It’s so hard to believe that October is nearly over. Where did the month go?! Here in Cameroon, we’ve kept busy with school, traveling, househunting, and so much more. Unfortunately, I’ve really only been able to participate in the school part of that list. I did get to enjoy a mini-vacation when the Barillas went out of town for a few days. I stayed at their house to take care of their dogs, and I got to sleep in for four school days because two of their kids are my students. It was wonderful not having to go to school until 11:00 am. I’m definitely going to miss those few days! However, as nice as it was to sleep in, I’m excited to have all of my students again starting tomorrow.
Another great thing about watching the Barillas’ house for them was that I got to enjoy their internet. They have a much faster system than we do at our house, so I got to Skype my mom and several friends. It was such a blessing to be able to talk to everyone. Just about every evening I was at the Barillas, I had a Skype meeting set up with someone. I was definitely spoiled!
Every day is literally an adventure in Cameroon. One night, while I was still at my house, I was just about to go to sleep when I heard a sound I couldn’t place. I listened very intently, and all of a sudden, I realized I was hearing running water. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, convinced I was hearing things. But sure enough: out of my sink faucet was running a beautiful stream of water. Now, running water is a wonderful thing, no matter what country you live in. (If you don’t believe me, try going without it for one day. In other words, haul water, wash your dishes and clothes by hand, flush your toilets with a bucket, and take a bucket bath. You’ll appreciate your running water pretty quickly.) However, running water is especially exciting in Cameroon. Since I first came over to Cameroon in August 2011, the house I live in has not seen one single drop of water out of the faucets. The water I saw that night streaming out of my faucet was literally the first running water I have ever seen in this house. It was an exciting moment to say the least. I even washed my hands, just to use the faucet and running water. I felt like a small child at Christmas, overwhelmed by presents. It was just that great of a feeling. (And I do want to clarify that I’m not trying to complain about our lack of water. Actually, I’ve become quite adept at conserving water. I still have my struggles, however. For instance, tonight I was trying to pour a pitcher of water back into the barrel we keep our water in. I missed and ended up pouring the entire pitcher all over the floor instead of into the barrel. Yeah. That was a fail.)
Later that week, we had another exciting event at our house. Unfortunately, I wasn’t home to enjoy this one. Friday morning, Ellen and C heard the neighbor kids outside suddenly start yelling, “Serpent! Serpent!” Sure enough. There was a baby snake on our water tower. Their father came out a handled the situation flawlessly, getting rid of that snake menace once and for all. Come to find out, it was a baby black mamba. Apparently, the baby snakes are more dangerous than the adult ones because the baby ones can’t control their venom. When they bite a person, they unleash all of their poison into that one bite. Adult snakes portion out their venom, so I’m told.
Well, tomorrow it’s back to the regular grind of school. However, since we’re in Africa, we never know what adventure may lie around the corner!
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The Adventure of Ordinary Days
