Banyo or Bust

Well we have officially made it - officially a Peace Corps Volunteer and officially made it to post with all of my stuff and nothing too broken or wet.

All 43 of us swore in on Wednesday August 18th at the place des fetes in Bafia in our lovely matching tacky pagne (I will have to put up pictures later). And had a nice little luncheon with our host families. Then after a fun last night in Bafia, we all packed up our things - which for me somehow in just 2 months my luggage doubled - and we all went to off to our posts. Really a fun travel experience - carting a huge suitcase, duffle bag, 4 boxes, a water filter, 2 helmets, a bookbag, purse oh and a mountain bike across Cameroon. And this time for the van ride between Bafoussam and Banyo - a new record - almost 12 hours. But no worries it really was not as bad as I thought it would be and my neighbor even heated water up for me so I had a nice warm bucket bath my first night.

So how many people do you think can fit in here? If you guessed about 25 your pretty close

Van - I think half of the crap on top is mine

Could your car make it through this? Surprisingly our van did and left the 2 trucks and 2 cars behind

Then things only got better. Sunday 2 volunteers from nearby towns aka towns about 2-5 hours away came and helped me out for a few days. So I had some amazing food - pizza, mexican, spaghetti omelet - all delish. And did some shopping, got to see lots of Banyo especially since some of our moto drivers took a few wrong turns, met lots of important people to let them know I was here - very busy very busy.

And now it's Wednesday - can't believe it. The volunteers have gone back and I am in Banyo by myself (my postmate is in Yaounde for until September). It's only 1pm and today has already been tying. I still have a million things I need to buy and even more things I need to fix in my house like getting screens installed, leaks fixed, and walls painted just to name a few. And it's not like I can just go to Lowes here and buy everything nope - it's just a bit more than that. Oh and if it wasn't clear already, internet is not quite as readily available as it has been so that's also on my list of things to work on.

Well I am off now to hunt for household items and attempt to put on a strong front so I can bargain for at least somewhat descent prices. Wish me luck!