hello and welcome to 2010! woo hoo january!
back in maroua after the great southern getaway... dare i confess to being happy to be back? Turns out i missed these extreme parts! Who knew! Guess a certain fondness has developed between us despite my occasional resistance and/or assertions to the contrary.
Covered a fair bit of ground this last coupla weeks, felt great to be back on the road again. Nice to get to see some of the country – and what a truly diverse one it is too. Linguistically for one – yes i will not lie – it was an unbridled JOY to reach english speakin' parts once more! Albeit fleetingly – Christmas itself was spent in francophone kribi. Coupla wild days out at sea with some local fishermen there. Surreal now I think back to it. Sadly no prawns but a few lil fishies did for supper ok! Tried to profit from the occasion by lamenting to our two fishermen the lack of such hands-on physical skills in today's modern western man. 'ah but you whites have skills all of your own. You know how to... dramatic pause... switch on a computer!'
yeah well i'd know which i'd rather!
Christmas day itself was somewhat wretched – when your family and friends are as gorgeous as mine the separation is an ongoing source of difficulty i must say.
Anyways, as i took the 20 hour train/9 hour bus back up to the north, the phrase 'i'd go to the ends of the earth for you' took on quite a literal meaning. Think I've found that in extreme north Cameroon. So please imagine MY delight to announce my first visitor making the trip in just under three weeks! Could only be you da mama – cannot wait to see you.
When we finally pulled into Maroua central bus station, couldn't help but think back to the lost little stray who first appeared there back in September. Still lost, still wandering, but hailing down the mototaxi, jumping on the back without being adamant he was gonna ambush me in a ditch somewhere (!) and even conversing with him in (albeit terrible) french, well it kind of felt like home.
happy new year
CS
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Hi Clara,
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should start this message by admitting that the below message is sent to lots of volunteers. If you think you can help, I may be willing to send some Earl Grey! ;)
My name is Martin and I am writing to you on behalf of a website that I am currently involved in starting up. We aim to provide prospect volunteers with all the information they need in order to feel confident in their choice of organisation, position and destination, as well as inspire people to make the jump and try out volunteering.
As a part of that, I was wondering whether you might be interested in answering a few questions and perhaps sharing any advice you may have for people who are considering to volunteer.
If you think you might have time to do this, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me through info@volunteeringinfo.org, and you can view the website I’m representing at http://www.volunteeringinfo.org.
Thanks, and keep up your amazing work!
Martin Jonsson
Hi Clara,
ReplyDeleteI'm a VSO volunteer in Cambodia at the moment and also completeing my MA through distance learning. For my dissertation I want to interview returned VSO vols (primary teachers) who have returned to teaching in the UK after their placements. If you'd be interested, please get in touch asap and pass onto other vols that may also be able to help with my research. gillyclifford@gmail.com
Thanks so much,
Gilly