My new place in Kumba

Here I am again. This time typing with an American keyboard :) So after touching down in the airport I walked off the plane. Cameroon greeted me with temperatures and humidity in the 80s. It also had the pungent combination of body odor and sweat. We walked down to pick up our bags and Mark reminded us not to let anyone take or carry our bags. After getting my first passport stamp, I walked into the baggage claim area. It felt like I was in a cage fight. There was an elevated area around the room where people were shouting to friends and relatives. It was crowded and everyone was bumping each other trying to get their bags from the conveyors. 1 fight even broke out while we were there.

We found our bags and repeatedly refused offers for others to carry them. But then, Mark allowed some guy to push our cart. Brian and I passed right by customs as they examined one of Mark's bags. Outside the airport it was even greater chaos with hundreds of people yelling and clamoring for our bags. Finally, Mark spotted James. James is our logistics and safety coordinator while in Cameroon. He and Derick (another safety guy only a few years older than us) helped carry our bags to a waiting taxi. At the same time, we were being followed by kids begging for coins and asking to help with our bags. When we reached the taxi, we were surrounded by people. James told us to get in the car and he told the beggars to leave. We were quickly whisked away to our hotel for the night.

The next day, we travelled to Kumba in a van through pouring rain. It took us about 4 hours to get here. We had a wonderful meal at the Amin's house. It included: fish, chicken, rice, greens, fruit salad, and of course beer. It was delicious. At the meal we met David, the head of the water committee in the village, and Benjamin, the local rural engineer. The plans for the next couple of days were laid out at this meeting and then we headed to Ma and Pa's house.
Pa and Ma are Mr. and Mrs. Elias. They have a gorgeous, enormous compound/house that overlooks much of Kumba. All 3 of us have our own bedrooms and will stay here when we are not living in the village. We chatted late into the afternoon and evening with Pa and James about themselves and Cameroon. There was still no power at this point as it had been turned off earlier in the day for some unknown reason. The problem was that the big game between Manchester United and Barcelona FC for the UEFA Championship was last night. One of Cameroon's national soccer heroes plays for Barcelona.

Luckily the power came on in time and we watched the game at the house. It was very exciting as Barcelona won 2-0 and the Cameroonian scored the first goal. The town's reaction gave me chills as I could hear them erupt in excitement. The cheers were so loud it felt as if the game was being played in town. Parties continued on late into the night and morning.

Today we met with Mr. Benjamin to discuss the project. He believes we can finish it rather quickly. If we finish early we will have the opportunity to do another phase for this village or even research other possible locations for ETHOS students next year.

That is all for today. I wish I could write more. Perhaps I will go day by day after I return to the states. My journal is filling up quickly and there are so many other amazing stories to tell already.

We travel to the village tomorrow for a reception and to meet with villagers. Saturday and Sunday will be spent in Kumba. Monday we will start our real work in the village. I am so glad I came. Cameroon is wonderful. I hope all is well with you :)