The Grand North!

Big news!  Last Wednesday, we received our posts!  In about a month from now, I’ll be heading to Sanguere Paul in the North region.

To be honest, the news came as a huge surprise to me.  After my placement interview, I was nearly certain that I would be heading to the West or the Littoral region.  In fact, the Grand North was not even an option in my mind.  I was determined to end up in a region with mountains and waterfalls and lots of tasty fruits.  So when my post was announced, I had to do a bit of mental readjusting.  One of Peace Corps’ core expectations is to serve wherever they ask you to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, and so gosh darn it, I’m goin’ to the North and I’m gonna rock it!

Obviously I’ll be able to tell you all much more about my post once I get there, but here’s what I know so far:

• Sanguere Paul is a tiny village of about 3000 people, but it’s only about 10km away from Garoua, which is the regional capital.  This is where I’ll be able to do my banking and buy important things like chocolate.  Also, there’s an international airport in Garoua for those of you who love me enough to maybe visit!
• I’ll have to take a 16 hour train ride followed by a 6 to 9 hour bumpy bus ride to get to Garoua.  Seems a bit much considering Cameroon is only about the size of California… I hope my fellow travellers are up for a good game of I Spy!
• A health volunteer from my stage will be living about 5km down the road from me, so hopefully she'll be able to help me out if I have any more machete mishaps.
• It’s basically the desert.  Well okay, technically it’s savannah, but it’ll still be freakin’ hot.  Supposedly the temperature is usually between 90 and 100 degrees, though in March and April it is regularly above 110 and sometimes even over 120.  Apparently it cools down in August when it finally rains.  It also cools down a bit in December and January when it becomes so darn dusty that the dust blocks out the sun.  On the bright side, every day will be like a day spent in a sauna!  I will sweat out every bad thing that has ever entered my body, and when I return to the U.S., I’ll probably never sweat another day in my life! 
• Because of the climate, there are not many mosquitoes.  This is great news considering my right foot/ankle is currently swollen like a balloon because of so many bug bites.
• It’s a francophone region, but Fulfulde is the most common language.  If all goes according to plan, I will be trilingual in the near future.
• There are a number of different ethnic groups in the area, one of which is called “Banana.”
• My village is 65% Christian, 30% Muslim, and 5% traditional.  However, the North is known for being predominantly Muslim.  I’ve been told that as a consequence of this, the North is full of incredibly respectful people and has the happiest Peace Corps volunteers.
• People in the North tend to drink a lot of chai, because what better way to cool down than a cup of hot tea?!  But really, I love chai, so this is fantastic.
• There are giant mangoes and lots of cows.
• My house is supposedly pretty nice.  It has two bedrooms and is already mostly furnished.  I will have electricity, but no running water. 
• There might be hippos?  I google-imaged “Garoua” and found a bunch of pictures with hippos…so that’s a good sign.  I think I’ll be living near a river too, so I’ll have ample opportunity to make some hippo friends if they do in fact exist. 
• There are a lot of great hikes in the area, if you’re a fan of heat stroke. 

That’s all I know for now!  Every day I’m trying to learn at least one more positive fact about the North.  We swear in as volunteers on November 20th, so in exactly a month from today, I'll beginning that long train ride to post!