But it's fine.

1 month. The amount of time it took for my fabulous friend Morgan and I to finally jump in the taxi and seek out a tiny shack labeled 'Coiffure.' 7 hours. The amount of time it took for Morgan and I to get our hair braided rasta style. 4 hours. The amount of time it took for Morgan and I to realize that we looked ABSOLUTELY ridiculous with such braids and so much of our scalp showing and decided to take them out. 3 hours. The amount of time it took for Morgan and I to undo the braids and cut out all the thread holding them in. By the time we finished, it was FOUR IN THE MORNING. This is my life, in Africa. But it's fine.

Everyone here with me has decided that "but it's fine" is my catchphrase, you know, that one sentence you always say and can't control saying. Maybe it was mine before leaving the States, but it makes way more sense here in Cameroon. It goes along perfectly with the saying we've borrowed from the movie Blood Diamond: "TIA" - This is Africa. Except we've changed it to TIC (C stands for Cameroon, if you were wondering!). Things are just different here, and this is in no place more evident than the hole-in-the-wall hair salon we ventured into, wasting 2500 CFAs ($5) and 7 hours of our lives yesterday afternoon. We arrived shortly after lunch and waited around a while while Mama Micheline found her "daughters" to help with our hair. Because our hair is so "glisse," meaning fine, the women, often 3 at once, meaning 6 hands working on my hair at one time, first wrapped thread around the top and braided it through to the bottom of my hair. It's hard to explain - don't worry, we took one picture before ripping them out. And in case you were wondering, I do still have hair, and plenty of it! The experience was worth it in that we truly gained an appreciation for our hair, that Morgan already had, and we learned that African women WANT our hair. They couldn't believe we just throw it out when it's cut. Fun facts: our hair braiding was often interrupted by a Spanish soap opera dubbed in French that was obligatory to watch, as well as Lizette nursing her child, right there in front of us. TIC.

We left with our scalps tingling and at first liking the braids for the fact that it made the heat more bearable. Soon, we realized it drew far more attention to us. That and we also were informed multiple times on our walk to find a taxi in the dark that this was Valentine's Day weekend. At one point, two guys approached us, one on either side of us, wishing us a happy celebration and asking if we had valentines, to which I replied yes, in the United States (clearly, the is untrue, but they don't know that), and what we were keeping for our valentines. TIC. We thought we could lose them by walking into the busiest, craziest intersection, fearing for our lives and dodging taxis and buses, but no, they followed us to the taxi stop, where we thankfully found a cab quickly and hopped in, willing to pay anything to get back to the apartment, and needing a drink.

We soon found this at our chicken-and-beer bar that has become a Friday night staple. I chose D'jino over beer, although I still managed to knock a bottle over breaking all over the concrete floor of the restaurant. No matter, I ordered another and then had two more bought for me as random Cameroonians and friends alike joined us and insisted on buying drinks for us. I love Africa. D'jino is better than non-American Fanta (yes, Becca, I just said that) and is by definition a "cocktail of fruits" and is magical and refreshing and exactly what I needed. I guarantee you it gave me the energy to stay up until 4 am ripping thread out of Morgan's braids. Don't worry, she still has hair, too!

This morning, I headed back to my host-family's house where I had the place to myself for an hour or so before they returned with a new entertainment system and flat screen TV. If I haven't mentioned it before, my host family is loaded by Cameroonian terms and I'm spoiled. But it's fine! After the installation, Mama Solange, Jason, Bambi and I headed to Bastos to visit a German aunt (she married Mama So's uncle) and celebrate her birthday. After an awkward half hour or so talking with her son, I was saved by Mormon missionaries (yes, Sarah Quinn, true life). An older gentlemen and two boys (elders) my age showed up to say hi and stayed for the birthday meal of fried chicken and plantains. We had a lovely chat, in English which was refreshing, and they were relieved they didn't have to explain their mission to me, since I know all about it from my Mormon friends at home! One is leaving Monday to go back to the States after being here for 2 years, the other arrived in October and is here for 2 years as well. We exchanged contacts and they gave me some helpful advice. After leaving, I realized that this was the first time I've been with my host family and there have been more white people than black. It was definitely an experience!

Hmm, other experiences this week:
~ National Youth Day was Wednesday. The kids all had off from school and there was a huge military-style parade in the center of the city, military because all the kids marched in unison. It was definitely a site. Not really a day of youth for the kids, but oh well. My host brothers lived it up, staying at home in the morning and spending the afternoon playing soccer to their hearts' content.
~ I finally bought something at Marche Centrale. After breaking my sunglasses (not the prescription ones, Mom) the 2nd week here, I was in desparate need of another pair, but had been sucking it up since most Africans don't wear them. I caved the other day and bought knock-off Gucci's for 1000 CFAs ($2). TIC.
~ I got a package! Thanks Mom for all the Valentine's Day stuff! I was the first to receive anything which made me feel pretty great (don't worry, Mrs. Siegrist, yours will DEFINITELY get here soon!). Still waiting on letters to get here - I'll let y'all know when that happens!

Alright, that's all for now. Going to Limbe and Buea this weekend (aka the beach!), and can't wait! More after that! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Love from the 'Roon,
kmi