My First Cameroonian Bar

My first Cameroonian bar, Friday, September 28, 2012

I just had an interesting experience at my first Cameroonian bar.  I went with four people from training group (also called stage) with one of their host brothers who didn’t speak any English.  We sat around talking for a while asking him questions, though he didn’t really understand what we were saying most of the time.  While we were there, a guy came up to us and started speaking the local language of Bafia – I don’t really know what that is considering there are over 200 languages and ethnicities here.  He started the conversation by telling us that if we were going to be in his town we needed to learn the language of it, which is not French, apparently. 

According to him, the best way to learn the language was by getting a local man or a woman, which he was happy to provide to each of us.  I’m assuming it would be the opposite sex for each of us considering being gay is illegal.  He seemed like a pretty important guy; he had an entourage and drove around in a big Denali, the nicest car I’ve seen here.  Apparently he has 10 children.  Five of them are in the States, one of which is the only Cameroonian NBA player.  Another is in London, another in France, another in Brussels, and two more still in Cameroon.  He called himself a ‘Patriarch,’ not just for Bafia but for the whole country. He said what he was the Patriarch for, but none of us really understood.  He even told us to stop by his gigantic house down the street. 

The host brother, Samuel, tried to explain it to us, but he wasn’t sure what we had heard from the guy and the language barrier didn’t help.  Apparently he didn’t explain it well enough.  A guy at the next table in a suit, drunk, started yelling at him because he wasn’t representing Cameroon well enough.  Samuel went over and talked to him, but apparently this wasn’t enough, and eventually Samuel and Vanessa had to leave, it was really awkward and we hurried up, finished our beers, and left.  

We finally had our first language classes today mixed in with another round of completely useless Peace Corps stuff.  Why on earth we would need to know the definition of development, why they wouldn’t just send it out in a reading or something, and why we had to spend a few hours on it, is beyond me.  It’s amazing how they can have so many useful trainings mixed with so many useless ones.  Seriously, in what world would us choosing a word for each letter in development help us as Peace Corps volunteers?  It doesn’t help that I just spent the last year studying this in grad school.  I know that they can’t have a special training for each of us, but almost everyone there had experience in development, surely they can modify this training somewhat. 

The language class seemed pretty good, but I hope it has a bit more structure as we go.  We spent most of today arguing about whose hometown was the best and asking things that we wanted to know how to say.  Luckily, there are only four of us in the class, so we have a lot of personal attention.  My French is still improving, Samuel even asked why my French was so much better than everyone else’s, though I thought Lola’s was just as good as mine, if not better. 

My host brother, Willy, likes to be called Wiz Kalifa, and seemed disappointed that I didn’t have any of his music on my computer.  Apparently he studies French, English, and Spanish in school, and wants to practice that last two with me, which can be really confusing when I am trying to use the first one.  I used my water filter for the first time today too.  So far I don’t like the taste, a lot like sulfur, I’m hoping that it will clear up as I use it more. 

We had our first ET today – that stands for Early Transfer or Termination, not really sure.  Either way, the first one to leave.  I’m really bummed out about it too, I thought she was a really cool girl; I hope she’s able to come back.  I guess it had to do with family problems, so you can’t blame her.  Either way, every country placement has a fair share of ETs, so I’m sure this won’t be the last one. 

I thought that we would have tomorrow off, I guess I should look at our schedule.  Luckily, we only have the morning, and then all of Sunday off, so it’s almost the weekend!  Still have to get up early though.  

Holding hands for some reason during training

At the bar

My house 

Are you married?

Are you married? – Thursday, September 27, 2012

So I’m starting to think that not every word in French I don’t know can just be figured out by saying it in English with a French accent.  This Franglish just isn’t cutting it – I’ve started to use my dictionary more and more.  Luckily, my French really is improving.  Both of my host parents told me that even though I have only been here for a day, it seems like I have been here for a month.  They said that I am adapting really well.  Later, I was getting water from the well out back and they kept saying how strong I am.  The only thing that keeps my head from getting big is how often I can’t think of how to say what I want or have to refer to the dictionary. 

I’m not sure what I did to it, but my right hand has been killing me all day, like I hurt a bone in it or something.  No swelling or anything, so I’m hoping it will just go away soon.  My host brother Willy doesn’t really know boundaries either.  He’s a good kid, but likes to walk in my room unannounced after I head to my room at night.  Fortunately, during their Peace Corps orientation, these families are told that we have to keep the door locked at night, so I just have to remember to do that. 

My host mother has also been suggesting – strongly – that her sister might be a perfect match me.  The first conversation went kind of like this:

“Joe, are you married?” (I forgot to say – they didn’t really like to try and pronounce Graham, so I just went with Joe, bit easier.) 

“Nope.”

“Well maybe you could have an African bride?  How old are you?”

“Umm, 26.”

“Well Therese is only 27, a year older isn’t too bad.  She’s pretty isn’t she?” As she shows me picture after picture of her.  “She’s smart too, she goes to university in Yaoundé.” 

She is going to visit her in Yaoundé tomorrow and wants me to send a letter to her.  She said it could even be in English.  I decided to go to bed a bit early tonight instead.  I’m not sure, but I think she was also telling me how cute one of her past trainees was too, so I don’t think she’s set on the sister thing.  Plus I got chocolate for the family today, Cameroonian chocolate called Mamba, so that was a good distraction.  A delicious distraction. 

These blog posts have been taking quite a while to write.  I’ve been watching Burn Notice at the same time.  I saw a few episodes years ago, and the first two seasons were on the hard drive that I copied from Grant and Alyssa and I’m really enjoying it.  It helps that it has Bruce Campbell in it and I’m reading his autobiography right now: If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor.  He has been my favorite B movie actor ever since I saw Army of Darkness.  It can definitely be a corny show, but it is pretty cool too.  Makes me think I could be a spy too.  Plus it’s great to be able to watch some American TV other than the WWE I watched with my host family tonight.  We had a lot of fun laughing at how ridiculous it is. 

I went to the outdoor market today and walked around Bafia after we finished PC work today with a couple of friends from training, Caitlin and Vanessa.  It was really busy and had some interesting stuff, but also a lot of cooked food just sitting around with flies all over it, which was pretty stinky and gross at times.  Plus Cameroonians can be really forward, people were yelling things about “white people” at us pretty often.  The guys are especially forward with American women, but I think it helped that I was with them.  I really just want to get to a point where I can buy stuff without getting screwed.  On Saturday my host mother is going to help me buy shampoo, laundry detergent, and bleach.  I’m not really looking forward to hand-washing my clothes, but comes with the territory. 

Today people were complaining that there hasn’t been enough support in training for emotional things.  One person said both that they didn’t feel like they had anyone to talk to, but also that they didn’t want to talk to people that they didn’t know; I’m not really sure what they wanted.  To me, it seems like they have given us all of the support we need.  The trainers and the PCVs that were helping us have all said multiple times that if we ever need to talk or something that we can go to them.  Plus I definitely think that I could go to any one of my fellow trainees to talk, and I mean any of them.  Plus, for people who feel like they haven’t had the chance to ‘freak out’ and that they feel like they ‘always have to be perfect,’ there has been a lot of freaking out and crying over the past week.  To be fair, I haven’t hit that W curve ‘valley’ stage yet, so maybe I’ll feel differently then. 

I think tomorrow I might try one of the three bars around my house.  Maybe play with some puppies too.  I should probably get up a bit earlier tomorrow though; my host grandmother was really worried that I was going to be late this morning.  Time to hit the sack. 

Ben, CK, and Will with AJ and some Cameroonian beers 

Jesse doing a quite provocative dance with AJ to Paper Planes by MIA

Our first language class, go Youth Development Novice High!  We spent the whole class making fun of each others' home towns.  

My First Full Week in Cameroon!

My First Week in Cameroon! – Wednesday, September 26, 2012

This first week has been a whirlwind.  My sister and I parted ways in August when she had to go back to school in Virginia, my dad and I on the night of Tuesday the 17^th, then my mom brought me to the airport the next morning.  Luckily, Joann was able to come with me to Philadelphia where I had my staging.  Finally, on Friday it was time to leave for Cameroon, with Joann taking the shuttle to the airport that morning.  I’m not going to lie, more than a few tears came from all of those goodbyes. 

A bus to JFK, a flight to Brussels, another to Yaoundé that stopped first in Douala, and more than a full day of travel later we were in Cameroon.  Yaoundé is the capital city, while Doula is bigger and the commercial center – kind of like Washington DC and New York.  Getting 55 Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) with a few bags each through a couple security lines and customs, then over to the hotel took quite a while.  I finally got to bed around 11, exhausted (for some reason I can never sleep on planes).  Side note: both American Airlines and Brussels Airlines gave me the exit row for free, suck it United. 

Peace Corps Cameroon is a great thing to be a part of.  It is the longest continuous-running Peace Corps program in the world, with our group of PCTs happening to arrive just in time for the 50^th anniversary, which is pretty cool.  I think our swearing-in (the day before Thanksgiving) will be quite the celebration.  There is also currently 178 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) plus us 55 PCTs, which means there is a wealth of experience to learn from.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to explore the city at all.  They didn’t let us leave the hotel unless we were doing PC business (which of course was with drivers and escorts), and there were always 2 gendarmes with AK47s guarding (protecting?) us. 

We’ve spent the past few days in Hotel Felydac in Yaoundé.  Most of our time has been spent getting shots and having trainings on diversity and culture, safety and security, medical, and language.  Evenings have been spent sitting around, talking, and getting drinks from the hotel bar.  Several kinds of 22 oz. beers could be bought for only 800 CFA (pronounced safa), or with 500 CFA equaling a dollar, about $1.60 USD.  Unfortunately, when you had to be at breakfast by 6:30 in the morning if you wanted to eat, these late nights started to really catch up.  I definitely got about 2.5 hours of sleep the last night we were there and have been struggling all day.  There is also a Guinness factory in Cameroon, though it is literally the worst tasting beer I have ever had.  I don’t know how the recipe is different, but it is. 

A surprising amount of these trainings have been pretty much the same training that we did in TFA, which is pretty annoying.  Oh well, pretty much what I expected.  What is surprising is how many people here I actually like.  There are of course a couple of them who are annoying as hell, including a know-it-all and someone who just keeps yelling at everyone to shut up, but that is to be expected.  Can’t get along with everyone (or at least I certainly can’t).  I was also surprised that I am one of the oldest people here, a nice change of pace.  There are three sectors in this particular training group.  Mine, which is Youth Development (YD), then there is Environment, and Health.  YD is the smallest out of three, but so far we have been training with everyone together.  Trainings will start getting more specific soon. 

Today we left the capital and went to our training towns.  Unfortunately, YD and Environment are in Bafia while Health is in Bokito nearby.  It bums me out; some of my favorite people are in the Health sector, but they will still be coming to Bafia for training, so we will still get to see them.  We also got our host families today, and I couldn’t be happier.  I have spoken more French today then I have in years, and have felt more and more confident doing it too. 

This is really good news, I tested in at Novice-High – 3^rd from the bottom in a list that includes low, medium, and high for Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced, with Superior (or fluent) rounding out the levels.  In order to be placed in a Francophone area, something that I 100% want, I have to raise myself to Intermediate High in the next two months of training.  Fortunately, I have been told that this is definitely doable with more than 100 hours of language lessons, and I am already speaking at least twice as well as I did in my interview. 

My host family is really nice, the dad is a headmaster at an elementary school and the mom is a teacher at the same school.  Their house is also nicer than I expected, and they gave me fish with plantains for dinner – delicious.  I gave them some presents and showed them pictures of my family while they showed me pictures of theirs.  Then I played Street Fighter and Grand Theft Auto 3 on their computer with the son.  They even speak pretty good English, so they can help me learn the words that I don’t know.  Don’t worry, 90% of what we say is still in French.  The only downside is that they called me fat a couple of times – maybe that is a translation thing? 

When you do something like Peace Corps or TFA they always talk about the W curve, how there will be times when you feel absolutely great and others when you’re depressed as hell.  Right now I am definitely on a peak, and it makes it even better that I recognize it.  My French is far better than I thought it would be, my host family loves me (the feeling is mutual), and so far I am having a great time with the other people here.  I am definitely missing my family and friends, but things are going great so far.  I just hope I can get more access to the Internet soon or maybe a call on my new cell phone from the people back home.  Remember people, I can receive calls and texts for free: country code 237, 70-18-53-34.  I’ll try to keep these updates more regular, but I don’t even know when I’ll be able to post this one. 

P.S. We had a dinner at the Country Director’s house (compound) and met PC staff and NGO people and even the ambassador the other night!  I have a bunch more I want to talk about, but this is a little long already.  Plus it’s time to crawl under my mosquito net and go to bed to the sounds of rain pounding on the tin roof. 

P.P.S. I forgot to say, there are three 1-month old puppies at my house.  

P.P.P.S. I'll try to do pictures later

A cultural concert and dance in Yaounde

Former President Andrew Jackson chillin' on my hotel porch in Yaounde 

Laura Kay Pearson, one of the Charlie's Angels trainers, showing us how to squat over a latrine.  Chris  Tebowing in background.