“Here Comes The Sun”

October 27, 2014

             

                I can’t believe it has been only a week and a half since I wrote my last entry because it feels like it has been so much longer than that. We are well beyond the halfway point of training and that creates a variety of emotions. On the one hand, I’m going to miss my homestay family, especially my younger sister who helps me with all things Cameroonian and of course my fellow trainees with whom I’ve become quite close and are an amazing support system. Our greeters told us as we got on the buses to come to training that our stage would be our biggest support system. I don’t think I realized at the time just how true that would be and I imagine it will only become an even more powerful truth over the next two years.

On the other hand it is exhilarating to think about how my daily life will change. I’ll be living independently, able to cook for myself, and start integrating into my community. I am so excited about learning about my community and what projects I might be able to work on. My village has a refugee population of about 350 people from the Central African Republic that I could see myself working on some projects with them as a target population. There are many needs throughout my village and I hope it will help keep me busy and make the two years pass quickly.

                I must admit last week was an emotional week, probably the most difficult since I’ve arrived. Since having an episode in front of PCMO’s last week they are questioning if I will be able to be safe at post. I needed to have my parents submit all of my doctor’s office notes to the office in DC. I feel confident that I can be relatively safe (at the very least no less safe than I would be in the United States) and am obviously they will not decide to revoke my medical clearance. Hopefully by the time I post this on Saturday I will have a resolution from them. It was emotional to be told that they are questioning my safety even though I received my medical clearance and brought up some self-doubt. However a phone call from my parents helped put that in check.

                These final weeks of training are shaping up to be very busy. Tomorrow we go to the Mengong Health Center to do a presentation (animation) to the pregnant women and women with young children who show up for vaccinations on Tuesdays. Later in the week we are also doing malnutrition screenings at the primary school and another day we will be doing nutrition animations at the primary school. We also have 15-30 minute presentations to be done entirely in French coming up at the end of next week. I’m doing my presentation on cancer in Cameroon. So far I have some interesting info and have more coming including some interviews I’m planning on doing with my family and maybe some others. I would love to do a secondary project on something having to do with self-screenings for cancer and cancer prevention.

Our pagne (fabric) has been picked out for our swearing-in Ceremony and in 24 days we move to our posts. It is tradition for PC Cameroon to have clothing made all from the same fabric for our swearing-in ceremony. Each sector picked two people to pick our pagne and I think the rest of us will find out what it looks like on Saturday. You my friends, family, and internet friends will have to wait until I post photos to see what it looks like. (Speaking of which I apologize for not taking more photos and posting them. I will take photos and post them both on here and facebook, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.)

Rainy season should be coming to an end soon and I’m pretty excited for that (although I know it will make water more difficult to find). Walking to the center of Mengong today was an adventure trying to step lightly on mud that is quite thick and avoiding huge puddles while working around motos and cars who were also trying to avoid the puddles/potholes. About the time I arrive at post dry season will be starting and that means no mud! Those of you who know how much I am not a fan of rain and mud will understand just how excited I am to not be in rainy season anymore.

But now, I must sleep so I am well rested for my presentation tomorrow.

Three Thoughts:

1.       All future PCVs should get copies of “The Blue Day Book” and “The Meaning of Life” by Bradley Trevor Greive. They are great for those days that try to pull you down.

2.       Especially for HE volunteers (I don’t know about other sectors) bring many colors of sharpies for drawing posters for animations.

3.       I really hope my absentee ballot makes it home in time! 

And the placement hat says…

October 15, 2014

My stage has both health volunteers and agribusiness volunteers. We occasionally share trainings but for the most part our trainings are in separate sites on different topics. Our site announcements were also going to be separate. However the AG trainees decided to have a “posting hat” (like the sorting hat from Harry Potter) and we health volunteers just had to be involved. The different regions were even posted around the room so you could go there and join others from your region after your post was announced. Somebody even wrote up a fantastic sorting hat song.

I am pleased to announce (if you haven’t seen it already) that I will be posted in Nyambaka, Adamoua/Adamawa. This is the same site I visited, which is not typical. I’m pretty sure I am the only volunteer from my stage to be posted at the same site they visited. To say I am thrilled would be an understatement. I would have been happy with any region of Cameroon but I honestly feel my personality will work very well with the culture in Nyambaka plus I’m so excited to learn Fulfulde among many other things that I think will suit me well in the area. Knowing where I will be living and what my house will look like makes the next two years seem even more real and exciting. I also know that I have some super awesome people who will be living in my region, both from my stage and earlier stages.

Still no Ebola in Cameroon fyi. (Yes, that does mean there have been more cases of Ebola in the US than in Cameroon.) My personal health has been good overall. I am currently fighting a cold. As a result I did have an episode yesterday and one today. But I’m going to try and not make it three days in a row tomorrow. I bid you all good night!

Three thoughts:

1.       I know my post!!!!!

2.       Nyambaka!!!!!

3.       I would much rather sleep than do my homework. 

Half-way there!

October 14, 2014

I’m more or less at the half-way point in my training (only one month and 5 days until I officially become a PCV!). That means this past week I completed one of the milestones of PST, site visits. Site visits are when trainees visit current volunteers as we practice navigating public transportation and get to experience what daily life is like. I left with 10 other trainees Tuesday afternoon as we took a train from Yaounde to Ngaoundere, Adamawa. The train left Yaounde at 7:15 pm (scheduled to leave at 6:30) and was supposed to arrive in Ngaoundere late Wednesday morning. In reality we arrived almost 23 hours after leaving Yaounde because of mechanical issues with the train. The train provided us with bread, water, and sardines for lunch on Wednesday and it was a chance to spend time with the other trainees, watch movies, and nap.

My first moto ride (wearing the PC mandated helmet of course) was also an experience because the moto driver took myself and another PCT to the wrong hotel (the PC center is right next to a hotel so that is used as a landmark). He brought us to a similarly named hotel farther away. But one of the current volunteers retrieved us and our luggage and we finally made it to the right place. Although moto helmets are a pain to deal with, especially with glasses, I must admit they are kinda fun.

My site visit was in Nyambaka, a village about an hourish away from Ngaoundere. We did a malnutrition screen with our host by measuring children’s arms (not the most efficient way to do a screen but when you are in the field it is more practical than carrying a scale and measure large enough to gauge children’s heights). We also observed a presentation on malaria, although it was difficult to understand because it was in Fulfulde. Saturday morning we went to the market and stopped at a soy restaurant on the way back to Ngaoundere. It is run by women in the community and was facilitated by a current volunteer. The tofu and soy milk were both incredible! I absolutely loved my site visit and have started visualizing myself as a volunteer for the next two years.

The next time I post I will be telling you about what my site will be. We find out Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to post that on Facebook before leaving the center but if not you will find out in my next blog post. For now though I need to sleep as I’m fighting a cold and had my first episode since Brussels airport.

Three thoughts:

1.       I am already wondering what I’m going to do being separated from my stagemates in a month and a half. I’m know I’m going to miss them like crazy!

2.       Internet detox is going well so far, although I absolutely shamelessly take advantage of it when I do have it.

3.       Emergen-C or Airborne are an absolute must! I took some last night and am pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it through today without it. 

Starting to feel real

September 28, 2014

Today (Sunday) was my first time leaving my homestay village and going somewhere other than the training center in Ebolowa. Eleven other PCTs and I decided to go to the market in Ebolowa. It is a much larger village than Mengong and feels like going to a big city. They have a boulangerie, gas stations, and a much larger market than ours here in Mengong. It was a good chance to work on navigating through public transportation in Cameroon which turned out to not be quite as intimidating as I was expecting (this time). I’m still nervous about navigating my way to my site visit next week and getting to post.

We spent several hours around the market then another PCT and I worked our way back to the depot where we picked up a taxi for the 30 minute ride back to Mengong. In this taxi there was only the other PCT, two women and a baby. Pretty decent compared to the trip going to Ebolowa. Going to Ebolowa there were 12 people in the 7 passenger van. Several other PCTs also had 12 people in their vehicle on their way to Ebolowa, though they were in a car instead of a van. Overall it was a fun day that included me buying my first piece of fabric. I may have paid too much, but it is so pretty I don’t mind. 

Peace Corps life means you realize that you kinda sorta need to go to the bathroom but it is POURING! I am fully convinced that my bladder knows when it is raining the hardest and chooses that time to need to go. (This observation might make a little more sense if I remind you that I use a latrine in a building separate from my house). I now embrace going when I have the chance and it is not raining because very soon it will be a deafening downpour.

I’m sitting here writing this blog on Sunday afternoon thought it won’t be posted until Wednesday or Thursday. I miss you all and have so much I want to tell you in personal conversations. Know that I think of you often. I don’t want to push the next two years any faster than they will already go, but I do look forward to the day when I get hugs from you all again.

Three thoughts:

1.       I miss cheese and definitely should have brought some mac n cheese with me. I can’t wait for my Hannaford white cheddar mac n cheese to arrive in my care package.

2.       2.5 gallon ziplock bags are one of the greatest inventions

3.       I can’t imagine being anywhere else in the world at this very moment (although I do really miss indoor plumbing.)

Two Weeks in and then some

September 26, 2014

Tomorrow will mark the end of week two of training. Coming in I didn’t know exactly what to expect so two weeks in feels like a pretty significant accomplishment. Training takes place six days a week. 8 am – 4:30 M-F and 8-12 on Saturdays. We spend a lot of time studying language both in formal small group sessions with instructors, independent study time, and of course at home with our families. I find myself thinking more and more in French. Not everybody’s host family speaks exclusively French to them but my family does and I am appreciate that.

In a couple of weeks after our second language proficiency interview, we will have the opportunity to start on a second language, Pidgin (a type of English) or Fulfulde. As I’m hoping to be placed in the Adamawa region, I hope my French is high enough to place into a Fulfulde class. For those who are unaware, Cameroon is divided into 10 regions. Peace Corps is currently placing volunteers in 8 of those 10 regions. The other two, the most northern ones, are prohibited for travel for Americans at the moment because of Boko Haram activity. Adamawa is as far north as we are able to go.

Other sessions include information on wellness, security, and go into more depth about Peace Corps’ expectations. A diversity panel last week talked about how to express our identities and embrace our personal beliefs while still integrating into our communities. There is a significant emphasis placed on integration and how to do that both successfully and safely.

In case you were wondering I would be thrilled to eat a hamburger or some cheese pizza right now. How American of me, right? The southern region of Cameroon where I am for the moment has a lot of fish. I try, I really do, but I just cannot make myself be excited or even content with fish. Don’t get me wrong. There are lots of good foods here (beignets anybody?), it just requires fussy eaters such as myself to find the grownup deep inside who can eat anything. The diet here is quite high in starch (cassava, plantains, rice, and potatoes).

In my final weeks at home, many of you asked me about Ebola. Just a quick update: To date there has been no Ebola found in Cameroon. We had a session last week with somebody from the CDC who believes there is less than a 50% chance of it coming to Cameroon. If it does make its way here, she was quite confident that it would be a few isolated cases and would be easily kept under control by Cameroonian health officials. So, nothing to worry about here!

Until next time.

Three thoughts:

1. A hard glasses case is an absolute must. After you are under your mosquito net, you will not want to get back out to set your glasses in a safe place.

2. Enough wash clothes to wash both yourself and the filter Peace Corps provides us with. I highly suggest a microfiber washcloth/towel.

3. A book and a few magazines. I brought my Nook which decided to stop working as I sat in JFK. Once I’m back in the states with a strong wi-fi connection, it will work again but until then, life won’t be nearly as interesting. 

Getting to know all about Mengong

September 23, 2014

I can’t believe two weeks ago I was arriving at the hotel in Philly for staging. On the one hand it feels like just yesterday. On the other hand it feels like I’ve lived in Mengong forever. I would describe it as a good two weeks so far with a lot of stuff happening. Before I elaborate a bit, first I’ll address that I know many of you were concerned about my episodes. I had one at staging and one in the Brussels airport. That means I am at almost two weeks episode free. So rest easy my friends and family, I haven’t kissed the ground yet. ;-)

Mengong is in the south region of Cameroon about 15 km outside of Ebolowa (pronounced Eb – o – low – va) where the agribusiness volunteers are training. It is a very green, lush area, with dirt roads that are made extremely red by the iron in them. The area is mostly Christian. Many homes are part of mini-compounds. My host father is a cocoa trader and my host mom is a farmer. I live literally right next to the PC training center but some people live as much as 45 minutes walking. It is currently the rainy season. As I write this post there is an absolute downpour. I’m glad I made it back from the center of town before the rain hit.

This is a decent sized village but small compared to Ebolowa. The market is relatively small and many people say that to get better fabric/a better tailor you need to go to Ebolowa. Fruits are generally not available in Mengong and there is a limited supply of veggies (mostly peppers, green beans, and potatos). Pasta is quite popular for all meals of the day and rice is a standard. However peanuts and mambo (Cameroonian chocolate) are abundant!

My toilet is a latrine and that is also where I take bucket showers each day. Our kitchen is separate from the house and food is cooked over a fire in a brick room with only one window. Unfortunately that is as dangerous as it sounds as smoke fills the room quite quickly. I can only imagine the amount of carcinogens that people inhale cooking in kitchens like that every day of their lives. I often feel lazy in my home as others are already awake when I wake up at either 5:30 or 6:00 and are still awake when I go to bed by 9. I would stay up later and wake up earlier but I know my body needs its rest.

Monday morning – Saturday noon is spent with the other 21 health PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees)* at either the Mengong or Ebolowa training site. We study French, have tech trainings (learning about the health system in Cameroon), receiving more vaccinations (Hep B, typhoid, and rabies), and safety/security sessions about how to keep ourselves safe while serving. It more or less feels like school

 Today we visited the Health Center where pregnant women/new mothers and their children were receiving vaccinations and encouraged to breast feed. Maternal/Child nutrition is one of the three pillars of PC Health Volunteers in Cameroon, the others being malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS. I’m starting to feel much more confident about the type of work I will have the opportunity to do and how I might help my community establish sustainable health practices. Health care in the US is very different than here and that will merit a post of its own at a later date. But the differences are vast both in the system itself and facilities.

Good things to bring for your PC experience:

1.       Hand sanitizer and lots of it! (Anybody wanting to send me a care package, please consider including some hand sanitizer.)

2.       Your vaccination records

3.       A journal

Thanks so much for reading. I love and miss you all and look forward to hearing from you one way or another. <3

*I will be a PCT until I swear in on November 19 at which point I will officially be a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). Prior to staging I was a PC Invitee and prior to that I was a PC nominee. 

Smile when you flush your toilet.

September 16, 2014

I hope you smile the next time you flush your toilet, drink a bottle of water, or drop your clothes in the washing machine. I don’t want this to sound preachy because in the US we so often hear how lucky we are but it certainly is worth repeating. Water in my host village of Mengong is obtained from the river or wells and a thing that resembles a very short, three walled reservoir (both of which I’m sure are supplied by water from the river). This water is used for cooking, for bathing, for washing clothes (by hand), washing hands, doing food prep, and washing dishes.

Peace Corps provides us with water filters so volunteers are able to use safe water. Our families do not have even this luxury. I finally got my filter put together (I’ve been working off of bottled water up to this point.) and went with my sister Nelly to get water for the first time. It was about a 10 or 15 minute walk through jungle* that included a very very steep incline to reach the reservoir (easily 45 degrees, probably more). When she saw my reaction to the steep incline, Nelly took the mini-bucket she had given me and brought it down along with her larger bucket. She wouldn’t let me carry the bucket again until we were on very solid footing. We made it home successfully, which I’m sure wouldn’t have been the case if I had carried the bucket the whole time. So, when I make it home and use plumbing to flush a toilet or wash dishes, I will absolutely smile.

                *Yes I did confirm that there are monkeys in aforementioned jungle. I also confirmed that some people eat monkeys. I also confirmed that my family does not. In a word, yay!

I had forgotten how exhausting it is to be immersed 24/7. Good exhausting but still exhausting. As my mind races before bed, I’m discovering that I’m thinking in French and even imagining conversations I might have with you at home, but the conversation is in French. Today we had 5 or 6 hours of French instruction with small groups decided based on our level. I placed as intermediate but feel like I still have so much to cover, especially if I want a Francophone post. If you’ve never had the chance to be immersed in a country that doesn’t speak English, I highly recommend it. After only a few days I can feel my brain working harder than it has in a long time.

After fetching water Nelly (I’ll most often refer to her as my sister but I actually have 16 siblings. I don’t think I’ve met them all yet. My father has two wives, which accounts for the large number.) told me she wanted me to come into the kitchen area to help make something,, the name of which I’ve already forgotten. With eggs, lots of sugar, even more flour, yeast, a little bit of salt, and a little bit of water, we basically made donuts that were then fried to deliciousness.

Tomorrow we spend the day in Ebolowa where the agribusiness volunteers do all of their training and live/where we have internet. We are leaving at 7 for sessions to start at 8. When I first heard that I thought, not too bad. I can wake up at 6. Hah! Nelly told me that tomorrow morning I will wake up at 5 to start learning how to cook Cameroonian food. My first lesson will be making a peanut sauce to be put over rice. I’m thinking it’s the same thing we ate in Senegal that I wasn’t overly fond of. Do any of my CIEE friends remember what it was called? I’ll keep you updated. Goodnight my friends and family. I love and miss you.

                *Update, I woke up at 5 as promised and my sister had already made the peanut sauce. Oh well.

Moving in

Some of you may have seen on facebook that I arrived in Yaounde a few days ago (late Thursday night to be exact.) I was pleasantly surprised to find that we had semi-hot running showers and wi-fi! My apologies for not posting while I was there. My laptop didn’t seem inclined to connect to that wi-fi and I did not take the time to post because we were quite busy.

When we arrived at the hotel, everything made its way up to our rooms and we had dinner, received our first dose of anti-malaria meds, had a very brief introduction and went up to bed. Friday was filled with more orientation which included getting our first aid kits, buying regulators so our electronics don’t get fried (those are about the size of a toaster and much heavier), and being given water filters (which are apparently much fancier and more compact that ones previous stages have received.) Still, it was a lot of stuff to carry to our homestays in addition to our regular luggage. I was so grateful for having packed only one bag.

Friday night we had dinner at our country director’s house. That gave us the chance to meet his wife, other PC staff and their families, local ministry officials who work with PC, and the ambassador. Unfortunately as he was making his rounds, he did not make his way over to the table where I was sitting. However I did get to stand almost right next to him in the photo, so I figure that balances out.

Saturday we had a half day more of orientation, focusing especially on language and what to expect from our homestays, which we would be moving into later on Saturday. We were told to move our bags downstairs ahead of time and we would catch up to our bags later (which as it turned out meant that our bags were split between sectors and were loaded onto the bus with us. It made for a slightly cramped ride. Agribusiness volunteers are staying with families in Ebolowa and health volunteers like me are staying in Mengong.

My home is Mengong is quite comfortable. Even more exciting is the fact that it is right next to the training center and only a 10 minute walk from the center of town. I feel as though it will be easier to manage my fatigue/episodes with living right next to the training center. I have a latrine toilet and bucket showers. The sea to summit pocket soaps I bought from www.moosejaw.com are absolutely perfect for bucket showers and minimizing how much water I use (mom please send me more of those!) It is so humid that 11 hours after I washed, my hair is still very damp and the sky was overcast basically all day. I hope once the dry season comes, that is not the case.

I’ve spent most of my time with my sister, Nelly, and she has been helping me to learn the community, how to do things, and learn Patois, the local language. People always grin when I greet them with “Bolo!” instead of “Bonjour.” When I slipped in the mud walking back from the city center, really would anybody expect anything less from me, she didn’t let go of my arm until we were safely in front of the latrine where she helped me rinse off the ridiculous amount of mud I managed to get on myself.

Another exciting thing is I got a call from mom and dad today! I think I need to buy credit though so I can send texts and make phone calls. It seems as though I will likely only have internet when I do group trainings in Ebolowa. I go to Ebolowa for the first time tomorrow and hope to post this blog entry at that time. Even if you don’t see posts from me frequently, know that I think of my friends and family often and have already shared pictures of you with Nelly.

Just in case any future PCVs come across this blog, I hope to include things I’m glad I brought/did before leaving  or particular things that might be interesting to somebody who is on their way to being a PC Trainee like me (I won’t be a volunteer until I swear in on November 19.)

1.       So glad I brought only one bag!!!! I know I’ll go home with two bags but for the moment I’m glad I have them.

2.       I was thrilled to be reimbursed at least partially by Peace Corps during staging.

3.       Super compact Cocoon travel pillow. Not just great for airports and the planes, but also great for pillows that although the do the job, couldn’t be described as luxurious.

Well that’s all for now folks! If you have particular questions be sure to let me know and I will try to answer them. For now, I sleep!

Dreams do come true

I'm packed! Even more exciting, I'm packed in one bag (44ish lbs) plus my carry-on (24ish lbs*). *A significant portion of my carry-on's weight can be attributed to technology I'm bringing for PCVs from the May stage who did not want to have their electronics shipped. We are allowed 2 50 lb bags but it was my personal goal to fit everything into one bag so I am feeling triumphant.

If I have seen you in person recently I probably shared my address with you, but just in case here it is:

Mary Moyer
Corps de la Paix
BP 215 Yaoundé
Cameroon (Par Avion)

This will be valid as I go through training. When I know my new address I will share it.

TTFN!

Wrapping Up

Hello everybody!

Ten days from right now I will be on my way to Philadelphia for staging before leaving the country on September 10. It feels a little bit surreal as I realize when I say good-bye to certain people, it means good-bye until Thanksgiving 2016. In my last post I talked about my parents who have helped me realize so many dreams but my outstanding friends deserve a blog post thanking them as well.

This past weekend was my going away party and if I must say so myself, it went quite well. Friends, family, and neighbors all stopped by to wish me well and get their photo taken with me. Those photos will become part of my "Peace Corps Pick Me Up Book," which I will look at as I feel homesick and wish you were all with me. Thank you for coming and making me feel oh so loved.

Second, thank you for your support. So many of you cut out the newspaper article and gave it to me (Hey look! I'm famous!). Somebody even laminated a copy of it and left it with the rest of my gifts at the party. I don't know who did that, but thank you. I have some of the most generous and considerate friends and feel genuinely blessed to call you my friends and family.

You all have waited with me through this long process, reaffirming that this adventure is something I can do and will do well. When my sector switched you all told me that I can still make a difference and do good work, even without concrete experience in the health sector. You've told me how lucky Peace Corps is to have me. You've understood how frustrating the process has been as my health has gotten in the way but not one of you has told me this was something I should give up, even though I know many of you worry about my health while I'm away. When I finally received my invite, you all rejoiced with me. Most of you have avoided looking at me like I'm completely crazy for being excited to go to a country that has unstable neighbors and a region that is currently fighting a nearly always fatal disease.

I will miss you. I will miss your hugs and smiles. I will miss going to dinner with you and volunteering with you. I'll miss joking with you and being silly with you. I hope to keep in touch with you all both online and by letters. If I see you before I leave, I expect 27 months worth of hugs. If I don't see you again, I expect 27 months worth of hugs in November 2016.  <3

Family

Today is Mother's Day which has me feeling a bit sentimental. It will be my last mother's day that I spend with my mom until 2017. Seeing as how I am sure there will be a lot for me to blog about while I'm in Cameroon, today I'll tell you my thoughts on what will be the most difficult thing: spending 27 months away from my family.

As you may know I'm close with both of my parents. Perhaps it is because I'm an only child. Perhaps it is simply because I have great parents who have found that difficult balance of parenting, mentoring and friendship.I am going to miss them so very much while I am gone. The longest is have been away was for four months while I was in Senegal. I know there will be days that I will become very home sick.

The first way I hope to overcome homesickness is to remember just how much my parents support me leaving. When I told my mom in 4th grade that I wanted to join the Peace Corps, she and my dad allowed me to have experiences that would foster my sense of global citizenship. Just over a year later they funded and allowed me to spend sixteen days in Australia and New Zealand with People to People. That was just the first of many trips and they supported me all the way, knowing I ultimately wanted to join Peace Corps, essentially cultivating my desire to move far away from home. They have encouraged me to be involved in my community, helping to develop skills that the Peace Corps looks for.

I also know it is possible to create family wherever you find yourself in the world. Host families, other travelers, and teachers/trainers/guides are simply amazing. (If you ever have the chance to host a student from another part of the country or the world, please do. Words will never be able to express what fond memories I have for the many people that have welcomed me into their homes over the years.) Once again I give my parents kudos. They've listened to me speak of my other mothers and fathers without the slightest hint of jealousy. They've encouraged me to foster those relationships which when you are away from home, can be the ultimate comfort.

I look forward to meeting my new "family." In the meantime I am enjoying every last minute with my biological family as we celebrate final mothers' days, fathers' days, and birthdays together for a couple of years. As I saw on Facebook, "It takes a special kind of mom to raise a Peace Corps Volunteer." I would change that to "It takes special parents to raise a Peace Corps Volunteer." Thank you to my immediate family and extended family. I would have never considered doing this without your support and goodness knows your support has been incredible through the application/nomination/invitation process. I love you all!

F.A.Q.

I've had some questions asked of me repeatedly so I thought I'd answer them here!

Q: So...ummm....where exactly is Cameroon?
A: Right there! It's the country shaped like a peacock (which is how I've always been able to remember where it is for map quizzes).

http://www.operationworld.org/country/came/owtext.html

Q: How long will you be there?
A: 27 months. Three months of training followed by two years of volunteering.

Q: Will you come home at all?
A: As much as it would be awesome to come home, the cost of a plane ticket for the amount of time I would have it would not be worth the cost.

Q: Are you worried about security (i.e. Boko Haram and general safety)?
A: No. Peace Corps has closed posts in the North for security reasons and if any more security issues arise, I have full confidence they will react appropriately. Everyday security does not concern me in the least. I always try to be self-aware when I travel and as my dad says "Bad things can happen anywhere." I could just as easily get attacked or robbed here in the United States.

Q: What exactly will you be doing?
A: Not exactly sure, that's part of the adventure. I will be a health volunteer which could mean anything from maternal health to HIV education to vaccinations. I will also have secondary projects depending on what my community needs.

Q: Do you get paid?
A: I will receive a living stipend that will be enough to live on. I will also receive some money when I come home and some financial benefits for grad school. Beyond that, it's about volunteering.

Q: How much can you bring?
A: 2 checked bags and a carry-on. (Basically 100 lbs of luggage)

I think I've covered some of the most frequently asked questions. As more come up, I'll share.

New Adventures Deserve New Blogs

Hi all!

I decided that my Peace Corps Service does in fact deserve its own blog (plus I actually was able to come up with a title!).  I will be leaving September 10, 2014 for 27 months of Peace Corps service as a community health educator in Cameroon. This has been a long process as I started my application in September 2012 and  originally received an invitation to leave on May 27, a departure date which had to be delayed due to Boko Haram activity in the North.

I decided to become a Peace Corps volunteer when a RPCV spoke to my class in fourth grade. I went home that day and  told my mom that this is what I wanted to do. So she has had plenty of time to get used to the idea of me leaving the country for two years.

I already have a pile of items in my room that I want to bring with me and am trying to figure out how I will fit all of that into two bags and a carryon. I've received all of the immunizations required by Peace Corps at this point, submitted my visa and passport applications, and answered what feels like hundreds of questions for Peace Corps. Now I just need to work for a few more months, spend as much time as I can with family and friends, and take advantage of my last few months in the United States. .

I hope you will follow along with me as I undertake this journey and please keep me informed of what is going on at home. I will do a "Flat MB" while I'm gone and if this is something you are interested in, let me know. I would love to receive pictures of Flat MB having lots of adventures while real MB has her own adventures. I truly am excited to share this with all of you. TTFN!