All of our friends are still here from last year except one family.  They must of had word that we were coming cause most of the kids were waiting for us in the yard when we arrived on Sunday evening. Even Margaret, our expert cook, came over to hug and welcome us. That made us all feel really great. As excited as we were about coming again, there was a little apprehension about the unknowns of this year. We are not in the same house as last year, but are in the duplex right next to it. We are happy for that because it is a little newer and I don't think there will be worms in the shower this year.





Our African friends from the hood




Daddy's soccer goal he made and we brought in our suit case.  It is a real hit!




Toby's pic of Mt Mbingo



 We are into day three so I'll back up and fill you all in on some of the happenings to date. Like I said earlier, Monday it rained...a lot...so we didn't do too much.  There was a lull in the rain mid afternoon which gave Brian just enough time to get the soccer goal put together that we brought. He had cut pvc pipe into sections short enough to fit in one of our totes, then connected and glued them together here. The hood kids love it and are very mindful to hide it behind the house at night so that it doesn't get stolen. (Don't know how anyone could steal it, kinda obvious where it came from and hard to hide, but what do I know.) They have played until dark the last two nights. While trying to pack all our nine totes for the journey, I thought it was not worth the space...I was wrong.

 Toby has taken to photography.  He wants to take pictures with my camera all the time.  So I'll probably be sharing some of his photos with you throughout the trip.  He took this picture of Mt Mbingo behind our house. He showed it to me and it had this pretty rainbow reflection, very nice Tobs!  It is interesting to see pictures from his view.




Grass cutting day, it took them all day to finish this field by hand.





So, as I said yesterday it has all come back and hit me, the senses, the feelings, it is just hard to wrap your head around how different life is here.  I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and that my kids are learning lessons they will never have in the States.  I have forgotten how hard the people here have to work to survive and live.  And yet they don't think twice about it, they just do it.  So I don't mind at all washing my clothes in the sink or walking a mile to eat every meal ever day.  We have it very good and they are taking care of us as guest.  Yesterday morning we were surprised by a 7:15am knock on the door, it was a boy that lives close to us.  He has a bag of bananas and a broom, his mother sent him to give it to us as a gift.  They have very little and yet they are gracious and want us to feel welcomed. 

The other thing I forgot about was the STARES!  It is so odd to be the minority, sometimes walking around I feel like were freaks or something, :).  I had a man ask me yesterday if I would use my camera and take a picture of him with my children so that he could take it to his village and show his children.  Kinda weird, but I would have if only I had brought a printer of some sort.  I had thought about that when we were packing, to buy a little portable one, but decided we didn't have enough room.  Remind me next trip I need to get one.  It bothers Grace that everyone stares at her.  Joe is indifferent.  Toby, I think it just pisses him off and he won't even look or talk to them.  Brian and I are trying to be good examples and encourage the kids to be friendly non the less.

The other strange thing is that it appears that the local people cannot tell white people apart.  We've had discussions about it before but I experienced it first hand yesterday.  I had a man stop my, "Oh, doctor doctor.  You remember me?"  "No, remind me" "Yes, here are my records.  Please look at my test results.  I come to see you."  Yep, not me!  Now if my friend Liz was his doc, I would understand! :) One of the other volunteer docs (brown hair, beard, green eyes) told me that when he lived in Africa for a year with his friend (blond hair, no beard, blue eyes) that the people they worked with every day always got them confused.


Susan and Grace are becoming great friends!

And let me tell you about Susan, we call her Susie Q (she calls me mommy pooh after my Gracie McPooh Pooh).  Susan is from Gambia.  Brian met her dad when he was in Senegal last year, he is one of the pastors there.  Susan has very severe scoliosis and has come to Cameroon to have Brian operate on her cause it was easier for them than travel to the states.  Susan is 14 and is absolutely delightful.  Her and Grace hit it off from the start and I am so glad.  Grace will be a good support for her after her surgery since she is only here with her dad.  Her curve is 90 degrees.  One of the worse Brian has seen.  It will be a very intense surgery so please pray for Susan, her dad, and Brian.  He is trying to get it done tomorrow (Thursday) if they can get all her pre-op test done today.  She is excited about having the surgery cause she will be taller and the kids will no longer stare and tease her.
 
Ok, Tobs says I need to share the computer.  So I'll blog y'all later.




amy lea


PS-We enjoy hearing back from you as much as I hope you like hearing from us especially since we have no cell phones this year.