Memory Lane and Readjustment

Back in Garoua Boulai after 3 days of uneventful travel!

I decided to write about one of my experiences while in the USA for vacation.  Yes, I visited the family and many friends, but that was “normal,” if very enjoyable.  My family is all well and I was happy to have the time to visit them – and as many friends as I could fit in, too.

Over Labor Day weekend, however, I went to San Francisco to the reunion of Returned Peace Corps

Volunteers from the Central African Republic from the late 1970s!  They have been meeting every two years for about a dozen years, but this was the first time I attended. What a kick.  Had a great time.  Here’s a selfie so you can see the commemorative t-shirt.

It has been more than 35 years since I came home from the CAR (the first time). Approximately 30 people came to this reunion hosted by Barbara Howald and Michael Blake; many of them I had not seen since I left CAR.  Add in some spouses and a few children I had never met and you have a recipe for asking the same person’s name several times or asking about a person only to be told I had
just been chatting with him for 10 minutes.  Lots with gray hair, glasses, hearing aids, and an occasional paunch…  I have been in (unfortunately) infrequent contact with a handful of friends from my Peace Corps days – funny how those people seemed to have changed less. 

What impressed me the most as I caught up with these friends was how similar our values and views on life continue to be.  What drew us all to the Peace Corps is still active in our lives.  We could pick up conversations easily.

Plus, we got to visit San Francisco.  Babs and Michael have a wonderful apartment with a view of part of the city.  I stayed in a very nice hotel about 3 miles closer to the piers (downtown).  The hotel was older but well-maintained and cared for. Rooms were cute.  That is, they were small, but didn’t feel crowded. I had a bed that was larger than a single, but smaller than a double.  There was a sink, hair dryer, luggage rack, hooks, television, full-length mirror, iron, ironing board, stool, chair, little basket for carrying toiletries to the bathroom, and a robe!  I still had room to move about freely.  The toilet was in one room down the hall and the shower in another.  Both rooms were so small that you had to close the door to be able to turn around.  There were two sets of stairs – on so narrow that my arms almost brushed the walls on the ways down.  There was also an elevator though I took the steps often.  I liked this room better than the larger, but cookie cutter-type rooms of most hotels/motels. I’d gladly stay there again.

Saturday we had a picnic in the park that is just below the Golden Gate Bridge – ok, below would probably be in the water, but at the foot on the level park there.  You can’t reserve a picnic spot so Michael sent his (adult) daughter at 6 a.m. to get us the best place!  She and her boyfriend stayed to watch the sun rise and until others could get there.  We had one portable plastic “paillote” (tent without sides) so there was lots of time to be in the sun.  A Mexican caterer came with a huge wok-type grill – but flatter – to make us paella.  Lots of sea food in it – delicious.  Later in the day we ate catered Senegalese food.  Also good but much spicier.

  

People brought stuff (valuable stuff as it turns out) from their time in CAR which was auctioned off.  All money is going to Water for Good, an NGO that works to provide clean water in CAR.  We had a great time bidding, explaining what the object was and where it came from (sometimes even telling the truth), and laughing.  I bought a shirt – it was made for a man, but does fit me.  Many of the items have now appeared at two or three reunions to be re-auctioned!  Doubly valuable.

Sunday, we went to Alcatraz. A flat rock in the bay was made into a military fort in the 1800s.  Later, they kept military prisoners there.  In the early 1900s, it became a prison for the general population.  Prisoners who had caused problems elsewhere were sent to this maximum security prison – 1 ½ miles from land.  The warden, guards, and their families lived on part of the island so children took the ferry to SF daily for school.  The prison was closed sometime after World War II, then from 1969 to 1971 the island was occupied by Native Americans who claimed the land as theirs.  The island, whose names comes from old Spanish “island des alcatraces,” or Seabirds Island, is now part of the National Park system.  A ferry runs regularly from Pier 33 to the island park.

 

Water has always been brought in on a barge; none occurs naturally.  Despite that, guards’ wives and some prisoners planted and cared for beautiful gardens.  One prisoner worked on the gardens for 8 years.  Recently, the park got money to restore the overgrown gardens, that had, well, gone to seed…  Barbara is a volunteer gardener who goes a couple of times a week to assist and some other days to be a tour guide.  She arranged for us to help out.

About 15 of us went on the first (staff) boat.  Barbara gave us a quick tour of the island, emphasizing the work being done on the gardens.  Then we cleared out dead plants, dead-headed geraniums, etc.  Most people worked between two and three hours, but I had to leave earlier so I could get to the airport for my flight back to Pennsylvania.  Here’s my work supervisor – s/he watched most of the time I worked –and occasionally sang to me.  Beautiful area and a wonderful way to spend a morning.

Back in Cameroon

Elisabeth Johnson and I arrived back in Yaoundé on the same flight.  (Interesting that both of us could get a direct flight from Paris to Philadelphia – or Minneapolis for her, but neither of us could get a direct one coming back.  She had to make an extra stop in Boston and I in Atlanta.)  Since we needed to come to Garoua Boulai/Meiganga the next day, we arrange for Gbabiri David to drive us.  His friend Celine came along. 

On the road at one of the toll booths, Celine bought some verres blancs that are found in stands of bamboo.  I couldn’t see them closely when she offered me some – so I took and ate three fat, whitish worms from a barbeque stick.  Mostly I could taste the oil and crispness from the grilling.  She offered me more, but I declined.  She said that sometime she will make me some that are better than these.  (Oh, boy, can’t wait!  Yes, the fact that I did not grow up eating these fat worms –or caterpillars – does add a bit of a gag factor…) No picture available as the camera was packed too far from me.  Maybe that’s better…

Just after getting in to Garoua Boulai, I went to the Camtel office to buy internet credit.  It seems that in my absence, the phone/internet companies (at the direction of the government) froze all accounts until a copy of an identity card could be provided.  This is supposed to (somehow) increase security in the country.  No problem, I had a copy of mine with me.  But, a problem developed when that didn’t work.  They said they had to call their boss who was on vacation to find out what to do.  They promised to deliver it to my house with credit.  The woman came at 5:45 with the device and my money; they couldn’t get it to work.  She said I need to buy a new sim card – now why couldn’t they have called me to ask me and do it that day??  I had to go back this morning – office opens at 7:30 a.m. so I went an hour later and the woman was there, but the man who could solve my problem was not.  She called him on the phone and he said he was “on his way.”  20 min. later she called again and he still insisted that he was “on his way” but had to come on foot.  (I had walked, too... So, why couldn’t he tell me about when he could arrive so I could have done some marketing and come back?)  Once he came he basically ignored me, called the boss again, and finally they gave me a new sim card with credit.  I got home (after a needed trip to the market) and found that the devise cannot establish a connection.  (Sigh.)  I called again, and the woman said the man was out of the office, but would come by when he gets back – he is the only one who can fix this problem; she can’t.  (Double sigh.)  So I am preparing this blog entry while awaiting an internet connection; think you’ll see it today?

I am sure that this story has similarities and differences to those you have about technology.  It may not play out exactly the same, but it is still true that when technology works, it makes things easier, faster, and increases connections.  When it doesn’t work, it is a royal pain!

My suitcases are unpacked.  The house is dirty and the girl who was to come clean today didn’t show up.  She doesn’t currently have a functional phone. (Sigh.)  I leave for 3 days in Meng, though, tomorrow, so I will clean (or find someone to do it) when I get back.  I will be doing a workshop on pedagogy for the professors of the seminary (of Meiganga) and those of the Bible School in Meng.  Elisabeth will be there, too.  So, in a bit, I have to pack again – a little differently than for my trip to/return from the USA.  More about that trip next week.

Maybe it is good that I don’t have internet.  It will delay my sending this, but I can’t even consider starting to get caught up on emails on a Saturday!  

PS  Obviously, my internet is working again!