Feb 2007

its been what i consider a normal week in dschang. had plenty of school work, but not excessive amounts. i spent the weekend planning for our development discussion about tribalism, interviewing folks about that and about ethnicity in general. i also skipped church and did laundry on sunday, which was tough but rewarding work. there was a tough power outage from mid saturday through mid sunday; poor lighting is annoying in the bathroom, and kills the tv-centered culture, but also i couldnt charge my cell phone or ipod. that kinda thing would be a problem in a tight situation, since i have no other means of communication. also no running water when there's no electricity, so we were running quite low on reserves until this morning. nothing especially interesting, though.
to correct a prior entry, the family's favorite show is in fact a comedy, not a soap opera, and its actually from burkina faso. there was another burina faso show on last night, so perhaps there is a decent afro-hollywood establishment round those parts. also some dubbed brazilian soap opera is often on everywhere here but i would really feel like i was wasting my time if i actually watched that while here.
what i have started doing is reading a lovely book i found in the SIT office - Star Wars: Tales from Jabba's Palace. I actually own it at home and i guess read it years ago, but its fun, and really takes me away entirely from the culture here. its a bizzare mental transition between that exotic space culture and this different kind of african life i am trying to lead. but i enjoy being able to do some fiction reading, at least.
upcoming: a new outfit, a bit more stylish, should be sweet. and after that, a rural bamileke village stay at unknown location from thursday through sunday. that will be interesting. but that also means i'll be out of computer range and possible cell range during that time. so wish me luck in that adventure. i'll give the full report for that in a week.

life goes on in dschang. i've had a fairly busy week, having to do my one-time report on the weekly news, amongst the typical french essays. also am co-leading a "development discussion" next week to be about tribalism. in general, more free time would help to get everything i need to get done, done.
a group dinner last night was fun. we bought and cooked our own for the first time here at the SIT office. spaghetti stir fry, guacomole, and chocolate chunk cookies were on the menu. i did what i could to help, including cutting onions and polishing off the extra food. quite good. i was also quite stuffed. group dynamic is feeling pretty good, but being the only guy is i think really going to be a marker of my experience, but i just have to deal with it.
we were encouraged today to make more community friends and connections, which can be hard with our tight schedule. of course the way things work in the area is that everyone recognives us, standing out as a pack of white students, while we are just trying to get by, walking fast to class or talking amongst ourselves, perhaps coming off as a bit rude. having extra time is really an issue though, since our curfew is 630 and my walk home takes half an hour. at best i get just 2 and a half hours (and perhaps lunchtime) any weekday to handle any shopping, internet, and any homework that i have to do outside of the house. then of course you dont want to shy away from any family time, which also discourages getting out on sundays. what time we have here doing anything is wonderful, but really exploring the community is hard with the restraints we have. i will try though...
planning on working in the family field tomorrow. they do potatoes, but on a very small next door plot. we'll see how i feel getting my hands (very) dirty for the first time. laundry is also needed, along with another pair of pants. i probably should have packed more of those, in retrospect.
trip to a rural village later next week should be very interesting, but i am looking forward to life in a chefferie. much more can be said about that once it happens.
note: the prior entries- the first was emailed before completion because of finger slippage. it took too long to get into the blog website, so i didnt get a chance to delete it. obviously, just bother reading the more recent one.
till next time...

Trip to Bamenda this past weekend was so much fun. The city is the largest in the anglophone province which is the area originally colonized by the brits, constituted by the two farthest west provinces. It was nice getting to speak english in public for a change, and I did a fair bit of shopping (I am finding this quite amusing right now, because i wrote an essay in french about pretty much the same things).
Anyways, we arrived friday morning. During our time there we stayed in a baptist mission which had hot, running water and delicious breakfasts. Again I was in with the Cameroonian staff men, but oh my lord, Gaston, driver guy, snored like a jet engine. I somehow survived and slept a bit. Food was good overall, and we got buffet style deliciousness at a restaurant for dinner both friday and saturday.
Friday included a lecture on HIV/AIDS, which is obviously fairly prominent here and also a trip to a traditional chiefdom, which was interesting. the architecture and furniture and all were quite unimpressive, but the culture was there with the chief and his actual administrative control over the large area.
Saturday, we got time during our "drop off" to explore the city and buy things. Bamenda is known for its fabric, so I got two pagnes (six yards) to have more things made. I did not buy any art or stuff yet, maybe regrettably, though I expect to find more in Yaounde or even in Dschang on market day. ME and the two girls I was with ate lunch at a hole in the wall place, which was tasty and dirt cheap (ie 1 dollar for all three). those places run some small health risk, but are the way people do it here. Saturday afternoon we heard from a group fighting for the creation of a separate anglophone cameroon state (southern cameroons). a big issue in cameroon is the political and population dominance of the francophone area over the oil-rich anglophones. This group considered it a colonisation of the region and are working through international orgs to remedy the issue. I think similar problems of minority non-representation can be found in many african states, stemming a lot from colonisation and the many ethnic groups which get boggled together. Their perspective on the matter was interesting and might be worth watching in the coming years.
Sunday we spent with John Fru Ndi, who is the leader of the largest national political opposition party, the Social Democratic Front. He was first to force Cameroon to allow multiple party elections and was robbed of the presidency in 1992. IT was truly an honor to be granted time with him. We went to his church in the morning. The building was really large, there was great music in the service, although the service lasted 3 hours. Fru Ndi's whole SDF posse was with him, as it was a big get together for many SDFers. He himself spoke a bit during the service, then later, mid-service they auctioned off plantane bunches to raise money, which was really curious. In the afternoon, we headed to Fru Ndi's compound in the city where there was a political rally, with a couple groups (including us) giving him "new ears wishes," as is common in cam official stuff. After that he fed us and we got a chance for some q and a with the man himself. that was very interesting, and i got my questions in too. by the time the day was finished it was too late to drive back, so we spent another night at a separate mission, then headed out this morning.
Bamenda was fun and is encouraged me to think about travel to another anglo african country sometime. The entire political experience we had was also really interesting, and could somehow fit into my ISP at the end of the program.
Now its back to Dschang and school for 9 days. and by the way, a girl got malaria, but its really nothing to fear - its normal business over here. im staying comfortably healthy myself so far, fortunately.

Trip to Bamenda this past weekend was so much fun. The city is the largest in the anglophone province which is the area originally colonized by the brits, constituted by the two farthest west provinces. It was nice getting to speak english in public for a change, and I did a fair bit of shopping (I am finding this quite amusing right now, because i wrote an essay in french about pretty much the same things).
Anyways, we arrived friday morning. During our time there we stayed in a baptist mission which had hot, running water and delicious breakfasts. Again I was in with the Cameroonian staff men, but h my lord, Gaston, driver guy, snored like a jet engine. I somehow survived and slept a bit. Food was good overall, and we got buffet style deliciousness at afor dinner both friday and saturday

okay, being that it is difficult to really communicate how things go over here, i'll try to give a detailed account of my everyday existence.
wake up at 650, usually before though, due to roosters crowing around the neighborhood or loud family members or a loud radio in the next room. people get uip early here, for sure. then i make my way to the bathroom, handle some business, flush the toilet by pouring down water from a bucket. then i gotta transfer water from the big bucket into a smaller and take my cold bucket shower. i feel pretty clean over here so far, which is nice. my towel needs washing though, it stinks. go back to my room and change into whatever not quite clean outfit, then go to the kitchen to eat breakfast of french bread and nescafe. usually no one is out there with me - either sleeping or gone already (im not even sure). say a few goodbyes then leave the house at 730 to walk to class/the SIT program at the university. i usually walk with diana who lives further down the road than me. we pass many people walking to work or school and plenty of motos. the road is all paved, and we get to enjoy an excellent view or inhabited mountains. the walk is downhill and takes about 30 minutes walking at an american pace. if we're late we are supposed to pay 50 francs (10 cents). i am strongly against this punishment thing.
there are 3 class sessions during the day. either french (in groups of 3-4 along with a prof, sit outside), or full group lectures on specific topics. during lunch break from 12 to 130, well split into (still changing) groups and walk into town to go to a restaurant or bakerie and get something. usually costs about 1.50 to 4 bucks to eat, even at restaurants. the walk to and from most places in town is about 20 minutes. classes end at 3:30 typically, unless we have to watch a movie or do something else.
after class, i might hit up the internet cafe back in town, do some work at the sit office in town, buy necessities or walk home. ive been getting home around 530 on average. i have to knock at the gate and someone lets me in. to clarify, i live alone with my cam family, and each student is in a different home. the families all speak only french. once home, ill set down my things and change into sandals. i then do any number of things - homework (french essay or project or something), play with darlene, talk with family members, or watch tv. dinner is usually at 8, and my family is unique in that most of the members eat together, except Papa, who eats later usually. the tv is on during dinner. i help set and clear the table. after dinner, always take my malaria pill, and might do work or watch tv. i try to get to bed before 10.
in all cameroon, traffic is crazy and crossing the street can be an adventure. you usually walk on a semi-paved sidewalk or on the side of the road to avoid the dust. dust on dirt roads is annoying, but fortunately, i spend little time on them.
bugs are not a big issue, but they exist. plenty of flies during the day, but they hardly bother you (make no noise, cant feel them land). at home, bugs are not an issue, maybe because my house is quite nice. live animals around town can be interesting or annoyinga. chickens and goats are very common, marked with some symbol of ownership, but let free to wander. there is a goat family that i pass each morning and afternoon near my house.
lotsof people around town always, and many stare at the whities. since everyone walks, it is the case.
so life for me is relatively comfortable. other people have it much worse, with a hole to go in, less electricity, and nasty bugs. i hope to not downgrade too much during my homestay in ngoundere.
so that is my life...