So, I slacked a little at the end there. It just means I was super busy and having a great time!! My time in Cameroon is now over. I came back May 15, sat around and moped for a while, and now have started some temp work. I don't know if anyone is still checking this, but if you are, here's a bit of a wrap-up.

Highlights from our trip to the North:
-Overnight train ride ride there that took 15 hours
-Overnight train ride back that took 21 hours after a huge delay
-Getting slapped on the arm on the bus to Maroua by a man who was angry that I did not want to close my window (an atypical experience, but still telling of the patriarchal culture)
-The difference in climate (hotter), landscape (savannah/desert), and housing (mostly mud/clay with thatched, cone shaped straw roofs)
-Animals!! Giraffes, antelope, warthogs, birds...but no lions or giraffes
-Our van losing an axel an hour into the park, so half the group had to ride on top and the ride took over three hours; we thought we would be eaten by lions
-Meeting a Peace Corps volunteer from Cedar Rapids who knew some of the kids I knew in high school--you never know who you'll meet

The day after we came back, I learned that a friend of a good friend had died. At 29 years old, he went to help a neighbor with his electricity and was electrocuted to death. A few nights later, I went to the funeral. It began with a mass that many people didn't pay attention to and continued to talk through. Afterwards, I joined with the youth association as the danced, sang, and joked. It was so bizarre for me, and like nothing I had ever experienced. They even made me get up and dance at one point!

The las few weeks were a blur of finishing work and fitting in last minute visits with people. At the last minute, I decided to stay for an extra week, which I was happy to do, but it was hard to watch my friends leave at the airport (and hard to leave and fly home alone the next week). The day after they left, I went back to Douala with my friend. I had a great week just relaxing and enjoying spending time with a family--one aspect I missed out on by being in the apartment. I went back to Yaounde, said my goodbyes, and collected my things. It was really sad and so hard to leave, but I am already plotting how I can get back. On the plane, I met an American family who has been doing education and missionary work in Cameroon since 1989. Wow!!

So now that I'm back, what's changed? What have I learned? I'm still grappling with the effects, and I still don't quite know what to make of it all. But here's a few thoughts...

I am a million times more patient now, and things just don't seem so bad, at least relatively speaking! If a restaurant messes up an order--well, mistakes happen, and at least there's food, I can afford it, the restaurant had what I ordered, and it came up pretty quickly. When my dad freaks out about traffic--well, at least there are traffic lights, lines on the road, and no potholes. Things don't seem so bad now.

Stereotypes really bother me. You don't have an idea until you've been there, and even then you don't completely know. It's difficult to explain the experience. You just have to be there. But some of the questions I get now actually frighten me that people think that way--such as someone telling me that one has to be careful with African men because so many of them have AIDS (a gross generalization) or someone else just assumed that the friend had died of AIDS, when it really was electrocution. I've mentioned before that if I went by stereotypes, I would have missed out on great people and experiences. I've been on both sides of the stereotypes--Cameroonians have hilarious perceptions of American culture. I know it's now time to do my part to start slowly breaking them down.

I've learned to just let things go, because it's just not worth it. Bus is late? Oh well. Something broke down? That's life. Electricity went out and you lost 5 pages of a paper on the computer? At least it wasn't 10. People saying bad things? They don't know and can't know, so forget it. You're never going to change them. I've been struggling with that for years, and it finally clicked.

My guilt complex since I've been back though, is amazing, and I'm trying really hard not to impose it on other people. I feel so ridiculous spending money on anything. I didn't bring home money as souvenirs because even that piece worth 20 cents is gold over there, and I gave it aaway. OK, so Taco Bell is my one vice. But everytime I spend money, I just think about how far that same amount could go in Cameroon. I'm working on finding the happy medium.

Things here that have weirded me out: not having to carry ID with me at all times, the smell of clean laundry, clean things, fast food, running watter, hot showers, nice cars ,grocery stores and all the choices, sooo many white people, US accents, American loudness, having an itch and it not being a mosquito bite. And when I say "here," I still mean Cameroon.

I guess that's about it. Thanks for following me the past couple months!