Counting the hours

So I leave in 48 hours for Cameroon. I feel ready, unprepared, excited, anxious, uncertain, confident, vulnerable and privileged- all randomly mixed together like miscellaneous items in the free box at a garage sale.

It occurred to me recently that I could have used the last months to learn some French (spoken by 80% of the people in Cameroon). The only French phrases I knew offhand were deja vu, hors d'oeuvres, and wi. Yesterday I decided to look up some other short phrases. I now know how to introduce myself, say hello, bid good-bye and tell someone I love them (one never knows when one may want to declare one's love for another). Hopefully my vocabulary will rapidly expand upon arrival. Perhaps I will even learn to use some of these "useful French phrases."