Going to Mbingo

This past weekend, most of the children went to Mbingo with Cory’s family. Cory is a boy in both my algebra and swimming class. Mbingo is about 45 minutes away and Cory’s mom, Suzanne, drove them there. The weekend was pretty quiet with them gone. When they came back on Sunday afternoon, they brought a guest, my housemate, named Robbie.

Robbie is 21 years old, like me. He and I have been getting along very well, just chatting about all sorts of different experiences we’ve had here. He’s been in Cameroon for about the past two months, and has about another 2 weeks here before he leaves to go back to California. He’s a Spanish citizen but has been living in California for the past few years with his aunt and uncle, attending the University of California - Davis. While in Cameroon, he’s been working at the Mbingo hospital, assisting in surgeries and other medical procedures. He hopes to attend medical school when he gets back to the States. I’m really glad to have him around since he’s been the only Western guy in my age group that I’ve met so far. It’s been refreshing and it’s been interesting to see what life has been like for him so far.

This afternoon, he and I will travel to Mbingo. We’ll take a taxi there. I’ll stay the night with him at Suzanne and Cory’s home, go to work (at the hospital) with him on Wednesday, and then I’ll return Wednesday evening to Bamenda. I’m eager to see what life has been like for him working in the hospital. He’s seen some pretty traumatic things such as legs being amputated and a few people die. Hopefully nothing too horrifying will happen in the few hours I’ll be with him at the hospital.