homestay life

Life is a bit slower now. I moved in with my homestay family this past saturday night. Papa is a professor at the U of Dschang, Maman stays home and does some sewing on the side. I have all sisters at home, ironically enough, considering the makeup of the program. Oldest daughter at home is Xaverie, age 27 and the equivelant of a graduate student at the U. Second is Hueguette, 23 and also grad student. Ingrid is 19, in the last year of "college"/high school (except you earn your bachelors). And Darlene is six, the daughter of Xaverie. The family is quite well off compared to other host families. We live in a house in the neighborhood called Foto, which is about a 30 minute walk for me every morning. We have electricity (except for the occasional blackout due to infrastructure issues - but its the fault of an american company) and running water, theoretically, because its been out since i've been there. Life without running water really is not hard though. Just dump water to manually flush the toilet and use collected water to wash yourself. I feel accepted in the family, but as a boy, dont do muc work (yet, perhaps).
School is not too difficult so far, except we have class 6 days a week, usually from 8 to 3:30+. Intensive French, Culture and Development Seminar, and The Field Study Seminar rotate to fill the schedule.
Social life is very different, since your not allowed out at night because of crime and lack of lighting. Bedtime is understandably earlier. All these girls aren't getting to me too badly, but we'll see how i continue to adjust. It will be weird (but welcome) reentering a world of men back home.
Food is definitely different over here. I haven't eaten anything too delicious at home so far, and there aren't many choices for lunch out on the town. Hopefully, I'll figure out some alternatives and learn to cook african style at some point (although men generally don't cook). I really have no clue about what goes on behind the scenes at home, so I think I better look into that and start being a real family member.
So all is well. All is so cheap. And things will continue to pick up. I definitely miss my comfort zone at home, but need to try to find new ways to relax, since snood and comedy central are no longer options. anyone not near the equator can be quite jealous of the weather here at least.
take care yallz.