First Impressions

I must say I am very glad that I lived in India before coz otherwise this would have been the cultural shock of my life! The moment I put foot in Douala I new that most of the things I read about it before were not going to be entirely true! The fact that there is a constant temperature of 30 degrees all year is the biggest lie!!! I arrived at 7 pm and the temperature was 35, and keep in mind that is the night temp!!!! I was lucky that I met a nice Nigerian man during my flight, as he was a diplomat he helped me get through all the controls quite fast. Nevertheless, the time saved didn’t get me far as the luggage pick up was the next burden. It was very funny to see how the guys were manually bringing the suitcases one by oneJ There were more guys trying to help you out with the luggage than actually luggage to carry. Then I almost got in a fight with this one guy who just took my suitcase without asking and later wanted money. Luckily Willy (my aiesec buddy) was there to help! Then the taxi ride was a lot of fun. I didn’t really see much as there hardly are any street lights in Douala but therefore I felt every single stone on the road, well if you can call them roads! They are more like one big hole after the other. As expected my apartment was not ready for my arrival, so plan B was to stay in the Aiesec house till Monday (just want to let you know, I am still here!) Actually you can’t really call it house. Its more like a shed. Well we have one big living room which is quite nice, and then a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom. (Oh one week later I found out that there is also a kitchen!) It’s all just a matter of getting used to, the fungus on the wall and the cockroaches. Well I lived in Maastricht, that helped I guess. The only thing here I still try to avoid as much as possible is the toilet… Well first of all there is no light so you really have to watch your step. Then I don’t think it has ever been cleaned, at least not for a very very long while. The shower are some buckets next to the toilet and you really don’t want to know how long those buckets have been standing there. I would say the water has some yellowish colour! But as I said, it’s a matter of getting used toJ Well back to my first night… Apparently it is an Aiesec thing that one has to share the room with the buddy…. Hmm well the problem was that he only had one small bed and there were some free beds still left in the house, so I convinced them that I am very prude and out of respect towards my boyfriend I would rather sleep alone! Hehe, baby thank you! Then I got a nice little bed in a bedroom which I am sharing with another guy under some nice pink mosquito net which is probably older than the house. But its not the oldest thing there, I guess the mattress is also growing some fungus, so it can not be that new. But nevertheless I was so tired that I was just glad there was some place to sleep!
Uh something important I forgot in between, dinner!!! The food brightend up my day. It was the weirdest combination I ever saw but it was delicious! I had macaroni with rice banana beef and some tomato sauce. Oh so good!
The next morning I was actually able to see were I was. At night it all looked a bit nicerJ But you really learn to like it. First thing we did was go to a market to buy me some towels. That was so much fun! I will not even try to explain it coz I can’t put in words. I was a highlight there, all the time I heard…. “La blanche, la blanche, bebe, bebe” Of course all the prices went up by ten times as well! Oh who ever told me that life in Douala is cheap… big lie! Here people say it’s the most expensive city in all of Africa, now if that is true I also don’t know! One thing that I realised during our little trip was, though, that I really am the only white girl in the city! I am not joking. Until know I have seen 4 white men, one of them being Bartek the Polish Aiesec guy. I didn’t think it would be that extreme, but well another thing I have to get used to, or lets put it this way the people here have to get used to!
Talking about the people here, they are all really nice. Especially the Aiesec people, I met them all during a small party we had on Sunday, and there was not one I didn’t get along with. They are very welcoming and fun to hang around with. The only problem is that they get a bid too attached. I really cherish my privacy and well for the past few days I haven’t had any! Funny is also the discussions I have with the guys. They are very interesting and sometimes end in up in arguments as our way of thinking does differ a lot, especially when it comes to the theme women. Apparently we are some weak little creature whose main task is to get married and have children…. Well I think the ones who know me can imagine how these conversations go!
But well, back to Douala. Sunday I accompanied Carol a girl from Kenya to look for an apartment. That was great. I got to see most of Douala, and then I finally saw some areas which do look nice also from the outside. Smart me of course forgot to put sunscreen on that day and now I can peel my skin like a potato!
Well what I actually came here for…work… I started Monday right away. The area where the office is seems really nice. The building… solala. But our offices have AC, which is a gift from heaven here. I immediately met my boss and we got along really well. Also everyone else in the office is really friendly. They all live their own lifes, but we get along great! The work itself, I can’t really say cause I haven’t really done anything so far! My boss said that I should use this month to really improve my French as he sees that I have a good basis, and his plans for me is to send me abroad to French speaking projects in one month or two. Hehe, that will be another great adventure :s
All in all, I really like it here. If it weren’t for my malaria pills I would also enjoy it even more. But ja as expected some nice side effects are showing up ones in a while as extreme moodswings. So one moment I am jumping around laughing the next moment I am about to cry and sometimes I even get angry at everything that moves or everything that is male. Well that really is annoying me, every man here tries to get to know me. At first it was funny and now it is just annoying and sometimes even scary (uhh I had a scary taxi ride)! Most of the times I ignore it, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. But I guess with time when I know my way around and I wont be that new to the others anymore, this will hopefully get better.
So all in all, first expression…definitely worth it. You can not imagine it unless you see it yourself! Let’s see what the future brings.