The Beach
My life up here is certainly not like life at the beach. There is no water of any sort, no fish, restaurants, bars, cafes, ocean breeze, or relaxation. There is also no nudity of any sort. The dress attire is in fact, a 180 from life at the beach. However, I just got back from the beach (and a whirlwind tour of Cameroon) and I soundly can say even at the beach I missed my small, remote village. My whirlwind tour of Cameroon is followed next week by an American parental visit….needless to say, I will be quite a tired person. It has been nearly 3 weeks since I have spent more than 24 hours at my post. I feel incredibly guilty for having other obligations that keep me away!
For our 3 month training we went down south to Kribi. Stepping of the train in itself was culture chock. After having lived up north where long boubous dominate, women in anything shorter than a skirt above their knees is a sin, seeing people praying on the side of the streets is commonplace, and the scenery is dry; going down south was a 180 and made me really appreciate the north. Yet for a small vacation, Kribi was absolutely fantastic for a variety of reasons: sharing post stories with friends, complaining in English, grrrrrrrrreat food---fish, porc, chicken, fruit, swimming, greenness, being able to dance, and the list continues….
Jumping ahead 2 weeks, I.just got back from nearly a week in Garoua, the capital of the north province. Garoua is a larger city, with more night-life than Ngaoundere, my closest city. It is famous for its hippopotami that grace its mud-filled river and…well, how hot it is--not too much else. But as a hub for the Northern provinces, it has a metropolitan feel and more asphalt laden streets than in my province. The reason for this northern voyage was to work on my fufulde skills, the language that I need to know at my post. Since they didn’t teach us any fufulde during training and left us with having to teach ourselves (which has been a fun/ sometimes stressful experience) they decided to bring the northerners together for an expedited course. The courses themselves were not too exciting, sitting for 6 hours a day never is too extraordinary; however, it was great to reiterate important fufulde points and to visit new part of the country.
Well….that brings me to this next week, that I’m sure will be an adventure in itself; having my parents come visit. Hopefully we will all make it through the next 7 days. Hopefully the party that my village is planning for their arrival will bring much joy and not too much food sickness. Best wishes to all. Mi don tamma himbe pat don be damma. Allah hokku en jam. Sey yesso, Amina
Ham Ham--a northern delicacy. Not quite. But it is a lot better than what I normally eat. Consists of grinded up peanut balls without the peanut oil and a vegetable-oily sauce.Bottom photo is of our car stuck for a few hours en route to village. A 200 km village that took 7 hours.
