Now that the craziness of applying to graduate schools, wrapping up the school year, and moving back to the U.S. is settling down, I finally have time to reflect on our last months in Yaounde. There was so much to process as we left the country we had called home for four years, but here are a few highlights of the whirlwind that was the 2011-2012 academic year...
This first photo is not meant to represent a specific moment so much as the general pace of our day-to-day life in Cameroon. We were so used to the hectic traffic by this last year that it was easy to forget what an impact it had on us. Only now that we are back in a city where people use marked lanes, obey signs and stoplights, and don't honk constantly (whether in frustration or to signal potential taxi passengers), have we realized how loud and chaotic our daily commute was.
That being said, we have also noticed how inefficient the U.S. roadways can be and find ourselves saying, "See, all these cars backed up this direction could totally use that empty lane over there," or "I can't believe we're sitting at this red light when no one is around!" It's been an adjustment to say the least.
Part of the reason for the crazy traffic in the capital city is that Yaounde continues to grow and develop, and with that came several new restaurants and businesses. For example, this photo is from my birthday celebration at YaoBa, a new nightclub with excellent live music.
Just as the city is always changing, so too was our group of friends. While there were some constants over the years (such as our dear friend Anjana from the photo above), the high turnover in embassy and NGO employees meant that each year brought interesting new people into our lives. One example from this past year was a British couple who hosted a traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in December. Brian and I signed up to be part of the choir--our first time singing together!--and it was a wonderful experience, capped off by mulled wine in the family's beautiful garden.
I'll admit the transition to the next photo is a stretch, but I couldn't help thinking that for all the changes each year many things stayed the same...small apartment visitors like this lizard, for instance. (The metal container he's next to is our water filter. Please excuse the dirty dishes--at least they provide some scale to show how tiny this little guy was!) :)
Ok, back to holidays. Being so far (and such an expensive plane ticket) away from most friends and family, Brian and I had grown used to spending holidays with just the two of us, so we were thrilled when Ben and Melissa Jones told us they were going to fly down from England for Thanksgiving. We took them to Kribi and had a delicious Thanksgiving meal at the fish market in town (barracuda and plantains instead of turkey and mashed potatoes). Then we spent a relaxing long weekend lounging on the beach and catching up on each others' lives over the past couple years. (Here are Ben and Melissa in front of the Chutes de Lobe, just south of Kribi.)
Since we didn't realize we would have one last chance to return to Kribi in the spring for the yoga retreat, we said our goodbyes on this November trip--truly one of the most tranquil places we will ever visit, and one we know we'll miss.
In terms of teaching, it was another rewarding year for reasons I've written about many times in the past. This year, however, also involved a couple of clothing ensembles that were too fun not to mention. This first photo is from World Teachers Day. (Cameroonians love any excuse to celebrate and dress up, so they fully embrace occasions like this.) Every year we would see people in outfits they'd had made from the special Teachers Day pagna (patterned fabric), but since the event is in October it would always sneak up on us near the beginning of the school year, and we'd kick ourselves for missing it yet again. Not this year, though--we were ready and wore our pagna with pride!
A month later, for the school's annual International Day, we donned another set of matching outfits. Regina (our housekeeper and friend) gave us these beautiful clothes as a gift; they're embroidered in the traditional style from the Northwest Region, where she's from. If any of you watched the opening ceremony of the olympics this year, the Cameroonian olympic team processed in wearing very similar patterns. They looked amazing in a big group like that!
Aside from these "dress-up days," teaching English does not always lend itself to interesting photographs. Here is a fun photo of Brian on recess duty, though; the soccer field was being used by a P.E. class, so he oversaw the middle schoolers on the tennis courts instead...from the referee's chair.
And here's a picture of me (on the far right) with the cast of my final drama production at ASOY, the classic 1930s comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner." I will really miss this part of my job--such a fun process and a great payoff!
Another professional highlight this year was ASOY's shift to a greater emphasis on service learning. The middle and high schools divided into small groups to focus on various projects, and mine "adopted" a local elementary school. We visited the school several times throughout the year, working with the younger students in a different subject area each time; here are some of our students leading multiplication drills, for example.
We really got attached to our elementary friends and always looked forward to our visits. For the ASOY students' final project of the year, we created a small library for the partner school--it was a great experience for everyone involved!
On the weekends, we tried to soak up as much of Yaounde as we could before we had to move in June. Our favorite way to do that was to settle in for an afternoon at one of the neighborhood bars and watch the world pass by. Here is a shot (with our friend Kaitlin enjoying a chicken shawarma) from the balcony at Glims to help you picture it.
This simple pleasure culminated in two epic pub crawls this spring on the back of Mt. Febe. It all started because we used to pass this bar, C'est le Moment (meaning "this is the time"), on our way back from morning hikes, and Brian always said we should go there for a drink some day.
In February, Brian rallied a group of friends (this is the group picture from the first pub crawl) and made it happen.
We started early on a Saturday and walked the back roads, stopping at each watering hole along the way for some cold 33s or Mutzigs.
Along the way, we were reminded that, despite frustrations that Cameroonians face in terms of government red tape, high unemployment, etc., they always find a reason to celebrate life's joys. For example, here is a wedding party that passed us at one of the bars--you can see the bride and groom dancing in the street with their friends and family (in matching pagna) cheering them on and a group of drummers and xylophone players following behind. How awesome is that?
Farther along the route, we got into the musical spirit and had our own jam session at a local artist's quarters.
Regina capped off the day by meeting us for a final beer at C'est le Moment, which is just down the road from her house. Perfect!
Here's a shot of the group from the second pub crawl.
It seemed a fitting photo for our farewell to Cameroon. Cheers to all of the amazing experiences, beautiful landscapes and good friends from the past four years--we miss you already!
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