‘Am I getting osteoporosis?’ – and other random musings

Thursday, September 19, 2013

I was walking through the market today, and got called about 5 different things in 20 minutes.  There are a myriad of names I get called everyday with just as many greetings, so I thought I would list some of them: Joe, Joseph, or Monsieur Joe (I go by Joe with Cameroonians, they can’t really say Graham), is the most common with people that know me.  A lot of people mix me up with my post-mate though, and call me by his name.  For those that don’t know me, the names get more diverse.  A few of them are: nassara (white guy in Fulfuldé); le blanc (white guy in French, more common in the Grand South); grand-frère, patron, boss, Américain, or even Corps de la Paix (Peace Corps in French).  My post-mates have been spreading around ‘géant’ (giant), but that is usually just used to describe me and aren’t said to my face.  These names could be by themselves, or after some sort of hello.  Bonjour or bonsoir are most common, salut (hey in French) and sanu (hey in Fulfuldé) also happen a lot.  Unfortunately, in Guider hee-haw is another big one. 

Miss this girl

Say what you will about Cameroonians, but they are nothing if not resourceful.  It doesn’t matter where you are – a huge city like Yaoundé, a regional capital like Garoua, or decent-sized towns like Guider – people have gardens everywhere.  If there is an empty lot, or a backyard, or a few feet between buildings, there will probably be corn or something else growing there.  I’ve been told by people more knowledgeable about agriculture than I am that Cameroonians don’t grow things with near the density that farmers in America do, but they still have their gardens everywhere. 

I realized the other day that I get almost no dairy in my diet.  They don’t really drink milk here, though you can usually get it in larger cities.  There isn’t any cheese either, just Laughing Cow – which I have been putting on sandwiches.  I’ve been making them either with pepperoni sent from my parents (thank you!) or tofu that I get in market. 

View from the train.  This is what a lot of villages look like in Cameroon.

I’ve been eating a lot of tofu since I moved to the North – more than I ever did in America.  For some reason Guider is the tofu capital of the North.  Maybe some old PCV brought it to here years ago.  Even my friend who lives in Garoua, the regional capital and only 1.5 hours from Guider, asked me to bring her tofu when I come into town.  Tofu is called soja here, while street meat is soya.  Sometimes it can be hard to remember, and I end up asking people where the wrong thing is. 

The other thing I’ve been eating on my sandwiches is Jammin’ Jalapeño hot sauce from BW3’s.  It’s incredible.  An amazing friend brought it back with her from America after going there for vacay. 

The other source I’ve started going to for dairy is the yogurt guy in market.  He’s got all of this homemade yogurt that he keeps in little Tupperware containers in a fridge, it’s delicious.  Sometimes I’ll eat it straight, others I’ll get it with rice.  It’s only 200 cfa ($0.40) for a standard sized thing of yogurt, 250 with rice.  Definitely a refreshing change of pace from everything else that is always either fried or soaked in oil. 

The only bad thing is that he is in the meat market, which is my least favorite part of the market.  With all of the meat just sitting out in the heat with flies all over it, it’s disgusting.  And the smell, I can’t help but grimace when it enters my nostrils. 

Picture from the A2Empowerment Conference in front of the Hotel de Ville in Guider.
Best post there is.  

At least he is far enough away from the nearest meat guy that you can’t really smell it when you’re sitting there.  He is in the eye of the storm; you go through hell to get there, but then you have some reprieve.

Alright, I just needed a break from working on this tech manual.  I’m editing and adding to the Youth Development Technical Manual that trainees get for their YD training.  So far it is double the size, hopefully it will be that much more useful too.  The stage before mine is leaving some big shoes to fill.