I am currently in Yaounde, the capital city. Which means lots of other Peace Corps volunteers, everything is more expensive and a lot of random white people. It is fun but then becomes old after awhile and I look forward to returning to the calm of post. I come into Yaounde about once a month for banking, using a computer, and a break from village. For this visit I tried to time it so I could be here at the time of the super bowl. The Peace Corps director was able to work it out so that we could go watch the game at the Marine’s house in the embassy. There is a six hour time difference so the game does not start till 12:30 in the morning and probably ending at about 4:30 am. So at about 10:30 the Peace Corps director shows up wearing a Jim Brown uniform and tells us all to pile in the Peace Corps mini bus. He then drives about twenty of us across the city to the US embassy. The embassy building is new and feels like a slice of America. Paved parking lots with marked lines, manicured lawns being watered, a speed limit sign in MPH. The house where we watched the game was what resembled an American apartment complex and housed the seven marines who work keeping the embassy secure. There were probably about 40 people there total between the marines, embassy personnel and random other Americans. There were two electricians that had been working on the US embassy in Chad but had been evacuated. The marines had prepared hot dogs and baked beans, but were charging money for them so I didn’t eat. They were also charging for drinks but they were pretty expensive. Of course it was a great game. We did not get any of the commercials because it was on the Armed forces network. Instead we got different public service announcements aimed at the military personnel. So we saw the dangers of drunk driving, credit card debt, shaken baby syndrome, and any other problem you can think of. We were all pretty much cheering for the Giants, so it was fun as the game remained close and the Giants pulled it out in the end. We did not get home till 5:30 am, but it was definitely worth it.
The biggest event right now is the Africa Cup soccer tournament. It is held every two years, and is a 16 team tournament. On Monday night was the quarter final against Tunisia. This is something all of Cameroon pays attention to. Small villages with no electricity pay to rent a generator and huddle in one room. In Yaounde everywhere you went you could see soccer jerseys and people blowing whistles and horns. We went to a bar to watch the game and it was a lot of fun as the crowd lived and died on what happened. Cameroon scored two early goals, and Tunisia fought back tying the game towards the end. It went to overtime with Cameroon scoring an early goal to win the game. They will now face Ghana which is a great team and the host country. We will see.
The other thing about Yaounde and having so many people around is that it is so hard to get things done. I cannot properly write a blog with people constantly walking by looking over my shoulder. Will write again soon.
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