kribi, which includes a pierced-eared kitten

sorry i have fallen so behind! the truth is, my latest assignment (which i finished today!!!!!!) involved staring at the computer screen all day so my eyes were always tired and i didnt want to spend even more time on the computer with this blog. however, my eyes are doing much better and i am feeling guilty.

this weekend sophie, i, and two people from the office went to a town called Kribi on the southern coast Cameroon. the two other people were Veronica (Colombian) and Lucas (Dutch). both were about 30, probably alittle over, but they were both fun to hang out with. there was not alot to do in kribi, but as you can see, it was beautiful. we stayed in one of the nicest hotels, which was more of a small resort. it had only 13 small cottages, but it was nice, and for $60 a night, it was amazing. everything was well-decorated in natural wood and flowers, and the service was excellent. we mostly just sat on the beach and read and talked and played games. on saturday we walked down the beach to some waterfalls. UNESCO was investigating the falls that weekend in order to make it a world heritage site. i mean, i dont know about that, but they were ok. they were unique in that they were freshwater falls going directly into the ocean, and i suppose they had some tribal use at some time. on the way we met a tiny white kitten who wore a beaded necklace and a beaded earring. lucas and i were both very fond of cats, so we made the most of this singular occurance. as you can maybe see, the falls were more horizontal in nature, so we climbed around on them for awhile and then returned. for lunch we went farther down the coastal road to a restaurant (which means a kitchen and tables on a porch) owned by a french lady. it was good, although i had shrimp in the whole form, so i had to tear off the head/abdomen and peel off the remaining exoskeleton before enjoying the flesh of the animal i had just disected. i know that meat was once a living animal, but i dont like seeing the animal in its previous form, especially with eyes and little legs and...ugh. but i perservered, and it was tasty. then we went to an art museum (a small private collection) and some shops. the weekend, on the whole, was very relaxing and i read a whole book of chinese short stories while i was there. on sunday we stayed until 1:30 and then took our 3 hour drive back, on which i saw i pigmy woman! anyway, now i have 4 days left, but who's counting, right? ME! im counting, i'll admit. i am looking forward to a nice chocolate cake from chili's, amazing house chicken from pick-up-sticks, driving myself on good roads, hearing the english language, and seeing dan perez (not necessarily in that order).