Six months in and IST

We got to keep our tradition of decorating for Christmas in the first weekend of December.  We spent an evening with some friends, stringing popcorn, listening to Christmas music, sipping hot chocolate, and decorating a little tree.  We even got an ornament – a little bronze elephant head modeled after wood carving we see all over Bamenda.
We had In Service Training in early December, the first of Peace Corps’ official “checking in” on us,  We traveled to Limbe in the South West, and between training sessions spent time with friends we hadn’t seen since swearing in, playing in the waves, and walking on the black sand beach.  Midway through Jack came down with a fever and all the symptoms of malaria and started treatment for it, but test results say we’re still malaria free!  And he was back in good health once the malaria treatment was finished – the side effects of the medicine were about as awful as his initial sickness.
Kiyomi lost her diving mask to the waves while snorkeling in the surf, and we combed the beach for it, but it never washed up.  We did find some wonderful tide pools full of tiny oysters and snails and hermit crabs though.  We also visited the Limbe Wildlife Centre, formerly Victoria Zoo, which rescues and rehabilitates primates who’ve been orphaned by the bushmeat trade or kept as pets.  They have healthy, thriving, breeding populations of chimps, gorillas, drills and mandrills in surprisingly roomy habitats.  It was very nice to see.  While there, we had milkshakes and frosted coffee drinks that rivaled Starbucks at the Centre’s restaurant!  We were going to spend our last nigh in Limbe camping on the beach, but Jack was still sick at the time, so instead we accepted the hospitality of one of our stagemates, who is posted nearby in Buea, for Jack to rest until he was well enough to travel again, and we got to experience a Cameroonian take on fajitas.  Think sort of an unsweetened crepe/pancake filled with beef stew, minus the broth.  Really tasty, but we are looking forward to when we’re able to get authentic Mexican food again!