My Walk Home

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Well apparently I’m being a bit more verbose lately.  This is the third blog post I’m starting without being able to post one of them.  I apologize in advance for the deluge, but I want to write while I have the inspiration and the words, rather than just forgetting about it by waiting until later.  The reason I can’t post them is because I broke my Internet key.  I had a bit of an explosion of body wash in my backpack, which unfortunately broke both my key and my hair clippers; I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep this beard from getting out of control.  The key was especially troublesome.  I spent quite a bit of money on it.  I’ll be buying a lower-grade key from a friend of mine this week, so I should be able to start posting more regularly again, but it’s still a disappointment. 

Everyone leaving the grand prayer after Fete du Mouton, also called Tabaski.

It’s about 8:30 in the evening and I just walked back from my post-mate’s house.  For some reason, tonight the walked seemed particularly enlightening.  As soon as I stepped out of his compound – he lives with a relatively very wealthy family – there were a few kids sitting outside of his gate.  This was not the first time I’ve seen this and probably not the first time I’ve written about it either, but the reason the kids were there was to use the light outside of the gate to do their homework.  It wasn’t even the only time I saw it on that under-ten-minute walk home; there were several kids I saw sitting on the ground at the side of the road to use a light from a compound that has electricity to do their homework.  Whether or not I live in a town that has electricity and running water, that does not mean that all or even the majority of the people here have those things. 

The road from Guider to Garoua, one of the best-maintained roads in the Grand North.
I always know I'm getting close when I see the mesas on the right side.  It sure won't stay this green for long

It was really a reminder of the difference between circumstances here and in America.  To get the students that I taught in America to do homework was a struggle to say the least.  Even once I moved to a school with a much stronger discipline system, it was still difficult.  I always had to think about the excuse that they couldn’t look things up with the Internet at home so they couldn’t do their homework.  Here that excuse is meaningless.  No one has a computer, much less the Internet.  The excuse, if students were to use one, would be that they didn’t have electricity to do it by light.  They could also use the other excuses that so many of them have; they had to cook dinner/do dishes for their families; they had to get water; they had to do laundry.  Small chores for us are big chores here due to a lack of technology, and chores that usually fall on the shoulders of the youth and women. 

More huts.

The other thing that I noticed on my walk was all of the noises.  Most people go to bed so early here; they are up super early, and this is coming from a guy that is usually up by 6 every day.  Because they are up so early, they also go to bed really early.  You would think that the result would be a really quiet night, every night, but that is not the case at all.  Other than the people who do still stay up late, especially the corner right by my house where a lot of nights they play music, it is still noisy. 

My post-mate killing his first chicken

All of that noise comes from the animals.  The majority of sounds come from crickets, frogs, and especially bats.  The rest comes from the livestock that you can find throughout Guider, and the Grand North in general.  There are the random brays of donkeys, baahs of sheep, and bleats of goats.  There are even the seemingly random crows of the roosters.  Of course there was also the barks and howls of dogs (which I hate in this country, people treat them like shit so I feel like they are always a hair’s breath away from attacking.  Honestly, I feel like it’s just as noisy but a different genre as when I lived in NYC. 

Fou

Saturday, October 19, 2103

We’ve had friends visiting for a few days.  One of them had lived in Larbak, a nearby village, for a couple of years before extending to Maroua.  When Maroua was closed she moved to Ngaounderé, where she was just approved to extend for a 4^th year.  My post-mate is actually talking about extending for a few months so he would COS (close of service) with my stage.  He is going to be replaced by someone that comes with the September stage, so he figures he might as well hang out with us until then. 

The other one is leaving very shortly.  He was in our cluster for a few months.  He had been evacuated from Mali with a bunch of other people and moved to Mayo Oulo with my post-mate’s stage.  Unfortunately, Mayo Oulo was also closed, so he was moved south to Nkongsamba, in the Littoral.  He will be COSing in just over two weeks, so he wanted to see it again before he left. 

The other day we were at the market, when my post-mate grabbed a little baggy out of a kid’s hand.  It was full of ‘solution’.  Solution is toxic glue that they breathe in to get high.  They can just pick the baggy up off of the ground somewhere, and a bottle of solution only costs 200 cfa, or about $0.40.  This kid had been walking around for who knows how long huffing this glue.  We could barely understand him when he talked. 

It’s like we were seeing pre-fou.  Fou means crazy in French, and in Cameroon, a fou is someone who is crazy.  They walk around in rags all day bothering people, asking for money, and just being crazy.  In America picture a homeless person with severe mental problems.  I think most of them here actually sleep in a compound, there families taking care of them at least a bit, but I’m not sure about that.  We even have a street in Guider we named Fou St., because the main fou that bothers us is always there.  I feel like these kids who are huffing glue are just working their way up to being full-blown fous.

I started teaching on Thursday at the CMPJ, my youth center.  I’ll be doing life skills with them mostly, but I promised I would throw some English in there too.  It went really well.  I taught about the bridge model – basically showing them what skills that they need to build a bridge and avoid the ravine of drugs, HIV/AIDS, malaria, other illnesses, alcohol, and unwanted pregnancy – stuff like that.  Then the different lessons will cover those skills.  I’ll be teaching there every Tuesday and Thursday.  The lesson went really well.  The students were well behaved, and since there is only about 20 of them, it wasn’t too tough involve everyone and keep their interests.  I had a few problems with French, a couple of words I didn’t know, but overall my language skills were fine. 

I’m planning on going to one of the high schools on Monday to talk to the principal.  I want to work with the health club when they meet on Wednesdays on the same life skills stuff.  I would like to be able to work with clubs from all three schools, but throughout Cameroon clubs only meet on Wednesdays, so I can really only work with one unless I switch off each week, which I don’t think will be effective enough. 

I started a writing club with friends around the world – some working, some PCVs, a bunch in America too.  Basically we write to different prompts, whatever they inspire.  The only rule is that it is a 500-word minimum.  Everyone sends me their submissions and I post them on the blog I started for it – ScribblersGuild.blogspot.com – under a pen name.  It’s really fun reading all of the different submissions and being the only one who knows who everyone is.  If you want to join, let me know, otherwise, check out the blog!  There has been some great writing so far. 

Fête du Mouton

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Warning: Graphic Pictures Ahead

The other day was a great day: Fête du Mouton or Festival of the Ram.  It’s a Muslim holiday.  I honestly don’t know what this one is about, but that’s true about most religious holidays.  I do know that you have to sacrifice a ram (or other animal, I think) to god.  I went over to my post-mate’s compound in the morning and met up with him before going to the big prayer with his family.  It was pretty much the same as Ramadan; except for at the end they sacrificed a ram.  One of the reasons they sacrifice one at the prayer is because it counts as the sacrifice for everyone there, so the people who can’t afford to do one of their own are covered. 

The ram is sacrificed on behalf of the Lamido – the traditional ruler of Guider.  He’s always got a bunch of guys that wait on him hand and foot.  A few of his running crew, all dressed in red bubus, dug a hole.  This was where the blood was going to go.  They then held down the ram while one of them slit its throat with what looked like a very sharp knife.  It was pretty graphic, but ended fairly quickly. 

Killing the ram

Afterwards we went back to my post-mate’s compound.  All the women in his family were working on cooking.  The men were given breakfast – meat with sauce and pieces of manioc and bread.  We ate with them; it tasted great.  After breakfast, the men took a goat to the corner to sacrifice it.  It went pretty much the same as the other one, except I was a lot closer.  They cut the throat really deep – at least halfway through the neck.  After they cut they poured water over it and rubbed the cut to help let the blood out.  I think the goat died pretty quickly, but it continued to twitch and thrash every once in a while for a long time.  Even after it was skinned and cut up, parts of it still twitched 45 minutes later. 

Decorated horses!  Always a part of big fetes

Not long after breakfast we got invited to another guy’s house to eat there.  My post-mate went but I was still full so I stuck around.  Not long after he returned we were served parts of the goat that had been cooked over the fire.  It was delicious, but a bit too much liver and other organs for my taste.  The ribs were really good though, and there was way too much food, so once again we gorged ourselves. 

Just a couple of hours later we went to another guy’s house.  There were about 20 people there, and we sat around drinking soda until the food was ready.  One of the funny things about Cameroon is how little people actually talk to each other when they are hanging out.  All of us just sat around silent.  When you see Cameroonians at bars, more times than not they will be sitting at the same table drinking in silence.  Any conversation in the room was very muted. 

Cleaning the sacrifice

This lasted about half an hour.  Then the food was served.  It was amazing, a bunch of meat, salad, and bread.  Once again, we gorged ourselves.  

After eating we went back to my post-mate’s house and sat back, satiated and not talking much, digesting for a few hours.  We were invited to eat more with his compound family, but we politely refused.  There was no way I could have had another bite.  It was like Thanksgiving, except no football.  I have to say, I can’t wait for next year’s Fête du Mouton. 

Guava Tree

I discovered that in the very back corner of my concession (compound) behind my house I have a guava tree.  Well, let me clarify.  My post mate found it after he followed some teenagers who went back there and were trying to take them all.  Honestly, people go back there all the time.  I never know why, though usually it is kids my landlord pays to sweep up my yard.  I should probably pay more attention to stuff like that…  Either way, I’ve been checking the guava tree every few days now.  They aren’t my favorite fruit, but they are pretty tasty and easy to eat.  You eat the rind so you basically eat it like an apple.  I’ve been having a few each day.  I like being able to think, “I need a snack,” and then walk out back and grab one off the tree.

I’ve been sick the last few days, but I think I’m finally starting to get over it.  I could actually sleep last night, so that was a great change.  I’m not sure what it is, but the symptoms are cough, mucus, sore throat, aches, headache, and I think a bit of a fever too.  My post mate also got sick, he thinks it was caused by the climate change coming from the Grand South to the North.  I really need to remember to bring a jacket when I travel south; it is so cold down there.  A friend pointed me out that it is still in the 70s, but that feels cold to me.  I’m nervous about what Colorado will be like in December and Ukraine in January.  I’m not sure what to do about my Ukraine visit; I don’t want to bring a winter coat and then have it when I come back to Cameroon.  Definitely won’t need it here. 

Speaking of which, my trip is in just over two months!  It’s coming up quick, I’m trying to get souvenirs for everyone, but it’s hard to save enough funds to do it.  Luckily I’ve already gotten started, but there’s a lot more that I want to get.  I know I’ll be leaving people out, but what can you do, I can only bring so much back home.  Sorry guys. 

Time will definitely go by fast, too.  I’ll be leaving in a week for ICT (technology) Committee.  Friends will be traveling back up with me so they can see the North, plus a bunch will be coming North for Garoueen (Halloween in Garoua, a yearly tradition).  A couple of weeks after that, we will actually be getting newbies up here!  Only one YD will be coming North, but we might get up to 9 people total.  We’re going to throw a big party to welcome them, can’t wait!  A couple of weeks after that is Thanksgiving.  We are hosting it in Guider and a bunch of people are coming up for that too.  There is a Food Security Conference in the cluster right after, so people are using that as an excuse.  We even have a guy we are going to talk to about reserving turkeys!  Then a couple weeks after that is my trip.  Things are really busy; I’m just going to have to make a real effort to get work in too. 

I was supposed to start teaching lessons today.  I was going to start a month ago when school started, but I went to my youth center and my counterpart, Godwe, said they weren’t starting yet.  I asked why and he said he was too tired – he was going to wait until October.  On va faire comment?  (What can you do?)  I’m going to do Tuesday/Thursday classes out of the Life Skills Manual – basically on life skills and good decision-making skills.  Today, however, is Fête du Mouton, something that I’ll talk more about my next blog post.  Guess I’ll have to wait until Thursday to actually start.  I’ll only be able to get in two classes until I have to go to Yaoundé again for another committee, but I’ll try to rush back up after to start in earnest.  

Cheers Governor with Cameroonians

I realized that the blog post I wrote about the A2Empowerment Conference didn’t include my favorite part.  One of the nights we went to a friend’s house from Guider, Joseph, for dinner.  His sister is Lucy, who lives in Meskine and is friends with the girl who put on the conference.  I brought over a cassier (case) of beer for everyone and we had some pretty good food.  After that we all took a trip to the bar down the road to have a few more beers.

While we were there, we played a game called Cheers Governor.  It’s a drinking game similar to King’s Cup.  Basically, you go around the circle counting off until you get to 15, instead of 15 you everyone says ‘Cheers Governor’ and takes a drink.  The person who was 15 then gets to make up a rule to replace the other numbers.  You keep going around then with the rules replacing numbers – if you get to a number and forget the rule, you have to drink and the it starts back at 1. 

So now that you know the game I’ll relate the situation.  I was hanging out with a few volunteers and a former PCV who works in Senegal for Whole Foods but travels around a lot of Africa to find different growers and stuff like that.  We also had about 5 Cameroonians there, a couple were Christian so they were drinking beers with us, the other three were from the Far North, all Muslim women, so they were just drinking soda. 

Usually, when people come up with rules for games like King’s Cup or Cheers Governor, they are things like waterfall, categories, or a specific gender drinks; so it was fun to have Cameroonian, especially Muslims, make the rules.  They’re rules were more like you pull a 7 you have to dance, you pull a jack you have to point to someone, they sing and the guys dance, you pull an ace everyone has to walk to the wall on the other side of the bar. 

Goal 2 of Peace Corps is to share cultural things about America with Cameroonians.  I think we got that covered. 

Goal 3 is to share things about Cameroon with Americans; I’m covering that here. 

I just got back to Yaoundé from Bafia, where our training happens.  The new stage is here so I trained them for a couple of sessions on Friday, and I’ll be training for a couple on Monday too so I have to get back before then.  They seem like a pretty good group, though I’ve really only talked to the YD sector.  They are definitely a lot more cheerful and participative than we were – more like what I think of YD volunteers like.  They seemed to be pretty smart and have a lot of experience too, looks like we got a good addition to our group.  One of them will be coming up North to Pitoa, about 15 minutes outside of Garoua.  I’m interested to see who it was. 

I saw my host family for the first time since I left too.  I brought them a bottle of whiskey, a bottle of caramel peanuts, and a bunch of pictures of them and I that I had printed out.  My host parents and grandma were all really excited, and my host-mom’s sister was there too, so I got to see her.  I didn’t spend too long with them, but I’m going to try to go Monday when I get back to Bafia if I stay the night.  We have to go back to train again, we are only here to take the FSOT tomorrow.  I’m pretty nervous about it.  We have to rush back to Yaoundé after to take the train on Tuesday, a lot of traveling.