is very dumb, but very friendly. He really enjoyed those burgers.

Let me talk about some things I’ve noticed:

There is no such thing as vehicular safety. I see Toyota Corollas packed with 3 people in the front, six in the back seat, and 4 sitting in the trunk. I see motorcycles with one man driving, followed by a young child in the middle, and finally a woman riding on the back with an infant strapped to her back. Helmets are non-existent, in fact people laugh at us when we put them on (PC policy requires us to wear one). As crazy as the driving is here, I have yet to see an accident, knock on wood.

People watch the same crap on television here as they do in the states. They don’t watch nearly as much television, but when they do, it’s horrible. Most of the sitcoms are from the states, and it’s sad to see that their impression of the U.S. comes from these stupid television shows. One of the shows (a big hit) is called “Top Models.” It airs nightly around 7pm. Before I actually watched it, I thought it was one of those beauty pageant shows. Boy, was I wrong. “Top Models” is “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Go figure. They translate an English title into another English title and it’s supposed to make more sense. They also watch Dynasty, V.I.P., and some fighter pilot show called Pensacola. The only thing I will watch with them is soccer. My family here thinks I’m strange for refusing to watch television; how could an American not want to watch American shows? I would explain, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

There are so many intelligent people in this country with nowhere to use their brains. Unemployment is astronomical, and it’s very difficult to gain admission to university. Books are too expensive for most. I want to get some books for my host brother, Antoine, who is so bright, and curious about everything.

The kids here are incredibly cute. They are all so friendly, and they make me smile no matter what kind of mood I’m in. I would love to bring a few back to the states with me. They always smile, and laugh, and wave. Some yell “bonjour”, some yell “hello!” Some even yell “ciao” or “bonjourno,” thinking I’m Italian for some reason. I play along and yell “bonjourno!” right back at them.

I’ve been jogging every other day with my ENTIRE host family. I’m talkin’ papa, mama, four brothers, little sister, everyone comes along at 6:30am to run around the soccer field at the high school. It’s great fun. Hopefully this physical training will pay off in the next soccer match tomorrow (Business vs. Education). Last time we played, I practically passed out from exhaustion and heat stroke (after 2 minutes of playing, and after I scored one goal!). I think my problem last time was playing on an empty stomach (the only thing in it was Malaria medication). I will be sure to eat this time!

Wish me luck!

See you next week.

Return to normality

Saturday, July 03 2004
I went home last night, after a long day of training, to find my papa, mama, about 6 or seven of their “sisters” (cousins are also called “sisters”), grandparents, and some other random people sitting around in the courtyard of the compound. One of the ladies yells to me “come over here baby, and have some of this Guinness!” So I did. As I approached the group, I noticed many empty bottles and old grandma started talking to me in a slurred speech. Yes, it was a big day at the compound, many beers, and a few boxes of wine were consumed. I sat around with the family, listening to them speak. They were talking local language, so I couldn’t really understand what was going on, but I could tell that it was pretty serious. I probably spent about two hours, eating fish and manioc, listening to all these people speak in some African language, and it was great. I didn’t understand a thing, which made it all the more relaxing. My brother, Antoine, showed up a little later and filled me in on the story. Apparently, earlier in the day, they had the “levee des corps” ceremony. This translates to “the moving of the bodies”. The day before a funeral, there is a procession from the morgue to the funeral site. This procession was for the two men that died last week when Papa’s truck crashed in the forest. Papa forked out all the dough for the operation including: special clothes for the body, transportation for the bodies, fees for the morgue, food and drink for the funeral, and other expenses. All in all he spent about $2000, which is a huge sum of money in this country. Since the men were his workers, and they died on the job, it was his responsibility to cover all expenses related to the funeral. The reason for all the commotion last night was that certain members of the dead men’s families were blaming my papa for their deaths. I felt bad for him, accidents happen, and there wasn’t much he could do about this one, he wasn’t even there. We were all supposed to attend the funeral today, but we’re not going to now for fear of Papa’s safety. That’s ok, I have lots of homework anyway.

Later in the night, my little sisters tried to braid my hair. They wanted to make me look like R Kelly, but my white man hair is too slippery to braid. Today they will try the Craig David look. I’ll take pictures if it looks good.

Thursday July 1st
I’ve been spending the morning listening to music and trying to read this book that I’m going to do a presentation on at the end of training. I had trouble focusing as the music played and started bringing back memories. I had my first episode of reminiscing. I thought about friends, Boulder in the summer, skating down the hills, driving buses, Frisbee golf, concerts, baseball, keystone light, my little bro, camping, gett-CLICK-song is over, back to reality. I’m in Africa. Trying to read this book. I’ve been here a month, it feels like a year. For my friends and family in the States, I’ve barely left, yet I feel as though I boarded that plane in Denver ages ago.

I don’t know what to write about. I’m still seeing crazy things, but they just aren’t that crazy to me anymore. I still eat strange creatures, but they aren’t as strange as they used to be. I guess I’m adjusting to life in Cameroon faster than I had imagined. So that leaves the question: what do I write about? Do I write about the things that people in the States expect to hear about? The bugs, the strange food, the poverty, the rain, the heat, the beauty, the dirt? I could write about that, but that’s all normal to me now, and it would bore me to keep writing about it. My life is becoming normal again. Normal, but still very interesting and exciting. Now, it’s about the people I know, the work I do, the stuff you probably wouldn’t care to hear about. We’ll see.

Last night, was my friend Pat’s birthday. We (5 of us) went out to dinner and ate “poisson braisé.” It’s Cameroonian grilled fish, and it is delicious. We had a great time. When I got home at nine thirty my host papa acted kind of strange, and my family sort of ignored me as if they were disappointed in me for not eating at home. My sisters even asked me where I was and why I hadn’t been home for dinner, even though I told everyone three times the night before what I would be doing. Strange. This morning, everything was fine again; I guess they don’t hold grudges for very long here, or they have poor memory.

Unfortunately I didn’t really sleep last night, there was a lot of commotion outside my room, as about twenty of my papa’s workers were busy moving logs and loading them into a truck. Some sort of clandestine wood trafficking operation under the cover of darkness. That went on until three in the morning. I finally fell asleep with my headphones on.

I forgot to mention my radio appearance last week. I was selected, thanks to my brilliant French skills, to represent the PC Trainees for a local radio appearance. The only local radio station is called “Radio Femme” which translates to “Woman Radio”. Ironically, the station manager, and the radio show host were both men. Go figure. So, I showed up, with a statement prepared in the local native language (not French). The host of the show hogged the mic for most of the show, but I did get my opportunity to read my statement. I think they understood me, and I got a nice round of applause from the people at the station, and later from my host family who was listening. I really wanted to bust out some freestyle rap flows, but they didn’t give me the time, maybe next time…

The education volunteers found out where they will be posted for the two years. We small business people have to wait another 4 weeks. Everyone is really anxious, including myself, to find out where the hell we will be living for the next two years. There are rumors floating around, but they seem to change everyday. I still think I will be in the west province, but I’m not so sure anymore, things are changing everyday. The latest rumor has me living with another volunteer in some large city. It’s very very rare that Peace Corps would place two volunteers together, unless they are married. The volunteer in question happens to be my best friend in training, so it would work out. We would have a large house/apartment so I would still get my personal space. Of course, this may not even happen, but its fun to think about.

Tuesday, July 29th
Anteater tastes better than porcupine. It is really delicious, the best part being the tail. I invited my friend Jen over for lunch last Sunday, and she enjoyed it just as much as me. She is probably the only trainee that will try just about anything that appears on her plate, so I figured she’d be a good choice to invite. I think I’m going to invite people over more often. When there are guests, there is beer, wine, an abundance of food, and just a great time. Plus, it’s fun to share all the craziness with someone else who understands. That same night, I went to Jen’s house for dinner where we ate grilled fish, fried plantains, and lots of fruit, all this with our hands, mmmm. The grilled fish is amazing; probably thanks to all the MSG they sprinkle on it. Its crazy to see how different two families can be, just like in the States. I guess I imagined all Cameroonian families would be very similar in their general habits, but that is not true! At Jen’s house we played UNO with her 6 little sisters, at my house we drank Guinness with my momma, papa, and various aunts and uncles. I think it would have been smarter to start at Jen’s house playing UNO, then finishing the night at my house with Guinness. Oh well! It was still a very enjoyable Sunday.

Last night, we listened to Celine Dion. My little 8 year brother knows every word to just about every song, and he sings with confidence and pride. It is absolutely hilarious. Then we listened to Bryan Adams; remember him from the early 90’s? Well, he’s still topping charts in Cameroon, at least at my house.

Training goes on. Same old, same old…

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Happy Independence Day! We are having a Bar-B-Cue on Sunday Afternoon. There will actually be hamburgers, something I haven’t seen in a month. There will also be music and cheap Cameroonian beer. All this for $5 per person. You are all invited.

Okay, this blog entry was written over a five day span, sorry for any confusion regarding references to time. “Yesterday” may be referring to last Sunday, “tomorrow” may have already happened.