"When they get to Douala they'll be very tired"

I have a moment before my flight to send out one last blog entry. I'm back at the Baptist Rest House in Douala. The idea is to get into town plenty of time before the flight just in case there are traffic problems or breakdowns on the way from Bamenda. It is a nice place here to wait, a shady place to sit, overlooking the port and river, and with access to internet. On our way down we came up upon a bus with some pigs strapped to the roof. Now, this doesn't phase me too much, being that I grew up walking past a deer carcass hanging from the rafters in the garage every November (deer hunting season). The surprising thing was that as we neared the bus I noticed one of them move it's head. As we tried to pass at one point I heard them squeal. They are strapped to the top of the bus alive! There was a funny conversation in the car between our driver (Victor) and a missionary lady.

Lady: "Are they suffering?"
Victor: Nervous laughter "when they get
to Douala they will be very tired"
Lady: "When they get to Douala
are they going to get cut up and eaten?"
Victor: More nervous laughter

Heading home

I am now taking a short break from packing. I will be heading to Douala via Bamenda starting tomorrow morning. My flight takes off at 11:35 pm and I arrive in Minneapolis via Brussels/Chicago on Friday evening. I am really looking forward to seeing Christie again. I think our reunion might go something like this one. Anyways I did my final lecture of the month today on heart failure which I think was well received. The Cameroonian residents that I worked with were great. Very talented and eager to learn. In the picture from left to right are me, Dr. Anna, Dr. Francine, and Dr. Jam. I thought you would enjoy this sign that I found on the wall next to the lab. You might not expect this terminology to be used in a Baptist hospital, but in pidgin some words that we might find vulgar are just the words you use for certain bodily functions. I may or may not add another blog entry or two after I get back. Thank you to those that have taken the time to read these entries.

Sunday

On Sunday I went to church for the last time here and managed to take a video which I have included below. It is Thanksgiving here and as part of that people bring produce in addition to money as an extra offering. After church Dr. Palmer took us to Bamenda in his pickup and we had chicken and "jama jama." It has been nice to get outside the hospital and see a few things before I leave. From the perspective of the Cameroonian "residents" a residency really means residency (everybody lives at the hospital). I have a few more videos that I will post in a day or two so stay tuned . . .

Mbingo Hills

On Saturday after rounds we went out with Dr. Palmer to visit his horses which are being kept at a Fulani compound up in the hills above Mbingo. To get there we took his green Suzuki 4x4 up some rough back roads, until the road ended. Then we crawled under a barbed wire fence and started on a hike. It is not uncommon for Fulani people to live miles away from roads, only accessible by horseback or walking. On our way up it began to rain, and then as is frequently the case here began to pour. What started as a trail became a stream with water running down it. At first bounding from rock to rock to avoid getting feet wet became resigning ourselves to sloshing through puddles. We weren't going to let a little rain stop us from reaching our destination. Upon reaching a ridge that we were to hike along, however, the lightning started. A close lightning and an instantaneous thunder convinced us that walking along that ridge wasn't such a good idea. At least we were able to pass one Fulani settlement (picture below) and gave a child there some bubble gum. On our way back the visibility was limited by the rain and clouds rolling over us so we got a little lost, of course, but eventually got our bearings back and made it back to the Suzuki. We had to wait for an hour or so for the water level in the river that we easily forded on the way here to subside. Jennifer, a medical student from Kansas City arrived last week, and she brought a Flip video camera, so I was able to catch some video of the trip and embed it below; the upload is a little more pixelated than I had hoped.