One month in….

We have been in Cameroon a whole month now.  Wow! What does this look like?

 

Walking home from the elementary school

Well, yesterday we had the pleasure of celebrating our daughter’s 11^th birthday with 3 of her friends for pizza and cake and a movie. What a blessing she is! 

So how is this possible? 

There is a Cameroonian man who lives just down the road and has one of the little shack ‘boutiques’.  He is a Christian man who, with his wife and kids, does neighborhood kid’s club/evangelism, and disciples young men.  He caters to the nearby missionary (mostly) American community by making pizza.  I had thought about making it myself, but this seemed like a great opportunity to support local business, try the pizza, and have less stress today.  Silas’ sons brought the pizza by last night at 6, half-baked, and I put them in our fridge until noon today.  He only makes pizzas Friday and Saturday nights so we kept his pans and will return them on Monday. 

I made a cake on Friday, put it in the fridge (no ants in the fridge) and iced it this morning.  Thankfully, I brought my Wiltons kit along to France and here so I could do it well and SO thankful for my mom who taught me how.  My first electronic purchase was a hand mixer (okay I did buy a fan first, but only because the store was out of hand mixers!)  Unfortunately, I didn’t buy 2 cans of powdered sugar so we ran a bid short on icing.  But I have discovered that although there is no buttermilk in France or Cameroon, milk with a bit of plain yogurt works well in my chocolate cake.  

The movie came via our personnel director who has been collecting movies for decades from other missionaries and has a lending library! Another friend has a projector (good since we don’t own a TV here) and I borrowed some small usb powered speakers.  My computer played the DVD and voila, The Incredibles!  Monday I get to return everything.  J

 

Kristin with 3 friends for her party

We have had training on life here.  We learned about what to do in in emergencies, basic health concerns of the tropics, who to call when you need something, and how to cook some traditional food.  

Getting Rabies vaccinations

Rebecca and her helper in the Kitchen.

We’ve met with the director of personnel, and discussed what our future here might look like (many more meetings to come on that one!)  We have learned how to get money, and paid to get drivers licenses.  We’ve volunteered at the kids’ schools.  We’ve gone to parent meetings and game night. We  went to the closing ceremony at Ben and Kristin’s school for the ‘joint learning session’ – a three week session for MKs who live in villages and those who will go to school at the Greenhouse school all year.  

Kristin and Ben's classes together for an art class

Learning about explorers 

Our filter

Our reserve

We have been with out tap water for 9 days since we have been here.  Our house doesn’t have a giant reserve tank, but the neighborhood across the street, Newland, where many missionaries live, does, so we always had access to water, just not in the tap.  We also have a big blue barrel in the kitchen as a reserve.   I don’t like the water issues, but I’m dealing with them better!  

We changed out our propane tank and got one filled for a reserve.  We played volleyball after work.  We’ve been to a birthday party for a good friend’s child.  

Hannah's 8th birthday

Our first restaurant experience in Cameroon!

And today, we were blessed to go eat hamburgers and shakes and fries after church- first time in over a year.  Who knew we’d find that in Cameroon!

We’ve spent hours here in town between our house and a grocery store with meat.  We’ve learned to buy for at least 2 weeks so you don’t have to go again so soon.  Meat is expensive, but we still eat it.  I know we could go to beans and survive, but I’m not there yet.  I love good food!  We found chocolate that is okay and not bad and expensive, so we have our daily square after dinner every other day here. We found school supplies- and we miss things like scotch tape, duct tape (thank you Govers), Elmer’s glue, nice markers and colored pencils, colored paper, nice binders that don’t cost a fortune (but you need 4 hole ones like in Europe NOT 3 hole ones like in the US), and lunch boxes (I’m looking for insulated lunch bags or boxes!  Not to be found here.)  

Street market as seen from the car

Outdoor furniture market we drive by

Buying pillow while in the car

We’ve had friends over for dinner and lunch.  We went to a yard sale at Newland.  Thank goodness it was just before Kristin’s birthday.  It is hard to find little things for gifts here.  We received our first order form for Scholastic Book Clubs, International schools (Prices are high, but include shipping!).  Seen cool sunsets, birds and lizards.  

Local colorful lizard

Small lizard 

Friday's sunset at RFIS- Rainforest International School

In the month we’ve been here there were 2 days I cried and felt I couldn’t pray. But that means there were 30 days that I smiled and prayed and gave thanks for my/our many blessings!  Our kids all have friends.  Friends that I like- we have prayed for this for so long.  And talking to the parents here, they have prayed for friends as well.  Double blessing and answer to prayers on both sides.

Noah and Gabe at game night

Dinner with friends- lots of veggies and guacamole made with avocados from our yard

I got house help- she calls herself a domestique.  She comes 3 mornings, and sweeps and mops and washes windows, takes out the trash and compost, cleans the bathrooms, does dishes, and on her Wednesdays she goes to the market for produce for me, and bakes a sweet bread or banana bread for me.  She is Francophone and helps me with my French.  Her name is Hortance.  Someday I will take her picture.  She is a nice lady with 4 kids.  I am so thankful for her help!  We are thankful for all the people who answer our questions, help us with groceries and driving (we are hoping to buy a car soon.  They are expensive here.), show us how to find things.  There is a library here, not 4 libraries: one at Greenhouse, one at RFIS, a scholarly library at SIL, and a reading room.  I can read.  I can take time to rest and sit still and just be. I have time for quiet times with God and no pressure to get going quickly.  It has been a long time.

 

Greenhouse (elementary) library

RFIS library

Please continue to pray for our adjustment, our work as we figure it out, our testimony, our love/Christ’s love to shine in us, our kids and school, to find a good vehicle at a good price, and to figure out how our budget really works – not just how it was suggested 2 years ago on paper.  Pray that our house in Virginia rents quickly to good renters who stay a long time.  Thank you!  Thank you for reading.  This was long!

Laundry

For the second day another line on the porch

The prayer chapel at RFIS

Inside the prayer chapel at RFIS

P.S. We switched internet providers and have the first month of 'unlimited' use- so lots of pictures this time!  Praying it works well for a long time because sometimes the outages are just random.

We Made it!

3 August 2014

We arrived in Yaoundé Tuesday night –

  

Leaving Geneva

Later than planned, as the weather made our flight late. 

Our welcome sign in our new apartment

Our friends, Gabrielle and Blake came to help with our bags and sort out help at the airport. Amazingly, all 15 of our checked bags arrived. We made it to our new ‘home’ around midnight, found pajamas and toothbrushes and went to sleep.  Wednesday we woke to cereal, eggs and bread provided for us, and the beginning of the fight with ants.  The Mayos helped us with lunch (peanut sauce beef) and all kinds of information:

How to use the water filter in our home (it’s a big plastic bucket with a spout and another plastic bucket on top to put tap water it), the importance of drying our dishes after they are washed and before using them, making sure clothes are completely dry before wearing them, how to get internet and phones, little tidbits about buying food from the ‘boutiques’ on the street (little shacks or lean-tos on the side of the road); washing fruits and vegies in bleach water solution for 20 minutes.  They had stocked our place with some essentials, but we would need to shop soon.

We unpacked more in the afternoon and then had dinner with Ray and Ann Kapteyn and their son- yummy mac-n-cheese and noodles with chicken sauce.

                                               

                                                (They were house sitting a parrot)

Wednesday night I took Noah’s temperature.  102.6.  No visits for him on Thursday! Thursday we went to turn our passports in and receive certified copies until we have local id.  And we went to the coffee break.  We were fortunate enough to be there on a day that a new testament was having a preview dedication.  It is finished and has been sent to the printers in Korea, but two prototypes were given to the pastor and leader of the community. 

There was a choir and a speakers, prayers, and cake.  Joey gave us a ride there with Gabrielle.  She helped us buy aunt killer and tp at a boutique on the way home.  Lunch that day was with Ruth and Christophe Mueller. Smoked chicken.  YUM!  Really good.  Ruth helps with making sure we have all we need, like hangers and pots.  Somehow we needed a nap after that. That night we ate at Kay Watts and Gabrielle came too (guess what peanut sauce beef again, with the traditional greens). 

 Friday we had to figure out lunch and it was only bread with jelly.  Laura took us to a store in the pm- santa lucia. That night it was dinner with Joey (guess what- peanut butter sauce beef!).  We talked a bit about the project we might go to, the foundations that have been laid, and the distance to travel.  Food for thought-

Saturday we were up to meet Blake at 745 to go grocery shopping.  I don’t feel like we got nearly enough food, but we ran out of money. We did buy something for dinner for the week and some lunch meat.  That night we had dinner with the Isaac family.  Kendall and Renee have 3 boys, full of life and enthusiasm (and a bit of mischief…)  It was NOT peanut sauce! We ate a sudo-lasagna with tomato and cheese and green beans and stayed and played games.

Sunday we overslept and missed church, but had a picnic at Rainforest International school.  We met lots of teachers, students, parents and staff of both rfis and greenhouse. Tonight our hot water line leaked – tomorrow they will fix it!

(and they did first thing!)

First thoughts:

It is not all that different from what I expected. 

The traffic is similar to that in Casablanca and what I saw in Sicily 20 years ago. 

The people are, at least outwardly, friendly. 

Everyone is working.  There are so many stores or boutiques, or people walking with wares.

 They are all looking for more work.  We have been offered house help from many people and with high recommendations.    On the aisles of the grocery, there are people who are supposed to help you.  One on each aisle!  

I have refrained from taking pictures of many things, but I will take more as I sort out what is culturally acceptable.

Taxis are cheep and you give your price and see if they are willing. A good taxi driver helps with more than driving.  Pay with your right hand.

Meat is less expensive than in France.  Other things, not so much.  Cheese is pricey and there is not much to choose from.

You buy peanuts in repurposed whisky bottles and they are good.

Bread is white and not as good as in France, but not bad.  Your house help can make it too or you can go to the booth down the street.  We can get bagels here!  And English muffins!  We never found those in Albertville.

Older women are called mama.

You can barter, but the vegetable woman right outside my gate does not lower her prices.  She is there all day each day with her children- except for Sundays. 

Converting prices is crazy!  5,000 here is about $10 US.  So when grocery shopping for the first time, 50,000 is most likely not enough!

Power and water and internet outages are common, not usually for too long, but it can be annoying when you had planned a Skype date and something is out. 

Weddings can go for HOURS!  The music Saturday started early afternoon and went all night until 8 a.m. LOUD with a wide range of styles.  They told us it is not like that all the time, but it is not unheard of on a Saturday night.  Tonight, Sunday, it is quieter than any other night- or day for that matter.

Dogs are on the street at night.

When the president is scheduled to leave his palace, stores are closed along the route for hours.  Guards with machine guns (or some kind of gun) line the street and are atop of buildings.  Don’t take pictures of them.

I am tired here and hungry.  Always seem hungry.  I think I will have a snack now.

Outside the city is really rainforest but the city keeps growing and moving in on it.

The roads here are like the JAARS off-road driving course. 

When the tap water is non-potable, cooking is seriously more difficult and everything takes longer.

There is chocolate to be found here.  It is not in the same class as French/Swiss/Belgian chocolate, but it works!

There are beautiful flowers, birds, and lizards, but it is hard to take their pictures because they are small/far away, or fast!

Food is more expensive than I thought it would be. Meat is less or the same as in France, but other stuff is more that France.

Powdered milk isn’t so bad especially if it’s cold.

The kids are beautiful.  The ladies dresses are beautiful.  There is much beauty.

     View down my street from a neighbor’s porch

Red clay is still hard to get out of clothes and it will suck off a flip-flop.

Thanks for reading and praying!

If you’d like to send a letter, our address is

Gassler Family

c/o SIL

BP 1298

Yaoundé Cameroon

We have phones and a shipping address if you would like that information, send me an e-mail.

Please keep praying that our house in Virginia rents very soon.