Ok, I'm getting pretty bad at this aren't I? Everyone told me this would happen too. Eventually I'd update less often, take less pictures, and just generally become more removed from the States. Well they were right. I guess it's the result of becoming integrated into life here; moving further from the role of a visitor and closer to that of a resident. Well, I think I'm pretty much there. Bambui now feels like home and it's getting harder to relate to things happening back in the US. I mean, my sister is graduating very soon (congrats Sara!), and I really wish I was there, but to me, it's like that's happening in some other universe. I certainly don't like that feeling, but it's made me appreciate the things I once took for granted that much more.

I've been away from Bambui for 2 weeks. IST was pretty uneventful, a lot of sessions, some good, some bad, and a lot of socializing. It was good to see everyone again, though I realized that week that I'm not 21 anymore and eating bad, drinking too much, and hardly sleeping just isn't the health regimen it used to be. Foumban was an interesting place, sort of a tourist town with an impressive palace and museum, and lots of artisan shops. Our hotel was really nice as well, though we were all feeling pretty mutinous when the "piscine" they advertised on the sign and the hotel cars turned out to be a pipe dream.

After that first week, I made my way with a few others to Yaounde. I was headed there as a new member of the Agro Steering Committee which essentially serves to represent the volunteers in the decision making and directing of the program. The meetings went well and there were a lot of people coming through the capital so the week was a lot of fun, but good god, I spent a lot of money. It's hard to wrap your head around how much the cost of living is inflated in the city here. Consider I usually spend about 35 cents on a meal in my village. The same plate in Yaounde is going to cost you 4 dollars! And that's for villageois food. If you want to appreciate the exotic options Yaounde offers, you're going to do like we did one night and drop $40, each! That was probably a mistake, but when's the next time I'm going to get to have osso bucco and a nice Côtes du Rhône?

So yeah, went a little indulgent in the capital, but now I'm back in Bambui and I can make up the damage with some frugal village living. One thing I did take away from IST was inspiration for projects and collaborations. I think there's been to much playtime as it is; the honeymoon is over and it's time to get down to business. So now I'm excited about some of the work I want to undertake and seeing what other volunteers are accomplishing at their posts, makes things that seemed impossible a few weeks ago look very attainable.

Though all this "happy to be back" business was nearly stifled when, within minutes of arriving home, I was hit with this list of misfortunes:

-Walked up on my porch to find shards of wood strewn about and see that 'something' had gone nuts and chewed off one of the arms of my bench and shredded my clotheline

-The olive oil I had bought and put in my backpack had come open and marinated my laptop for the whole 8 hour ride from Yaounde to Bamenda (somehow it still works)

-Went to charge my phone and realized another volunteer had taken my charger

-Found that someone, probably a porter at the travel agency, stole my binoculars out of my bag

-The souvenir I bought in Foumban was broken

-Put on my brand new replacement sandals only to have them break

-Went to make some pasta and the pot, a metal pot, split down the side when I put it on the heat

-And then to top it all off, by the time I needed to use the restroom, I discovered I was out of tp, well after all the shops had closed

Really though I was so tired from the traveling, hardly any of this phased me. In the end I'm looking forward to the next few months when I can stay put for a bit and get some real work done. And I'll try to be better about writing, though no promises. :)