Throughout the history of my blog, I have posted about my travel adventures and weekend getaways. Though every day is different, here I write about just a “normal” day in my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Nothing out of the ordinary, just life.
10AM – VSLA meeting (see post below) with a group of mostly Fulfulde-speaking women.
1PM – My buddy, Dali, and I head off to the Ministry of Justice to pick up a basket of food to take to her uncle’s house.
1:15PM – We watch the prayer at the Grande Mosque. Hundreds of Muslim men are praying.
1:30PM – We take a taxi to the neighborhood of Mauwi where Dali’s uncle lives. I take a nap on the couch as the rain pours.
3PM – We taxi to the Petite Marche (literal translation is Small Market, though the Petite Marche is bigger than the Grande Marche ‘Big Market’). Thought it’s pouring rain, Dali insists that we get out and rest under an awning of another mosque to wait for the rain to stop.
3:30PM – I try to tell Dali that I recently found a guy that sells Cameroonian soccer jerseys, but it gets lost in translation. Thus, she takes me to her guy. He comes back with two XXXL jerseys and though he says it fits me well, I ask for the kids’ size. Dali helps me haggle for 1.500CFA ($3US).
We proceed to spend the next forty-five minutes haggling for a Cameroonian track jacket. The merchant starts at 6,000CFA ($12US) for the matching pants as well. I just want the jacket and we get him down to 3,000CFA ($6US). However, Dali says no as the jacket should only be 2,000CFA ($4US). His last offer is 4,000CFA ($8US) for the entire ensemble. So, I walk away.
After exploring the market some more and finding nothing, I finally translate the deal into US dollars and realize that I was actually being offered a good Cameroonian price too. So we go back and buy the ensemble.
4:30PM – I walk Dali home as I have a broken, yet decent umbrella. After arriving at her house; however, Cameroonian hospitality kicks in. She changes her shoes, puts on a jacket, and then proceeds to walk me back to my house!
5:30PM – PCV Andrea DeRocco comes straight to my house off a six hour bus ride from the village of Belel. She’s my first guest to stay on my festive, blue couch!
6:30PM – PCVs Brian Hillary and Jessie Warning (my postmates who live in the same city as me) and Andrew Ryan (who lives in Meiganga about four hours away) come over for dinner. We all cook together and then eat in my living room like one big happy family!
Happy and full after a good dinner!
Just another good day!
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