3 weeks to go

It's slowly sinking in that I'm going. Not quite completely... but bit-by-bit. I have my visa, check. My shots and meds, check. If I wrote out a to-do list it might include a million other things! In about 3 weeks I'm going to step on a plane and fly to a place known as the 'Africa in miniature', boasting waterfalls, a volcano, jungle, beach, desert & savanna. I have not yet started packing but that's okay... (I have a make-shift list) and I know the reality of going to Cameroon won't fully set in until the night before, when I'll be wide awake full of anticipation.

My status: all excitement. And it's so encouraging when I tell people what I'm doing and they are jumping up and down for me! Honestly I don't know what's in store, but I'm so encouraged people want to know... so follow along and I'll do my best. I'll be blogging (for the most part) and passing my experience along to you guys. I'm not an experienced blogger nor do I always write in complete sentences but this will have to do.

I'm going to the English-speaking region of Cameroon in the Northwest (a few hours outside of Bamenda, see map) as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA). I'll be there for an entire school year, 9 months from October until June. Apart from that, a lot is still up in the air like housing, my class size, teaching schedule etc... but I will look for local organizations to work with concerning HIV/AIDS or women's empowerment. I'm also reading 'Your Madness, Not Mine,' by Cameroonian author Makuchi, which are short stories illustrating the everyday lives of the young and especially the women during postcolonial times.

The two national languages are French and English, but people speak over two hundred local languages as well, varying by region. While French-speakers are the bigger majority, some people speak 'pigdin' English, which evolved when tribal people developed their own way to communicate with foreigners. I will be in the English-speaking region, while one of my friends will be in the Far North (extreme-nord), an Arabic-speaking region where Islam has a larger influence. How cool is that? Another of the ETAs will be in Bertoua in the East. We are all pretty spread out, but that will give us more reason to go visit each other and explore the rest of the country non? We each get to be in a different area and get to taste the intricate variety of culture that Cameroon has to offer.

Countdown until departure: 22 days. This is it! I've been looking forward to this opportunity since last summer when I first started the application process. It's been a blur since then and I graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in International Studies. I'm extremely thankful for this Fulbright. Minoring in French and having teaching/international experience helped with the application, but I feel like all I did was hold out my hands. This chance was just placed in my palms and I didn't expect it. I was banking on this opportunity because otherwise I probably would have gone with the PeaceCorps for 27 months. Well I am happy that I'm only going for 9.

What I'm asking for is that Cameroon teach me, just as much or even more so than me teaching a classroom as an English teacher. 'Tis all for now.

PS: Feel free to leave me comments/questions or just a message :)