Dschang (pronounced “Chong”)

After two weeks with my host family in Yaoundé, the program has moved to another city in Cameroon until the end of February.

About six hours away from Yaoundé, Dschang is not nearly as large as the capital and could be classified as a small college town (not quite as small as Holland, MI.) It’s extremely hilly here and my 35 minute walk to/from school is a better workout than any machine at the gym.

I also have a new host family who I absolutely love. They have been extremely welcoming without stifling my independence or personal space – a perfect balance. In the house there are two parents and three teenage children. There are four other kids who are older and live elsewhere, but there are enough extended relatives who come in and out every day to make you think that 50 people live in the same house.

This family also commented on how well I already speak French, and hearing that will never get old. Within the first couple days we have had some really great conversations ranging from Obama and the USA to house pets. It is really hard for Cameroonians to understand why anyone would want to keep a goldfish until it dies as opposed to letting it grow and then eating it. I also tried to explain that Jett is going to be a Seeing Eye dog, but there was a major miscommunication. I was talking about how he wears a special harness and sleeps in a crate when I realized they thought I was talking about Becca. It was actually pretty funny, but also a good reminder that I shouldn’t take compliments on my French too seriously.

Note: the combination of a more rural town and a farther homestay means pictures are much harder to upload here. I will keep posting, but you might have to wait until I am back to Yaounde to see what Dschang looks like.