ISP Period

I have been crazy busy lately!!! ISP has commenced...It's weird being in Yaounde without all of the rest of the group. Actually, my few really good friends decided to stay in Yaounde as well. However, the other students are off in various places completing their research. I'm glad that I am in Yaounde, though, because all of the information I need is here. Yaounde is the capital of Cameroon, one of the biggest cities, and the central government is located here.

I'm researching taxi accidents and unsafe driving in Cameroon - but really doing a case study of Yaounde, I suppose. I never realized I had such an interest in safe driving and the causes of accidents before! I think just after being here for a couple of months and taking taxis daily, I'm so disturbed by the state of the drivers and the mentality around driving here. Seat belts and car seats are virtually nonexistent, and often taxi drivers squeeze in more than four passengers into their small cars. It kills me to see two or three people in the front seat, or babies and small children on their mother's laps. Imagine if the car got into an accident? I realize that this was often the case many years ago, but now there is knowledge of vehicle safety and people should not be as negligent. Anyways, I've been exploring the city - going around and introducing myself and meeting people who can help me. I've done some informal interviews, and have just begun the formal interview process. It's really motivating/surprising how much my French has improved! I never thought I'd see the day where I could carry on an hour interview in French.... It's not perfect, and I don't understand everything, but I record it on my recorder and transcribe it later. This is not to say that when there's an Anglophone in the crowd who's willing to talk to me that I'm not elated, haha.

I'm trying to plan what to do for Thanksgiving! We never anticipated that it would be so difficult to attend Thanksgiving at the US Embassy in Cameroon. I know in other countries the embassy is very willing and pleased to host Americans on American holidays. However, here they have not been receptive (not returning phone calls or emails) so we have yet to get an invitation. We've been exploring other options, like possibly going on adventures to different parts of the city to find the random Americans that exist, haha. I know there are some groups of Americans doing various things, so we may just go introduce ourselves and see what they're up to, haha. I just feel like if there's an option to be with other Americans during Thanksgiving we should. Plus there will be only be five of us, including me, in Yaounde during Thanksgiving. We are also thinking of going to Limbe for Thanksgiving day weekend. Limbe is similar to Kribi, as it is touristy and full of beaches, but the sand is black!! I guess there are a few nice hotels and fun things to do. There are some other neat places to visit, though, so we're unsure which trip we want to plan. We definitely want to do something because that's the last weekend of ISP and it will be a fun last excursion before we do hardcore writing for the last week. I can't believe the paper is 30-40 pages, plus appendices...

As a side note, the making dinner for my family was a huge hit! It was so delicious, and they loved it. I couldn't believe how much ketchup my mother used, haha. The ice cream was so good too. :) It actually had its benefits for me too, haha, as my mother bought hamburger meat the next week and fried it with onions and spices and it was so good!! One night she even cut up potatoes and fried them so they tasted like delicious, greasy, large french fries. Woo!

As another side note, I had a really fun sleepover with three of my friends last week. I felt like a little girl again, as we went out to dinner and thought we were so cool staying up until like 10 PM (we are really lame and always tired here...) But there is a set of bunk beds plus my own bed in my room, so it worked out. The restaurant we discovered was so delicious! It's in a ritzy part of town I suppose, at the top of my street, and had amazing Italian options and even a dessert menu. It was interesting to see that virtually everyone eating there was white and foreign. We rarely ever see white foreigners, and it's because we actually live in the culture and are essentially "Cameroonian." We walk around, buy food off the street, take the unsafe taxis, go to the market, etc. Most foreigners here only take their private cars and go to nice restaurants and stay at the Hilton. It was fun for a treat to eat at a nice place though, and my mouth watered at the taste of pizza!

I bought an internet key so if you are interested in Skyping, it's much more feasible now. :) A special shout out goes to my summer Onset loves, who graced me with their faces yesterday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Wish me luck on my project. <3