Somehow I Seem to Have Stirred Things Up......

I made it to Cameroon ok but the trip was miserable--anything and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. On top of all that nobody met me at the airport so I had to work my way to the hotel after dark, without a cell phone and no local money. There was a Hilton driver there holding a sign for a "Mr. Navarette" and he said he couldn't pick me up if I wasn't on his hotel list--which I wasn't. However I've learned a few things on my trips over here and for a $20 "tip" he not only added me to the list but left Mr. Navarette at the airport looking for a ride. One of the best $20 investments I've ever made. I'm just hoping I don't come across Mr. Navarette while I'm here this week. And yes, I do intent to expense the $20 when I get back.

Right after I arrived things started getting crazy over here. Rawanda and the Congo had 5.0 earthquakes then Kenya flared up again with all the ethnic problems they're having. Right after I arrived at the airport Saturday night the American and French embassies in neighboring Chad evacuated to Yaounde. I was in Chad in 2004 and it is an extremely volitile place and the rebel armies now are about to overthrow the presidential palace so there are mass evacuations here since this is the closest safe haven. The embassy was a madhouse today and two of my students missed the first day. The airport here is basically shut down to all but charter flights and nearly every treetop African airline has cancelled scheduled flights to make more money evacuating Americans and French. The few good hotels here are overflowing --when I returned to the Hilton this afternoon the lobby was full of American military with duffel bags. We may or may not have a vehicle for training--most of the embassy vehicles are shuttling to the airport 24/7 right now. But hey, I never said I wanted a boring retirement!!!!!

Other than logistics, things aren't bad here. Compared to Douoala last December I have it much better. The Hilton is very old but it's a Hilton so it's five-star by Cameroon standards. I am looking forward to heading to Egypt next week--at this point it's not anticipated the evacuation will still have the airport here shut down by next weekend. At least I hope not. Anyway if you hear of anything else going crazy over here in Africa this week, I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!!!