Day 9

I’ve attempted to make some jiedan chao xiehongshe (eggs and tomatoes) with rice, and for the most part, it’s turned out fairly well. I've become comfortable with making rice, but it’s made me appreciate rice cookers that much more. Having the ability to cook rice and keep it warm without taking up cooking pots is very handy.

The local food here is pretty good. My favorite is grilled fish, grilled by fish mamas on street-side stands. You eat it with your hands and it comes with this green spicy sauce. Dr. Kamga taught me how to eat fish Cameroonian style, which involves eating the head. He also made me kiss the fish, which he said was a Cameroonian tradition, but I secretly think it's one of those things the locals make foreigners do for fun. While I have found restaurants nearby that will serve meals for about 500CFA (about $1), the market nearby means I can get fresh (as fresh as I can get at the market, anyhow) ingredients for about 1000CFA that I can draw out for a few days.

The internet at the Unversity has been down for the last couple of days, and the connection at the regular internet cafes has been too unreliable to even do anything on blogger. Last time i tried, the Cameroonian internet troll ate my post. I've been able to upload some photos onto flickr (before the Uninet went down) so when Uninet comes back up, look forward to some pictures scattered throughout the blog.