I recieved my post! I will be going to Mbatu and teaching in a GBHS. Mbatu is in the Nord-Ouest, so it is an anglophone region, though I still need to improve my french before I reach the required level. Also, a GBHS is a Government Bilingual High School, and we have been told that IT teachers are often needed in both halves of Bilingual schools, so I may help out in French dispite being in an English speaking region. I am highly relieved that I will be able to teach in English at least part of the time. I feel like I will be much more effective in English than in my cobbled together French. (Though this does mean I might get to learn Pidgen).
We recently retested French levels, and I did improve, so I am not hopeless! According to the rubric I can now "generally be understood by sympathetic interlocutors used to dealing with non-natives"
I am told Mbatu is basically a suburb of Bamenda, which is the capital of the Nord-Ouest region, so I will have access to most of the luxeries Cameroon has to offer. (I will have electricity and running water!) It will be better than my flickering electricity and well water at the moment, though dealing without running water isn't actually that inconvenient. Electricity is much appreciated though. The fluctuating electricity at my house already destroyed my cell phone charger, so I have to go to market soon and get a replacement.
I am also told that mail is reliable in Bamenda, so as soon as I actually move there I will open a mailbox. Climate-wise it sounds perfect. The elevation is higher due to the mountains, so it can get as cool as 60 degrees. I might even need to purchase a second jacket!
Internet there is also comparatively reliable (from what I am told), so after site visit I will purchase internet.
Site visit is next week, I can't wait to see where I will be living for 2 years! I have been asking all the volunteers here questions, but there are a ton of specific questions they can't answer. (For example, what my computer school lab is like). I am taking over for a previous volunteer so things should be generally set up already. Hopefully I won't compare badly.
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Best of luck to you on site visit!! It can only be bad if you get peed on by a goat.
ReplyDeletePS Where are you doing your training in Bafia? It's only 22km from my village (Bokito! You should visit!!) and I spent a lot of time there. There was a PCV from my stage in Bafia who taught at the Lycee Classique. She lived just up the road from the school. Her name is Ashley. Ask around and you'll probably find someone who knows her.
No goats peed on me! It seems inevitable that it will happen at some point though (welcome to africa, as nurse ann likes to say)
ReplyDeleteOur model school is at the Lycee Bilangue, and Education has our french classes there. It isn't far from the Lycee Classique. They evidently used to do training here, but there were only 2 families who have hosted someone before.