Natalie in Cameroon: celebrating my bday

There was ALOT of food!

The homemade guac and tortilla chips were the biggest hit.

We ate........

And ate....

Aaaaaand ate....

And ate......

and ate some more.... (This is Preston. It is rare to see Preston without bread in his hand - he is unashamed....)

Saturday night, we had the party for all the July birthdays. There were three of us. It took place at what we call the SED House, which is the abandoned, unfinished mansion where the SED volunteers have all our language classes and training sessions. We all brought food, and I ate way too much! We had so much fun, but unfortunately we had to be cut it short at 8:30 pm because a couple people WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS decided to break our 11:00 curfew at the last party. We still had plenty of time to accomplish the missions of the party :)!

A big group of trainees picking teams for stick ball at the july birthday party (those who know me best will be surprised to learn that i did not participate).

Christian and Christine watching the game

Our Cameroonian director of training, David (Daveeeed), successfully hitting the ball.
I did not bother to post the 5 pictures before this one of unsuccessful attempts.

David walking off with a bit of swagger after his success.
Of course, he knew what he was doing the whole time... haha

A random Cameroonian child showing out for us during our party!

This is Kim. She is originally from Texas, but went to college in Kansas.
Her post is only about 15-20 min from mine.
If all works as planned, she will be my best friend here, haha.

Me with some of my best friends during training.
Kim, Eric, and Sean

Everyone singing happy birthday to me at the July birthday party.

I got a cake with lollipops instead of candles - everyone know I have a major sweet tooth.

Also, they couldn't find candles :)

As many of you know, I had a birthday Wednesday. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a normal day of training, with 4 hours of language classes and some tech sessions too. After training, I went to a bar that’s a bit of a walk from the SED House, but actually had a good turnout for “feter” (celebrating – pronounced FE-TAY) my birthday. There were probably about 35 or so volunteers, and I was happily surprised! We had a good time, but I missed my family and friends very much on my special day. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit lonely, but I know I’m here for a reason and I’m proud of myself for having the strength and dedication to come follow my dreams.