The Good and the Bad of Cameroon: Why I Love It, and Why It Eats My Soul

Over the last few weeks, especially since coming back up North, I’ve been reminded of both why I love Cameroon, and why it eats my soul.  Let’s just go one-for-one, shall we?

Good: My post-mate’s mom just came to visit, and of course the day that she got to Guider two different families brought dinner over for her.  His compound family even killed a chicken for her. 

Bad: I went out for fish with my other post-mate.  While we were eating, three different teenage boys stood their staring at us, the closest one, probably five feet away.  They were waiting for us to finish so they could take our plates back to the fish mama.  My post-mate and I ate every peace of meat on those fish, including the head and everything on the side.  All that was left were two piles of bones and the liquid from the piemont, sauce, and mayo.  As soon as we said we could take it they started fighting over the bones like stray dogs, shoving everything in their mouths.  Usually they at least wait until they take it away, but not this time.  We shouted at them that they were acting like animals and that they were villageois (rural peasants), but it didn’t stop them. 

View of the Adamaoua around Ngaounderé.

Good: When I got back up North, I was with a bunch of people who had been in the Extreme North and even one who had been in my cluster.  They all had been closed because of the Sith (Boko Haram), and forced to move further south.  As soon as we stopped in Guider, they all started talking about how much they missed the North.  I like the culture so much more than I do the South.  Everyone is so much nicer and calmer up here.  My friends bought some onions and the bag broke as they were walking.  Immediately everyone around them started helping to pick them up, and a nearby vendor even gave them a new bag.  That’s a small example, but I feel like it’s just representative of the culture. 

Bad: At least half a dozen of my close friends have been robbed, and most PCVs have either seen one or been the victim of one.  Sometimes this can be small, maybe a pickpocket, like when my phone got stolen at the Guider Cultural Fête.  The medium sized ones are what happened a few times to friends in Ngaounderé, when someone on a moto grabs a purse or bag as they go by, usually dragging the person off their feet.  Bigger ones have happened several times, usually in Yaoundé or Bamenda, when someone actually gets a knife or machete drawn on them.  Luckily no one has been permanently injured, and most times people don’t even get hurt, but it is still a traumatic experience.  Some of the new people even got a machete pulled on them about two weeks after getting to post. 

The lake by Ngaounderé that I talked about in my other post.
You can see the restaurant/club on the hill.

Good: My entire time in Guider, I’ve been meeting new people.  Sometimes in professional settings, sometimes at fêtes, sometimes at bars.  Almost every person I’ve met has invited me to their home, or offered to take me places around Guider, or at least greeted me.  Granted, it can be a double-edged sword, but it is such a nice culture. 

Bad: Two of my really good friends from my region have recently ET’d (early terminated – permanently left).  One of them went home for a visit and stayed.  The other one I at least got to say bye to, she came down to Yaoundé when I was there.  I got to spend some time with her, but of course everyone wanted to, so not as much as I would have liked.  Hopefully they will come to Colorado when I am there this winter.    I know this isn’t really Cameroon’s fault, but it is at least partly to blame. 

Good: The Cameroonians that came to Guider for the A2Empowerment Conference all seemed really motivated to continue the project.  They seemed like they were all going to work hard to ensure the success of the program.  Not all of them had the right skillset, and here might have been some prejudice going on, but I feel good about the future of the program. 

Bad: My backpack got covered in honey when it was on top of the bus taking us from Garoua to Ngaounderé.  Of course, it got covered in fermented smoothie from a 2:30 AM explosion that was caused by an American.  So this one is kind of a wash.  

Inside that beautiful forest by the town I forget the name of next to Mbuda, in the West.

Good: The food

Bad: The food

Good: How energetic the kids are with sports and dancing.

Bad: When the kids yell ‘HEE-HAW!’ at me because they think I’m Chinese. 

Good: How helpful everyone can be. 

Bad:  How often people ask me for food or money. 

Ok, now I’m just getting into ranting.  That’s probably enough for now.  I hope everyone in Colorado is staying safe from the floods!  Go Broncos!