First Time Seeing America in Nine Months

It had been almost nine months to the day when I saw the United States for the first time since leaving for my service in the Peace Corps. I arrived in the O’Hare airport and just stared at everything and everyone. I felt somewhat scared and yet everything was so easy. When I wanted to talk to someone, ask someone a question, or accidentally bumped into someone, I knew what to do; I did not have to question what I was doing or worry much about what would happen. Everything was so familiar but in a nostalgic sort of way, an unreal sort of way. It seemed as though just being, just everything was too easy.

               I had thought, before arriving in the United States that I would want to try everything and to eat all different sorts of food or everything in sight but as soon as I landed I seemed to lose my appetite for all food. I knew that I had to eat though so I looked for something that might seem appealing but everything just seemed too complex. I actually almost found myself wishing for some simple njama njama! I wanted something familiar. I was about to give up and just wait to eat when I saw a basket with apples for sale. I picked one and paid for it feeling rather like Captain Barbosa. It was the most expensive apple I have ever bought. It was a green apple and it was great! Apples are hard to come by in many parts of Cameroon. I think that many, if not all, are imported. I was surprised at how happy so simple a thing could make me feel.

               I had a brief layover in O’Hare and the airline workers announced that the flight was over-booked and they were requesting volunteers to come forward to give up their seats. For a long time no one moved even though the airline was starting to offer some great flight deals and promising to get them on the first flight tomorrow. I was considering giving up my seat but was not sure that I should since I had a connecting flight to catch. Eventually enough people came forward which made my decision for me. It turns out that it was a good thing that I did not give up my seat, not only because I had another flight and it was the last flight of the day, but because that next flight was the very last one going to my local airport for the next month! It was the last flight before they were going to close the local airport for runway construction. If I had given up my seat then I would have been stuck for a lot longer than I had thought.

               It felt great to be at home. I got to see many of my friends and family. I think that there were only five or six people that I did not get a chance to see while I was back. I also got to do many things that I used to do like dancing, going to the movies and the theatre, and teaching/working with students at Upward Bound. I also got to spend a lot of time with my mom. I was very glad of this because I had been missing her and being able to talk with her on a regular basis.

               It was great being able to dance again even though I have lost much of my strength and stamina. I was very glad to be able to join in classes again! It was very relaxing and a great stress reliever. I tried never to miss a class. I got to spend time with Dianna, my dance teacher, and some of the dancers that I had not seen since before I left and some that I had not seen for several years.

               One of my favorite things, apart from seeing the rest of my family, was seeing Monica! I was so excited that she was able to come and see me while I was back! Our visit together was short but I was glad that we got to see each other at all. I think I might have been quite devastated if I had not been able to see her. I am hoping that she will be able to visit me here so that I can show her where I live and what I do! We will have to wait and see though.

               It is funny. All while I was in Cameroon I was missing the United States and everything about it but then when I was there I found myself missing Cameroon! After about two weeks I found myself looking forward to when I would be able to return. I was very happy to be back in the United States but as I have already said, it was strangely nostalgic and unreal too. I felt very at home and yet also as though I was an outsider, trespassing in the lives of people I know, like I did not really belong there. I often felt like I was watching scenes being played out before me which I was a part of but not meant to take part. It was a very strange feeling that I am sure was largely part of culture shock. I am sure that I will feel it again when I visit again and when I return at the end of my service as well.  I wonder how long it will take for things to go back to normal again. Overall though I was very glad that I took a break and spent some time with my family and friends! I think that it reinvigorated me and gave me strength to continue with my service.


Random pics from my time back home!

Six School Tree Nurseries

             Prunus Africana, Leucaena Leucocephala, and Acacia Angustissima. The Prunus is a medicinal plant and would raise money for the school and the Leucaena and the Acacia are both agroforestry species and could be used to improve the soil fertility of the school gardens or provide some shade for the school yard.

Over the course of April and May I worked with ERuDeF to establish six tree nurseries, each at a school that ERuDeF had either already worked with or was planning to start working with in the near future. First I went around and introduced myself to each of the schools that we were planning to work with and to introduce the idea of creating a tree nursery with them. Then, on the next visit that I made to the schools, I described the program, what the school was expected to contribute, and the species of trees that we would be planting. We had to plan and do all of this very quickly because exams were going to be starting soon and once that happened all of the teachers and students would be too busy to do anything else. We asked the schools to contribute the land for the nursery (since the trees, once planted would become theirs), the fence and shelter, and we asked for some students who were interested to help us plant on the day of planting. We planted

               So we had everything ready to go, most of the schools were close to finished with their shelters, the seeds had arrived, and we were hours from planting when the seeds got locked into the office of one who went to the field and would be gone for a week! So, I had to rush around to all of the schools and reschedule the day of planting at each school. Many of them were not happy about having to reschedule on such short notice but we did it. It was ok and it worked out.

               When the person returned from the field I got the seeds and we did the planting. Preceding the planting at each school Emmanuel (an ERuDeF employee) and I gave a short lesson on the environment and the importance of trees.

               Here are some pictures and some specifics about the planting at each school.

We started at GTHS (Government Technical High School):

The soil was tougher than we had thought at first so the tilling was difficult. The students wanted to take the seeds home to plant them at their houses.

The second school was Standard Primary School:

The girls were chosen by the teachers to help with the tilling and the boys were sent for palm fronds to finish the shelter. They were very interested in the tree planting.

The third school was CS Fontem (Catholic School of Fontem):

 

The students were very excited to plant trees but then it poured! This is after the rain but we are all soaked because we had to finish the shelter in the pouring rain and till the soil! It was cold! Most of the school got to help in the planting.

The fourth school was CS Menji (Catholic School Menji):

The students came prepared with their hoes. As we did the planting they were good at staying organized, though there were so many students that wanted to help we had to keep switching out so that everyone could do something.

The fifth school was GBHS (Government Bilingual High School):

So many students showed up to help with the planting here; we had to send some away because there were simply too many in the area. We ended up with around fifty. Many of the neighborhood children that I know were among the group from this school.

The sixth school was Our Lady Seat of Wisdom:

This is a school that was established by a group of Italians following the Folkari movement. It is a private school. We worked with the Environmental Club. The club had nearly fifty members so we worked with just a selection of students from the club.

Mushroom Cultivation TOT

     At the beginning of April, only one month after PST-Reconnect ended, I found myself back in Bamenda for a training on Mushroom Cultivation. I requested to be at the training because of the women's group that I was working with in Menji; I thought that it would be a good income generator since many people in Menji like mushrooms but no one really grows them. The training was fun because Angelique was also there, so we were able to hang out. So during the mornings we were in sessions and then in the afternoons we were able to explore some of Bamenda.
     The sessions were held at our hotel, in the conference room, and at the mushroom training center. We went over everything from marketing and pricing to the substrate preparation and mushroom harvesting. The training was not too difficult though it was presented in an unusual order; the last thing we learned was how to actually grow the mushrooms. We figured it out though, through many questions, and got through the training. I hope that I will be able to use the knowledge that I have gained. I wonder how well it would work in the U.S.?
     The hotel that we were staying at is situated right at the end of Commercial Avenue. This means that the main market, some major supermarkets, and the main restaurants that sell almost-american-type food were all right there and very accessible. It was fun exploring and getting to know this major road of Bamenda. Though Angelique and I mostly just bought junk food at the gas stations and took it back to our room and watched movies. We did this not because we were not interested in seeing other things on Commercial Avenue or other things around Bamenda but because by the time sessions ended each day we did not have enough time to sit and eat or look around the markets too long before they closed. It was still fun though!

Learning how to prepare substrate materials.

Sterilizing prepared substrates.

Preparing bags of substrate material.

Adding mushroom spores to substrates.

End of training! I received my training certificate!