After returning to Cameroon a month ago, we’re settling back into our routines. Although it was hard to say goodbye to our families for another year, views like this one from our balcony remind us why we enjoy living here so much.
The school year has started off well: enrollment is up, the new director and new teachers are wonderful, and for the first time since we’ve been here we don’t have any new preps!
One exciting development at ASOY this year is the new structure of our community service program. Every other Wednesday, classes will end at 1:00, and then the kids split into their “houses” (so Harry Potter) and work on service projects with local orphanages and other groups.
For the first few Wednesdays, though, we’ve been focusing on teambuilding within the houses, which means one thing: relay races. Here’s a sequence of photos our guidance counselor took while Brian was competing in that old standby, the bat spin relay. He’s towards the back of the photo in this first one (I’m next to him counting his spins).
I zoomed in on this one, and if you look closely at the bottom of the bat you can see Brian’s glasses. He flung them off when he felt they were hindering his ability to beat the middle school student he was competing against. :) (A split second after this photo was taken, I dove down to save them before Bri stepped on the lenses!)
And finally, here he is running blindly off towards the other side of the basketball court. So proud.
I zoomed in on this one, and if you look closely at the bottom of the bat you can see Brian’s glasses. He flung them off when he felt they were hindering his ability to beat the middle school student he was competing against. :) (A split second after this photo was taken, I dove down to save them before Bri stepped on the lenses!) 
And finally, here he is running blindly off towards the other side of the basketball court. So proud. 
As I mentioned, we’ve had more free time this year. Among other things, this means we’ve been able to explore some new local spots, including this little outdoor restaurant just a short walk from our apartment. (Anjana helped us scope it out.)
The food was delicious: I had a whole fish (grilled and loaded with garlic), a heaping portion of rice and vegetables, and my own carafe of freshly squeeze pineapple juice…all for less than $5. We’ll definitely be coming back here.
The food was delicious: I had a whole fish (grilled and loaded with garlic), a heaping portion of rice and vegetables, and my own carafe of freshly squeeze pineapple juice…all for less than $5. We’ll definitely be coming back here.Another new favorite spot (well, new for me—Brian went here several times last year) is a bar next to the Total gas station across the street from school. Here is a big group of teachers kicking off the weekend yesterday.
While the beer is cheap (a 32 oz. bottle for a dollar), the location is close, and the owner is friendly, the best thing about this place is the brochettes (a fancy French word for meat and onions on a stick). These are some of the best in town, and I wanted to get a photo of Brian with his, but he wouldn’t stop eating them, so I had to settle for a picture of half of one.
Here is the woman who cooks them—you can see our table’s order smoking on the grill. She does such a good job that we’d gladly pay whatever she asked for them, but the going rate is 100 CFA for one—that’s only about 20 cents!
Add that to chatting with great friends and getting to hold Bill and Kelly’s adorable baby, Liam, and life is good on a Friday afternoon.
While the beer is cheap (a 32 oz. bottle for a dollar), the location is close, and the owner is friendly, the best thing about this place is the brochettes (a fancy French word for meat and onions on a stick). These are some of the best in town, and I wanted to get a photo of Brian with his, but he wouldn’t stop eating them, so I had to settle for a picture of half of one. 
Here is the woman who cooks them—you can see our table’s order smoking on the grill. She does such a good job that we’d gladly pay whatever she asked for them, but the going rate is 100 CFA for one—that’s only about 20 cents! 
Add that to chatting with great friends and getting to hold Bill and Kelly’s adorable baby, Liam, and life is good on a Friday afternoon. 
Finally, it’s been fun getting back into the groove with tennis again, and this weekend was already the first doubles tournament of the year. Brian decided to try and intimidate—or distract—our opponents with “tennis chops.”
As he says, if you can grow a beard in a week and a half, you might as well have fun with it. Now if we can just get our serves in, we might be in business.
As he says, if you can grow a beard in a week and a half, you might as well have fun with it. Now if we can just get our serves in, we might be in business. 
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