Le Meridien Douala

... and pieces were falling into place. It was obvious they were very enthused. We took a short break and then covered more fundamental beliefs. There were many questions on each item, some theoretical some practical: not only the "what" and the "why" but also the "how." At noon we broke for lunch: fish, rice, plantain and sauce. I skipped lunch today. Neither the night nor the morning had been very kind to ...

... Mabout and Mrs. Bikoé were also a little late; they were already cooking lunch for us. The morning was spent continuing to go through our fundamental beliefs. This is different from Togo. Some points we go through much more quickly than there, and others we take much longer to cover, depending on local situations and experiences. We stopped for a lunch break and ate in the main meeting room: chicken, fried plantain, French-fried potatoes ...

... markets and hawkers and taxis and motorcycles and transport-trucks and policemen and children-carrying-water and all the other things one sees here went by in a slow blur. The taxi driver was a little older than usual and drove well: cautiously, wisely, but not fearfully. The car itself wasn't great, but I hope we use his services more. We arrived at our church hall about 9:30, half an hour before services ...

... had reconfirmed at their office a few days earlier, I wasn't on the printed passenger list. They finally found me on the computer somewhere so I could check in. At the security checkpoint, the metal detector beeped as I went through, but rather than wand me or ask me to check my pockets or other similar actions, one of the two policemen at the security checkpoint hit me up for a "gift." -You know it's the holidays" he began "Good Friday, Easter ...

... in visayan language, they are impressed..!From here I organize a 2 days excursion to Limbe where I stay at the 'Bird Watchers Club'close to the Botanical garden where there are more than 150 different plants.It was founded under the Germans.I also visit the Wildlife center in Limbe where they keep many primates and monkeys who lost their parents or were wounded in the forests by gunshots.

... have nicknames for foreigners they recognize. I've been coming through here for 12 years or so, so several of them recognized me and I heard my nickname being used: belle moustache (beautiful mustache). I've never thought my mustache anything out of the ordinary, but that's my handle here (no pun intended). There are items at this market from all over Africa, wood carvings, woven baskets and passport masks from Cameroon (passport masks are small clay ...

... up my laptop and the projector and showed them the short presentation on hints on taking good photos. They seemed very interested, and participated well. We ended early so they would have time for one more session of volleyball at the dirt field near the hall. They were able to play for 90 minutes and we took the last 10 to play the camper all-starts against the male staff. The male staff dominated the two games that were played (there ...

... had a great time at volleyball; for most of them it was the first time they had ever had the chance to play the game. Daniel and Cindy are both accomplished players, and very good teachers. They first went through some drills with the campers to teach proper techniques. While this was going on, some local children gathered to watch. At first they began making fun of our campers, yelling taunts at them. They thought it was silly to be popping a ball around with ...

... meters farther on an old unmarked car with two soldiers in it, pulled up along side us and we drove and the passenger-side soldier yelled at Mr. Mabout to stop. As we pulled over they parked in front of us and jumped out aggressively. One soldier, carrying an M-16 by the pistol grip, went to Mr. Mabout's side, accusing him loudly of running the checkpoint and refusing to obey the order of an officer of the law. The other ...

... in Europe illegally for ten years and had just been deported back to their native country. After their time in Europe, they were quite hot about the system here, but they were as stuck in limbo like we were. I waited calmly and patiently, at least I did my best to appear to do so. Since the Commissaire had indicated that we were in fact within the rules and could stay with no problem, the attitude of the uniformed officers in the room had noticeably ...