We went to church today.

It was one of those things. I thought to myself, "I'll only have the opportunity to go the church in a Cameroonian village a few times in my life." And I have used up that card now. Thank god.

The service was supposed to start at 10:00 AM, but of course, here you add at least half an hour to make it realistic. Come about 11:00, the kids started singing at the front and the service began. Being that this village is Bulu, the entire service (minus a small French translation) was in the local language. It was about 35 degrees today, and we were required to cover our shoulders (as per church-fashion). We sat. And sat. And stood. And sat.

And finally it was over - at 3:50.

I was starving and on fire and had bugs buzzing all around me and reconsidered my decision about a hundred times. But all in all, it was a very interesting experience. I took a few pictures/videos and thought that the singing and general 'rejoicing' was amazingly contagious! I can't post the evidence yet but it will be up once internet connections are more consistent (likely in Yaoundé).

In other news, we took a trip to Ebolowa last Thursday (the 17th). Because of the time change and the incredibly slow pace of movement here, we ended up staying until Saturday. The ENTIRE town lost power on Friday evening so we were walking around in the dark looking for somewhere to eat. It was a bit nerve racking since we stand out in Ebolowa WAY more than in Yaoundé. The first place we found with a generator served fish from the river, chicken, porcupine and some animal we had never heard of. They advised against the fish, but we really weren't so into the other choices after hearing that so took off on the dusty trail to find another restaurant in the darkness. Earlier in the day we had found a place that served pizza (!!!) so we headed back there, crossing our fingers that it was open and had power.

We found it, but no power. However, as SOON as we asked for pizza and the lady replied (in English) yes, the lights came on. Now, that was like an amazing little sign that our night was about to get better. And it did. We had some beers, ate some pizza, and then went back to the hotel and got to make phone calls. Awesome!

Getting back was nothing short of hilarious. Again, the add-some-time rule was in effect, but this time we added about 3 hours. There is one guy with a car that acts as a taxi for people going to and from the village. However his car is definitely not in the best shape. It didn't even turn over when we were in Ebolowa for about an hour (which was 2 hours from the time that we were planning to leave). There were 7 people in the car (Cait and I in the front). Finally we were off. BUT - If we went over about 30 km/hour the left front axle shook like crazy, the door was missing the entire interior panel, the RPM meter didn't work, and the trunk didn't actually close. Oh, and the driver simply turned the car into accessory mode and coasted intermittently.

Needless to say, we were a little behind schedule and didn't finish working until about 9 PM. Awesome. On the research front - the survey is in pre-test draft 2. Let's HOPE that this guy works! Cross your fingers! And if it's good - we're looking at being done around March 7th! Just in time for Women's Day!