going home

1/7/11 1:00 AM (Douala time)

I have been awake for 19 hours! Woot! So apparently even flights flying out of Douala operate on Cameroonian time. We didn't board the plane until after it was meant to take off. We are flying over Benin right now. They are about to serve us some food which is great because I am hungered.

So after our grand send off we hopped into the van and hit the road for Douala. The chairlady of the congregation came with us to see us off at the airport. Along the way she had us stop a few times to buy produce. She bought sone awesome looking carrots that Shelby and I both thought looked very yummy. According to the travel clinic they're a no-no but I had a ton of salad and other no-no things this week and um doing alright. The ride was a bit crazy, the driver did 120 kilometers in areas that were marked 30 kilometers/hour. I'm nit sure what the kilometer to miles conversion is but I know we were going damn fast. We made it from Bamenda to Douala in five hours and thirteen minutes. Pretty good timing. We stood outside of the airport waiting for Gilbert, Caroline's brother, to come. He came into the airport with us and waited until we could check our baggage and proceed past the first security point. The lady as the swissair desk made Cindy check her carry-on, Cindy wasn't too happy.

Once past that level of security we went upstairs to the airport bar. It was very empty and very sketch. Shelby and I each ordered top grenadine and Dave and Cindy each got castel (the beer of Cameroon). Cindy ordered the seasonal fruit and the brought us a quarter of a watermelon with one fork....so Shelby hacked it up. On this trip every time someone offered Shelby and I wine and beer we said no, but tonight we both had some beer to end the trip.

We finished up in the bar and went to our gate. After waiting in the lounge for several hours, they made us all go out into the hallway and go through another security inspection. This time they took everything out of our carry-ons and examined them and gave us a very thorough pat down. They took away Shelby's knitting needles. A man searched Shelby's bag and apparently he had never seen a tampon before because he examines it thoroughly. We were sent into the lounge to do some more waiting. Finally they allowed us to board the plane! After everyone was on they sprayed the overhead compartments with bug spray. Even though we have left Cameroon I feel that our trip isn't over, there is still time for interesting excitements. I still can't believe our time in Cameroon is over. No more top, no more amazing food, no more feeling like a tourist attraction, it will be good to be home but I'm going to miss it.