January 13, 2014 Happy Birthday Megs and Les! I’m looking forward to this weekend. I’m headed to the city for money, Internet, and goods unavailable in Mayo-Darlé. I just made a list like I’m going to Target back home. So exciting and so American. It’s kind of a pain getting there, and once I’m there, the place I stay at is quite disgusting, but I guess it’s all worth it for the money and the Internet. I don’t have a good sense about money here yet. I took out money about a month ago and it’s been a budget scrunching week and one pocket-pinching week to go. I lived off of the equivalent of $100 for a month. Not bad. I bought one scarf to cover my poor face and head during this hot dry weather, and of course to try and fit in with the modest clothing. Other than the $3 scarf (I was so proud – I talked him down from $4!) I haven’t bought clothing, shoes, or other unnecessary items. Aren’t you proud, dad?!? It’s been effective treatment for a girl with shopaholic tendencies, especially when you see how frugally the locals live. It makes me feel a little ashamed actually. I would often buy things I didn’t need back home. I wonder if I were to go back home now, would I spend my money differently, be a little more conservative? I hope so. Maybe after two years, my spending habits will have changed drastically. I just took a bucket bath for the first time in two days. It is sure difficult to get clean here. My latrine never smells good and the concrete floor is never spotless. My washrags and towels have been washed in a river that smells like cow poo. I’ve been savoring the new washrags from Grama and Grampa; they smell so good and clean! When I got out of the “shower” and combed my hair, there were still fuzzies from my blanket in my hair. Yeah, not super clean, not to mention every time I shower and comb my hair there’s a handful of hair that comes out. I didn’t have a lot of hair to begin with and after two years I’m afraid I will have several bald spots. Last night I wasn’t feeling well and I felt like I might puke. Actually, I was kind of hoping to puke to get whatever wasn’t good out of my tummy. I was lying on the couch and moaning, with the bucket by me when my neighbor came in to say hi. I said I wasn’t feeling well and might puke. He said if I needed to puke to tell him. I told him, “Okay, I’ll tell you so you can close your eyes.” He laughed and said, “No, I need to leave if you puke.” I told him, oh thanks; you’re going to leave me alone to puke. He told me it was better if I’m alone when I puke. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard a Cameroonian say it’s better if you’re alone for anything. I never did puke but I fell asleep on my couch, which I rarely do during the night. Between the insects and things falling from the ceiling, I actually prefer sleeping under my mosquito net. Right now I’m sitting next to my two cats drinking tea (I think I over did it on Nescafe) and water with rehydration salts, my solution for everything back home is to drink water, now I have a feeling water and rehydration salts will become a popular drink here. It doesn’t taste good, but it is so hot here, I am probably dehydrated 90% of the time. I was discouraged to hear it gets even hotter in February, March, and April. I wanted to cry when I heard this. I can barely walk around in the afternoons as it is. It does get chilly during the nights, but I guess that doesn’t last either. It’s going to take a lot more adjusting. Yesterday, I went to the market and hung out there for a while. It is usually with guys and younger girls and boys because married women don’t leave their compounds often. The guys sit in the market and talk with each other; they drink hot tea, wear long sleeves, pants, and sometimes hats and jackets and I don’t see a drip of sweat on them. Meanwhile, I’m hogging the shade, wearing sunglasses, a summer dress, with my scarf awkwardly draped over my head and shoulders. I’m downing water and sweating constantly. When I complain about the heat, they just say, it’s perfect now, just wait until February. I’m not cut out for this type of sunshine, heat, and dust. Let’s hope I can adjust. People seem to move slower the hotter it gets. It is acceptable to take a break in the afternoon; I think it’d be equivalent to a siesta. I take advantage of this almost every day, usually having to share the couch with my lazy cats. Last night, while I was moaning on the couch, with my neighbor telling me not to puke in front of him, I heard something in the gap between the ceiling and roof again. Something with wings for sure. I told him to listen to it, he was like, “huh, must be a butterfly.” I wanted to smack him but also couldn’t help but laugh. Also, he was sitting under the biggest gap in the ceiling material, so if the butterfly (or bat or whatever other crossbred monster lives up there) fell, it would fall on his head. Well, I have to fetch water for my house, wash my dishes and probably sweep my floors. I better get to it because after a certain time, and temperature, I don’t do too much physical labor.