Ergonomic incorrectness

We're back in Garoua after another 40+ hour travel oddesssy

One of the children who took up temporary residence in the aisle...Difficult to see are the winged insects in each hand that his mother grabbed for him.  He was having a great time holding one of four wings on each bug, and letting the others buzz.

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Prior to departure.  It will look much different soon enough.

We pass dozens of these homes, compounds, villages when travelling by bus or train.

which began before five a.m. Saturdaydand ended here late Sunday night.  It's the 'rainy season' here which means cooler temperatures, and rain and mud, and things growing.  That's what they say.  Reality is; it's hot, a little more humid, and there are weeds where there was previously bare earth.  Actually they haven't had the normal rainfall, and they're worried.  There has been just enough rain to get the weeds to grow, but that's about all.  It actually does feel a little cooler than before, and the last two nights have become comfortable by early morning.  Has the affects of global warming, oh I'm sorry, climate change, reached Garoua?

Not to beat the dead horse about transportation, but there were some differences in our experiences on the return trip.  First of all I figured out that part of the misery of the taxis (19 or 30 place vans), and the buses is the design of the seats.  They are not ergonomically correct.  On the vans there is no contour to the seats, the backs are nearly upright, and there is very little padding.  On the 70 passenger bus there is some contour to the seats, and even a little padding, but not much leg or shoulder room.  And, on both the vans and the bus the seats are too low, you're sitting below a natural seated position.  The result is all your weight rests on one spot, and on this skinny white guy it's where my leg bones meet my hip bones in my buttocks.  Which means great pain there, a loss of circulation in the legs, and constant attempts to find a better position.  Realizing it hasn't helped, it just made me focus on it more, and the ride longer.   In the bus the lower seat position also affects the view out as it places the beam dividing the upper and lower parts of the windows right at eye level.
We rode in second class on the train this time.  What that meant was that at the origin of the trip, Yaounde, we purchased tickets to the destination, Ngaoundere, giving us assigned seats in the second class car.  The cars are new, having been put into service between our southbound and northbound journeys.  Even with assigned seats though, when they allow boarding there is a mad scramble to get aboard.  That's because there is limited space for bags in the overhead racks and under the seats which people are trying to get.  When we arrived at the car the porter and another man were in ongoing argument with the man not being allowed to board due to the size of his bag.  Meanwhile others were boarding around them, but when it came my turn my bag was too big as well.  Stephan tried to intervene in French, to no avail, so there I stood.  The argument between the two was often heated with the man several times trying to force his way past which resulted in two policemen showing up and arguing with him as well.  Then Jonas showed up to try to plead my case using soft words and nice gestures.  The other man eventually wrestled his past the policeman and the porter amidst much shouting and went aboard.  Finally, I don't know what was said, but I was also allowed to board.  This was around 5:40 pm for a scheduled 7:10 departure.  Once everyone has their seats and their bags stowed they come and go until the actual time of departure; that night 8:50 pm.
Stepping aboard the new 88 person car was impressive, clean with rows of four contoured seats around a small table on both sides.  They were close together and didn't recline, but hey with it this nice who needs first class?   After the delay for unknown reasons, and with everyone settled into their seats, including the two folddown jumpseats in the end of the car the journey began.  That's when the also unlocked the bathroom door revealing a clean little unit, even stocked with TP.  At the first of many stops, more people boarded finding places wherever they could mostly in the spaces at the end of the cars and between them.  This is repeated at every stop throughout the trip and eventually there are people wherever space allows, standing, sitting, or laying in the aisles with their possessions scattered about.  (Including the chicken in the bag generally under the seat in front of us, but moving about as much as space and limited mobility allowed.)  Occasionally people would get off, but it seemed more were boarding at each stop than ever got off.  At around three am a mother and her three small children boarded and Beth gestured that there was a little space in the aisle next to us which they filled.  They were some who actually got off at a stop around daybreak, but others quickly filled the space.  Throughout the entire trip there are people passing the train selling things including; drinks, snacks, books, toothbrushes and toothpaste, sacks, and other items.  After each round trip they return again with some new item(s), stepping on, and over people and their possessions each time.  The lights are never turned off, and yet most people are able to sleep through it all.  (Except for the old man sitting a few seats away who got very angry when we tried to get a picture of it all, even asking the soldier in a seat nearby to make sure there were no pictures of it on the camera.)  You can imagine what the car and that neat little bathroom looked like at the end of the journey... I don't know if those people getting on along the way are considered second class or something else, but it sure didn't seem like a good way of doing things to me.
One other thing about the train ride:  At every stop along the way there are people who come along side trying to sell things.  Water, bananas, avacados, batons de manioc, watches, palm oil, and etc.  They are competing with one another, elbowing and shouting in the hopes of parting with a few of the items piled on the bowls or trays atop their heads, and making a few hundred francs in the process.  But people do buy, in large quantities (hence the sale of the sacks) because many of the things aren't available in the north, or are very expensive due to the climate.  Imagine waiting along side the train tracks at three or four in the morning in order to bring home probably less than one dollar.  Also at every stop, and in every village you pass people line up to wave like the daily train is some new phenomenon.  Finally, I spent the last two hours standing to allow another young mother to sit with two of her children, one of whom slept with her head in Beth's lap most of the way.  Turns out they were going to the hospital in Ngaoundere because one of the kids was sick.
(That was how I spent my birthday.)
We began class again this morning, less one person than what we started with.  Jean-Marc left Kribi a few days before the rest of us, in spite of being warned against it.  He was one of those Jonas was planning to send home, but with him gone so are many of the 'problems', so the others were allowed to stay.   It's not the same, there are still some tensions, but we're hoping to get back on track, and that the remainder of the time goes well...