First Day in Dschang

Had quite an off and on night of sleep as the light in my room flickers all the time even when it is off. Was awoken around 5 by yelling and, of course, roosters, and finally at 6 my host mom called for me to wake up and take a shower. People shower every day here without fail, it is really bad to wake up and not shower before school. Apparently, our shower does not actually function, so bucket showers for two weeks. It is impossible to wash my hair with a bucket so it’s going to be nice and dirty for my return for Yaoundé. I had a glass of hot powdered milk and some bread for breakfast before taking a crazy route to school. My mom had to show me the way today because I had never been to the university, and we left with my sister around 7. At first it was just really muddy but then we came to a crazy hill pass that was really slippery and will no doubt be a giant slip and slide when it rains (we’re in the rainy season.) After about 40 minutes of walking we reached the university, which is really big but we have a classroom that they let us use. We talked for a long time about our experiences, some good, some bad. We had a guest lecturer talk to us about the Bamileke ethnicity that is dominant in this region but is highly controversial in Cameroon. For lunch we went to the France/Cameroon Alliance center for an omelet. However, there were two men and a tiny kitchen trying to feed all 13 of us so it took a really long time. We came back for an hour of French class and then were released for the day. I walked home with another girl, we tackled the hill together which was awesome. On the way home I bought a weird food they call plums but they are far from plums. They sit and roast over a fire on the street, you can buy one for 20 cents and they are all warm and mushy inside. I also bought an avocado on the way home for 20 cents. (pineapples are 80 cents, mandarins 10 cents.) Made it back to my house safely and sat in the living room doing homework for a couple hours while my host sister played with her friend, constant screaming. I’m really enjoying Dschang so far though, it feels a lot homier than Yaoundé; guess I’ve always been a country girl, but I sure do miss my Yaounde family.

(And of course you real family!!)

French/Cameroon Alliance buildings