T.I.A. Our American friends said it best - This Is Africa. Only, they have no idea what T.I.A actually means.It is day 2 in Akok, and we have had ridiculous rain, (huge) spiders, a bird in the house, have had to go in a hole (and girls have difficulty…directing), had some palm wine, and were woken up by roosters that I think were sitting on our window ledge... Oh, and we carried water from the pump (but not on our heads). And Caitlin is too tall for her mosquito net. Well, technically too long but can still fit under (no worries Moms!).

Sooo… basically we have decided that it is more enjoyable to go to the washroom in the bush BESIDE the 'toilet' so as to minimize backsplash (yep backsplash - I said it). And we wash out of a bucket. So backplash + bathing buckets = T.I.A.

Another exciting thing to note here is the power. Although we have a power bar that has 5 plug- ins, you can't have more than 2 machines plugged in at once! The kettle is a power hog - so it gets to be plugged in on its own - and when it's working the lights get really dim.. lol. At least we know when the water is hot cuz the lights come back on! Shockingly, our HP LaserJet 3000 (or something like that) looks horribly out of place. But the lights and the printer DO work at the same time - although the computer can't be plugged in if you want to print with the lights on… haha … you can't say that it doesn't keep life interesting out here!

We are enjoying the traditional Cameroonian manner of greeting - handshakes all around or 3 kisses on the cheeks if you've met more than once (…I think that's how it goes… its kind of random…) and we still find it hilarious to see the reaction that we get from people of every age… to hear "regard les blanches!" coming from the windows of every home as we walk by. Kids are the best though. They don't hide anything. They just come on out and gawk, poke you and show you weird little animal skulls that they have apparently found in the forest! And they loooooove getting their pictures taken!

The man next door came over to let us know that "he is watching us." This might sound a bit creepy to you, however we have assumed this to mean "he is watching OUT for us," kinda like a guardian. So we are in good hands (?). However, he also suggested that he would bring us a porcupine. Caitlin pretended that she did not understand.

By the way - spider kill count is at about 10. And I'm not talking tiny little Edmonton spiders. These are the things of nightmares. They've got these spindly little legs, are really angular, and can jump like grasshoppers! Caitlin is designated bug killer - but she only agreed to that once I protected her from the bird that flew into the house today!

So anyway, day 2 - T.I.A.