football

and farms

and not to disappoint carly, this post was supposed to be longer and include pictures, to please all of you people (Cameroonians say "we people" and "you people" in place of "us" and "y'all"), especially haynes

the pictures will have to wait though because i forgot my harddrive

we people took a trip down to Buea today and just got here an hour or two ago, we will be here for the night and then head to Yaounde tomorrow to make it to the embassy for the 4th of July party (on the 3rd of July) with a swimming pool and all (i hope fireworks and hot dogs too)

well, the initial subject of this post was football and farms because i have been around to all but one of the community farms in the past 2 weeks and seen the crops and talked with the boys who help run them as a part of the program i am working with

i also have seen more football, finally a women's team was out to practice when we visited one of the villages and yesterday was the kick-off, the inaugural ceremony for the "UAC Special Summer Jamboree" - it was supposed to start at 1 and i was there to get things started, but only me, George, and the man doing the lines on the field were there (and a few of the local kids who followed me there)

not until 3:30 p.m. did things get started but the villages showed up one at a time stuffing 25 or 30 into a 12 passenger van (our UAC van, actually) and then the Lord Mayor came and then the District Officer and before that the radio personalities - Lucas, Obie Joe, and Adams (all of whom Chance works with at the Voice of Manyu - Voice of the Voiceless - 91.6FM) - and they commentated introducing the Coordinator and Coach from each village and then announced for the donations that took place - we gave each village coordinator a set of jerseys for the female team

and then the kickoff with the DO, Lord Mayor, head referee delegate and myself and the DO back heeling it to the Bachou Akagbe team and the games begin

Bachou Akagbe beat Egbekaw 1 to 0 and then Banya and Bachou N'tai tied 0-0, each game lasting 50 minutes

while at the game another white man showed up, from the Netherlands and with a friend, his neighbor from back home, who is from Mamfe originally and they came over last night to the hotel to hang out for a bit

things have been good, hot, rainy, and getting busier, especially with this 5/6 day trip we are taking to Yaounde and then Douala for a day


other sites and events that i have yet to mention: people use the streams and rivers as car washes (this was especially common right north of Buea on the way to Mamfe); our cook, Stella, is both hilariously dramatic and lazy in the kitchen so our food is lackluster; it rains everyday and my roof leaks but hopefully it is fixed now so i won't have to sleep in a puddle at my feet; people are crazy about pointing the finger with blame, especially the people we work with but we have cleared some issues up and agreed to communicate

well, i am tired and having a block on what else to tell you

but i will post photos soon, some of people, some of interesting things, some of the 4th of July party, some of football and some of farms

mamfe and the internet - not a good couple

all,

gas prices in Mamfe are 500 CFA Francs per liter on the black market and 600 CFA Francs at the station. this is based on a 420 CFAF per $1. we are close to Nigeria so the petrol comes up on river boats and is traded underneath the steel bridge and then brought to town and is sold on the road. I would send photos but our only internet access point is not only slow but only works when the electricity is on (which is becoming more consistent as our time continues). I would also do the math, but that would take up even more time - so that is the quiz question for the day - how much does a gallon of gas cost in the English speaking provences of Cameroon?

Chance, James, Loan and I are good - we are fed three times a day, we shower at least every other day, we are moving on our projects (through the ambiguity, organization and time issues), and we are provided bottled water (which I flavor with my koolaid).

i am sure more updates will come (maybe once a week, or every other week) to you. Cameroon tied Tanzania in soccer on Saturday and lost to Chad. We have been watching (or at least I have been making us watch) a lot of football here - the EuroCup. It is my one joy, besides running in the morning, reading in after breakfast, listening to one (at least) album a day, playing soccer in the afternoon and then playing cards and watching the EuroCup. when it ends at the end of June, I will be stuck in the rainiest month in these parts and read, read read read read. actually, i have now been heading into the villages to meet the "presidents of the streetfootball network" and talk about the soccer jamboree we will host in july. i am also hoping to learn more about the Community Sports for Development Program to be able to complete a description of the program, a manual, and to get more training support sent this way.

other themes that i wrote about and can now not paste into here, so this will be quick, are: i am dirty, i play soccer almost every day and i have been running and since the environment is so humid (like home) and hot, nothing drys, but i am finding ways to dry my sweaty clothes like my fan (which is now broken) and James showed me to set things on the roof in the sun, et cetera; i am loved - people here just love you and call out "white man" at every turn and call you over and want to be your friend - though some of this is them looking for opportunities, a majority of it is the genuine care of these people.

again thanks for those who donated to Kicks for Kids in Cameroon - the funds totaled at over $4000, 23 sets of uniforms and many many many more other soccer equipment and gear. i will be posting a final count of all of this for you all to see once I arrive to a town where the internet is faster. we have already put some of the money towards developing the new mini sports complex in Mamfe (which all of the volunteers helped me out with one day, carrying bricks - picture to come soon, if possible). we have bought new balls to train with and will buy more to bring to the villages to pass out when we pass out the jersey sets. we are also buying farming equipment for the villages to help with the cooperative farming aspect of the program - these will be coming with Mr. Orock in his next trip up here on Sunday. and we will buy cleats (or boots) to pass out to those of the youth who do not have any, i just hope we can give cleats to all of them.

all in all, things are good, my two danish friends - Berit and Sofie - have left Mamfe for good but I had an awesome week with them and will get to spend several days in Copenhagen with them during my time in Europe. check my Facebook profiles for photo updates that they will be sure to tag soon.

cameroon is beautiful, and the Settlers of Cameroon game we are building will show you all some memories that we have made here.

goodbye

Buea in the shadow of Mount Cameroon

What a long, almost 4 days. Almost a lifetime.

Since I last sat down to write, I witnessed Chance's epic battle with American Airlines for his luggage, Jason (the senior volunteer from Scotland) drink Aloe Vera to cure his malaria and yeast infection, Hendrika (one of the newer volunteers from the Netherlands) laugh at everything, a long, very long graduation and more.

Chance finally got his luggage when on Tuesday morning he got a call from Brussels Air saying they would send it on their next flight down. He and I drove, passed rubber plantations and banana groves, with Mr. Orock and Antwan into Douala and picked up the bags. This trip showed me the genious of Mr. Orock (who we discussed should have a book written about him titled just OROCK) - his unmalicious anger at the luggage pest which was conjured because of their annoyance and because it is the only way to get them to flee, his smooth French talking to get through customs, and his Bond-like sterness and mind when telling Antwan to "go with speed" when leaving the airport. Then soon after this at the black market, trading in the donation money and personal funds for CFA, Mr. Orock dealt like a dealer. All of this was shown in but 30 minutes but I could tell that Mr. Orock was a true street-wise, patriarch of southern Cameroon.

On the drive home, in between my inquistiveness and Antwan's savvy manuervering around trucks, motorcycles and pedestrians, a car u-turned in front of us causing Mr. Orock to say, "stop here" and Antwan backed up so Orock could demandingly say out of the window to that driver, "What kind of driving is that?"

Chance and I didn't say anything immediately but later that night we laughed about the comment in relation to all the driving here.

On Monday, Chance battled with American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc and the Douala airport to find his luggage. He was told it was in Brussels and after $20 of international calls and more on Skype, he had no luck until the morning with that special call.

Monday night, after spicy peanut beef and rice, a man named Shuh came. He is friends with Jason and came and immediately fell in love with Kait. He sang her a song, asked her about life, et cetera. He is still coming around. In general nights consist of hanging out on the porch of the rooms of Kait, Jason and Hendrika. There Jason and James play guitar.

The other volunteers here are Jason (five months), Hendrika (one week), Weitzel (spelled wrong but said sort of like Riesha, one month, from the Netherlands), Valerie (3 months, from Canada), Biret (2 months, from Denmark) and Sophie (2 months, from Denmark).

Breakfast is at 7:30 every morning where we enjoy meals with Mr. and Madame Orock (the book OROCK should actually be written about her) and their five children, their nieces and nephews, their neighbors and local orphans. Everyone is in and out of this house and we as volunteers eat in the front room while they all sit, stand, play music, watch television and live their lives. The two children who I have gotten to know are the youngest - Evelyne and Clara. They are sweet and have taken to braiding my hair (at least Evelyne has).

Other meals have been crepes, salad, eggs, always bread, good banana/plantain/ spaghetti omelets, and friend beniget like things.

On Tuesday, the volunteers who had been recieved within the last week were given a tour of the facilities. At the new school we arrived while they were taking graduation photos. We talked with the office manager, Henry Sako. We also saw the new facilities and got to see Tako's electricity class. The students at the new school are from the surrounding villages and walk up to 2 hours to get to school.

I finally soaked my clothes in permetherin. While hanging them to dry on "the" porch, Kait had an episode with the dog with a bloody ear. I had to physically push (with my foot) the dog out of the house and when on the porch he sprayed blood on me from shaking. So I was dirty.

That night, after the Douala trip, we had the pleasure of listening to Aaron and Jeff play. They were amazing. Aaron is blind and plays the guitar and they both sign and have wonderful voices. They are friends with Jason. After enjoying some of the music I called it a night and updated my budgets to give to Mr. Orock in the morning with the donations.

Tuesday morning was a breakfast of omeletes. We walked to school where I registered the donations from those who gave to support UAC and its programming. I also played jacks with rocks - good thing Ms. Sweat taught us back at Carver Magnet.

We were then charged with the task of decorating the Catholic hall (up the street) for graduation the next day. We were sent to load 300 chairs, which we did while sweating. We also swept and watched the children. I played some more jacks and we went home for lunch which was a wonderful beef and okra stew with rice.

After lunch, and some time on the internet, we met Valerie, Biret and Sophie and all sat down for drinks at the bar. We spent a while here but I got to know these other volunteers (who had been in Kribe, a beach town in the very south, for a several day vacation).

Before dinner we discussed with Mr. Orock our coming trip to Mamfe and food accomadations for the time there. After dinner, a glass of wine on the porch and music discussion with Chance and Biret, I called it a quick night again.

This morning we had omelette toast, I bathed from a bucket, put on my nice clothes and headed up at 9 a.m. to graduation. This was a chaotic ordeal, lasting until 2 p.m. and raining for 3 hours (cats and dogs) during. After, on the way out, Kait and I were pulled into some graduation photos for 10 minutes. We lost the others (except for Biret and Sophie) and were caught by Tako who told us our lunch would be served at the hall. On the walk back in we were caught for some more photos. People ask if they can "snap" you. After lunch and conversation with the three girls, I took a nap and finally walked up here to write this long update.

I haven't even begun to talk about the language. When we walk we (girls and boys) are called "white man." At the school they are told to be more polite, and as they call most adults, we are called "uncle" and "anty." To eat, they say "chop." In the future tense you would say, "I go chop chop," meaning, "I am going to eat." Asking how are you is "How now?" and answering fine would be "I de fine." One child wanted to race and said, "I will fast you." It is amazing to hear this mix of English, old English, French and native languages. Most everyone speaks proper English as well, though.

Well, I'm off to celebrate our last night in Buea, under the shadow of Mount Cameroon.

here

So, I made it.

I'll keep this update short and I have no photos for now because I can't upload them.

I arrived last night at 11:30 p.m. after meeting Roger, a 36-year old mathmetician, who is from Douala, while waiting to board the plane. We flew over the Atlas mountians, a cotton field of clouds, and the Sahara desert until it got dark and all I could see were fires. At the airport I was dupped by a imposter "George" - who I thought was George Ashu, the man I will work with in Mamfe - but he was actually a luggage guy who tries to get you to pay him. Mr. Orock showed up though and saved me after several minutes of my tired confusion.

In Douala we went to pick up Kait and Courtney - two Rhodes students who will be with us in Mamfe - and we rode four in the back seat the entire two hours to Buea. Upon arrival we were sat down for tea and James and Chance came to greet us - this was at 2 a.m., so very late. After tea we were shown the accomadations, where I saw Loan, and then I was brought to my apartment in between Chance and James. I spent another hour and a half organizing stuff and then slept until woken by Chance at 7:25 a.m.

Breakfast was good. Kait, Courtney and I spoke with Mr. Orock about UAC and our projects for the morning and then walked with the others the block to town. Lunch was very good and then Mr. Orock bought us drinks and we played with his children and those of the neighborhood.

It is warm and humid here but the wind blows and Mount Cameroon, covered in clouds, is in the near distance.

We leave for Mamfe on Thursday, unless Chance's bags do not arrive.

Flat (Arkansas and Cameroon) Stanley get a tour from Paddington

So, it hasn't been all that bad - actually, very world-travelesque-exciting. From NYC to Montreal to London to Casablanca. The best thing yet has been this sign in London.

After I last wrote y'all, I updated my ticket (having to pay a $80 "no-show" fee and an $80 change fee) and left today for Casablanca at 6 p.m. That is where I am now - I fly to Douala at 6 p.m. tomorrow - and since I have about a 19 hour layover here, Royal Air Maroc set me up in a place in downtown (which happens to have internet access and American movies).

Yesterday morning, unknowingly calling before 6 a.m., I contacted an old friend - Markus Wirtz who was an exchange student at NLRHS for a semester. He is from Germany and I actually ran into him last in Buenos Aires almost two years ago. Ironically, both of these meetings occurred because of the technology of Facebook - he messaged me after seeing I was in BsAs and I just looked up my friends in London, he was one, and I called him. Congratulations to him as well for his upcoming marriage to his Mexican sweatheart (who he met in BsAs) and for their move to Madrid in September when he starts the 2nd year of his master's business program.

After talking to Markus, I checked my baggage in for the day, rode into town on the Tube and took a nap in Green Park for three hours (anyone could have taken my backpack and computer bag because I was knocked out from having tried to sleep in the Montreal and London airports the two previous nights). After the nap I met Markus at his work and got a coffee. He let me borrow his keys and his flat for the afternoon to shower and then I took Flat Arkansas and Flat Cameroon on a tour of London until I met up with Markus again for dinner. Both Flats tried to head to Hogwarts but I told them they could go in August when we return to Platform 9 and 3/4. You can see the photos of all the places we visited. After dinner, Markus and I headed back to his flat and hit the sack.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to walk with Markus (he was flying to Munich to visit his brother) and he sent me to Hempstead where I walked around. I then caught a bus to Trafalgar Square and walked around most of central London (reading, shopping at Lush, and eating lunch at a terrible and expensive restaurant) until leaving for Heathrow at 2:30 p.m. On the way to the airport I met another American who had been in Cameroon during the Fall - her name was Sara and she was from D.C. and went to school at Pomona.

After catching my plane, I sat next to Taiser and Morris (both Syrians who have lived in London for over 20 years). They were two wild and crazy guys - they gave me their numbers and said to call them when I got back to London. Then at Muhammad V airport in Casablanca I checked in for my next flight but since it was so far away they sent me to get a free hotel for the night. So here I am now, after a ride downtown with a group of six individuals from Guinea (who just got back from Dubai). They were nice, as were the two guys working in the accomadations office.

Other great sites of the day - sign holders (like Brett on Flight of the Conchords), the movie Shotgun Stories (all filmed in Arkansas) showing in London, a Cameroonian flag, some great graffiti (an awesome Banksy piece and the robot guy - twice), and the Nelson Mandela statue near Westminister.

Next stop - CAMEROON!

airport to airport to bed

As Erin Jones declared in her blog, with one addition, I could be an airline and airport critic.

Currently I am on the ground in London's Heathrow airport. Last night was spent in Montreal's Dorval airport and tomorrow night will probably be in Casablanca (but I think I will get a hostel because that might be a 3-nighter). I will figure it all out in 5 or so hours when I can actually talk to a Royal Air Maroc representative and present my paper ticket (I think they might be the only airline that still uses these).

Everything has been great. After a flight through Memphis, where I met a woman from Nigeria who was going home for the first time in 13 years, I spent two nights in New York - the first eating Papa John's Pizza, the next eating at Roebling Tea Room. In between I visited Haynes at Little Marc Jacobs (see the picture also including Meagan, Chelsea, Cameroon Flat and Arkansas Flat) for most of the day and did some quick shopping (backpack rain cover, books, Frisbee and handkerchiefs) with Meagan. Yesterday morning I finished a few last things, got a burger at La Esquina with Haynes, rode home and caught a cab to the airport.

I actually showed up 2 hours and 15 minutes early. My flight to Ottawa was cancelled so they booked me on one to Montreal then to London which would arrive at the same time. This was all good, especially because the guy (John, who was with his girlfriend, Lily) checking in next to me actually just got back from a year in Cameroon. And, get this, he went to Brown with our roommate for the summer - Zara.

Because of so-called thunderstorms our flight was delayed before we got on and while on the runway for an entire 4 hours. There were about 4 dozen planes waiting to take off and only the ones heading to the south and east were allowed to go. I did get to watch a movie in this time and also ended up in first class - which was really nice. Air Canada is a really great airline but the weather washed everyone's plans away.

At Montreal we arrived 10 minutes before the flight to London. This meant a night in a square sofa but not before a night out on the town with some more new made friends, Heather and Adam (they have my one Montreal photo). We got some beer and Poutin (I really don't know how to spell this but it was fries with gravy and cheese and is a specialty of Montreal). At 4:30 a.m. I checked in to the newly changed flight to Toronto, then to London, and tried to contact Royal Air Maroc but after three calls with them and one with Orbitz I had no luck.

The flights to Toronto and London were good - I watched three more movies and met two more friends - Kathy and Trina (both traveling to do research, Trina actually to Sierra Leone). Air Canada has nice planes with futuristic features - or maybe I was in the future, who knows - but they didn't help us out that much (except giving me a tour of Canada).

Well, I ended up here in Heathrow and did receive some good news - the shipping costs for all of the soccer gear was cheaper than expected and Marie Tillman called me today and left a message to meet up in New York to talk about my project (Haynes called back and told her I had already left). I am still discussing my project with the Tillman Foundation for this fall in Arizona and will hopefully have it in concrete before I head back home in August.

Until next time, in whatever airport I may be resting in.

The days are counting down.

I have been steadily packing - clothes in one corner of the room, other stuff in another corner.

My online shopping is over. I think I could stay on REI.com all day. When that all arrives I will finally pack it into my backpack.

I have also been collecting, collecting, collecting soccer supplies - one batch of three bags has already been sent to Chance in Denver to bring over with him. The next batch will be packed soon and it will be heading over with the honorable James Szenher. And one final bag with a mixture of soccer equipment and Loan's books will head over as extra baggage with me.

Last week I spent a morning in the classroom of my ninth grade English teacher, Ms. Ritchie. She allowed me to come to her classes and talk with the kids about Cameroon and my project. We asked each of her classes to write letters that day (to help me start a pen pal program and further global cooperation) and at the end collected 89 letters - hooray letters!

I am excited. It is even more exciting knowing that Loan is almost there (I dropped her off at the airport at 5:15 a.m. yesterday and am guessing she is having her 15 hour lay over in Casablanca, Morocco, right now). Even more exciting is that I am done with my vaccinations (and no longer in a daze from any of them).

But until the time comes I am trying to enjoy my final moments here at home. On Friday I will be at Field Day with Lakewood Elementary where the kids will each get a few chances to shoot on me (and hopefully "the" Bobby and Emily's Tristan) at goal.

Riverfest is also this weekend and I will be enjoying the performances of three of my friends' groups - Christopher Denny and the Old Soles (6 p.m. on Saturday), Mammoth Orange (Noon on Saturday) and Silverton (6:15 p.m. on Friday).

I leave on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. for New York where I will be for two nights visiting Haynes. And I will head out to Cameroon on Tuesday.

When I get there, if I get there, I will write you.