Monday, December 29, 2008

You know you're a PCV in Cameroon when...

1. "ça va" becomes a regular part of your vocabulary
2. You don’t even flinch when you walk out your front door and a family of goats is grazing in your front yard.
3. Riding motos from place to place has become your primary mode of transportation.
4. Sitting 8 people in a bush taxi is normal and only 3 people in the back just seems like a waste of space.
5. Trips to the Frip (an outdoor market that sells used clothes which is kind of a like a big thrift store outside) has taken the place of the mall.
6. Casino/ Score (a supermarket in Yaounde) seems like a little bit of heaven on earth because it sells ice cream, pizza, and cinnamon.
7. DVDs with only one movie on them seem bizarre.
8. Cold showers have become routine and even refreshing.
9. Laundry has many levels of “clean”.
10. You stare just as much as the other Cameroonians when you see another white person in your village.
11. You have a stack of books lined up to read in the corner of your living room…and you are actually going to read all of them.
12. Soya and a Castel seems like the perfect antidote to a stressful day.
13. Texting has become your primary way of communicating.
14. Time has become relative…if someone says they will be somewhere at 5, you know that usually means 5:30 or later.
15. You’re a little tanner after traveling in a bush taxi because your skin is covered in a thin layer of dirt from all the dust.
16. You laugh when you are baking and the recipe says to “preheat the oven” (…because you don’t have an oven and you bake everything in a huge pot with only one temperature – HOT).
17. A spaghetti omelet and a steaming cup of Nescafe with sweetened condensed milk is the breakfast of champions.
18. A functioning toilet is a thing of the past.
19. You have developed cravings for kola nuts and burning fish.
20. At least one of your meals each week is a pineapple.

3 comments:

i~RN said...

I love the humor with which you write! Your folks and I talked about you yesterday. Glad you had a good Christmas.
Love you!
Robin

Liz Bogard said...

Hi Connie,
Very interesting! You are AMAZING! So glad you have such a great upbeat positive attitude! It was so good talking to you Sunday. Glad your travels went well and you arrived safely back in Lewoh. Have a great New Year's celebrating in your village. That's wonderful that they missed you while you were gone and wanted to celebrate Christmas with you. Hope your kitty cat is doing better. I e-mailed you some info and will send you a package this week. Always thinking about you!
Love & Hugs to You Sweet Connie! M O M

Franklin said...

Stumbled across your blog through ourmanincameroon.com.

I'm from Cameroon but I currently live in the States.

I thoroughly enjoy reading about your adventures - especially this piece. I laughed out loud several times.

Living away from home for the past 12 years has increased my appreciation for the simple things. I commend you for your humorous disposition.

Godspeed to you... and keep writing :-)