Sometimes, when I don’t put the date in the corner of the board, my students get upset. This year I’ve been cultivating something of a Mad-Hatter Willy-Wonka style persona (Last year I started from the assumption that I was their friend. You’re not their friend. You can never be their friend. You are an authority. […]
"Monsieur!" my Terminale students shouted as I entered the room. "Have you heard? The lycée is sexuel!" That’s the first and best introduction I got to the scandal at the lycée. Apparently a student walked into the proviseur’s office to find him seated with a female student on one of his two sofas. It’s not […]
As you probably know, I follow most or all of the Volunteer blogs that I come across. Most of them don’t impress me at first but some of them are really good. Eriika is from one of the newer stages and she’s a pretty good writer. Here is her post about a ghost story that […]
[Note: Today’s coping mechanisms include: two little packets of Swedish fish from my parents (thanks guys!), three sips of refrigerator-cold Sprite, and this little bit of writing.] Zhenae aren’t unattractive, exactly. Some are even beautiful, and like humans, occasionally you find one who is breathtaking. Sometimes people talk about Zhenae looking like slightly less refined […]
The school administration had been hoping that teachers would have given all their exams before the Christmas Break, so that grades could be put onto papers and report cards filled out as soon as the school year started. Of course, due to my little jaunt to Morocco, that wasn’t a real possibility for me — […]
[N.B. I’m posting a lot of text-only posts right now because the front page of my blog has like sixty pictures and it takes forever to load.] School restarts tomorrow, marking the first time I’ve taught class in about a month. I’ve forgotten my entire schedule and lost my place in each class. I’m not […]
Last year I went to Bamenda for New Year’s, which was a good if complex time. This year it seems as though no sincere plans are being proposed. I might just be staying here in village, kicking it with whoever’s still in town. In the meantime, Boris is (still) here, still mumbling along with his […]
Haven’t written in a while. It’s been busy; since coming back from the Maroc I’ve been back to post, then to a wedding, then, in a fit of senselessness, to Mount Cameroon. A bunch of people climbed it last year, and although I was never really interested in going up there, word on the street […]
Well, I’m still on the plane, may as well write up some more pictures. Decorating your moto is a time-honored tradition in Cameroon. This one is labeled "the black pope". We did a surprise baby shower for Guillaine, who used to work at our favorite bar. This MTN ad campaign (half a year old now?) […]
I’m writing on the plane back to Cameroon. I’m trying to sleep but can’t — the light is on, and unlike last time, I wasn’t sufficiently drunk (and it wasn’t sufficiently late) before boarding for me to just pass out. So instead I’m preparing this blog post, which I really should have prepared and then […]