I assume most of you are curious to know what in the world I do here in Cameroon and how each day passes me by (My busy schedule keeps me from passing the days by)… I left by saying “I’ll be teaching English”.  But what does that actually classify? 

(A side note: It appears that phrase is thrown around a lot in the states especially nowadays.  We accept the statement with “aw, ok”- as if you know what that job description entails.  That’s how I at least took it at first.  It almost implies “you know, the usual… no biggie”.  The more I think about it and the more I live it, I must conclude it’s quite an arrogant statement and assumption. I’m not sure where I’m going with this…all I know is that it makes me tilt my head with apprehension now.  I just feel like we [as in Americans) feel so almighty compared to the rest of the world and the implications and acceptance of that statement is condescending.) 

I’ll begin by explaining how I got here (a question I ask myself quite often).  My mom faithfully attends a church in Pusan, Korea.  By the way, did you know South Korea sends the second highest number of missionaries in the world?  I forget the exact figure, but it was large enough to startle me.  Anyways, her church sponsors quite a few missionaries around the globe.  One of the missionaries, Dr. Kim, is based here in Cameroon where he and other fellow missionaries run a clinic and various other projects for the development of dear Cameroonians.  My mom also sponsors 3  adults from Cameroon in Korea by helping them out with nursing and computer science schools.

Anyways, Dr. Kim’s daughter attends a small, Christian international school here in Yaounde called Rain Forest International School serving students form grades 6-12.  Lovely mother,  he  and the director of the school somehow came up with the splendid idea of bringing me here to teach.  What is a Christian international school doing here in Muslim dominated West Africa you ask?   Well, about 2/3 of the students are MKs, missionary kids while the other third are Cameroonians.  Which sums up to be about 100-120 kids with a staff of 25.  So if you do the math, it’s about 4-5:1 student- teacher ratio.  I don’t exaggerate in saying that a good handful of the classrooms have less than five students.  I myself have two kids in my ESL class and six in my Spanish.   Missionaries in West Africa send their students here while the parents reside in villages and other areas to preach and lead development programs.  This is a generalization but it  sketches an accurate overview.  The students come from extremely diverse backgrounds.  Quite a few were born in the Congo and other parts of Africa. They spent a good chunk of their lives in villages learning through home school programs for primary education and returning to their parents’ home states during furloughs every few years.  You could only imagine how unique the students have been molded by their atypical environment. 

Without any training, formal qualifications and zero credentials, I am a teacher at this school.  Although I feel terrible for lacking formal teacher training, I believe I am best when interacting with people.  So I think I’m doing at least a decent job.  I’m not going to lie that I love every drop of hearing the students call me Ms./Señora Lee... It’s been over a month now and I’m still chuckling at that label.  Oh yeah, I won "Best Sunglasses" last Friday on sunglass day :D the kids think I'm pretty hip~

Out of the 100 there are 8 Korean students.  Only one of them takes regular English classes while the others attend ESL.   I also function as their English tutor and the liaison between the school and the Korean parents.

.. Right now though I’m supervising study hall… and outside our protected 7 feet fence reside a witch doctor. Yes, a witch doctor.  People told me that he started practicing his black magic about a year ago right behind our school. Currently I sit with my MacBook gracefully opened as sounds of ringing bells fiercely crowd the air with a man’s voice chanting and some poor woman screaming as if someone was only seconds away from killing her and wailing if her innocent child just died… literally.  Oh, and the worse part of it is that this can easily go for a hour or two.  I now hear some sort of beating. The man’s voice abruptly yells something, a striking lash accompanies it, then follows the woman’s howling… all on the fast beat of the constantly ringing bell… I could only imagine what the purpose of all this is… Actually, I don’t even want to know. 

T.I.A. dude. 

Current Mood: scared

This is definitely an overdue entry on my adventures in Cameroon.   There are so many stories, observations and people I want and need to document.  Not only for the sake of my own memories but mostly I want you to know how I am doing, what new things I'm learning, what yummy foods I'm trying in hopes of stirring some inspiration and to offer a peep hole into this far away land of Africa. 

First, I knew I'd be growing a lot during this year in Cameroon, but I didn't expect the forces that awaited me would pull and mold me as much as this.  Please note, I say all this with gratitude and abundant contentment.   Where to begin... Let me attempt to explain the beautiful scenery that encompasses my existence here~

Okay, so one of the first things that stood out the most in regards to the environment is the very thick red orange soil that packs the roads here.  This rich color is so intense that it takes a few washes after a post-hand scrub to get rid of the stubborn blotch.  I think the soles of my shoes will permanently remain tainted.  I know, I know I'll upload pictures soon.  Above the bursting dirt sprouts endless lavish shades of green.  The potent sun feeds fierce photosynthesis to the plants here and produces extra fine hues of  green... It's a breathe taking sight.

So Yaounde (also the capital) of Cameroon stands at 850 meters.   This high elevation pulls the sky close and draws the puffy clouds at hand's reach.  However I don't think I can really explain in words or prove through a picture how extremely near I feel to the heavens.  I'll just say that it's a colorful depth-full blue yonder.
It's currently the wet season, so spurts of rain will shower here and there for a few minutes at sporadic times during the day.  Within one hour the sky can transform from a heavy gray with tons of rain to perfect blue with the most spectacular shapes of clouds.  This fickle sky always appears in motion from below.

I sometimes forget I'm in Africa during my lessons when I get really enwrapped into my lecture.  Then I have a nice little lizard friend interrupt my train of thought as it crawls up the chalkboard.   I run into at least 5 fuzzy little caterpillars a day on my way to the bathroom each day.  You could then imagine how many sweet little butterflies flutter around my ankles.  We also have banana and guava trees on campus! I'll save my food entry for next time...
Until then, know that I am well and in constant good spirits.  I would love to hear from you, so please leave me a comment or email me at writetojlee@gmail.com
- love you and miss you dearly.

Current Mood: chipper