These past two weeks have been interesting to say the least! We stayed with a homestay family in Dschang and it was A LOT harder to adjust to this family. My parents are very sweet: my dad is a professor at the University of Dschang, and my mom is a veterinarian (though right now she is staying home to take care of my one brother who is very sick). I had four siblings: Becca who is 14, Dillon who is 13, Kevin who is 10, and Ro, the most adorable 6 year old ever! (She always ran out and hugged me each day I got home from classes!) I would call this homestay more challenging for one reason in particular, my ipod. I am sincerely grateful to have a functioning ipod after these past two weeks. They would fight over it, tearing it out of each other’s hands and ask me to pick sides. After the first week when I started being firmer with them things improved, but it made adjusting VERY trying. Also, the first day, the kids asked me for gifts, even after I had given them all that I had brought as little presents. This became a theme throughout the rest of my stay. Though in the end I enjoyed my family, being with the kids was exhausting and frustrating more often than not. (sorry for the rant)
Don’t get me wrong, as a family we had some great moments together. For example, each night at 9:30 we prayed together as a family. This was one of my favorite parts of the day because it was peaceful and I could feel how earnest my family’s reflection was. There would be a short Bible reading followed by an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. I am kicking myself for not remembering my prayers from Roselle Catholic French class! I was complimented on my knowledge of the Hail Mary but I mostly sat and listened for the others.
Another favorite moment with my family was Kevin’s daily English lesson. He stated on the second day of my stay that he wanted me to teach him English, so every day we would do a lesson of verbs, common phrases, telephone etiquette, etc. He was always excited, took our lessons seriously, and tried to put together the knowledge he had learned in previous lessons with what we were doing at the time. It was a great moment of sharing. Too often I felt like I was the one asking questions and needing help. I was happy to be able to give him something that I knew and that he was eager to learn.
Classes while in Dschang were really interesting, and we got to start working on our IDI research! So exciting! The themes for our thematic seminar were Bamileke culture and tradition, and women and minorities. Bamileke is an ethnic group in Cameroon which is very widely dispersed, but originates in the region in which Dschang is today. We focused on the Bamileke because many Bamileke are very attached to their traditions. In looking at their traditions, we ever kept in mind their mixing with modernization and Westernization and the tension and benefits which could arise from this.
For part of this section, we got to go to a traditional chefferie! A chefferie is the home of the chef, or chief (king) of a people. We voyaged for two hours to the Batoufam chefferie where we were given a tour of the grounds by the chef himself! Though we didn’t get to tour the wives’ compound, we were told about traditional practices regarding power, marriage, cuisine, communication with ethnic group members, and many other topics! The chief was very open, and one thing he said really struck me in my quest to see how tradition and modernization can co-exist and mutually benefit each other. He told us about two pouches he carries with him whenever he leaves the chefferie grounds. One has a hole in it, the other is intact. When in the village, he would put good things which he wanted to disseminate into the village in the pouch with the hole, and anything he regarded as bad into the sealed pouch so as to not spread it to his people. When he goes outside of the village, however, the purse with the hole is to let out the bad, and the closed pouch is for carrying the good from the outside back into the village. I liked the metaphor, and he complimented it by saying that as chef it is his responsibility to evaluate modern and traditional practices to see their benefit for his people.
In Dschang, we also got to start our IDI research. I am working with Maria and we are trying to see whether the household responsibilities and status of a married woman changes when she started working. To examine this, we’ve been talking to married women (mostly street vendors) who started working after they had already been in a live-in relationship. We get to continue our research in Yaoundé when we return, and though right now it is too early to see results, our questionnaires and interviews have proved extremely interesting!
Some other notes about Dschang: SO MUCH DUST! My feet are permanently tinged orangy-red! There was a HUGE HILL which we had to mount to get from our neighborhood to the main road, and each day I sure got my work out! Dschang in general was a lot more rural. Goats, chicken, and pigs would be seen roaming throughout the neighborhood, and some cattle crashed onto the university campus one day! My housing situation was more modern than a lot of the other members of the group: I had a toilet, toilet paper, and running water! When I say running water, however, I mean occasional running water…it was cut, as was electricity, very often. I never thought a headlamp would come in handy, but it turned out to be my saving grace during my Dschang homestay. Even when we had no power, I could continue to read and work, or play hangman in French with my siblings!
Dschang cuisine was a lot harder on the stomach. In Yaoundé, I must admit, I thought maybe I just had a tummy for Cameroonian food. Turns out that that is not the case. Although now I am feeling much better (and it’s true that a lot more students had problems in Dschang in which we were eating much more traditional and less familiar food), I did get to see a Cameroonian hospital up close and personal! It was a very interesting experience: I waited for at least three hours with Nathalie, our student coordinator, and in the end we ended up sneaking in to see a pediatrician for really little kids, because by that point I was missing the entire days’ worth of classes! Though I certainly could have done without this experience, it proved an interesting cultural observation. In many of our classes we have talked about “brain drain,” that is, when qualified and educated individuals of “developing” nations leave to go work in “developed” countries in Europe and North America. While in the hospital, I saw many more white and foreign doctors and nurses than native Cameroonians. The experience taught me to keep a keen eye to see how the theory that we learn in class can be seen in ordinary life.
Something just as painful but in the end much more pleasant: I HAVE AFRICAN BRAIDS! Yes, this is my first weave experience, but it will not be my last! Currently, I have blond, brown, and chocolate braids reaching down to my lower back! It was an all-day endeavor, and my neighbor who did my hair had such patience with my finer, shorter hair! Seriously, my hair ached for the following three days, but now that my head is bearable again, I have to admit that I’m liking my Cameroonian doo! It was awesome, mainly because my mom and family were so excited. Everyone helped, even the kids! After my braids were finished, they kept telling me how beautiful I was, and that now I was really African. Even though not having bangs allows my forehead to be front and center for the world to see, I must admit that I am loving my tresses!
One source of great jubilation and stress was also revealed this week: I am a Truman Scholar finalist! The Truman Scholarship is a national competition for college juniors who plan to go into public service. I wrote my application about Cameroonian women and work, and honestly never dreamed in a million years that I would get an interview! Well I guess even the wildest of dreams can come true! I haven’t won anything yet, but I have to fly back to the United States in the middle of March for an interview in Philadelphia. I’m excited to have this wonderful opportunity, but it really puts a lot of pressure on me in terms of academics here in Cameroon. In addition, the group will have travelled again, and I will have to meet up with them across the country upon my return! Like I said—jubilation and stress! Everyone in the group has been really supportive, however, and I am now charged with bringing back desired American junk food! Watch out, Second Storey, here I come!
For the past two nights we have been in Bamenda, which is in the English speaking region of the country. Here we had the chance to have a lecture by a political leader in a group calling for independence for the North West, Anglophone region. Though labeled secessionists, he asserted that their provinces were annexed against international law. He was very patient with our questions and gave us an in-depth history about the discrimination against Anglophone Cameroonians. The following day, we got to meet with party board members for the Social Democratic Front. The main opposition party in Cameroon, this presentation and subsequent Q and A gave us insight into the political situation of Cameroon. Though there are elections this October, many Cameroonians do not trust ELECAM, their state governed electoral system.
While in Bamenda, we’ve also had the chance to walk around a lot and relax a little bit! Yesterday after our meeting with the SDF, some of us girls just lounged outside and did homework (the weather here is BEAUTIFUL!) Walking around the city is also interesting—we all keep having the urge to speak in French even though they speak English here! I never though French would spew from my tongue when being spoken to in my own native language! However, we’re all so used to doing daily interactions in French that it was hard to break the habit! This weekend I learned that the most spoken language in Cameroon is Pidgin English, of which we had a crash course before leaving Dschang. Speaking in proper English worked fine, and even our French was respected and responded to. The most helpful thing about our Pidgin lesson was our ability to now understand the Nigerian radio smash hit, “I don see my wife.” Youtube it, everyone, it has become the sound track to my life!
Anyways, that’s about it for now! I guess I should have warned that this blog was going to be so long, but two weeks is a long time! Until next time!!
