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)