Today officially marks a month of living in Cameroon. Almost unbelievable. In a lot of ways time has flown by and in other times it seems like I've lived here for longer. This is also the longest amount of time I've spent away from home and while I'm not homesick, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it either. Conflicting emotions for a complicated life.

Overall this has been a successful week. I neglected to mention our field trip Monday for Contemporary Cameroon. We took a bus/walk tour of a lot of the city. I should also note that there were 15 of us in an 11 passenger bus. But it's not Africa if your personal space isn't violated. Our first stop was at a basilica I've been wanting to explore, but unfortunately we didn't go inside. We also went to the park across from Mahima which was an oasis. I'm already planning a picnic lunch someday to take while I read and people watch. We then visited the Congressional Palace built by the Chinese in the 1980's. It has amazing views of Yaounde plus a ferris wheel in which you sit in flowers. Who wouldn't love that?! We also stopped at Mount Febe although we've already been before going to Selecte Plus, the best boulangerie in Yaounde and home to gelato. It wasn't quite equal to Italy but it certainly does the trick when you have a craving. By this time it was going on six o'clock and I assumed we were headed home. However, our two professors for the class decided to take us out for drinks so we ended up at a bar in who knows where. It was really fun and I appreciate how relaxed the professors are and willing to chat with us.

I think I also neglected to mention an interesting fact associated with my internship. On February 18, we are going to a bilingual school to do a presentation on AIDS. Mrs. Engo will give a presentation and show about an hour long video. Then comes the fun part where she explains how to use a condom. We then break into groups and I get to explain once again ( in French) how to put on one and have them practice on who knows what. I'm going to guess a banana. Actually tomorrow we're meeting them after French and before our other class to scout around the area so we can tell the students where to buy them and how much they cost. My life has taken another awkward turn.

This weekend turned out to be really nice. Kaitlin and I went to CICAM on Friday to get fabric. We both got the women's day fabric (she in green and I in blue). Women's Day is a really big holiday in March here and every woman wears this specific fabric. Now I just have to find a taillor. I also got another fabric of purple and golden hues that's really pretty. We grabbed lunch at Casino (a supermarket) and hightailed it back to the apartment for a meeting. It being Friday we went to our favorite bar right down the street for "chicken and beer night." On Saturday I had a field trip with the people in my environment class to a palm oil plantation called Socapalm. Being the nerd I am I rather enjoyed it. We spent more time in the car with styrofoam for a ceiling than at the plant but it was still an interesting experience. We also stopped and talked to a couple families on the way back who process palm oil on their own for extra cash. Once back home we went to a soccer match that Soo's host cousin played in and cooked a feast for dinner.

We attempted beer pong with cut-off Tangui bottles. It worked fairly well! Don't worry I retained my reputation. Today I've just been relaxing and catching up on my journal. The four of us at the apartment went with our university friends Etienne, Elite and Kisatore to the zoo. They spent about fifteen minutes haggling the price down for us, because they kept saying we were white tourists even after we showed our visas. The zoo set-up was quite interesting. People actually have their homes inside the compound. Like "hey this is my house I live right next to the lion pen." A monkey even escaped while we were there and just had a grand ole time running around. It passed about two feet from me at one point. No one seemed really bothered by it so we assumed its quite a common occurence. There is no end to my amazement here. For example, on the way there we took a back road to avoid a traffic jam. First of all, there are seven of us passengers. Elite is sitting on my lap, four others sit beside my and two up front with the driver. The driver is wasted or at least reeks of alcohol. The back road is a giant pothole in which you have to drive along the side which is fairly close to a ninety degree angle. I could just picture my door flying open from all of us pressed against it and me catapulting into a ditch. Yet it of course did not happen. Amazement.

I hope everyone is doing well and not having as many near death experiences as me. I have tentative plans to finally get braids this Wednesday or Friday with Kaitlin and Alie. And Wednesday night we have our first African dance class at a studio in the city. I'm so excited! Plus cooking classes with Gertrude, Teku's sister, start next Sunday so I'll be able to cook everyone a Cameroon meal when I return! Guys I even chopped an onion last night. We're talking big steps for Morgan's cooking abilities so get excited. Love you all!