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again my blogs have become somewhat lacking, haven't they? ashea (AW-she-aw{sorry})

saturday night we were invited to a celebration party. it was some kind of formal "passing on" of the leadership positions in a formal school group, while also welcoming the new freshmans into the roles. the invitation declared that the time frame was 8pm til dawn. we were VERY curious how this would play out. i wore a dress that i got here in Africa as did Shaye, the volunteer from New York. everyone there looked SPLENDED, dressed finer than anything i ever wear. girls wore beautiful cocktail dresses, while many guys decked themselves out in fine suits and ties. we were served a 'refreshment' of popcorn, dried fish, peanuts, and a white breaded sandwich of sardine paste, which was surprisingly enjoyable. after the ceremony everyone was served some wine. the red heaven was sweet but not quite as sweet as my manichewitz from home. soon...the dancing began! and might i say that these cameroonians if they can do anything, they can dance! i've seen 3 year olds shake their booties better than me and apparently they only become more skilled with age. quite impressive. so, all night we danced. i met some people, enjoying their company... enjoyed some castel...some more sardine pasted white bread... and i was surprised at how quickly the time passed. before i knew it 5 am was there and our escorts were waiting to take us home. we strolled still dancing to the roadside to catch a taxi. in the wee hours of the morning, fit cameroonians were beginning their morning 'sports', running up the mountain roads like machines. the new lab scientist, papa joe, was in rare form, wildly directing the taxi in our direction, rushing everyone into their positions, being quite the comedian in his probably state of exhaustion. we were seen safely home by papa joe and two other friends. as happy as i was to see my bed, i was sorry the night was over...we had too much fun! ...so i lied there repicturing the dancing cameroonians until passing out from my own definite exhaustion...
looking forward to the next day (or the same day!) when we would visit muna market....if we ever woke up!

Douala, Cameroon