It has been so long since I have really written. Here are some pictures of my mom's visit and my trip up to the Northern three regions of Cameroon: Adamawa, North, and Extreme North. (I know, aren't the names so creative).
I had an amazing time taking some vacation to tour the country. Culture is very different up north. In general, there is a lot less drinking going on because the Muslim population rules the culture. You hear call to prayer everywhere, the people are calmer and gentler. It is much hotter, but it is a dry heat since it is in the Sahel.
First I took the train up over night with my friend Andrea (who is posted in Mbouda). We left Yaounde and got to Ngaoundere the next morning and then proceeded straight to Garoua, the regional capital of the North. We stayed with Lea one night right outside of Garoua. Garoua is nice because there are fresh fruit smoothies! Something I really miss. Then the next three nights we stayed with Justin in Gaschiga, which is also very close to Garoua. There we did a computer camp at his school for two days. I brushed up on my computer vocabulary in French and had fun searching things on Encarta. After that Andrea and I split up for a bit. I went to Kaele on my own to meet up with Steven and Nick. Kaele is a non muslim town among very muslim towns, so they have many drinking caberets where billbill is served all throughout the day. I ate lots of salad and went to a beautiful Crocodile lake.
After that I headed to Maroua with Martin and Carmen. There I spent Christmas Even and Christmas with many people from the new stage. It was a very nice relaxed atmosphere. Maroua had a great art market, so I found lots of nice things there in leather and jewelery. Then I headed to Martin's post in Gouria, which is right outside of Roumsiki. Roumsiki is this very touristy area out in the middle of nowhere on the border of Nigeria. It is a very beautiful area and very peaceful. The rock formations around there are so interesting. I took a tour of the valley in Roumsiki with Carmen and then we ate at an amazing restaurant called the vegetarian carnivore or chez Kodji.
The last leg of my trip involved me coming back down to Ngaoundere, the regional capital of Adamawa. Here I met up with Anais and we had fun in the city and traveling to her post. We saw a beautiful lake and some nice waterfalls on the way there. Her post is very quiet and pretty. We ate dinner with her neighbors (they tried to feed us three times!) Then we toured her 'town'. We came back to Ngaoundere for New Year's. Andrea met me back in there and we took the train back down to Yaounde together.
Unfortunately I was only able to go back to post for 4 days before I had to come back to Yaounde for midservice. Now I am here and getting ready to have a short taste of America. I can not wait to see my friends and family, it will be so nice!
