Farewell to K-Man

Monday, May 27, 2013

We spent this past weekend in Limbe to bid farewell to Justin, also known in Kumba as K-Man (short for Kumba-Man), the founder and CEO of CFDP, as he was heading back to the US after six weeks of work in Cameroon. I fell in love with Limbe the first time around and now a week later it was easy to see why Justin wanted to spend his last day in Cameroon there. The beach is calm, peaceful, and quiet--a serious contrast to the nonstop commotion of busy Kumba--and the water temperature was perfect. I myself was feeling really sick when we left Kumba due to overconsumption of spicy foods, and despite all the medicine I took, I didn't feel quite healed until I spent an hour or two swimming in the ocean. I find Limbe to be really therapeutic.

Anyway, we dropped Justin off at Douala International Airport around 10:00 p.m. Sunday night. His flight left at midnight. He has a four-day layover in Istanbul and then he'll be back in the US later this week. Obviously, I was bummed to see my fellow "white man" leave. Justin has been a tour guide of sorts, as well as a personal confident for me as I try to get used to an environment here in Africa unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I do see myself, though, becoming more independent and adventurous now that I don't have Justin to lean on anymore. I think this will be good. I have experienced quite a bit of culture shock and times of serious discomfort over the past few weeks, but being forced to adapt to my new surroundings myself I think will help me make the most of the four months I have here.