This is Africa ... things are hard.

This is a phrase that I have heard a lot in the last 2 and a half weeks.  Since I arrived in Limbe I have been bombarded with a culture seemingly the opposite of my own and frustrations that at first glance seemed insurmountable.  Through conversations with friends and family back home and people from here in Limbe, I have learned to cope with these situations and how to make the best of me being here. 

Yesterday I received a call from a guy named Humphry.  I met Humphry on my 2nd or 3rd night here when I was still very uneasy and anxious about being in Africa and was clearly unable to carry on any serious conversation.  But yesterday I got a chance to sit down and talk with this new friend of mine.  Humphry and I ended up talking for close to 2 and a half hours and we talked about everything from my expectations of being here to my goals and ambitions to the fact that his younger brother (who studied at Algonquin College in Ottawa the same year that I did) now lives in Limbe and would like to be a friend and source of support for me while I am here.  I suddenly went from being anxious about the fact that I have 10 weeks left on my trip to Limbe to being excited about all of the possibilities.  It is amazing what good company and a little cultural insight does for your state of mind. 

I have since come to the conclusion that I came to Cameroon with unrealistic expectations and a romanticized set of goals and objectives.  I envisioned myself arriving in Cameroon and immediately getting off the plane and everything going swimingly and me and the AVFAL kids riding off into the sunset with Elton John playing in the background and lovely smiles on our faces.  Frustrations and stresses during the first week demoralized me and made me think that I would be able to accomplish nothing in my 3 months here.  But it turns out that I was wrong ... twice. 

I need to understand that things are done differently here.  I need to have a grasp of the local culture and set reasonable expectations for myself and understand that I will have to accomplish these goals with what is presented to me and THAT IS OK.  People that know me well know me as a somewhat idealistic organized nut case who is very self critical and impatient.  These will be beaten out of me while in Limbe.  Learning to cope has been my best friend here.  Learning how to handle situations that arise and learning how to accomplish things on a different schedule have helped with my level of comfortablity. 

When I met with Humphry yesterday he looked at me and said "you seem so much more calm now than you did that night we first met."  That one statement went a long way to making me feel like I was starting to accomplish something.  Not my sunset scene from a 1990s rom-com, but learning about the local culture and learning how life is lived here in Limbe, Cameroon and Africa.  This is half the battle.  Understanding the people and the culture and what they perceive to be the obstacles standing in between where THEY are and where THEY want to be is extrememely important to someone who wants to work in development. 

I hope that it is clear that the frustrations and stresses that freaked me out in my first week are not as powerful as they once were and I am learning to cope and that these things are in not going to hold me back from the things I want to experience and accomplish in my short time here.  This is Africa after all ... and things are done differently here.  Things are also beautiful here.  Views and people that, as a Canadian, I truly appreciate.  Because from where I am currently sitting the ocean looks just lovely. 

Signing off with an optimistic and hopeful smile. 

Josh