The Amazing Race

Thursday morning we left Ndu and rode for 4 or 5 hours on the dusty bumpy road. It actually went quite well and we arrived in Bamenda with time to visit people. Our friend Steve had finished his mid-terms so we asked him to travel with us, and boy are we glad we did. Steve speaks French and English as well as a couple of other Cameroonian languages so he is quite handy to have around. Our family had rooms booked at the Bro Guest House run by SIL. The main office is easy to find but finding the actual house was another story. One of the SIL workers rode with us in our van and showed us the way. After just a quick stop we loaded back in the van to stop at the bank and get some of our personal money to use for our weekend excursion to the beach. Steve then negotiated a taxi for all of us to take us to the Baptist Conference Center where we had hoped to see Irene (our cook for part of our time in Ndu). Irene is a cook to a Canadian missionary named Elsie. I didn't realize the Baptist Center was so big but Elsie was known by everyone we met and we soon found her. Irene had gone home for the day but Elsie was very kind and welcomed us into her home. It ended up that she had met our friend Steve a few years ago in a class that she had taught. As we were talking, I saw Monie out the window and went running out to greet her. Monie is from Faith Baptist Church in Minneapolis and I had hoped to see her and her husband Jerry in Ndu but the timing was not right. I was thrilled at our unexpected meeting and enjoying our time together catching up. After the Baptist Center we took a taxi to a handicraft place to pick up souvenirs but unfortunately the place was closed and our taxi had already left. We were on a busy street but there were 6 of us and most taxis were not that big, so we just kept walking (or strolling as Steve called it). After walking for a long time, we came to the bus terminal so we checked on the bus schedule to Limbe for the next morning. Once that was taken care of we walked to Steve's aunt's home to see her (since we were in the neighborhood). After hanging out at her house for a while we invited her to Sister Rosa's with us to eat dinner... by this time it was already dark and we were all tired and hungry. The restaurant was a short walk from her home. By the time we arrived it was almost 8pm and we were told the fish would take a half hour... so we waited. The half hour ended up being an hour and we were all so tired it seemed even longer. We ate quickly and hailed a taxi to take us back to the guest house, the one that we had only seen once in the daylight. Steve was able to lead our taxi driver to our house with only a few misturns - we were all so thankful that at least one of us had paid attention to all the bumps and curves to where we were going. I barely remember my head hitting the pillow that night.
The next morning Drew and Steve were out of the house bright and early to book our bus tickets. The hope was to get good seats. (I typed all this up once and it disappeared) The short version is: We were told the bus would leave at 9am sharp - it left at 1108am. We were told it was about a 6 hour drive - we arrived at 830pm. If you had to go to the bathroom you could just yell at the driver and he would stop the bus to let you pee next to the bus for all to see - I chose a dehydration headache over drinking liquid all day. The bus was scheduled to go to Limbe and that is where all the passengers were planning on going but the driver thought he had to go to Doula. This meant we had to unload less than 30 kms from our destination and load another bus instead of going straight on through. Crazy sites along the way... but beautiful scenery too.
I had made reservations for the New Seme Beach Hotel in Limbe online - it was the only hotel I found that took online reservations. I went back and forth a few times through email with them because we didn't seem to be understanding each other but I finally felt like we were clear. Unfortunately, they only had us down for 4 people instead of 6. After looking at a couple of room options we settled on adding another room for Steve and Kyle onto our adjoining rooms. It was frustrating and more so because the man at the front desk seemed to have a chip on his shoulder right from the beginning with us. The other workers were very kind but I can't say that I would recommend this place if someone should ask. The prices here are much higher than in Ndu but right in line with American prices. In fact we asked about the Wildlife Refuge Center nearby and were told that the price to get in is 3000 cfa per person if you are a foreigner and 500 cfa if you are Cameroonian. The Hotel is right on the ocean and has air conditioning as well as a continental breakfast. It feels really weird being here after being in Ndu. I don't feel like I fit in here at all. We ate dinner in after 9pm again last night. For the past 2 months we have been locked in our house pretty much after supper and in bed most nights around 9pm, now in the past 2 nights we haven't even had supper by 9pm.

This morning I woke to the sounds of birds and the ocean. My heart was very thankful for these few days to go over my thoughts of these past 2 months and to relax and enjoy my last memories of Cameroon. We played at the beach for hours and had a very enjoyable day. We are tired but it's not the same as the exhaustion from traveling. We have another day of rest tomorrow. Monday we will try out a bigger bus to Yaounde' - I hear that it even has air conditioning! The flight home is going to seem like luxury to us... especially as we anticipate our arrival home. As we were traveling we started feeling like we had a glimpse of what people must feel like on the show "Amazing Race". Travel can bring out the worst of people but it can also make some of the best memories.

Our Last Weekend

We just ended our last pancake night here in Ndu. Drew made an extra amount of pancakes but we ended up with quite a bit left over since it was a light crowd tonight. There was no electricity so we sat around the table by candle light and enjoyed the company of our friends. There are some doctors here for a month, 2 of which are from Burnsville and go to Bethlehem Baptist, they gave us M&M's as a contribution to the pancakes. Banana and M&M pancakes are pretty amazing. During the conversation we found out that all the noise we had heard last night was not a good thing. We had thought there was some late night sports event or something by all the shouting and cheering. The field Pastor for the area Baptist churches was beaten by Jujus pretty seriously. From what I can understand, a man in the First Baptist church wrote some Christian lyrics to the juju songs (Jujus are basically the witch doctors). He recorded these songs and the jujus are angry, so angry that they want to kill him. Tonight while we were sitting here we heard more noise and one of the missionaries received a call that for safety reasons they were bringing this man on campus for the night. He is staying at the house the Schroths were living in just down the path from us. Tomorrow a meeting is being held and hopefully a solution will be found to satisfy the jujus without shedding blood. Pray for wisdom for all involved and for safety for the Pastor and his family.

Through our time here in Ndu, we have made some wonderful friends. One of the men we have gotten to know is a student in the Master's program - his name is Steve. Tonight we found out more about Steve, including the fact that he is a Master in Martial Arts. I've been trying to iron out the details of our family traveling to Limbe and being tourists for a while before we leave. It seems complicated and we had just decided to hire a taxi to stay with us the whole time, thinking it would be worth the expense. Talking to Steve we found out he finishes his last test before break the very day we are leaving. He is from the area we are going to and speaks both French and English. We asked if he would travel with us and be our "body guard" as well as tour guide. He seemed really excited. Even with paying an extra persons expenses this will be quite a bit less expensive than what we were originally looking at. We will instead take a bus once we arrive in Bamenda, it will be an adventure. It works out well because the Schulzs will be going to Yaounde over the weekend and can bring our extra luggage so we can pack light. God is so good in providing us with this extra help. The other great thing is this will prolong our good-bye with Steve and we will enjoy exploring more of Cameroon with him. I'm feeling quite thankful and relieved by this turn of events. Pray for safety for all of us as we travel. Continue to pray for Levi as he is still not feeling well.

Packing for 5

It's a little crazy around here lately.  Trying to pack for a extended stay is proving to be a challenge.  We will be in Yaounde' and traveling the first few days in Cameroon, most likely the temperatures will be hot or at least pretty warm.  Once we arrive in Ndu, we have been told it's cool and to bring sweaters and warm pjs.  I'm guessing we will still think it's warm, coming from Minnesota.  We will be doing construction type work, so we will need appropriate clothing for that.  The training info we have been given encourages the women to wear skirts when we are out and about.  I'm not sure how frequently we will be able to do laundry either so we need lots of socks and underwear.  We made our dining room table as big as it would go and brought clothing for each need for each one of us in our family.  We've been told that our luggage may not arrive at the same time that we do, or perhaps at all, so to pack accordingly.  We packed a little of each persons clothing in each suitcase and added Drew's tools throughout.  It was really an obnoxious amount of clothing when we had it all heaped on the table.  The sad part is, I still have clothes in my closet and drawers too.  It doesn't help that I have put on weight during this season of good food, putting me in my "fat" clothes.  I'm fully anticipating slimming down with the different whole foods we will be eating, which means I need to bring a few of my smaller sizes too.   I have never been a light packer - it must be from that year of Girl Scouts when I learned to "always be prepared".  In addition to tools and clothing, we also need some cooking supplies (pot and pan, spatula etc), pillows, spices, gifts, shoes, toiletries, camera, games, books....the list goes on.  This is just the items we may need, other missionaries have had items sent to us to bring in our luggage.  Needless to say, we are having no problem filling up our 10 allotted 50 lb suitcases.  We will be like sardines traveling in our van to the airport.

I have every intention of leaving as much as possible in Ndu when we come home.  I will leave it with the local missionaries to go through or distribute how they think best.  I think that is why I feel it's okay to over pack, because I know that it will be so freeing to leave it behind.  Hopefully, I will be able to continue that trend of letting go even after our trip.  It's that time of year when we really start analyzing what we want to change in our lives.  As I look around at all the "stuff" I have accumulated, and realize that nothing I have can give me security, I wonder why it is so hard to let go?This past year was one of cutting back on our impulse buying and trying hard to just stick to our needs.  We had our goal of going to Africa always before us so it wasn't really that difficult.  Once we have reached this goal and returned to our life in Minnesota, I hope to continue saying "No" to all the little extras that cry out to me.  I want  to get to a place where Christ is everything and my comfort has nothing to do with what I can see.  I have so far to go.

Happy New Year to all of you.

What About School?

Probably the most frequent question I get asked concerning our trip to Africa is "What about school?"  It's a fair question and looks different depending on who it is coming from.  We are a homeschooling family but even that does not look the same in every family.  Some may take classes online, we don't.  Some are very relaxed and don't follow any type of curriculum, we follow more than one.  Some take classes through a co-op of families, we do.  There is freedom in our decisions on how to teach our kids, but in many ways I feel a great pressure in that freedom.  I do feel like I have "eyes" watching me at times and there is a pressure to some degree of caring what others think (by this I mean extended family or friends that don't homeschool).  I would say my biggest reason for the pressure I feel is that I don't want to fail my kids.  I don't want them to be ill prepared for life or finding a decent career path using the skills and talents God has given them.  I have one shot at this, there are no "do overs".

Originally, when I thought of going to Africa, I did think that we would just bring our work with us.  My reasoning is that I didn't want to get behind on anything.  After talking to a friend that had gone with her family on the mission field for an extended time, she helped me see it differently.  I believe her comment was, "Why would you want to taint your child's experience by bringing their 'American' school work with them?  They would miss so much."  Giving that some thought, I realized she was right in many ways and I needed to come up with a plan.

We started our basic school work several weeks early and I had each of my kids test out of the first few chapters of review in their math books.  Our co-op has been wonderful and the kid will be able to jump in the middle of their subjects when we return.  For their Enviromental Science class they will be doing a project on what they learned in Cameroon with regard to Enviro Science.  As a family we love to read aloud, or individually, so we will have a Kindle full of books as well as the real deal.  Math will be real life stuff like dealing with conversions, buying things from market, figuring travel time and working through real life construction puzzles with their Dad.   We will have a front row seat on our African culture class.  French is spoken in parts of Cameroon so they will have a chance to put their French into practice.  They will learn about Bible translation and the effects of illiteracy and how they can help.  They will learn compassion and mercy that would never come from seeing a documentary or reading about poverty.  Their one assignment that they will all have to do is to keep a journal of our trip so they can document it through their own eyes.

My hope is that all of us will walk away forever changed from this experience, but especially my children.  I hope that they come home with a vision for how God can use their lives.  My wish would be for them to work hard at the tasks put before them and the school that must happen to reach their goal.  I would want for them to see school as essential steps to live a bigger life with purpose and not just a time to do the bare minimum.  They do not need to wait until they are adults to make a difference in this world, they can begin today.

I think the answer I got from our travel nurse is the one I liked the best.  When I told her we were not bringing our regular school books with us, she responded "Oh, field work, sounds good!"

Time for Squats

Exercising is not my favorite thing, but I have been making an effort so that I will be strong for working in Africa. One exercise that needs to be worked on before we go is the "squat".  I informed the kids today that we would be working hard on this skill for the next 8 weeks  so that we would be prepared for our trip.  Met with puzzled looks, I then informed them that not all toilets are the same and they would be happy if they have their squatting technique perfected before we leave.  I'm sure they were thinking "How bad can it be?" since we have camped ever since they were young.

Camping in Minnesota may have flush toilets but most rustic campsites are lucky if they have a pit toilet (and sometimes with snakes crawling around in the bottom).  We have had our share of nasty bathrooms in gas stations across the country.  I'm not much of a germ-a-phobic but some bathrooms are just not sanitary.  I remember as a child crying and refusing to use a pit toilet no matter how hard my Mom tried to persuade me.  I don't know if I was afraid I would fall in or what, but I held it an awful long time.

  Drew and I were in Africa back in 2005 and one of my biggest regrets was not getting photos of all the different toilets we came across.  Don't get me wrong, Africa has flush toilets, just not always when you need one.  Road trips leave you at the mercy of whatever you come across when the urge hits.  I remember one rest stop where there was an attendant and he motioned us women to the MEN'S room.  He insisted, so we went.  Later we discovered he was being very kind to us foreigners since the women's room was a "long-drop" - or basically a hole in the ground.  The men's room was much like any gas station bathroom you would find in America, flush toilet and all.  The squat toilets or "long-drops" are fairly common throughout Africa and we just do not have our thigh muscles strong enough to use them well.   At another rest stop I walked past my husband and a few other men from our team standing at a fence facing the market area.  I said "Hi" and went on my way when I realized they were all standing there doing their business (I could only see them from the waist up - it was just awkward).  That was the men's room - the other side of the wall had a trough like urinal.  I'm not sure why they only put up half a wall but that's what it was.  Every stop we made was like a little adventure to see what kind of bathroom we would encounter.  Traveling with a team can be quite a bit of fun in this regard.  Can you imagine being all alone and having no one to discuss how different, dirty, stinky or gross the potty was?  Many times there would be no toilet paper, so it was always good to have a companion who could share their tissue with you.

All over the world there are different rules, it's hard to keep up on them all so it's best to find out any special rules for the area you are traveling.  In Africa it is considered impolite to touch the left hand of anyone.  The reason is the right hand is for eating and the left hand is used for other unpleasant things (like wiping).  Good to know though.  It's interesting because that is such a practical reason for not touching someones left hand and many other rules are also for practical reasons.  In Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, you find out immediately in the airport bathrooms that the rules have changed.   The bathrooms are fairly clean but the smell is really strong.  The reason is the plumbing is not adequate enough to handle toilet paper so that is just thrown (used) in the garbage next to the toilet.  The smell would be much worse if everyone ignored this rule and clogged up the whole system.  Actually I saw several backed up toilets in the airport because people were just unaware and they threw their toilet paper in the toilet without thinking.

People traveling to America from other cultures probably find things confusing here too.  I remember one time being in the bathroom at Costco.  I didn't see any feet under the door of the stall so I gently pushed the door only to find a woman with both feet on the toilet seat, squatting over the toilet.  She said something (probably cursed at me) in some other language and I apologized.  I didn't stand and stare but the image was burned into my mind so I had to follow it to a logical conclusion or it would just be disturbing.  I realized quickly that she was from somewhere else and that this was comfortable and sanitary to her.  We have friends that were in a refugee camp in Nepal for 17 years and they used pit toilets that whole time.  Think of how different it must be to have flush toilets in your own apartment for the first time in your life.  I noticed at one of the homes of our Bhutanese friends that they had taken the toilet seat off completely.  Who needs it when your culture teaches you to squat?  Maybe they think we are really different because we share toilet seats that we actually sit on, or because we spend so much time in the bathroom that we have books and magazines to read at the same time.  Try doing that in the squatting position.

So if you're planning a trip anytime soon - especially to a poor area of the world - I would highly recommend you start working out those thigh muscles.  Remember to have good form, if your knees are weak you don't want to have them go past your toes, try pushing back into a sitting position and keep your feet flat.  If you are unsure about the toilet conditions where you are going, and you're too afraid to ask, there are lots of different online sites that can walk you through this interesting subject.  By the way, November 19th is World Toilet Day!  Do a set of squats to celebrate.