Au revoir, 2008!

After leaving Bogo this morning at around 5AM on my trusty bicycle (which I fear may actually be a complete piece of junk) for a 38km ride into Maroua, I thought I'd sneak one more blog entry into the year that was 2008. The ride from Bogo this morning could best be described as delightful seeing as December and January here is considered the cold season. At about 5AM the temperature is hovering around 60 degrees. After the past few months of non stop sweating, 60 degrees is pretty damn cold and I was sporting a long sleeve shirt for the first time since leaving the States. And to make the ride a little more enjoyable I brought along my new friend, which happens to be a 3 week old puppy. I got him about a week ago, and while I didn't feel comfortable taking a two week old puppy under my wing, mostly for his sake, I then saw the emaciated mother of the 5-6 pups and figured I'd be doing everyone involved a favor. As far as naming him, I'm leaning towards 'Timshel.' Yes, bizarre I know, but its from my favorite book (East of Eden), and if I have to bottle feed this rambunctious little ball of fur for another 3-4 weeks then I'm going to name him whatever I damn well please :) While the bottle feeding for meals and waking up at 3AM to take him outside to do his business is getting a little old, overall he's been pretty entertaining.

So naturally I have to take him on any trips longer than a few hours (this one being overnight), so he got to ride along in his box strapped to the back of my bike. I'm actually quite envious considering he's got a hot water bottle and a blanket back there. Of course once he gets old enough to guard my house I doubt I'll be lugging him anywhere, so he better enjoy it while he's got it. Luckily I don't share my father's aversion to making rest stops on long voyages, so he was able to relieve himself of his breakfast right down the road from a group of elderly ladies selling beignets (small pastries). Seeing a white man going down the road on a bicycle in rural Cameroon is in itself quite a shock for most people. So I imagine I either made their day or reinforced the idea that westerners are completely insane (maybe both) when I took what looks to be more like a hamster at this point than a puppy out of the box and patiently waited as he marked his territory.

As for my business here in Maroua today aside from updating the blog and checking the ESPN website to see how terribly the Browns did this year (surprise, surprise), I also hope to meet up with my counterpqrt, a local farmer/high school teacher to discuss our plans for the next few months. Thus far he's been integral in helping me settle in and feel welcome in the greater Bogo area, except of course for the goat-heart dinner the other week. He's already implemented some very simple strategies on his farm to improve soil fertility and reduce his costs on fertilizers drastically, and his enthusiasm to diversify his income with things such as a small-scale orchard and beekeeping should keep us busy (only suggestions at this point). Often times people that don't have the financial luxury to think about long term strategies need to see something already in practice and the benefits being reaped before getting on board. So with the Peace Corps mantra of sustainable development in mind, the goal here for my first few months in Bogo is to help my counterpart set up a demo farm of sorts among his existing farming activities. In the long run one hopes that this gentleman can pass along these agricultural practices to neighbors, family, or any other interested party. He's proved to be very intelligent, level-headed and altruistic thus far and seems more than capable. Its a very small start, but if 20 people are invited to learn about what we are promoting and only one or two of them actually start to do it correctly and wholeheartedly then I'd say we've made some progress. It's only a matter of time until they too pass along the know-how.

And while in town I also need to track down my friendly shoe salesman at the Grand Marché from whom I bought a pair of soccer cleats a few weeks ago. I grabbed the wrong size and as a result I've got massive blisters on my heels and two bruised big toenails. We seemed to have a pretty good rapport despite intense price negotiations, so hopefully we can work something out. And even if not some of the guys I play with in Bogo do so barefoot, and regularly make me look silly when they have the ball. So if my friend at the market won't cut me a break I suppose its time to really find out what its like to play soccer northern Cameroonian style: Barefoot on scorching sand, gravel and jagged refuse (batteries, glass, metal, you name it). Woohoo, cant wait for the next match!