CFA

So this week's topic - money!

In Cameroon the currency is CFA (say-fuh). During training we receive a bi-weekly allowance of 40.000CFA (that is 40,000 - you use periods instead of commas). Then when we become real volunteers, we will be paid once a month - 160.000CFA - big bucks right... well not actually. Our 160.000CFA equals about $316 give or take. So basically $1.00 = 500CFA. If you would like to look yourself, I've included a link for exchange rates - check it out.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=TL&utm_content=NOGEO&utm_campaign=UCCin404TL

(click on more currencies to find Cameroon)

So you are probably thinking that $316 does not sound like a lot of money. Well maybe not in the US (actually definitely not in the US) but obviously this is not the US - it's Cameroon. To give you a better idea of just how the cost of living is in Cameroon, here is mini break down of some common things I buy (at least now during training)

A long loaf of bread : 200 CFA

1 roll of toilet paper: 225 CFA

A boiled egg: 100 CFA

6M of pagne (fabric for clothing): 4.000-5.000 CFA

Toothpaste: ~300 CFA

Single serving of cookies (4 to a pack): 50 CFA

Small bag of popcorn: 50 CFA

Sugar beignet: 50 CFA

Bottle of Beer (.65 L): 500-600CFA

Bottle of coke cola 0.6L: 400-450 CFA

Bottle of water (1.5L): 400 CFA

Rent for my house: 40.000 CFA /month

So in one day, I usually just buy a few snacks (cookies, beignets, popcorn) and an egg and bread for a small sandwich - so altogether in a day I spend roughly 500 CFA aka $1.00. Not too bad - right?

But the key to getting use to the money and living here is not to think about it in dollars- you can't be converting all the time - it just doesn't work that way. You have to just ask a lot of questions - like how much does this usually cost, or what should I pay to get a dress made, etc. And it's also just trial and error. As a foreigner, I am pretty much destined to overpay at some point for something.

500 CFA & 1.000 CFA

Cool little picture right - kids in school - not quite what is on $1 bill

*Side note - 17 days left till we swear-in as volunteers! Almost done!

Jabbama!

So incase you were wondering, in Bafia English is not really spoken. Cameroon is a bilingual country but that does not mean that everyone speaks French and English - really there are 2 regions that are anglophone and the other 8 are francophone.

Most people do speak multiple languages though - usually a local language and then either French or English. So here in Bafia the local language is just called Bafia (to my knowledge) and then most people speak French. In Cameroon, there are over 200 local languages.

For Peace Corps training, language is a huge emphasis - in fact probably the area we spend the most time on. In the beginning everyone was in French class (at different levels). Then once you reach the minimum language level (Intermediate-High) and once you know your post, you can start learning any possible local languages. So for me (as I have reached my French requirement) so I have started taking different language classes - Fulfulde to be exact.

Fulfulde is the language spoken in the northern regions (Extreme North, North, and Adamaoua - my region). It is also spoken in other West African countries like Guinea. So Jabamma means 'welcome' in Fulfulde. Language classes are somewhat challenging even though I have learned other languages already (obviously French) because so we are learning Fulfulde but with French translations - no English. So it's a bit slow but going well. And for my site (Banyo) they do speak French there and I mean at my school the students and everyone will speak French but it will be helpful for me if I can use some Fulfulde - you know - help me integrate more.

But now back to language in general - as I said Bafia is spoken here and for example my host family speaks French but they also use the local language - like for prayer sometimes or songs - they have hymn books in the local language and even at church (I have gone a few times now - my host family is protestant) for example there will be 2 preachers - one will say a few lines in French and then the second one will translate to Bafia- kinda neat except the local language is nothing like French so I have no clue what they are saying - it's not like I can pick out words or anything.

Then as far as the French here goes (some people have asked about the dialect and vocab and such) I personally can't really tell a huge difference from the French I have learned or heard in France and here. The only thing would be that here they announciate a bit more and speak a little slower - so that is actually nice and helpful.

Oh and then for English - which I mean I am teaching English here so obviously people in my area (aka students) will speak some English - but even that is not quite the same - for one it is British English - so for example when I teach I need to make sure I follow that - so like 'colour, favourite, etc. And even then there are words that are just different - like they call peanuts here groundnuts in English - so again just being aware of those differences in language.

Overall the languages can be overwhelming and stressful at times - especially when you want to express something but you just can't find the words or maybe there is just no way to explain something - it's too different, too foreign - that can be frustrating so it is comforting and nice sometimes to just use English with other Americans. But at the same time it is very exciting/different to be completely surrounded by French and other languages.


Oh - and one last note - so apparently 'Kaitlyn' is very difficult for people to pronounce/understand ... here I am 'kaat' (like 'cat' but with a longer 'a') 'leen'. I've thought about even using a different name but most people end up just calling me 'Kait' - so that's semi-working for now but just found it interesting how some sounds just don't really exist in other languages thus making it diffiuclt for names to carry over.
Sey yesso!

H2O

So in a effort to better describe life in Cameroon, I think each week I will write about one particular aspect of living here (instead of trying to cover everything at all once). So to begin - this week - all about water. Yep water. Back home water was something I didn't think too much about other than I really liked having a nice cold glass of water. But here - well things are a little different.



To start with basically all water is contaminated - whether it comes from a well, a forage, or tap. So you can't exactly just turn on the faucet and fill your cup up and having a refrigerator that dispenses water is pretty much unheard here. Nope. Instead you have to boil water and then filter it. If boiling isn't an option, you could add half a tablet of iodine or 2 drops of bleach (eau de javel). Now you may think - ok that is not so bad - boil water a few times a week and filter then fill up your water bottle for drinking. But let me run some things by that maybe you haven't thought about....


Brushing your teeth for instance. Since the water (even tap) is not good to use, every time you brush your teeth you have to drink your bottled water but you also have to clean your toothbrush with the bottled water.


Showering - now not that you are exactly drinking shower water but I always think of Charlotte in the Sex & the City Movie (first one) when they are on vacation and she is showering and forgets where she is and opens her mouth - yeah kind of like that every time I shower - I try to not get water in my mouth. And I mean I do try to make it semi-clean water but adding a few drops of bleach everytime but still definitely not clean water.

If you are out and about and for some reason you did not plan well and don't have clean water with you so you are forced to buy some water - beware- those kids selling nice bottles of glacee (cold) water are no good - that water is definitely not clean as generally those bottles of water are actually just bottles that the kids have filled up with not clean water - always check the seal!

And one last thought for you - if you are out and of course it is hot and you happen to come across what looks to be a nice stream/waterfall/river and you see plenty of other Cameroonians already enjoying the cool water and you think - oh I will just put my feet in - well think twice before doing that unless you would like some schisto or other parasite/bacteria getting in through your skin and possiblyl living in your body for years without you even knowing - yep dont touch that water - at all.

Pictures!

OK so only 3 pictures but it's more than I had...still have some technical difficulties so again look at facebook for more pictures!

The classroom where most of our training sessions take place

My room - completely equipped with my mosquito net

The street going to my homestay house

Model School

Well Model School has officially started and is in full swing. Model School is basically summer school for community kids - and for us (as trainees) it is our opportunity to practice teaching in front of a real class with real students.



Last week we had an official opening ceremony - complete with us (the trainees) singing the American national anthem (the Cameroonian students sang the Cameroonian anthem as well). Then last week we mostly just observed various classes - so I watched some trainers and current volunteers teach English to different levels.

Then this week we had our chance to start teaching and I started right away 8:00am Monday teaching terminale (basically 12th grade) English. Each class is one hour and I had two periods on Monday. And while the classes were not a complete disaster, let's just say teaching English to Cameroonian students is not quite the same as teaching French to American students. During the first 10 minutes I got a little worried when they did not understand my directions of just 'read the text with a partner' but rest assured things have gotten better. After re-grouping and getting some feedback from other trainees and volunteers, I had one last class with terminale today and it went a million times better. And really I think this general cycle of things not going so well at first but then gradually getting better is going to be the theme over the next 3-4 weeks of model school as we all learn and adapt to teaching in Cameroonian schools.

So another part of Model School is clubs - every trainee is expected to work with a club and there is a big 'soiree culturelle' (cultural party) at the end of Model School when every club presents what they have been working on. Clubs meet every Wednesday (classes end early specifically for clubs) so tomorrow will be our first official meeting and students will be able to sign up for a club. Some how I signed up for the dance club - not really because I can dance or that I even enjoying dancing but I do feel pretty comfortable in my ability to teach others dance and besides I am hoping that the students show us (there are 2 other people doing dance club with me) some African dance.

And one last note - so my host family just had a bunch of family come into town to stay with us for a while. And some of the visiting family is from France (I mean they are Cameroonian but live in France). So last night we were eating dinner together (fish, rice, 'couscous' - not what you think) and the family member from France pulled out some candy (as desert for everyone). Oh my gosh - never thought peanut M&Ms would be so good...I haven't had any American candy since I have been here but the minute she pulled out the M&Ms my mouth started watering - they were so good. Also so if anyone wants to send anything, I think peanut M&Ms would be a great idea....

Site Visit Report

Ok so I have officially survived my first independent traveling experience in Cameroon - my site visit.

So last week everyone went to visit their sites for a little less than a week. My site is in Banyo - which is in the norther region of Adamawoua. So here is the break down of how one gets to Banyo (from Bafia):

1. Take a van from Bafia to Bafoussam - about 2.5 - 3 hours
2. Go to Mayo Banyo Voyage and buy ticket for first bus next morning to Banyo
3. Spend night in Bafoussam (try to find semi-nice hotel)
4. Get up at 5:00am and go to agence (Mayo Banyo) where you fight for a 'good' seat and load your luggage then wait for about an hour till van actually leaves
5. Ride about 10 hours in van with about 20-30 other people (van has technically maybe 20 seats) on dirt road
6. Arrive at agence in Banyo and again scramble to get luggage/bookbag & find moto taxi to take you to final destination....

So when following all of that, I arrived in Banyo (quite exhausted) around 4:00pm last Thursday (July 1) and fortunately I have a post-mate aka another volunteer lives in my same town. Her name is Anna and she's been here almost 2 years so she was gracious enough to take care of my during my visit.

Now about Banyo. During my visit I tried to cram in as much as possible to learn about my site so here are a few things I was able to learn:
- Banyo is surrounded by mountains so absolutely gorgeous
- My lycee is semi-far from my house (about at 10 min moto ride) and it overlooks the town so again a beautiful view even if it does take some work to get there
- I live right next to the Lamido (basically like the mayor) and the main mosque so I have a great wake up call every morning around 5:00am
- My house is really great- electricity and running water on a pretty regular basis. A living room (with a fireplace hmmm will that ever get used?), 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen - oh and its a circle house so very exciting.
- There is a pretty big marche in town everyday and I can find just about most foods that you would want to eat (relatively speaking for Cameroon that is).

So those are just a few things about Banyo. Oh and Happy Late 4th of July to everyone in America! I was also fortunate enough to actually celebrate the 4th of July with other Americans. There are some missionaries at my site so Anna, I, and her boyfriend went to their house (the Smith's) and they made hamburgers, potato salad, German chocolate cake and ice cream - we even 'saw' some fireworks that's to say Mr. Smith had created a document with pictures of fireworks from various cities in America so yes still fireworks though - a very nice little celebration. And overall my visit to Banyo was a super success.

And now I am back at training (we got back Monday) and officially finishing up week 5. Model school has started and I will be teaching next week - Terminale and Cinqieme (basically 12th & 7th grade) English so we will see how that goes. Oh and tomorrow is an exciting training day- mountain bike training!

Well everyone should watch this Sunday - July 11th - the end of the World Cup! What will we do now that soccer will be over? ...