I spoke to the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) who is currently in Mayo-Darle, where I will be moving in 5 weeks. Her name is Sarah and she made me feel infinitely better about being placed there. She said it is only 4-4.5 hours away (as opposed to the 10-16 it said in the site description) from the nearest city. She has electricity from 6:30-10:30 pm every night in her house. There is a well on the compound and forage a few minutes away on a moto. (Well water for everyday washing and drinking water from the forage.) The Nigerian border is indeed close, about a 2 hour moto ride away, but she said no one is there and there haven’t been any issues during her 2 years there. I will have a post-mate (another PCV placed in the same town) and there is a cluster of other PCV’s in towns/villages near by. There is cell reception and the possibility of having an internet key to use internet via cell service. It sounds semi-unreliable, but it’s there! The house I will be moving into has been home to 4 previous volunteers, so it is fully furnished. That is a big relief since I won’t have to go out and buy a ton of furniture when I arrive. Sarah will be there for 4 days after I arrive so she can show me around and introduce me to people. Then, she is off to America! I can’t wait to be in her shoes and come home as a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). I was very near tears when I received my post and was thinking I couldn’t do it for two years. Now, I am excited to go and get settled in my new home. I am sure there will still be many challenges, but it doesn’t sound as scary as it did on paper. I had to make sure I let all my loved ones know I am doing well and am still excited to be here. One thing I’m still struggling with are the creatures inside the house or my bedroom. I saw the biggest spider I’ve ever seen, and that is not an exaggeration. Two nights in a row now I’ve gone to the bathroom without electricity. With my headlamp on, I get in the bathroom, shut the door, and then spot the giant crawling around the wall next to me. It’s body was about the size of the mouse I have in my room, maybe even bigger, with legs sprawling out a few inches. The other day I went with some other PCT’s (Peace Corps Trainees) and our Program Director to play “basket” or basketball, as you may know it. We went to a nearby school with an out of the ordinary nice basketball court. It was still scorching hot and I was sweating like a pig. We played against a Cameroonian team, all large, tall, men who had some skills. I think they felt sorry for us since we had 3 girls; they loaned us two of their players. There were a couple of times I stupidly went in for the rebound and got knocked in the head by their elbows since they are about twice my height. We held our own, but I’m not sure we won. Even though I was dying from running back and forth, it was super fun to play with and against everyone. We even had our own USA cheering section (other PCT’s who didn’t play) and they definitely helped to keep us going. I’m hoping to get in on a soccer game soon. We passed the ball around for a few minutes the other week, which was just enough to get me interested in playing a game. Cameroonians are always playing soccer and on my way to school, or I guess training, there were some guys in the middle of the road with concrete blocks as goals. It had poured rain the night before and so they were splashing around in mud puddles. It was only 7 am but they were full of energy and it looked like a great time. I walked through the game and received a high five with an English “how are you?” It made my morning. After school you could still see all the little cleat marks in the dried mud on the road. Cameroon and Tanzania tied in the last World Cup game so there is a rematch in November in Yaoundé (possibly when we go their for swearing in!). Fingers crossed for the Indomitable Lions! I think there will be some unhappy locals if they don’t win. Today I have my Language Placement Interview to see if my French has improved at all in the past month. I sure hope it has, but it is difficult to tell. I still struggle to have conversations, but I’m getting better at understanding the money when I buy something. Before, I just handed them some money, waited to see if they acted like they needed more, waited for some change and hoped they gave me the right amount. I could have totally been ripped off and never would have known. The locals seem fairly trustworthy. (The other day a PCT bought some oranges and we had walked down the street to a boutique and the young boy who had sold the oranges gave the PCT the rest of her change.) Life here is interesting, different, and slow. It is a good kind of slow, or at least I think so right now. No one is in a hurry; people walk slow (my theory is walking slow means less sweating), and time is irrelevant unless it has to do with training or my 7 pm curfew. The fruit here is amazing and plentiful. Every day at lunch I have a large chunk of pineapple and papaya. I tried a tree tomato and monkey cola – the monkey cola was odd but delicious. It is kind of sweet. To open it you slam it against the ground. It has a white inside. For the tree tomato and to eat it you bite off the bottom and suck out the inside.