Birthday

view of morning painting site

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes. In the morning I went to Garoua and chose a spot after the bridge with a good view of the Benoue river and hills behind it for a painting session. It was the first time I got to use my oil paints I got in Yaounde and on a canvas a friend here made for me, and that 1 and 1/2 hours of painting was so wonderful. I would have forced myself to stay longer and keep at it, but it was getting too hot. So next time. In the afternoon attempted to climb a big mountain we always passed between Nassarao and Pitoa. I think we would have made it to the top (we were soooo close!) but a thunderstorm came up on all sides and had to sit crouched in an alcove for an hour for it to stop, and then get down the mountain again before it got dark. Next time...After the hike, just too tuckered out to go out on the town dancing. think I went to bed at 7:30? Miss everyone at home though, and would have loved to have my birthday there!

after the rain storm. we were high up there!!! that mountain range across the way is where my village is, behind some of those mountains. Garoua is to the right out of the photo.

New Puppy "Papaya Treefrog"

A couple of weeks ago, I got a new puppy, named Papaya. Here's the only two photos I have of her so far. Evidence of Second Child Syndrome. I got her as a sore-covered, fleabitten, worm and tick infested scrawny thing, but she's doing pretty well now and is pretty barky, a little too barky for me, but Cameroonians appreciate that as a quality of a good guard dog. She's sweet though.

Peanuts

The past week I have been working hard in my field, harvesting peanuts. I had a good harvest originally, however after they were pulled up i had trouble finding help, other workers, and they sat in the field for a week calling insects far and wide. On top of that this past week it has rained every day. More rain in October than in any other month during the rainy season and last year the last rain was the 10th or 15th. This meant that I was in a race to get my peanuts to the house before the insects ate them and the rain rotted them. Have you ever seen the movie Girl of the Limberlost? There's a scene that kept playing in my head when there is a rainstorm and the mother is out in the rain shoveling her corn into a car (?) trying to save the harvest. that's about how I felt, fighting against the insects and time. They were crawling with beetles. The difference is that my livelihood is not dependent on it. Even if every single peanut was ruined, eaten, I could survived. However, it is still depressing and stressful watching the hard work of three-four months get consumed quickly before your eyes. Working against time. Finally all the peanuts are at the house, put out to dry in the sun (and put back up in sacks at night in case of rain). I must say that I am a tired person now, after all of the digging, plucking, sitting in the sun and carrying back to the house. Next week I will start sorting out the peanuts and see how many are empty shells (because the insects bored into them and sucked out the oils) and how many are good. Then I will know how much harvest I actually have. And also will start the soy harvesting next week. I will be glad when all is at the house and I can rest!!!

Voila behold my peanuts, drying in the sun. Lots of them yes.

Hey Claire,

when i was talking to you on the phone and said i was climbing a mountain (last week, not yesterday) this is where I was. The little buildings down there are my village. You can see my house and my field of peanuts and soy, but the photo is too small. Love you!

I miss...

Fall smells
Apples, Apple Cider, Apple Butter, Apple Pie
Warm sweaters
Winter/Fall Boots and smart wool jackets
Back to School feelings, excitement, rebirth
Evening soccer games at Klockner
Day soccer games at Darden Tow (sp?)
All the food for lunches at Dayspring Farm
Hiking in the Mountains

Haako Waigori

One of the traditional dishes I prepare a lot is Haako (leave/sauce) Waigori (melon). I thought maybe some of you back home might be interested in giving it a go, since it's ingrediant actually grows in the states, and for a taste of Cameroonian cuisine!


Haako Waigori

Ingrediants:
1 big onion
Garlic
5 cups Melon leaves torn
3 T Peanut Butter (non sweetened)
Water
Salt
If you're Cameroonian, 1 Maggi cube

Chop or tear the melon leaves into small pieces and put into a pot of water. Boil the melon leaves until they are very tender and strain them from the water. Slice through them again with a knife. Set aside.

Peel and chop onion and garlic and cook in oil until translucent. Add melon leaves and some water, and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste (and maggi cube if you like your msg) and some more water. Add peanut butter into the mixture last. Add or reduce water to attain a sauce consistency to your liking. Serve over rice or couscous.

This time of year there are squash vines growing all over fences, gardens and rooftops. It's been wonderful to just go out and cut some leaves and cook up a dish!

Geography/Ecology class

So I'm putting together a class for the elementary school kids, mostly the older ones, 4-5th graders which is going to be geography/ecology. Most of the people in my village have never seen a map of the world. Most believe there is one country, where all white people come from not distinguishing between America and Europe, or realizing that there are blacks or asians or any other ethnicity that live there as well. And this Europe/America/Land of the Whites might be as far or as a close as Yaounde, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia. For those who rarely leave the little village of Mafa Kilda, any place "out there" is far. So I'm going to go continent by continent, one continent at a time and talk about the weather there, the people, animals, etc. and where it's located. I am in the middle of drawing a huge map of the world on the classroom wall which we will paint in as we go continent to continent. In addition to the geography, I'm hoping to highlight on ecological lesson in each continent, for instance, comparing cows in Scotland with those here, why might the ones in Scotland have lots of hair, and the ones here have a hump? And so on. Or camoflauge with Polar bears in the Arctic. However, at the moment I am searching for nice photos (i.e. national geographics, magazines) that might show things like: cold places, deserts, snow, panda bears, polar bears, grizzly bears, birds from all over, Highland cows, Tigers, Galapogas turtles, people/clothing from all different countries, homes, landscapes. So I'm requesting your help! If any of you have any old national geographics or other old magazines that might be able to furnish some nice photos, would you be willing to cut them out and send them my way? Even if I get them in 3 months time it will help as I plan on doing the course next semester as well, and next year. And with the lack of resources here (textbooks, photos, everything) I'm sure they would be much appreciated by my following volunteer as well!