Bye Bye…
-Calling everyone ‘maman’ or ‘ma soeur’
-saying hello to everyone on the street; being able to hold a conversation with anyone I meet
-never being able to blend in
-passing groups of matching 5 year-olds walking themselves to school
-buying cheap snacks on the street
-people peeing on the side of the road
-beautiful green scenery and hills
-sweating at the sight of babies and kids wearing long sleeves and snowcaps in 80degree weather
-my daily baby-blue malaria pill….NOT. I have to take it for four more weeks after I get home.
-Manuella’s precious ‘fro that feels like Build-a-Bear stuffing and her oversized-outy bellybutton; Magnus’ strong opinions (fact based? Maybe…); Therese’s pregnant-ness and prissiness
-drinking ‘juice’ all the time. And when we say ‘juice’, we mean ‘pop’. And when I say ‘pop’, I mean the Real.Deal—glass bottles, not wimpy cans. TOP Ananas and TOP Pamplemousse, I will miss you!! (Pineapple and Grapefruit flavored pop)
-our group ringtone
-playing “the game” (polygamous and deuxieme bureau version, of course!)
-pretending I actually watch El Diablo when someone references it so that I don’t seem lame
-joking about being a ‘case study’ at next semester’s SIT orientation
-girls drooling over Bobo and Able
-Paul Biya’s picture plastered everywhere
-watching tv all the time; singing along to all the commercials
-the runs!! (too much info? Sorry)
-crappy pens and everyone’s constant efforts to sneakily steal them (there might be a relation between these two things now that I think about it…)
-dreaming of my next order for my tailor
-delicious papaya, pineapple, mango, avocado, fresh chicken…heck, I might even miss cassava
-my constant amazement at Cameroonians’ balancing-things-on-the-head skills
-people asking me if my freckles/moles/zits are mosquito bites
-horrible roads, dangerous driving
-taking taxis (with their nearly-always Jesus-y exterior, and sometimes-fuzzy interior). Frequently shutting my long skirts in the door, sometimes arguing with the driver if he doesn’t realize I already know the normal price of a ride.
-dropping “1,000” here and “1,000” there when shopping or eating
-the handshake with the snap that I’m just starting to grasp
-penciled-on eyebrows
-Bobo saying “ok guys, I’ve got your money” (for our weekly lunch stipend, etc)
-the concept of village life and all it entails (tontines, marriages with dowries, “funerailles”…)
-straight-faced photos
-child labor
-strong sense of financial responsibility for one’s siblings
-nose picking in public
-sleeping in my mosquito tent!! (weird!)
-using 2-in-1 shampoo (not so gentle on the hair…)
-wives’ dependency on their husbands for cash
-kids’ complete disregard for gendered clothing/backpacks
-that animal that makes the nose that sounds like the Catchphrase buzzer!
Hello…
-seatbelts
-stoplights, street names, street signs, addresses, and maps
-bathrooms with toilets, toilet seats, toilet paper, sinks, running water, trash cans, and mirrors
-warm showers
-five-bar internet that is actually fast
-full-sized refrigerators…full of food
-pizza, pasta, Mexican food, dairy products
-processed food
-microwaves
-trashcans
-not stressing over how to get change for a $10 or $20 bill
-non-cash currency
-spare keys
-seeing a dog without screaming “ah! Rabies!” in my head
-staying out after 6:30pm (!)
-grass
-sleeping through the night and sleeping in (I hope?!?)
