the internet! again! so soon!

in bafoussam to do some christmas shopping, and shopping shopping. the holidays are not the time to start big work projects, it turns out, so i am relaxing and trying to get myself all together.

what is the upside of cat shit on your toothbrush? you can use the toothbrush to clean the cat shit off of everything else in your purse! ha ha ha. it was truly ridiculous. the juxtaposition of cat shit and toothpaste, cat shit and hand sanitizer, gosh, cat shit and everything. i don't think i will be getting a cat.

but then i saw the kittens playing in my moto helmet and it was just the cutest thing! cats may be the devil, irresistible and evil.

successes for this week:
- beat egg whites stiff using just a whisk. it only took 10 minutes. take that, forearm!
- made cake in a marmite oven. it even tastes delicious. i barely burned it!
- planted some pansies, cilantro, sage. turns out the dry season is a terrible time to plant. roh rell.
- started treating some agroforestry tree seeds. so i can plant a few more things in the dry season.
- went over to the house of a lady here. she is very enthusiastic about how much she has worked with PCVs. i was warned she may be crazy, but she has been nothing but nice and welcoming to me. i sat and watched her finish building her porcherie and played with her adorable kids. it felt SO nice to be around some people.
- spent two nights in my house completely alone. the first i heard noises and flipped out with paranoia. the second night i read a woman-centric self help book and slept very well, thank you very much.
- started running again after 5 days off.
- cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. there is still more to clean. i may be an inefective cleaner, but gosh darn it, i keep starting.


went to a fete on saturday, which turned out to be a funeral, which wiped the big, dumb, i-have-no-idea-what's-happening grin off my face. i replaced it with a solemn look that still said, i have no idea what's going on here. lots of talking. the priest spoke in french. a guy translated it into patois, and three words became twenty. there was a marching band made up of a trombone held together with tape, two trumpets and two drums. they played 'when the saints go marching in'. they were pretty good. more speeches. some wailing-type call and response from various groups. half the people left with the coffin. i stayed seated, with the other white people ( my medical officer and his adorable family, the guy from winrock). after the rest of the people came back, we ate, then we danced. it was... fun! and bewildering. and a really long day.

no anti-virals yet, so pictures are still a no go. sorry! i am working on it.

much love to you all, and a very merry christmas. you are all in my hot dust filled cameroonian heart.

zarrrrrra