Day 7

Well today was a good learning experience. I worked in the clinic until 11 or so and then we set out to get our passports stamped by the immigrations office where there were police everywhere with loaded guns. We then stopped by the white man store just to take a look.  However, our main goal was to find a stove and a gas tank for it, which we found but had to go back to get later.

Since Bill and I are the only coffee drinkers we stopped by Total the gas station and got a coffee for 250 francs which is about 50 cents, not a bad deal. When were then getting hungry so we stopped at a little hole in the wall and had a spaghetti omelet, it was quite tasty. And this only cost 300 francs, again like 90 cents. After eating we returned to the hospital.

This is where we at the spaghetti omelets and below is the spaghetti omelet, yes interesting, but it was good! haha

We then went down to the clinic where there was not much to do, but we had a nice long chat with Trixy asking her several questions, which my guess was overwhelming because I ask A LOT of questions! We then took Jordan the dog for a walk and bought some bananas. I then went and ate a little something then went to church for the Wednesday evening meeting. After the meeting I cam back and had a chance to Skype my best friend in the world and we had a nice little chat! Hopefully I will get to Skype my parents soon because I miss them so much, but they are traveling so it would be hard to Skype…plus internet connection here is very different from the States, one person Skyping at a time and it is overloaded. Anyways its time to call it a night., goodnight world. And I also just want to thank everyone for all the support and prayers! God is so amazing!

Day 6

After 3 long days of wearing the same clothes, we finally got our bags! What a relief. However we had to drive all the way to Douala to pick them up (which is a two hour drive). When we got to the airport we had to go into the baggage claim area and talk to the claims people, which took forever because TIA (this is Africa). She then took us into the room with all of our bags which might I add; it smelt like rat piss (excuse the language). We were then hassled by a man who said the lady insisted he take our bags, but we insisted we could do it ourselves! When then drove and looked around in Douala. Thanks to Bill we went to a Mediterranean restaurant, and it was soooo good! We had pizza, hummus and an iced coffee, delicious! 

 Our vegetarian pizza which was delicious!

After eating lunch we headed back to Buea. When I got back I was anxious to open my bags, I opened my rolling bag first and then opened my duffel bag just to find that the double-bagged Gatorade had ripped open and was all over my clothes! Ugh! So I did my first load of laundry (by hand…in the shower…in my duffel bag which I used as a “washing machine”). Wasn’t the best way to obtain my luggage, but at least I’ve received it. We then went to market and purchased a bunch of stuff for our room such as food, pots, oil, bleach, soap, toilet paper and the works. When we got back we arranged our room and then went and made Koki with the Cameroonians. It wasn’t my favorite but it was really neat to watch how they made it.

Today was my first day in the hospital using needles and giving IV’s, it was quite fun and really interesting, and I seem to think I caught on quite well. I stayed up until 12 with the girls working with patients then I went and slept in Mary and Tabby’s because Mary was working in the hospital the rest of the night with Sarah helping her out. I finally called it a night.

 My unfortunate clothes washing event that I had to do since all of my clothes were covered in Gatorade powder.

Day 5

Today is day 5 of wearing the “same” clothes! This morning, Bill took us for a nice drive around the town of Buea in order to see it and get some money exchanged. On our way we went to the base of Mount Cameroon and had an amazing view looking down on the city of Buea. We then got some money exchanged…when we got back we had a nice long chat with Bill and he even made us some lunch; which I might add was pretty delicious.

I now have central african francs that I can use here! Yah!

This is Sarah, Tabby and myself looking down over Buea from old Buea town near the trailhead of Mount Cameroon

After lunch we decided to call the airlines because my bags still hadn’t arrived, so we called Douala, still no sign of my bags, however Sarah’s arrived on Monday. I then called Delta airlines back in the States and they said they hadn’t seen it, but hopefully it had gotten on the flight to Ethiopia and that I needed to contact Ethiopian airlines in order to figure out where my bag was because they were the ones responsible for it at this point. Might I add by this time I was getting extremely frustrated because they were just “assuming” my bag was on its way here. So I decided to call Ethiopian Airlines and just as I called, Bill’s phone rang…It was Douala airport saying that my bags had arrived. That was such a relief, God must have been in on this whole ordeal because not 30 minutes early, Bill had called and asked if my bags were in and they hadn’t seem them. So tomorrow we will go pick up our bags in the morning…thank you, some nice clean clothes will be extremely nice!

This afternoon we went for a walk around town and began to buy some things that we need to get in order to start making food once we get a stove, we also made a pit stop and got some ice cream. We then came back and hung out, made some supper and played some Dutch Blitz. Today was a good day, but seeing I barely got any sleep last night I think its time to go to bed.

Day 4

Well today we slept in until 12:00, what a day!? Once we woke up, we went down to Mary and Tabbys to eat some lunch because we don’t have a stove quite yet; we had rice and potatoes, it was pretty good.  We then went for a nice walk around town, but it was really quite quiet because it was Election Day so everything around town was closed. This is the quietest day in 7 years. We then got back and went for another walk to the tea fields, wow, it was an absolutely amazing view! On our way back we meet this girl named Elizabeth and she gave us a huge bag of bananas, it was so sweet of her! We saw some pretty amazing things on our walk to and from the tea fields. Being in Buea has been so neat so far; I’m enjoying myself, however I miss my family.

 This is the beautiful view from the tea fields!

 This is Elizabeth, Mary and Tabby with the bananas that were given to us by Elizabeth, what a sweetheart. Even though they really have now money some people are such giving people! Amazing!

Day 3

Well after several hours of flying, a short layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we finally made it to Douala. Yellow fever check and passport check were both a breeze, no problems at all. We went to claim our bags and had no such luck; our bags did not make the connecting flight. This is probably because we only had 30 minutes between flights in Ethiopia and we were bused directly to our next flight.

When we arrived in Douala we saw Bill in the distance after waiting for our luggage, we finally decided it probably wasn’t going to come so we went out and met him.  Our luggage was still not coming. We then had to come back in to fill out a baggage claim form. Then headed to Buea about a two hours drive away. On our way we stopped at a patisserie and got a croissant filled with chocolate…it wasn’t too bad! Haha!

The hospital we are going to be living in and working in.

 Our room, at least one view, however more to come, but TIA (this is africa) and the internet is super slow here!

We finally arrived in Buea at the hospital and got settle in our new room! Today was all about getting settled in, so the girls gave us a tour of the grounds and we took a nice stroll around the neighborhood. We then finally called it a night around 10:00, because it had been a long couple days. It feels so good to finally be here! Anyways enjoy, more to come, seeing were on day 5 now :)

Day 2

Well, here I sit in Washington DC drinking coffee before I leave the USA. It has been a long day that's for sure, boarded the plan for Atlanta last night around 11, extremely stressed because we took off a half hour later than planned which put me with 30 minutes in between flights. The plane was packed so I had to put my bag in the very back, super stressed I wasn't going to make it to my next flight. To make a long story short, I booked it to my flight running the whole way because we landed in terminal A and the next flight left from terminal E! I made it to my flight and met Sarah who was already on the plane, I also met a really nice lady who is going on a mission trip to Ethiopia, had a nice visit with her which made the flight go by much faster.
This will be my last time on the internet before leaving the country, so as soon as I get some internet in Africa I will be sure to let you know how the rest goes...I'm hoping all goes well and that my bags make if from that short layover! Yikes! Peace out USA! I'm gonna miss it, but it's going to be an amazing 6 months...this is just the beginning :)

Looks like we've had a long night huh!? ;) Our last picture in the good ol' USA!

Day 1

Wow, it has been quite the week, brother is now married and I am finally on my way to Africa. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it will be one to remember. Me leaving for Africa almost seems unreal, its actually happening! I am excited, yet nervous and sad to leave my family and friends.

I left today from Walla Walla airport and I am now sitting in Seattle thinking about how much I already miss my parents and my best friend, along with all of my coworkers! You have all been a blessing to me! I am excited about the opportunity that God has put before me, it is going to be an amazing experience! I thank all of my friends and family for your support and prayers in making this happen. I can't wait to tell you all about my experience, I hope you all look forward to reading my blog. Enjoy! Miss you all!

 My handsome brother and his beautiful new wife Jamie

My amazing parents who I had a very hard saying good-bye to, I miss you both very much and Love you! Many tears were shed when giving our last hugs for the next 6 months, you both are great parents!

My best friend Lizzy, who I also had a hard time saying good-bye to, I miss you and love you as well!