Spring Break!!

I've just returned from Kribi, where I spent the last three days (Tuesday-Thursday). Kribi is located ont the beach, so this was the closest thing to a spring break that us SITers are going to have.

The hotel that we stayed at was located literally on the beach, so the first thing that everyone did after the 4 hour drive from Yaounde was to jump in the ocean. The water was REALLY warm; it was definitely hard to believe that it's the same Atlantic that's so cold in New England. There were also some pretty big waves, and it was a lot of fun to swim and to play frisbee in the water.

Typical of any beachside town, the food consisted largely of fish. I wouldn't say that I like fish, but the fish I ate in Kribi was AMAZING. I even liked the plantains-dinner in Kribi the first night was the only time that I have enjoyed eating plantains.

During our second day in Kribi we visited two pygmy camps. These weren't really camps in any traditional sense of the word. The first was a cluster of maybe 2 or 3 houses right alongside a road, while the second was one house set back from some Bantu (non-pygmy) houses. In each area we got to ask questions with the help of an interpretor. It was definitely an interesting experience, although these pygmies were quite modernized (comparatively) and hadn't lived in the forests for at least a decade. One group was Christian, and except for a few of the women they were normal-sized.

I spent the rest of the trip on the beach, either swimming, playing frisbee, or just hanging out. We headed back to Yaounde on Thursday, and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Pope, who was in town for a few days. I was in Kribi for the majority of his stay, but he drove past my house (which is on a fairly large road near where he was staying) a few hours after I got back. I have to say, the popemobile was a lot larger than I expected it to be!


On Sunday I'll be embarking on a 12-hour train ride to Ngaoundere, where I'll be staying for 2 weeks before starting my Independent Study Project. Ngaoundere has a lot of Muslims and a very different culture than Yaounde or Dschang, so it should be an interesting experience. I'll try to keep you all posted once I find an internet cafe there.