Blog Moving

Wanted to let my few followers here know that my blog has moved to: http://www.amyton.com/blog.

Snow Days!

Looks like we're having a snow day tomorrow and so I should have a little time to post about another region. I definitely enjoy the research and think it will be really helpful to me.

As a side note, I interviewed for a temporary position that would involve developing an AP French course before 06/30. I definitely might be crazy, but it would be a really good in with Virtual Virginia and could lead to a full-time telecommuting position. Telecommuting would be fantastic as then I could actually attend grad school!

Paid Up!

The check is in the mail and my trip is completely paid for! It wasn't really very expensive since the scholarship covered everything but the orientation and college's administration costs. The only thing left to pay for is my flight home from Chicago when we return.

Bags

I've been doing a lot of thinking today about what kind of baggage that I'll be bringing. We're not checking any luggage, so we can have two bags: one is our actual luggage, but must fit in the overhead compartment, the second is our travelpack, the bag we'll carry around with us all day during our time in Cameroon.

Monsieur Arachide, a friend on a message board, introduced me to OneBag and I have to give a serious shout-out. What a great resource! I feel pretty confident that I can pare myself down to the bare necessities as far as clothing and toiletries, but I can't decide what to put them in.

That same friend also sang the praises of eBags' Weekender pack and now I really want one. Now, it isn't that I don't have a backpack. I do. I have a nice L.L. Bean bag, but I can't ever find anything in it! It's deep and padded and I always feel like I'm shoulder deep, rummaging for my water bottle or wallet or whatever I was trying to get to. I really like that these unzip like a suitcase so that the contents of my bag stand a chance of seeing the light of day.

Then there are these things called "Packing Cubes." The way that travel bloggers and travellers go on about these, I feel like they need a religion or infomercial of both. Apparently if I buy a few, my life will be changed. Now, I'm not entirely convinced of their transformative powers, but I may see if I can find a few somewhere. They appear pretty cheap on eBay and if I can avoid the dreaded packing slide, maybe I will see the light.

So now the question arises. If I get a Weekender bag, do I use that as my real luggage or do I use that as my backpack? Ideally, I'd like this to be my main bag and to have a smaller daypack, but that might really be pushing it on the small scale and I'm not sure what I'd do with my laptop. Maybe my father will let me borrow his netbook. :)

Excellent News!

I thought I'd share some excellent news that came down the pipe last week.

1. I get to go to my friend's wedding. It turns out that it's on June 19 instead of later in June as I originally thought. Her wedding is in Grand Rapids, so it's not too far out of the way to Chicago.

2. My boss approved the time off as professional leave for the week or so that I'll be missing at the end of work. Granted, he might be willing to do this because he knows that I probably won't have a job afterwards, but at least I get to keep my sick days.

3. My boss also offered to loan me equipment and software for the trip. This is so fantastic because even though I probably won't borrow the equipment, I will have an awesome software package.

Info Lesson 1: Extrême-Nord

Province de l'Extrême-Nord:

Weather Today: High: 98 degrees, Calm and Sunny

The Extreme North province is the fourth most inhabited in Cameroon. It is mostly savannah, although the majority of native animals currently reside in the national parks. The most famous being Waza National Park.

This area is generally dry, and currently in the dry season. Human inhabitation has increased the desert-ness of the region, but Operation Green Sahel is aiming to plant more than one million trees this year to stop the encroaching desert.

The Far North lacks industrialization and most inhabitants subsist through sustenance farming or handicrafts. This lack of industrialization makes it a popular destination for adventure tourists interested in wildlife.

The Fulani are the major ethnic group here and the captital, Maroua, is mainly a Fulani settlement. When Germany took control in 1884, they met with great resistance from this group.

France took control of the territory after World War I and allowed the Fulani leaders or "lamidos" to essentially control the region. In the 1950's as European colonial rule in Africa was drawing to a close and André-Marie Mbida, a Cameroon native, became prime minister, the Far North province attempted to secede to Chad as the lamidos feared democratization. A Northerner, Amadou Ahidjo, used this issue to win the position of prime minister from Mbida.

Unforuntately, the current news from the Far North is that a terrible fire has ravaged the village of Ngoumouldi, not far from the capital. Most of the village was at a nearby market and a poorly extinguished hearthfire was believed to be the cause. Two children were killed, thousands of sacs of grain, millions of Francs, and hundreds of goats were lost, as well as the homes of nearly all of the 590 residents.

First Packing Purchases

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been thinking a lot about what kind of clothes to bring on my trip.

Yesterday, mom, a friend, and I stopped by the DAV Thrift Store on our way to the grocery store and I hit the Jackpot.

I've also been pretty torn about what kind of shoes to get. I have a pair of Merrell sandals, but wanted something that I could wear with socks too. I found a brand new pair of L.L. Bean Summer Sneakers in my size for $4.98!

Other great finds? An Eddie Bauer light green button down in size L marked down to $1.98, and for $2.98, a pair of khaki pants that button up to convert to capris in short length. That never happens.

Total cost: $0.00. You gotta love shopping with your mom.