One of my sisters in the village with sheep, much of which I probably ate.

Kids at my house during Tabaski.

Barkadesella Himbe Pat! Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope the Holidays are going well. I definitely reminisced about being home in WI more than usual this past week. (Perhaps it was the 90 degree weather, how barely anyone celebrated Christmas or how I didn’t eat any sort of Christmas cookie…oh well)

It’s now week 3 at post and things are going well. Everyone has been incredibly nice. I cannot count the times that people have helped me with my house (getting rid of spiders, cleaning, fetching me water) helped me cook (usually squash…I think its squash?) or given me presents (eggs, melon, milk, etc). With the very little that people have here its remarkable how giving people are.

I feel already quite at home and am getting acclimated to the customs here, notably; when you greet someone have to do about a minute salutation back and forth, when someone comes to your house, immediately invite them to sit inside your house and have them admire your dishes (dishes are a sign of wealth), never decline food….(not too big of an issue for me), the very distinct gender roles, i.e. women rarely leave their houses during the daytime, men never cook, they have separate houses, eat separately, etc. etc. Even just after week 3 I feel incredibly privileged to have all the opportunities as a woman in the states.

Cows--Another reason why I probably feel at home here is the large amount of cows. My region is known for their cows who supply ample amounts of milk and beef. I have had to renounce my semi-vegetarianism that I upheld in the states, for beef is the only amount of protein that I can receive. People eat beef here twice a day. Cows are everywhere…walking in the streets, grazing in the fields, blocking the roads, etc. Due to the cows I get to drink milk nearly everyday. So far the fresh milk, which I boil, has not caused too many gastrointestinal issues, but I’m beginning to wonder when it’ll kick in.

Tabaski—Tabaski, or the fete de Moutons, is a big deal here, as it is in any Muslim Area. During the fete de Mouton, After all the men went into a sacred field to pray, every family slaughtered a sheep and then began sharing parts of the sheep and passing them around to neighbors, families, friends etc. During the first day of the fete I was served at least 10 plates of sheep. The second day of the fete was nearly the same. Now I fully realize why it’s called the fete of Mouton. It’s a bit like Thankgsiving, sans the variety of food.

Christmas- With less than 10% of the community Christian it was not too big of a holiday here. In fact, most people thought I was referring to Tabaski several days ago when I would mention Xmas. I went to a 2 hr church service on Xmas; highlights include, watching older women walk around with long sticks and tapping those in the crowd that were goofing off or falling asleep, and watching adorable children goofing off while the women were not looking. The majority of my Xmas was spent passing out food that I made the day before to those that gave me food for Tabaski....

Well, once again Happy Holidays Everyone! Sey Sidda, Bahowuje.

Going to Post

After waiting for 45 minutes, here is a picture of la grande fete pour mon anniversaire a few days ago; including, PC volunteers and many neighborhood children.

Jam Na! Jam bandu na? Hello Everyone! I hope all is going well. Happy, Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! It is about 85 degrees here and extremely humid, so it doesn’t quite feel like “winter” is approaching. I will probably be spending my Christmas in my Muslim village….thus, not much will be going on. Will probably spend New Years in Ngaoundere about 2 hours away. There are some other Americans a few hours away from me so we will probably meet up to Celebrate…but who knows.
Stage just ended so more liberty is on its way. My host family hosted a large party for my birthday. They prepared loads of food; rice and beef, fried chicken, salad, bread, cakes etc, and I had a large neighborhood fiesta, filled with cute children, dancing and good eating. The actual night of my birthday was spent in Yaounde. It also involved much eating. I’m sort of glad to have left Bangangte and am ready to go to my post. Granted its saddening knowing that I won’t be with my fellow stage mates for another 3 months ; however, hopefully I will find friends and be very busy in village…..
Currently I’m in Yaounde with about 40 new people. There are roughly 140 PC volunteers in Cameroon in total, so I have had the opportunity these last few days to meet a lot of new people, which is great. Besides the upcoming large adjustment that I am experiencing tomorrow, after the long, long train ride, by moving into village, not too much is going on. I will probably spend the next few months doing preliminary assessment of the village, learning Fufulde, meeting community members, attending meetings, doing protocol, and furnishing my house….I’m a far, far cry from any sort of interior designer; thus, it probably will not be too stylish nor any of the furniture matching.
Any way, once again happy holidays!!!!!