TCK Journey Vol 2: Cameroon: 2015-2016

By Paula Chestnut Raymond

Growing up in the developing suburbs of the Nifty Fifties, I gave no thought to the fact other kids lived differently. As Navy dependents, part of my dad's job included moving every year or two as he was transferred to another base, or ship or enrolled in another communications school. We moved at least a dozen times between 1952 and 1970; I attended five public schools and two DOD schools before graduating in 1970: Charleston, SC, Wilmington & Gastonia, NC; Norfolk, Virginia; Panama Canal Zone, Panama; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Kittery & Eliot, Maine; Groton, Connecticut; Conowingo, Maryland; and Kenitra, Morocco. To say there were gaps in my learning is an understatement of survival. Only now, 60 years later, are the effects of all those moves being studied in the field of Education, under the umbrella name Third Culture Kids TCK]. Learning Spanish in kindergarten, practicing high school French as well as learning simple Arabic phrases for the everyday usage while living Arab-French Morocco (think Casablanca) has definitely affected my perception of the world. There was no Henry Higgins to prepare me for the vast differences of my protected ex-pat world and the civilian world that had evolved during the post-WWII years.This second book of my TCK series covers School Year 2015-2016, at the American (International) School in Douala, Cameroon. We were still being impacted by an occasional Boka Horam event or two as well as a few bombings in Paris. But those problems were serious enough; we all had to deal with the inner fiascos that occurred behind closed doors with three revolving-door superintendents, and financial shenanigans in the accounting office, resulting in several teachers stranded, without money, unable to pay bills - it was a nightmare. Towards the end of the year, just in time for spring break, the Douala Airport was closed for resurfacing, adding a new dimension of uncertainty to our long-range travel plans as we scrambled to make travel arrangements to the nearest airport, 245 miles away to the capital of Yaounde. As always, this ex-pat life is NOT for the faint of heart...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1086788869
• ISBN13: 9781086788860
• Release Date: August 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 162 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"