Dschang: Cameroon's Version of Ashland

Hello! Sorry it's been awhile. Internet is not nearly as good here, and I feel like I'm constantly doing more things. I don't have a whole lot of time, so I'll rush through this update!

We got here last Saturday and stayed the night at a pretty darn high class hotel. We also went out to a night club together, yes all 19 of us. Before then we had a decent group bonding sess over plenty of mixed drinks, and even got roudy enough for the hotel manager to call us and polity ask us in french to please shut up. The night club was fun but a bit much for me. I was literally running from at least 5 different men throughout the night. That's really not an exaggeration.

On sunday after about 4 hours of sleep and however many whiskey and cokes later, I woke up and was dropped off with my new family who is AWESOME. This time I'm with two parents, a 14 year old girl, 16 year old boy, an 18 year old boy, a 25 year old girl, and another older brother (well he's actually a cousin), and I can't remember how old his is. I also share a room with my 25 year old sister, which is prooving to be a very great thing. We often stay up late talking about boys and clothes and dancing and just classic girl sleep over stuff! It's really fantastic.

One note, there are a lot more cockroaches at my house here. I'm ok with it for the most part, but sometimes this crawl into my school bag and then I don't know they're there until I'm trying to get somtehing out and there's a giant cockroache crawling up my arm. And I accidentally stepped on one without any shoes on one night, and it survived!

Here, instead of cabs (there are a few cabs, but not many and they're always full), people just pile on to moto-taxis, aka motorcycle taxis. I literally saw 4 primary school children on one today: two infront of the driver, and two behind. It was probably the cutest, albeit most dangerous thing i've seen. The kids could not have been older than 6. Who put them on that moto??

I live up on the top of a hill, which I reach after walking by this little lake. Everyday I walk by the lake, and accross the dam. It's beautiful, and a nice change from the pace of the big city. I think that I may stay here for my research. There are literally urban farms everywhere. Today I went on a mad hunt to find the director the city agricultural department to see if he could hook me up with these groups of female farmers, and three failed attempts later I only found a phone number, hah, but it's a start! Also I emailed this program called Trees for the Future and said, " hey, i live in cameroon right now and I want to plant some trees with you guys," and I just got an email back from them! I don't know if that'd work out, but that would be very cool too. Pretty much, whatever I do, I want it to be very hands on.

It's so hard to do work here. Everyday I go home and hang out with my dad or one of my siblings and then at night the electricity is usually cut, and I'm too tired to do work anyways so I just go to bed. Two things about that: all the children in my family are very very smart and studious, but also really attractive and funny. I can't lie, they may be a little too cool for me. I love them though. The other thing is that water and electricity or cut way more often than in Yaounde. The electricity is really the fault of an american company which bought Cameroon's electricity after Biya agreed ti accept the conditions of the IMF's SAP. And then Morroco bought the water here. People go months and months without any running water. I don't know how that's possible in the city, in the poorer parts of Yaounde. Also, the electricy here goes out on average at least once a day.

For as much as I love Dschang, I miss my family in Yaounde. I miss the little 'uns! And Michelle teaching me go to cook and clean. And I miss my parents there, a lot. But I am moving back in just a week.

I feel my french improving every day, even if it's still really hard for me to understand people most of the time. Also, I'd really like to make more Cameroonian friends, but the only people who seem to want to talk to me are guys, and it's just not as common for boys and girls to have totally plutonic relationships here. And I may or may not have exchanged numbers with one of the mayor's sons. Either he was lieing, or I totally misunderstood him...

Also, I am really sorry to anyone that I haven't personally responded to. Also, my phone SUCKS! Sorry mom, but it does, and I am buying a new once in the next few days. Julian, I can't remember if I told you this, but as soon as I have a new phone I'll call you! Same to you mom and dad! Sorry this is so hard. Time is also just flying here. I can't believe that it's already been almost a month!

Oh, and Julian! I forgot to write this and I dont have enough time to email you again but my dream sack keeps me more than warm enough! Don't bring a sleeping bag! Also, there's this thing here called tartina (from the verb to spread), and it's like delicious chocolatey goodness. Ima buy a huge tub for our travels, because it's uber cheap!

Ah! I want to say too that we hung out at a chefferie the other day and we danced with a King! Granted there's a bunch of chefferies and there's only like 2,000 in batoufam, but still. We had to refer to him at majesty, and when people wanted to talk to him they have to do this hand clap thing and then only approach him when bent over and then talk into their hands, instead of directly too him. And we danced with him!

Ok, time to actually do some work. Me and this girls Alex are doing a smaller research project on female professers in Yaounde and Dschang and their status at the university, and how they balance their career with responsibilities at home. We've gotta print out some surveys to hand out!

Bye!

I love you guys!

Dschang tomorrow

Ok, I only have a few minutes so it's a short one.
Things here are going really well though. The language barrier is still hard, but always getting better. School is actually more intense than I anticipated but so far I'm getting everything done. I have to conduct three interviews with different people about their ethnicity though, and it's causing me a lot of grief. I just don't like the idea of walking up to a random person and trying to say in my barely decent french, "Hello, I am doing a project for school, can I ask you about your ethnicity?" gah! The thing is, I have to do two before we leave for Dschang tomorrow, because almost everyone there is Bamilike. Hah, which gives me about 2 hours, ahahahaah. Woops.

Anywho, tomorrow we move to Dschang for two weeks (another host family!) and then we go back to yaounde for two weeks, and then we move to Ngaoundere for another 2 weeks, and then we're on our own for a month to do independent research. I still am not sure of what I want to do, but I've been trying to e-mail NGOs here. I found a program that plants trees in forested regions to combat deforestation, so I think it'd be cool to shadow them! I also discovered that we can do creative projects, like I could learn how to make drums or something. There's just too many options.

Did I explain cabs here? I feel like people'd appreciate it. So these crazy little yellow cars just zoom around everywhere honking at people on the side of the rode. If one honks at you and you want a ride, you scream some landmark close to where you want to go, and if he can take you there he honks again and you hope in. It costs 200 cefa to go most places around yaounde (roughly 40 cents). Also, the drivers try to fit in as many people as possible, so I make sure to avoid the front seat so I don't end up with a stranger sitting on my lap. I also think that I've seen maybe 2 stop lights, and those were only in the craziest intersections of centre ville.

Oh! Really quick, yesterday was the fete de jeunesse parade, which means reps from a bunch of yaoundes school did a huge parade through downtown. Technically about 60 percent of cameroon's population is considered youth (but 35 year olds are youth). I have never seen so many school children in my life though. I took Michelle, my 14 year old sister with me, and we had a lot of fun. We walked home together afterwards and really bonded. Hah, her dad is a teacher at the same high school as her, sound familiar? I can't believe the education system here. All the schools are bursting at the seems. So many people are able to go to school, but the schools aren't able to support them. We hung out at Yaounde 1, one of the universities, and it was the same deal. Each lecture class has hundreds of students in it.

I think my time is about up, so I'm going to go before I get signed off.
Also, I'll try to get a picture of me doing laundry, because I think some of you would think it's funny. I'll try to upload pictures soon too, I just haven't had time yet.
I can't believe three weeks has already gone by...
I'm having a blast, but I am also really excited that it's going by quickly, because that just means I'll get to see Julian sooner!

Bye guys!
Love y'all!

This weekend has been a roller coaster of emotion!
Friday was the best day that I've had here. I don't even remember what we did in school, but after school me, Libby and Courteney (two of my classmates) went and hung out at this open air bar and shared a Top (a soda drink here), and hung out for awhile. Then we stopped by my place so that I could change and gather my three youngest siblings, then we walked around a little, and end up playing this crazy game of soccer with like 20 kids in the street infront of Courtneys house. I was thinking about what I would have been doing in the states in about 6 or 630 on a friday, and I would probably either be getting off work, and going to buy beer. Instead, I played soccer with a bunch of tiny crazy cameroonians! I think it was a big breakthrough with my siblings too, I think they like me a lot more now. Then that night, I forgot that I had a dress coming for me (I cant remember if I explained that my host mother's sister is a dress maker and that she fitted me and made me a dress), and so when mamas nephew brought it by it was a great surprise! Then I helped make dinner, read and went to sleep.
Saturday was great for the most part. First we went on an exursion to an art school, and then we went to the Gorilla Sanctuary. I can't remember the name now, but it's a national park. The whole place kind of looked like Jurassic park, but with giant gorrilas and chimps and baboons rather than dinosaurs.
That night, my emotions kind of crashed down around me. I think I was just tired, and frustrated with my language skills, and missing Julian a lot, but I sort of deflated. I was going to out with some american friends and some cameroonian classmates (don't get excited, there are only 3), but I decided that it was a good idea to just spend some time alone with my thoughts, and get a good nights sleep. It's easy to fee like I'm constantly running, I forget that I have to slow down and relax and reflect sometimes.
This morning was much better. I woke up around 7, did some housework, and then introduce Jorham (the youngest) to my digital camera. The created about 2 hours of excitement with him and the rest of the family as we ran around taking pictures of everything and eachother, and I desperately tried to keep the camera from falling out of his tiny hands. Then I played a type of word game with the four kids for awhile, and then ate lunch and came back to this internet cafe!
Also, it rained today, thank god. It's like 10 degress cooler now, and a little less dusty, but it's still pretty warm.

It's funny, I can elequently explain my views on things like globalization in french, but when I have to talk about my day, it's like I forget everything. Hah, oh well, I'm getting there. I can feel my language improving, and I'm starting to get the hang of the accent.

Okay, I suppose that's all for now. I miss all of yall tons!

A day in the life

Did I write about doing my laundry by hand? I feel like some of you would appreciate the image. We wash the laundry, and shoes and children, outside. Behind our concrete house is a sort of concrete platform with a sort of moat the water drains through. You take a bucket of water, put your clothes in, scrub them up with a bar of soap, maybe slap them against stone for awhile, then dunk them into a bucket of fresh water, ring, and hang out to try! This, I am not so good at. At least not as good as I am at washing dishes.

Michelle and Aisi (the older younger brother), had a great laugh at my expence when they found me trying to shoo a giant cockroache out of my room. Somehow I flipped it onto its back, and then couldn't figure out how to get it past the door frame! Michelle just took her flip flop and knocked it like a hockey puck down the hall and out the kitchen door.

Also, I have to warn everyone that I am probably going to come back about 20 pounds heavier. I told my host mother that I was going to get fat, and she just laughed at told me that yes, I was, hahaha. She said people in Cameroon love to share food, and that she wants all my friends and family in the US to know that she took really good care of me!

The most encouraging thing of every day will be when I get home from school around 3 and am bombarded by children who want to give me a hug to welcome me home. I never knew how wonderful that can be.

Here's a glimpse into a normal day for me:
Wake up around 630, get ready for school, eat a breakfast of bread and chocolate and tea, and then walk to class with Sheripha (her school is just a few blocks away from mine). School lasts until 3 but we have an hour and a half for lunch, and a bunch of breaks. After school I usually walk home, chat with the fam for a little, and then spend a few hours in the living room doing work. I always have plenty of company though, which is really wonderful. My parents always have papers to grade, and my brothers and sisters have homework too. All the kids are learning english in school (Michelle is learning german too!), so I sometimes help with their english, and they help with my french. I ususually eat around 7, and then get in bed around 9. The heat just tires me out here! It's been less hot as of late though.

I also think that I now have a better idea of what I want to do my research project on. I think that I want to research human rights laws in Cameroon, and NGOs that work to protect them. One of our professors is a student of human rights, so I am going to ask him for help. He also reminds me a lot of professors I have had at UO, but much more honest. He has a very open hatred of the WB and IMF and thinks that globalizations is really another word for capitalist totalitarianism. His lecture made me want to argue with him, made me want to think, which is awesome! I think I share a lot of his opinions, but with less passion, because then again, the system has obviously worked for me. In the US, I live in a relatively huge house, with a toilet that flushes, a refrigerator, and no cockroaches, amongst other things. Getting a visa to travel here was virtually painless, but getting a visa if you're cameroonian and want to go the US, can be virtually impossible.
Everything about this program is a huge learning experience. It is still often the hardest thing that I have ever done. It's hard always being so visible, hard not really being able to understand the language, hard with the climate and new food, but hey! That's travel for ya.
It's also hard to be here when my heart is with a certain someone back in Oregon. I feel like my heart split in two, and now there's another part growing here. That's a weird analogy, but I don't know how else to explain it. Actually, I just plain don't know how to explain it. I just hope that there are some hugs waiting for me when I get home today.

Ok, that's it for now! Bye guys! Love you all!

mbembe kiri

Mbembe kiri is how one says hello in Ewondo, and also the only thing that I remember from an impromptu language lesson with mama. That was another thing that illicited a lot of laughter, when I excitedly asked my host mother to teach me some Ewondo.
It appears that my designated chores will be to do dished, which I am apparently really good at! Hah. That and frying plaintains. Helping out around the house makes me feel instantly like more of the family, but my role is still kind of awkward. The family hierarchy is very different from American families, I don't know where I fit in. I'm sometimes like one of the children, sometimes like one of the adults, but always an outsider. I honestly forget how much I stand out here. I forget until I see another white person and then it's like, "Shit! I stand out THAT much?" Like yesterday I went to two market with my host mother, and only saw one other white person.

Everyone told me that I would be harrassed a lot, but so far the most I've been hit on is by my two little host brothers (yah, the boy that I thought wasnt in my family is, and hes like 7, and jorban is about 5), and only in the way that they giggle and run to tell eachother that I've gotten home. The worst I really get on the street is, "La Blanche! La Blanche!" and the occasional random hand hold.

The weirdest thing about Yaounde so far, is the obsession with American pop culture. Michelle's favorite movie is Hannah Montana, and her favorite musical artist is Lady Gaga. They watch a lot of Disney Channel shows in french, and play a lot of American music videos. Most restaurents and internet cafes have TVs blasting American music too. It's a sign of the times to hear "Party in the US" play on repeat when you live in Sub-Saharan Africa, or to realize that your host siblings know more about contemporary American pop culture than you do.

I spend so much time studying globalization in terms of economy and politics, but I suppose I just didn't really believe how far global culture has spread. Or maybe I should just say American culture.

There's a few random things that I want to explain about Yaounde:
Its called the city of seven hills because it, well, spreads across seven hills. I think it's beautiful, if you can look past the trash and smog.
Crossing your legs is considered an attempt to be superior, and should not be done!
It's totally okay to pick your nose in public, even when you're talking to someone (sweet!)
Randomly smiling at people is bad, because people will think you're fake. It's called the American smile, and it's much better to just say hello.
Yaounde is split into different neighborhoods. I live in Tsinga, which is next to Bastos, which is where our office base is.

NEXT WEEKEND WE GO TO A GORRILA SANCTUARY!

I've gotta go. My time is nearly up, and I should go back home so my family doesn't worry.

Bye!

Oh, and send me some snail mail! My address is on my profile.