Life goes on

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been lodged in the hotel. A pleasant change for finally my room at the mission was booked in advance – it was certainly the time to move. I say ‘the’ hotel for everything concerning the university seems to happen in this hotel, which is almost opposite on the other side of the road. After the Presentation of Oaths ceremony in February, the Rector hosted a cocktail for all participants (academic and non-academic staff) and the pool at this hotel has been my repose for exercise and a mental break. So now I can swim to my heart’s content although this past week, tummy upsets had me feeling somewhat weak and I wasn’t able to enjoy the water as much as I would have liked.

The skies here are finally clearing after nearly a week of dry mist mixed with an enormous amount of dust brought down from Chad by the Harmattan wind. When this northerly blows hard, you have to protect your airways – those pictures you see of desert dwellers with cloth wrapped around their faces start to have real meaning! The locals say that the wind and quantity of dust is exceptional but then they say, climate change is affecting everything. Last weekend, the dust cover in my office was such that I took my computer to the hotel to work. The cleaner got to my office on Monday and finally I was able to reinstall . . . Everyone was in the same position but we finally got back to our desks.

One of the joys of being at the hotel is being able to sit outside in the garden at night and enjoy a simple evening meal. The nights are so balmy here and generally calm and clear. To see the trees behind the garden walls and feel embraced by the night sky is so calming and worlds away from the hustle and bustle of the street. I am so very grateful to have this moment of transition from one place of living to another. It gives me another perspective on life here and I feel supported while waiting to move into my apartment. It’s all happening and the move is not very far away.

Perhaps some photos to show you a little of Maroua. There are many more I would like to take but I have given much time to settling in to the university and less, it must be said, to getting to know my environs. However, I’m feeling at home in Maroua and learning much about its people and history.

Speaking of challenges

Finally in Maroua and settling in at the university at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Higher Teachers’ Training College). Perhaps the first challenge to speak of is not having been able to access the Internet to update my blog. There is so much happening here and everyone is doing their best but sometimes the network is down and at others, technicians have been working on it to strengthen the signal. So, I’ll update the blog when I can. Still trying to get some sort of routine established and with unexpected happenings being more the norm than otherwise, this is a little more difficult than you would expect.

Maroua is a good place to be. Some say it’s more like a big village than a city. It’s flat, dusty and spread out but not so big that you can’t walk the major part in an hour or two. There are no high rise to mar the horizon, no supermarkets, in fact, nothing much that reminds one of the packaged, commercially driven pace of what so many elsewhere take for granted. The buildings are concrete and many of the small dwellings of mud brick. The back laneways lead to a labyrinth of courtyards, dwellings and shelters where people live. All is dust and dirt and the depth of the gutters along the main sealed road shows the volume of water that flows when it does rain. But that’s a way off yet and until it does, it’s dust and sometimes a breeze which although pleasant, in town raises the dust.

I’m still at the Baptist Mission where I’ve been lodged since arriving in Maroua. All are very friendly and helpful there and I’m able to prepare a simple meal, hostel style. My stay there has been extended waiting for more permanent accommodation to come available. With the opening of the university, Maroua has suddenly become a university town with the concomitant needs that that implies. Within the past year, there have been 10,000 more people to accommodate, students and university staff, and this pressure has put housing at a premium. So with much patience, we will see what comes about.

Before ending, let me tell you about the ‘moto taxis’ or motorbike taxis that take everyone everywhere. There’s a plethora of them, mostly Chinese the low cost of which has seen ever so many on the roads. Observance of road rules seems sometimes non-existent and pedestrians have to learn to dash and dart in between these two-wheeled movers to cross the road. Even cars have to toot to show they’re there and get the bikes to move to one side. I’ve been fortunate to date to have had most considerate motorbike taxi drivers and when you consider the number of bikes around and potholes in the roads, the calm and reflective riding of your taxi man is all important. The other day, I was taken by bike to see the local tannery on the other side of the (dry) river – two on the bike plus driver. This is not unusual. You even see a child seated in front of the rider and another in front of a female passenger behind. If it’s not a child, you may see a goat – now that really looks like a happy family.

Beginning the journey

It's been almost a month since I last wrote - so much to do, so much to prepare to get myself packed up and away in two suitcases!  Well, yes, the luggage was overweight but that's the way it goes with many things to take that may be either unavailable or very expensive in Cameroon.  There were more training days in Melbourne at the AVI (Australian Volunteers International) office at the beginning of January and then just a few days to say goodbye to family and friends before departure.  I would like to thank all those who helped me in many little ways and Barbara, Michael, Kristine and Naic who facilitated my departure at the airport.  Your help was invaluable. 

Arrival in Cameroon went smoothly, quickly learning about Cameroonian time with a 45 minute wait for the luggage to come from the aircraft.  A VSO representative was there to pick me up and take me to the hotel.  The warm night air reminded me of being in Veracruz, Mexico, and the single story dwellings and city buildings painted a picture of a low-lying, sprawling urban landscape. 

The VSO office is located in an old house in the international part of town.  There are the dusty and broken-up sidewalks but there are also some trees and with good air circulation, the office maintains a pleasant temperature.  Younde is indeed over 700 metres above sea level so it is cooler than Maroua at just over 300 metres a.s.l. in the Far North, making it a good stepping-stone before heading for the hotter climate.  The journey by road takes two days, by train and bus a full 24 hours and by plane, well a day given the several hour wait at the airport. So, tomorrow I'm off by plane feeling the weight of mental overload with all the new cultural and logistic information to assimilate.  There are challenges still to grapple with but more of those in my next posting.

Getting ready for departure

Departure looms in a couple of weeks time.  Moments of anxiety and one hundred and one little things to do to tie off ends, pack up the house into boxes and me into two suitcases!  I thought I had done a great deal of preparation but when I think back over all my reading, I find myself needing to go back over it all again to have it imprint on my mind and make it feel solid and real.  If there were time.....

I fly from Perth to Melbourne on 5th January, attending predeparture training days at the AVI Melbourne office and then flying out for Cameroon on 14th January.  My mental focus is on getting myself ready for departure and as energy follows thought, perhaps I could say that I'm on my way already.