Wouldn't do it again but no regrets Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This program is one of the most academically rigorous programs that exist in the study abroad realm. If you are interested in truly learning about developing countries in central Africa this is the program for you. The classes with the Middlebury staff will help you build your French writing skills and understanding of African culture and history. The teachers are always ready to help. Unfortunately, the courses at UCAC (you will take between two and three at the local university) are terrible. They are great in the fact that you will learn loads about the culture. However, you won't gain any tangible information. The teachers read out of the book. One of my classes, the professor read the UNHCR's charter and expected us to rewrite it for the entirety of his course. Teachers at UCAC would show up two hours late to a four-hour session regularly. The teachers at UCAC are not accessible and rarely helpful. It helps you understand education systems in different cultures but is frustrating nonetheless.

On-site administration of your program

Ariane Ngabeu does her very best to constantly be there for her students. She responds asap and is very open and present with her students.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The house was nice but the host family was absolutely uninvolved in my life. They would leave at 4-6 am in the morning and go to bed at 7 pm. They would eat dinner in their rooms privately often. It was a lonely host family experience. The cook and guardian were awesome though.

I think this is the only country I have traveled to where I genuinely disliked the food. It gets old real quick and there is no diversity of food options in Yaoundé. There are a few senegalese restaurants and expensive Chinese food which helped a bit. But generally, the food was not good. They barely eat any vegetables and the meat and plantains all are so overcooked in general.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

This program is the best to be integrated with locals because there is seriously no other expats.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The program has a doctor who you can text whenever to help out which is honestly incredible. However, the public hospitals are not the cleanest (open used needles from vaccines on the counter kinda thing). You need to be prepared with vaccines and a sort of private pharmacy from home (zofran, albuterol, pepsobismal, asthma meds etc). This trip set my asthma off because the pollution from the taxis and trash everywhere is terrible.

The country itself is not unsafe if you are smart about your surroundings. However, as a female traveler, I would not go back. I felt so unsafe just walking around even in mid-day because strange men would constantly harass me. I spent most of my time trying to avoid being outside because it was so terrible. You learn to handle your own... but it is not fun. I met two peace corps volunteers before going and they told me the same thing and I brushed it off. I wish I had not. Also, the taxis are very aggressive and it is easy to get cornered between them so be very careful when crossing the streets. Don't be concerned about like violent stuff in general though. The staff was very on top of political happenings to keep us safe. In fact we took a trip to Morocco for safety reasons which was wonderful and well organised.

It taught me invaluable things and helped me understand nuances about a culture. However, it was extremely lonely, difficult to make friends with locals, terrible food and lots of sexual harassment on a daily basis.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

If you only want to eat Cameroonian food then it is super inexpensive. But the taxis add up to about $15 a week. I'd say about 400 a month is a comfy budget there.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

You sign a language pledge so you only speak French.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• French speaking
• Integration
• academically rigorous

• Involved host families
• Safety/harassment through pre warnings, support systems, more check ins
• Food

The Avid Adventurer