Site Visit/ Teaching

Im sorry I havent written in awhile...oops... Anyways, there has been a lot going on.

First of all, last week we went on our site visits to see where we will be living for the next 2 years. I am posted in the Southwest province in this little village called Lewoh and I absolutely looove it. It is really tiny and there is only one small market and no internet but it is BEAUTIFUL. I have a really nice house that has electricity and running water, the hospital is right across the street and the doctor is my next door neighbor. The people there are also really nice and speak english so it will be easy to get to know people hopefully...although you have to change the way you speak english in anglophone provinces. You have to talk really slowly and annunciate your words, we call it our "special english", haha. They also speak pidgin which is basically really messed up and simple english and it is sooo much fun to speak. I am now taking pidgin classes because I have reached my level in french. One sentence I actually learned in class was "My big papa gets three women dem" which means my grandfather has three wives. Also "A be women for America" means I am from America. Fun, n'est pas?

So, after we got back, Model School started which is basically a summer school put on by Peace Corps so that trainees can practice teaching. The first week we just observed other volunteers and Cameroonian teachers and made up our lesson plans. Then, this week, we started teaching ourselves. I am teaching 2 biology classes and one information technology class (IT) and so my total workload is 10 hours of teaching each week. The first day I was TERRIFIED but now it is not so bad. My IT class is really a combination of 2 classes and they are horrendous but I have each of the classes separately for biology and then they arent so bad. I really like teaching and everything has been going pretty well so far. All of the students call me Madam Connie and stand up when I enter the room... its pretty fun.

Only 1 more month of training and then I will officially be a volunteer!

I am FINALLY in Africa

Bonjour from Africa!

I arrived in Yaounde (the capital of Cameroon) on Saturday night after a looooooong 18 hour flight. We had a nice dinner in the hotel with the whole group and met the Peace Corps Director of Cameroon and our teachers for Pre-Service Training. On Sunday we explored the city a little bit. This experience only reinforced the fact that I am horrible at French and survive only by speaking Frenish (a combination of French and Spanish...). I can't wait to learn more French and actually be able to have conversations with Cameroonians.

On Sunday night, we went to the Country Director's house for dinner. We got to meet the Ambassador of Cameroon as well as other Peace Corps officials. Everyone was amazing and very inviting. Today we had our Language Placement tests and let me just say...there were a lot of pauses and I tripped out of my chair as I stood up to leave...that should give you an idea of how things went.

I absolutely love it here right now and am having an amazing time. Although, as our medical packet said today, this is Stage 1 and you are filled with euphoria and unrealisitc expectations. Stage 2 follows shortly and is definitely not so happy...but I'm not there yet so I will just say I am still in Stage 1.

I will write more later...people are waiting for the computer.

I miss everyone!! Write when you can!

Love from l'Afrique,
Connie

I'm leaving tomorrow!

Hi everyone!

I finally created the blog I kept telling you I was going to make. A lot of you asked me how to stay in touch while I am away, and I think this will be the best way for you to keep up with what is going on. In the past I have been horrible about keeping up with a journal, but I promise I will really try to update this as often as I can! I hope all of you will also keep me updated with all that is happening in your lives! My new email is: cbogardpccam@gmail.com So, please write and let me know how you are doing!

Well, I leave for Philadelphia early tomorrow morning and will be there for 2 days. Then I will be going to Cameroon with all the other Peace Corps volunteers on June 6th! I still have some packing to do, so I will have to write more later. Ahh! I can't believe the time has come already...I am so excited!

Oh...and I love getting snail mail as well, so here is my address in Cameroon (for the first 3 months at least)

Connie Bogard
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 215
Yaoundé, Cameroon

Love,
Connie