I've never been afraid of thunder storms, I even enjoyed them back home. I have to say as an adult in Africa during rainy season - I'm scared of thunderstorms. The lightning is so close the thunder rumbles the ground at the same time or one second after it strikes. It is not just one or two lightning strikes like that, it is like an hour or more. The lights flicker with the storm. Tonight I hurriedly took my bucket bath as it started to rain, as I've learned rain typically means no electricity and no light in the bathroom means cockroaches bathing with me. Needless to say, I'm in bed, safely inside my mosquito net, with a headlamp and my journal. The rain on the tin roof is so loud I can't hear my music even when it's blasted and a foot from my face. I've definitely developed some new fears here in Africa. For example I was never really scared of the dark except maybe when I watched too many Law and Order SVU episodes and had to sleep with the light on. Here, it is a nightly thing. I dread turning my light off and know that sooner or later my unwanted roommates will come to party in my room while I try to sleep. The cockroaches are like 10 times the size I've ever seen and they seem smarter than I gave them credit for. They jump from thing to thing and move at mock speed. The mouse seems to be out-smarting me as well and is definitely too fast. The other night I woke up to a mouse and more than one cockroach exploring my room. I turned on my headlamp and watched from inside my mosquito net. Obviously, my mosquito net is my safe haven. I considered using my emergency pepper spray I sleep with to try and kill the mouse and cockroaches but decided against it since I think it'd be better utilized on a different kind of CREEPer. I got up and spayed the slower cockroach with permethrin and waited patiently on my chair with legs up. I heard the little mouse and got up to spray him. I aimed and then he came running towards me so fast he slid towards my toes on the linoleum. He went under the bed, where I cannot reach and I sat for another hour waiting. By about 330 or 4 I was tired enough to fall back asleep with all sides of my net tucked in around me. I've never had so much coke in one day to try and caffeinate myself through class. Well that's the excitement in Bafia, now onto my trip to the Northwest Region of Cameroon. (I'm currently in the Center Region.) I took a bus, bush taxi, and moto taxi. The bus rides weren't bad since it was all trainees who were going in the same direction. It was bumpy and interesting but it was a good slow intro to Camerronian bus travel. The taxi de brousse was even more interesting. Most of the cars could be considered compact cars and there were 4-5 people in the back and 3-4 people in the front. I'm talking 2 people in the passenger seat, a "petit chauffeur" between the driver seat and passenger seat, and then the driver. In the back seat, there's a lot of cramming, and alternating sitting forward and back. The next travel adventure on a moto was a little embarrassing. We've gone over many dos and don'ts and even practiced how to get and ride a moto here. When the moment came I seemed to forget all of it and grasped the driver for dear life around his torso. My friend behind me tells me half way through the ride, trying to restrain her laughter, "Mo, you're not supposed to hold on to him like that!" After a second of accepting that fact, I let go, apologized to the driver and grabbed the leg of my friend behind me. When I got off, I apologized again for grabbing him like that and he just gave me a smile, took my money and drove away. I love driving myself on dirt bikes but taking a moto zooming through city traffic without obvious traffic signs or laws scares me. I think I'll eventually get on and not send the wrong signals to the driver! Ugh. It was an amazing break from training. We left Wednesday and didn't come back until Sunday. Both Wednesday and Sunday were all day bus rides. Wednesday we ate at a "white man restaurant" which was delicious and then had shawarma - some kind of meat sold on the street, put in a bauguette with potatoes/fries and sauce. Surprisingly good. Thursday we went on a hike then we were going to go to an orphanage but quickly decided against it when the rain started and agreed home, movies, and wine sounded better. Our host was amazing, she made us smoothies, pineapple fried rice, oatmeal, and coffee! The whole weekend was delicious. We went to a sweet missionary family's house for dinner on Friday and had pizza, chocolate cake, and some other wonderful dessert. We spent the night there, it was like a castle with running hot water, solid electricity, wifi, amazing views, and horses in the yard. Waking up on Saturday in Bamenda, we enjoyed the anglophone city. We had great bakery pastries, good NW Cameroonian lunch of foo foo and jama jama (couscous and huckleberry leaves or something?) and pizza again for dinner. Saturday night we stayed in a hotel - with running water - and enjoyed their attached club/bar. They had live music, flashing lights, couches all over, and cold beer and Smirnoff Ice. Even though the beers cost $2 USD instead of the usual $1 USD it was well worth the night of freedom, fun, and bonding with my fellow trainees. We danced until we were dripping sweat and even received some special attention from the band and local Cameroonians. On Sunday we all took a bus back to Bafia. The bus only broke down once for a few minutes. We helped push it and then once it was up and running again we hit the road. It was an amazing trip with even more firsts. In a couple hours we find out where we will be placed for two years!!! Keep your fingers crossed for a good post. I'll let you know soon.