The last I wrote about was my terrible halloween eve. Which means it’s been about a month since and a million things have happened. I am finding it difficult to bring myself to write because I encounter so many wonderful, terrible, and just weird things everyday it’s proved to be overwhelming. I’ve thought about so many things I want to write down as they happen, but when I finally make it home I don’t know where to start. So for this I apologize. I also apologize that I write so much about bad things that happen, and venting and such. I can’t say enough how the bad is really bad, but the good is sooo unbelievable good. It keeps me loving this place, and being extremely thankful that I actually made it here after so much waiting.

Speaking of thanks, I had the amazing opportunity to have thanksgiving dinner with the prince of Bangangte outside of his hut by a bonfire. It was incredible. And not just because of the aforementioned details, but mostly because we made every typical thanksgiving dish using all cameroonian ingredients, listened to christmas music and spent the day cooking and throwing a football and hanging out, cameroonians and americans. I have had the blessing of having a few of those beautiful moments in life where you take a deep breath and realize you are truly happy, and that night sitting by the fire I added another deep breath to the list.

Other happenings include that I’m moving again. The landlord came home unexpectedly and wrote on my coffee table in chalk about how messy the house was, even though no one told me someone was coming. The next morning i was awoken by the door being open and it was the landlord’s wife. She explained it was her who wrote the note, and that i need to hide my things when they come and that i need to lock my door. I explained that no one told me she was coming. This meant nothing. Then she told me there was no room for me there because when the family comes in for vacation they stay there. So now I’m moving. To the fourth house.

I decided Bandenkop is the Nantucket of Cameroon. There are lots of rich people here who have houses, but not a lot of people who actually live here. This makes it difficult to find a house since they all seem open, but the owners come back and stay for funerals and burials, and vacation time. I have looked at a few now, none of which are very nice like the house I’m in now. I’m guaranteed to have a latrine for the next couple years so I can cross that off my list.. It’s frustrating looking, but now I know why my boss had such a hard time finding a place the first go-round for me.

I also saw the most beautiful thing in the world a couple weeks ago, too. It was a crater lake in a village called Foumbot, and closely resembled the blue lagoon from peter pan with the mermaids. The lake was formed by collected water in an old volcano and was the clearest blue I’d ever seen. The water was a thousand feet below us and we walked around the edges seeing the lake at every perspective and looking out at the view of the rest of Cameroon. We took the trip with Henri, a french volunteer living in Bangangte building latrines in villages, Franky, the Prince of Bangangte, and the Mayor of Foumbot who is a handful of a woman and made our visit wonderful by getting us past the guard for free to see the lake and feeding us before and after.On the way up about 10 children hopped in the back of our truck and walked around the volcano with us in plastic shoes and offering me a hand when I slipped. I’ll post pictures when I can. No promises..

These holidays make me miss all of you guys so much. Having holidays here has been nice, though, because I get all the good stuff, and I don’t have to deal with the American consumer crap like expensive costumes and halloween candy, and black friday. I just get to be happy hanging out with friends and explaining our weird american traditions to cameroonians. Though, I do miss being with my family. Love you all and hope you’re enjoying the season!

xoxo