mt. febe and italy

on sunday i went with some friends to one of the large hills of yaounde. there was supposed to be an art museum at a monastary there. it was closed, though, but it was still a nice view. down the hill a bit from the monastary was a stone platform and a small shrine to mary. people were camping out on the platform, in hopes of being blessed or healed.

i will explain about the friends issue here. maybe because it is Cameroon or maybe because it's the UN, but there is not anyone in my circle of aquaintances that is under 30. ok, one guy is 27, but most are early 30's or above. i have nothing against this age, but for a twenty-year-old, it doesnt make for intimate friendship. plus, there is only one girl. well, woman. i think she is in her early thirties and is not really that friendly to me. the rest are friendly though, and we are slowly starting to become better aquainted.

after hanging out at the monastary for a bit, we met another guy at the mt. febe hotel for some coffee. we sat and talked for a while. it was nice to talk to youngish people. one guy, the guy im standing next to in the photo, grew up in fullerton and still has a house there! his parents were involved with the undp here, and he actually lived in sophie's house when he was a kid. weird. that night was the world cup, and we cheered on italy. it was a good game and italy barely won in the shootout! man, what it would be to feel what that guy felt after he realized that he scored the winning goal, right when his team needed him most.

yesterday was monday, and i stayed home from work because i was sick. today i am fine though. its not good to be sick here, but good thing it turned out to be nothing. today i went and visited that lady, "minnie," who i met at the us embassy. she was adorable. we ate chicken and really great plantaines.