Day three

12/30/10 11:40 pm
They keep trying to feed us. At breakfast this morning Joseph informed me that I had the smallest amount to eat at dinner last night. We told to go up and get seconds at almost every meal. The food is amazing but there is so much. And I found out what the weird bread we bought on the road yesterday was...it's a soft sweet bread they serve as like a sandwich with chocolate. We walked up to the church at twelve and had lunch with the pastor. We shared a kola nut , which Is what coke is made out of...does not taste the same!! It seems that the majority of the food people serve is the same. There's always the spinach dish, fried chicken, rice, stew, potato, fufu. At lunch they added the cabbage dish. They are surprised that we know what the dishes are and that we've had them. I have had the salad multiple times now and haven't died so I'm not worried about it. Silly travel clinic. Soda is a huge thing, but I'm not sure if it is a regular occurrence or if it is because we are guests. The soda Is tasty but we'd be perfectly happy with bottles of water. After lunch we processed into the church. The church is one room with a corrugated tin roof that isn't fully attached. We sat near the front. The Women's Christian group sang as we marched in. During the service there was a lot of singing and dancing...it was great. Cindy preached the sermon, which was good but I wanted to hear a true Cameroonian sermon. At the end of the service gifts were exchanged. The congregation gave Shelbs, Cindy and I dresses!!!!!! Our gifts to them suck in comparison.

Next we got in our truck and headed down the bumpy road to Bangem. It's a primarily catholic town with the little Presbyterian church off to the side. This is the church we have had a relationship with for years. We plan on strengthening the relationship when we get back. During the service we lost electricity so we sang in the dark. Instead of a traditional service it was singing, dancing, and introductions. While we were at the service I started thinking about how the Presbyterian church's young adult volunteer program should be working in cameroon. The ride back to Nkikoh was kinda scary in the dark but we made it back in one piece. They are working hard to raise money to fix the roads, Joseph informed us. Back at the compound we were offered more food again. Shelby and I settled for just some fresh pineapple and papaya.

Shelby and I are in an awkward situation. We aren't males so socialising with them is awkward, but at the same time we are in official positions which makes it weird for socialising with the women. We aren't really sure what to do about it. It will be interesting to see if this changes when we get to Bamenda tomorrow. We love Joseph's brother David. It is really great. He jumps to get us anything. We invited him to come visit us in America.

Tomorrow we will have breakfast, visit some more and then drive to mundong. From there we get in a different car to trek up to Bamenda and face a new village.