I would like to entitle this blog: “Showering with…” This title has been cooking in my brain, even though the events are relatively old since I am such an infrequent blogger. Anyways, here goes!
Since my last blog, I have been all over the place. I was in Yaoundé, from where the title originates. Before Dschang, I had seen a few friendly mosquitoes, lizards, and frogs in my bathroom. After returning from Dschang, however, it has been quite a party! Millipedes, persistent cockroaches, the HUGEST RAT KNOWN TO MAN, and other interesting insects have begun to infiltrate my bathroom. I take it all in stride, though I did almost have a heart attack when I saw the rat.
Anyways, a lot has been going on for the past…month. In Yaoundé, we continued with classes, and began visits to lots of NGOs. We visited everyone from the World Bank and Peace Corps, to Cameroonian microfinance institutions and the CED, the Center for Environment and Development (also a Cameroonian org). These visits were awesome! At the same time as these visits, we’ve been working on IDI (that project where my friend Maria and I have been doing questionnaires with street vendor women about how/whether their work has impacted their responsibilities in the home and their relationship with their husband). It was a busy few weeks!
And also during this time… I FIGURED OUT WHAT I’LL BE DOING FOR ISP! So exciting! ISP is our Independent Study Project where we get to pick anything under the sun and study it for a month. I am going to be doing an internship at CED, specifically in their department which does alternative economic initiatives which link rural poor and urban poor, and in particular, women. For my social analysis, I hope to be studying their “Fair Fruit” initiative which is on its way to becoming Fair Trade Certified, though this aspect of my project is still uncertain. It’s weird to think about the fact that ISP is so close---weird and sad! ISP means the end of the semester… I’m just not going to think about it.
We had a weekend getaway (where we still had class and class excursions, but since we don’t have spring break we really wanted to make this weekend count) at KRIBI! AT THE BEACH! For those of you who saw me at Nova, I have not been that tan this whole semester; it is completely a result of a wonderful time at Kribi. Education-wise, we visited Kribi to learn about the Pygmies, and we had the chance to visit two Pygmie camps while we were there. We were accompanied by a man who works for an NGO that does relief and advocacy for the Pygmies and everyone we visited was very open to all of our questions about their traditional ways of life. At one community, they danced for us, and it was so interesting and beautiful to watch. At the second that we visited, there was a Bantou (non-Pygmie) chief there trying to steal the nourishment and money we were going to give them. This erupted into arguments, but our presence gave the Pygmies space to recount all of the injustices they have experienced since they were forced out of the forest by the government 50 years ago and into the territory of the Bantou people. Overall, these two visits were incredible learning experiences, and I feel blessed that I had the chance to engage in conversation with these individuals about their ways of life which are so different to my own.
Outside of the Pygmie camps, Kribi was also fantastic. We got to swim in the warm water, the hotel was giving out coconuts that that had fallen on the beach, we saw a waterfall, we helped pull in a fishing boat, and we had some time and space to relax! It was exactly what we all needed!
The week after Kribi was an eventful one for me. I had my meeting with CED to clear up the internship idea, and then on Tuesday I departed for the United States! I was headed back for an interview for the Truman Scholarship, and the whole interview day/ experience was…interesting. It was awesome to get to meet the other candidates who were all so bright and passionate about the issues their policy proposals had addressed. The interview itself was kind of weird. The panelists focused almost completely on a discussion of women’s issues in America—which I am not qualified to talk about. My proposal and application had been about Cameroonian women’s issues, labor force engagement, and participatory development methods to account for Cameroon’s great diversity. Oh well. Seeing many friends and my family was great, and it was nice to be in the USA for a little bit. Though also weird. I’m so happy in Cameroon, and I am growing a lot. Being forced to try to reflect on how I have grown from my study abroad experience while I’m right in the middle of it just didn’t work. It’s hard to digest what I’m still living. I didn’t really have any culture shock going back; I just fell into the busy, stressed routine I’m used to at Villanova. We’ll see how different things are when I get home for good.
But now I’m back in Cameroon! I have moved up to Ngoundarie, up in the North of Cameroon. I rode the overnight train there with Nathalie, our home stay coordinator. The trip was fine, but at one point the train stopped in the bush and more mosquitoes/ flying ants entered our car than I thought existed on earth. Even though it was mad hot I put on my RAIN COAT to try to protect myself. I may or may not have looked nuts, swatting up the Wazoo, but I really couldn’t handle it.
Before I got on that train, however, I had an interesting Friday morning. On the plane ride from Zurich to Cameroon, I met an American man from Brooklyn who is a PhD student working for the ILO and coming to Cameroon to do some interviews within a five day span. He didn’t speak French, have CFA francs, or know how to get to his hotel (which he had yet to book). He approached me and said, “You speak English?” and we got gabbing about Cameroon, how to take a taxi, where things are, etc. Eventually he asked me if I would accompany him Friday morning to his interview. Since he seemed nice enough and I was really interested in his research, I said yes! Friday morning, I met him at his hotel (which ended up being gross, and he left in the morning with a full suitcase, ready to find some new lodging) and we went to the interview. Between one of his informants knowing some English and my French we had a really successful interview. We then found a different hotel, went to the trusty omlette man for lunch, went to a bank so he had more money than what I had exchanged with him on the plane, went to the supermarket, and made some phone calls. I was so proud of myself that I could navigate and show this newbie around! I was stellar with taxis and directions and realized that even though I can’t say I know all that much about Cameroonian life, I know my way around Yaoundé!
Back to my new location up North. I am settled into my homestay, which is really nice. The family is really sweet: my parents and SIX SISTERS! I am going to ask my 13 year old sister tomorrow to write down everyone’s name because I am no where near on top of it. The house is very calm, and overall a very pleasant place to be. I do homework outside with my 19 year old sister who is preparing for her Bac, and we discovered tonight that my 7 year old sister is an Uno shark! I was really apprehensive coming to a new homestay family after Dschang, but this is, so far, a good experience. There are a lot of cultural differences I have the chance to learn about too. The family speaks mostly Fulfilde, their native tongue, though they speak in French to me. Also my family, like a majority of families in our area, is Muslim, and their religion is very important to their daily lives. The food is awesome—all of the females in the household sit on a mat on the floor in the kitchen to eat together. Tonight I told them about the cat who came in my window in Yaoundé, and they all got a kick out of it.
Oh, and we have a hole in the ground for a toilet. Not a problem, but I really hope I get the hang of it soon…
Anyways, I think that’s about it for now! It’s 9:52! Usually past my bedtime, but I’m really messed up from all the travelling! Today I slept till 10 AM! That’s the latest I’ve slept since January! Thanks for reading and for caring. So much love being sent back to the USA through this
