Going Bush Diving

Above: Roasted Fish, The Market, The traffic rock at a main junction (the closest thing to stoplight here), and a side road

Things at work have picked up as we have analyzed two proposed water systems. One of them looked good and the other had some issues. We put together a mini-presentation and met with the designer. After an hour of talking it was determined that another survey should be done to check for errors in the drawing. Additionally, we have located surveying equipment and will begin surveying tomorrow morning at 6 AM in a village outside of Kumba (they refer to the villages and the jungle as 'the bush'). There are about 5 or 6 villages that are waiting for us to come survey.

Also at RUDEC we have been educated on the cassava production process. RUDEC helps empower women groups in the villages by giving them tools and machines to more efficiently production. We are going to look at many steps in the process and see where we can improve the efficiency.

Last night we watched the Cameroon vs. Portugal at a bar in our neighborhood with many guys our age. It was very fun and spirited.

I have had my first two real African dishes. The first was Fufu ( a byproduct of cassava) and okara soup. This was like nothing we have in the States. THe fufo was worm dough that you made into balls and dipped into the suuuuuuper slimpy soup with your hand. You try to scoop as much of it in your mouth as possible. It is very messy. The crazy thing is that when the Cameroonians scoop it into their mouths they just swallow. They do not chew it at all. I could not even come close to this. I had to chew it a couple of times. The other was roasted fish ( in the picture above). You are given a bowl of water to rinse your hand and then you use your hand to eat the meat off of the fish. This was the best fish I have ever had. The sauce was unreal and the meat was sooo good. Amazing. The grain you see on the plate is another byproduct of cassava but i forget the name. It was very very good as well.

The next 4 or 5 days could be very busy as we might survey many villages in a row. It will be tough work and is going to truly test my manhood. I will write as soon I can to share how it went.