Palu, Pagne and Peanuts

The end of the rainy season is upon us. It stopped raining about 10 days ago and already we can see the changes in the landscape. Where there was lots of standing water last week, this week there is dry brown dirt. The air is drier as well, which means far less sweat. Or maybe it means the sweat just evaporates much faster.

The end of the rainy season also means that Palu (malaria) is everywhere. Although it is a major problem all year here in Cameroon, now is the time that palu hits hardest. In the past week, nearly every member of my family has had it, and we have a big family. It seems like each day, someone new is sick and someone else is better. Currently, 4 members of our family have palu. One, our sister Bridget, is in the hospital. In my last post I wrote how the family is usually very loud, espicially in the early mornings, but with so many people sick, the hosue is much quieter. Mostly everyone just lays around all day on mats while the healthy people do the cooking.

We're getting to know Pitoa pretty well. We've found our favorite 'shops' and favorite bar and have really fallen into our routine. Some days go by fast, others drag on and on. The hardest part is still not having the freedom we have been used to in the past. The other night, Brian said that the reason it is so fun here is because everything is difficult. That statement is strangely accurate. I'm not sure 'fun' is the best word all the time, but for the most part, he's right. Take for example going to bed. At home (USA) you wash up, grab a book, maybe set an alarm and say good night. Here, the routine is as follows: check water supply (enough for two showers?); check drinking water (enough for tomorrow?); fill up bucket for the shower; find towel, wrap, shower shoes and soap box; if the bathroom is free use bucket and tin cup to shower...avoid cockroaches; fill up storage containers with enough water for tomorrow-if SNEC is on and its after 7:30pm; get filtered water and brush teeth out front; find book, flash light, reading light; tuck in mosquito net. with all the walking back and forth with buckets and water containers, this process can be long and frustrating. Or, i suppose, fun.

Unfortunately, I’m not able to upload pictures today, but I do have some good ones. Our mothers bought us some pagne and made Brian and I outfits. Pagne is the colorful fabric that everyone here wears. Even lots of the men wear it if they are not wearing the traditional Muslim dress. We didn’t get to pick out our fabric, but it turns out it’s the best ever. I wont explain it here, I’ll just try to post the pictures soon. We’re known throughout Pitoa as ‘Le Couple’, and after wearing our matching outfits, we’ve really solidified our place in town.

I also have pictures of our market in Pitoa. Its one of the best around. You can get anything you could ever need there (almost). It’s about the size of two football fields, half of which has semi-permanent stands, and half of which is just open space with some trees. There are lots of cows, chickens, soaps, dishes, electronics, clothes, pagne, food, and more. Current volunteers say that it wasn’t until after they left Pitoa for their site that they realized what a great market they had. Sunday is market day, so I’ll be stocking up on fruits for the week.

Peanuts have become my best friend. You can buy a little sack of them for 25cfa, roughly 5 cents. There is a lady that sits outside our training house and sells them all day. I eat about 4 sacs a day. Our family also goes to the fields every weekend to get either peanuts, corn or millet. Today is millet, I was hoping for more peanuts.

This week we find out our site placements. We know only that we’ll be some where in the Grand North- either the Adamawa, North or Extreme North Province. We’ve met volunteers from all three, and they each seem to have something different to offer. Next weekend we’re leaving for a week to visit our site, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get online before we go.

I’ve sent some text messages to people, but I have no idea if you got them. If so, can you send me an email and let me know. Also, if you want our number, email me. Its cheap to talk on Skype.

Love you, miss you!