Week 5: In which my illusions are further shattered and I purchase an extraordinary couch

Week 5: In which my illusions are further shattered and I purchase an extraordinary couch

Taking a night time bus from Yaoundé back to Dschang brought me home shortly after day break. The past few days’ efforts plus the sleepless night had taken their toll and I was feeling rather ill. So Saturday was spent resting up, though I did manage to make it into town to order a couch built for the new apartment, which was scheduled to be ready for me on my return from Yaoundé.

Sunday I was feeling decidedly better, and as it was the Grande Marché in Dschang, I couldn’t have picked a better day to be up on my feet and exploring around town. Today was also the day that the new Peace Corp trainees were scheduled to arrive as part of an exploratory tour of the area. The apartment next to mine is rented by the Peace Corp, meaning that one of these individuals will eventually be my neighbor. Early in the morning we met up with a full fledged volunteer named David who is already 9 months into his stay and working with a small health clinic out in the hills about an hour or so from Dschang. He was met by Ben, a trainee who will be working in agriculture and business, and Kat, a micro finance and business specialist who will be my eventual neighbor.

The trainees still have one month of a three month regimen of course work and home stay immersion before they are inducted as full volunteers and sent off to work independently. The two-thirds milestone sees them sent off for preliminary week-long visit to their eventual work sites with a small scavenger hunt type assignment to complete. My future neighbor is quite nice, and in a stroke of good fortune (as those that know me well can assuredly avow), she also happens to be a rather shrewd and enthusiastic card player!

With Lindsay drafted yet again into the role of tour guide, we set out into the bustling market to buy panya and otherwise soak in the sites; all in all a fairly relaxed day. Monday I contacted the concierge of my apartment to check in on the progress. Turns out he was also away on business and all preparations came to a stand still. I was certainly disappointed by the delay, and my spirits only worsened upon my discovery while shopping for various furnishings that I had come into possession of a counterfeit 10,000 franc bill.

10,000 cfa is no small chunk of change, and is in fact the largest denomination of Cameroonian currency. For this reason it is impossible to receive it as change, and in tracing the history of this bill it is clear to me that it came from an ATM. When I brought my problem to the bank I’ve been using, in a fairly livid state, they of course denied any responsibility. In a fit of temper I shredded the bill, which I now kind of regret as it could have made an amusing souvenir. An expensive lesson but one certainly well learned, I now check all the bills I receive and am seriously considering investing in a 2,500 cfa counterfeit marker.

The next two days were spent hounding the concierge to finish painting and cleaning the apartment, and bouncing back and forth between the water and electric utilities to get my services turned on. Of course once the water and power came on, I find that there are broken power outlets and faucets that can’t turn off so plumbers and electricians had to be called in. I’m judiciously saving all receipts and it's come to the point were my first 3 months rent is already paid for, as with the landlord absent it falls on me to pay all these expenses.

Wednesday evening I picked up my couch and by Thursday I was moving into the apartment, attracting some funny looks as a travel from the Nana’s house with my entire luggage in a pushcart I was bringing myself. Working as a “pousieur” is not the most typical activity for visiting foreigners. Now I’ve got the bare bone essentials and even had a few friends over for a drink to break the place in.

The COUCH!

But the expense and difficulty of moving is only compounding my visa related stress, and on Friday when my government friend David placed a direct call to the director of the DBF only to be given the counsel that I return to the US, I must admit I hit an all time low. Desperate toned emails were sent and whiskey was consumed. Confronted by rising costs of a money trap apartment and the apparent loss of my host family and disgusted with the constant market place price fixing, the ineptitude of the public utilities and the visa situation above all, I am really questioning my mission here.