Brief Reflections

School has begun, and I know things will be busy around here as Brian and I scramble to prep for five different classes every day, but I wanted to at least post a few initial thoughts.

Adjusting to life in Cameroon has been a slow process, and we've had our share of low moments, even occasionally asking ourselves what we were thinking.  From power outages and lack of good internet access (which has led to homesickness, not to mention political-coverage withdrawal) to having to boil and filter all of our water and bleach our fresh produce, daily life can be frustratingly unpredictable and time-consuming.  We also knew it would be hard to get used to witnessing stark poverty every day, and believe me, it has been.  Another challenge is the fact that it gets dark at precisely 6:30 all year round, and we really can't be walking after dark due to commonsense safety.  Add to all of that constantly scratching away at the biggest bug bites we've ever had (everything is bigger here, including insects), and anyone would start to feel overwhelmed.  

However, while I want to honestly share with you the struggles we're having, I also want to stress that there have been just as many positive moments to balance things out.  We've been able to take some walks in the hills around town, resulting in some great views of the city and a chance to clear our heads.  We've started driving to and from school on our own (one of the most stressful yet entertaining things I've ever done), and this has given us more independence and flexibility.  We've bonded with the other new teachers and have been warmly welcomed by the returning faculty and staff.  And most recently, we've started to get to know our students, who seem wonderfully motivated and globally-minded.  It's still pretty crazy to be the only white person for blocks, and it's hard to get used to the staring, but by in large, people have been friendly and helpful when we're confused (which has been often!).  We're also getting quite spoiled by all the fresh pineapple.

I'll send some pictures of the school one of these days when I have the presence of mind to remember to bring my camera to work, but in the meantime, here's a photo of a recent visitor to our apartment:

He scared me to death because I was doing laundry and looked up to see if any mosquitoes had gotten in through a window I'd left open, and there he was on the wall.  (We called him a gecko, but we're not 100% sure about that.)  We tried to gently shoo him back out the window, but he was so fast, and he kept finding hiding places we didn't know existed--like a tiny space between a closet divider and the wall.  We finally gave up and just figured he'd find his way out somehow; we haven't seen him for almost a week, so we're hoping he got out, but we might have another surprise one of these days.

Thanks to all of you who have sent us little messages of encouragement--please know how much we appreciate them.  We'll do our best to reply within a reasonable time, but in the meantime, we're thinking of you and miss you!  More updates soon...