My Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tourningal!

After 4 hrs on a bush taxi, a 18 hr. train ride, and then another 3 hr bush taxi, I arrived at my post in the Adamoua Province of Cameroon about 5 days ago. I am going to spend the next 2 years in a village that has approximately 1,000 habitants, no cyber cafes, no electricity, no running water, no restaurants, bars etc....The village, however, is amazing. I loved it and cannot wait to go back and spend more time there.
It's called Tourningal and is situated approx. 60 km. away from the Provincial capital, Ngaoundere. The Adamoua province is located in the "Grand North" of Cameroon; but Adamoua itself is the southern most province of the grand north. Tourningal is about 80% Muslim, 80% non-French Speaking and about 80% non-alphabetized. Thus, the need for me to learn Fufilde, the lingua franca of the North is quite great. I'm super excited to learn Fufilde...sometimes I feel like life is one constant cycle, for approx. 2 years ago I stayed with Peace Corps volunteers in N. Senegal who also had to learn Fufilde (or Pulaar) and I remember how cool the language was and how much I would love, someday, to learn it!!! I also know that Tourningal is going to be great, for they sell these peanut butter balls or "Dakoa" which I absolutely LOVED in Mali about 2 year ago....thus I will always have something to snack on!
My counterpart is great. He is a nurse at the "centre de la sante" in Tourningal. I stayed with his family this past weekend. He has 5 adorable children and his wife is super nice and caring. She started a women's group in the village and seems very motivated to work with me. She also makes some mean beans and beignets and fresh honey which I ate every morning. My supervisor is the chef at the center. At this point one thing I know I want to work on in the village is Women's education and Health skills. Most all of the women in the village have never been to school and do not speak French. They pretty much just stay in their homes all day and do housework. I also would like to work in the elementary school doing health education/English . Tourningal has up to about 6th grade, then all the children have to live in surrounding communities to go to middle school or high school.
Another fun thing I did was spend a night about 2 hrs away in Belel, staying with 2 PCVs. Staying there, in a town about 3000 people, made me realize how little action there was in Tourningal. On the way back from Belel I thought I was going to die in a bush taxi, due to the pouring rain, flat tire, tipsy roads, and smoke exhaust that was bellowing into the car. I guess I should get used to this. On the way back to Yaounde (where I am now) I had a great 18 hr train ride, full of prosythelitizers who condemned condom usage and people selling random chinese products. It was quite the adventure.
Well....that's my life right now. All is well, especially after a long, steamy hot shower!!!!! Much love and happiness! Sey Yesso.