Fete De Mouton (Dec 8-9)

One of the blessings of my post is that it is only about 30 minutes from Nassarao. And Jessie and Emily and I decided to go back to Nassarao to celebrate Fete de Mouton with our host families. This was made especially easy by the fact that my village is Christian and not many people celebrate it, and also the fact that my house was not finished and I had nowhere to sleep. So after arriving at post on the 5th, and bringing luggage and so on, checking in on the work being done, I was able to go, while they kept working. Oh what a joy. Emily and I, and Jessie as well to an extent, did not want to leave Nassarao. I would have given anything for that to be my post! It was really really hard for me, and the only reason I could keep it together saying good bye to my family, to the community was knowing I would be back four days later to stay with them and celebrate. So I was so excited to come back.

I had a new outfit for FdM, still had my hair braided and henna from swearing in, and the day consisted of getting to Nas early in the morning, after staying with Stephanie in Garoua the night before (queen of hospitality). We arrived and spent the next 6-7 hours walking around, visiting house to house, taking pictures, and eating, eating, eating. Mom, you would be so ecstatic, so ecstatic, that I ate more meat on those two days than, I think the whole past year or two. Seriously. I walked from my house, to a friends house, who said, come back at such and such time to eat, to Adam’s families house, who said come back at such and such time to eat, and then to another house, where the eating commenced. So it was seven houses in a row of sitting down, being served sheep and rice and other wonderful things and being told Nyamu, Nyamu Nyamu (eat eat eat). And I was so happy. However, by house 6, when I was told Djodu et Nyamu, and the plate brought out to me was the innards of a sheep, I couldn’t take it. I had one bite and then, luckily was saved by having another rendez-vous. (the same thing happened the next day, where by the last house in Garoua, Emily and I were presented with another plate of innards, and she said under her breath to me, “Oh my God I’m seriously going to throw up if I eat one more bite. I can’t do this,” in all seriousness. It was actually very humorous, except for the fact the quantity actually was making us sick.) Wow. So much lamb. And rice. But so much happiness, sitting with families, talking, eating together, taking photos. Such a celebration.
The following evening (after more visiting and eating) Emily, her host brothers and Rebecca’s host brother, Hamadou and I went into Garoua to watch the Fantasia at the lamido’s palace. (The lamido is the traditional regional Muslim leader.)
How I wish I had photos to post, or even better a video, or even better, how I wish you all were there to see. I just sat there and the whole time thought, I wish my family was here to see this, I wish my friends could see this, Here I am in North Cameroon, this is my life, and how I love life here. The fantasia is a traditional ceremony held at the lamido’s house, and consists of men dressed in traditional soldiers clothing, mounted on beautiful horses who race so fast from one end behind the mosque straight up to the lamido seated outside, where they rein up their houses, swearing their allegiance to the lamido, as they did in years past. Then the top 5 most beautiful horses in the town were presented. There was traditional music, and everyone dressed in their finest (have I mentioned how much I adore bu-bus?)

The one thing I didn’t get to do was play soccer with the guys at the field, which I had hoped to do, because my last two weeks I had started playing every soir with the guys, and it was such fun. But the next time I go to Nassarao…

As it is, now FdM is over, and I don’t know when I will be back, but I think both Em and I are hoping to go back maybe once a month or so, to visit. And I feel so blessed, sooo blessed, that I am so close.

December 4th Swearing in

Swearing in was held in Pitoa on December 4th. It was recorded and apparently on national television, although I haven’t seen it! I wish so much you all could access is somewhere, that it would be on the internet, but don’t think that’s going to happen. I think there is a website connected to the US Embassy website, just for the Grand North Peace Corps, and I’m sure there would be photos on there if you wanted to check it out. The Ambassador came, the Governor of the North, the Prefet of the Benoue district, and many many other officials, all who arrived in a cavalcade of posh cars. Our host families came, which was wonderful, and the ceremony was very enjoyable, at least for me. It was very official and formalized, followed by a meal with our host families at a local bar in Pitoa, which was nice, but ended up being much shorter than I had anticipated, as families tended to leave as soon as the food was finished.

December 17, 2008

Dear all,
I realize I have not posted for so long, and if there’s one thing I’ve heard over and over for missionaries and those serving overseas, it’s that communication with loved ones back home is so vital. You must keep up correspondence with those at home, and not disappear off the face of the planet. However this becomes more and more difficult as life becomes more real here.
That being said, these past two weeks have been very busy! Swearing in was December 4th in Pitoa. Then moving to our posts the day after. I have spent the past few weeks here and there, trying to build a house from nothing, sleeping on various floors each night, as the construction continues on my house. It is about finished now, but not quite. Another round of paint and last touches on the inner wall, will make it a little more livable. And of course getting some furniture. Because I am opening a post, I have a brand new house, yet it is entirely empty of furniture, of pots and pans, of sheets, everything. It has been fun slowly gathering things, deciding what is absolutely crucial, what will come later. While I’m definitely used to roughing it and sleeping on the floor from time to time, camping and such, 7 days of sleeping on concrete floors in Mafa Kilda, Sanguere Paul (where Jessie is posted) and Garoua is starting to do a number on my neck and back, haha, which have been perpetually sore for the past days. I did finally get a cotton mattress, which helps a little. The bed may or may not come next week if I go back to the big Ngong market and find the guy I bargained with last week for a bed! It has been fun though, sometimes a joy, to hunt out every little thing—a ladle, two plates, silverware, cooking pots, commissioning carpenters to build furniture (and being able to design it yourself, as modest as it may be!), buying fabric to sew curtains, a canerie to hold water. This joy and fun is equally balanced by frustrating from time to time, a desire to just have everything done, and be comfortable in a home that is mine. To just have everything in place. It is hard to focus on meeting the community, learning things, going to meetings, studying language and agroforestry when you don’t have a homebase. However, it will come, and all that is necessary is patience, which I am happy to exercise.

While it is hard to feel ready to work when the house and life is so transitional, I have been able to explore my town and surrounding villages, attend meetings and introduce myself and get my face out there. That is certainly what this stage is about, and I do not plan on starting any actual projects with groups until at least February or March. This is highly recommended and I can’t even imagine jumping in to try to start something before you truly know the community, know needs and desires of the community, know who is good to work with, who is trustworthy and passionate about work, and have gained the trust of the community. More and more, since I have arrived in Mafa Kilda I am struck by how short 2 years is. (Especially setting up a house from nothing) It’s so little time, so little time. Only two growing seasons, you get to know the community, it becomes home, you start doing real work, and then 2 years is up.

I have been reading some masters thesis from a French school that has done research in Mafa Kilda, and thinking about how they were only here for 3 months and are attempting to explain the agriculture system of the North of Cameroon, and describing the social structure of the village, how can you possibly understand such things after only 3 months. It makes me think a little differently about such field research for graduate school too. Two years is too short itself.

But I apologize for not being up on correspondence during these past few weeks. And with that transistion, I realize I missed the window even for Christmas cards. It doesn’t help that it still feels like summer, and not at all like Christmas, and won’t feel like Christmas when it actually arrives! But I know I have also missed some birthdays of some very dear friends, and I was hoping to stay up on writing. Just didn’t happen with the moving. Aggh! But Cat, Natalia, Diana, happy birthday! I love you. Also have been very frustrated with the fact that there is no real reso for cell phones at my village, and I haven’t talked to my family for 2 weeks. It’s too long! But I love you all, and am still doing well, and will do better at the correspondence once settling in and routine arrives!

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving, and I hope that all of you reading this have a wonderful day, full of loved ones and gratefulness! We are all together in Garoua preparing a massive feast. It won't be filled with Turkey, but there are chickens (for all the non-vegetarians), stuffing, stuffed tomatoes, deviled eggs, and some other African delicacies, such as fresh pineapples. The chickens are being roasted over a fire. It still, of course doesn't feel so much like Thanksgiving, because of the weather, so it feels more like a celebration of another sorts, maybe for the close of training/stage. It's hard to believe it's been below freezing in the states. Stephen here has commenced the playing of Christmas music on the computer though, so I guess that's the same! I love you guys and miss you.

note

just a note that I added some new posts from earlier dates, back in september and october

Soccer Game--Jeff you'll enjoy this one....

Sunday we went to a soccer game in Garoua. It was the final (second game) of Africa's equivalent to the Champions League in Europe. Garoua has the best team in Cameroon, called Cotton Sport (supported by SODECOTON), and thus they made it to the championship for the Afrian Cup (I think). They were playing against Cairo/Egypt. The first game was in Cairo, and the way the championship works is that it there is an away and home game. So the first game in Cairo ended as 2-0 Cairo, meaning that for Garoua to win, they needed at least 3 more goals than Cairo. It was a big game. I felt so blessed to get to be there! So many different things from stadiums in the states. No lights, so all games have to be played in the day (heralding back to William and Mary football games pre 2005?). The seats were cement, soooo hot, so you bring along a thick book to sit on. And then something to shade you. I rested my bottle of water on next to me in the shade, but after 10 minutes, the heat of the cement warms it up to bathwater temperature. But even warm water is good, when you're thirsty. It was so crowded, the crowd 95% men at least, and we stood out a bit, not only because we were the only non-African looking ones in our section, but also because we were sporting bright yellow t shirts that MTN (phone company here) gave us, so that there'd be a patch of yellow in the stadium.
There was a little bit of waiting before the game started, and then many officials arrived, including the countries Prime Minister (second below Paul Biya); all the officials arrived in nice cars that sped around the track surrounding the field. Quite an entrance!
The game itself was very exciting and full of energy: I think Garoua went up 1-0 and then Cairo scored, and then Garoua again but finally a PK given to Cairo sealed the deal at 2-2 near the end of the second half. So Cairo took the cup. My favorite guy was a crazy Cameroonian who ran around with a wand of cotton like a baton, cheering and running up and down the stands. Michael also had a moment ofame. We wanted to start the wave, so we did it as a small section of trainees, but wanted to get the rest of the fans involved. So Mike got down and ran to the end of our section, shouting in broken French "Est-ce que vous etes Pretes? Ou nous pouvons." But the third attempt it made it all the around the stadium. It was amazing and all the Cameroonians in our section were way enthousiastic and loved Mike. He kept sitting down to take a rest and they would tell him to get up again and start the wave again. He ended up on national television too.
It was so interesting watching the players, imagining their lives, seeing the Egyptians and thinking about how they traveled across the continent to play here, how they're lives in Cairo are completely different, and how I wanted to go there so much last year (and still do!) to work. Lives are so different and transect in so many ways. It's something. But I was really happy to be there.
I happen to have started reading "How Soccer Explains the World: an unlikely theory of globalization," which is pretty fun too. It's nice to be in such a soccer-crazed country.

November 7th, Friday--Francoise Mbango

Today we saw Francoise Mbango at the post office. Actually it wasn't as "everyday" as that. Jessie and I were walking to open up post office boxes and as we approached the post office. In front were tents, a stage, and music playing. As we got nearer, there werw signs saying "Bienvenue a Garoua, Francoises Mbango" et "Elle vaut de l'or".

Francoise is an Olympica athelete from Cameroon, in track and field. She won the gold medal in triple jump in 2004 and again this year in 2008. I didn't get to see her winning jump on TV this year but I think I remember my dad telling me abuot her, and also my friend Kailee emailing me a news article when she got the gold medal, saying "yay cameroon!"

So Jessie and I decided to stay, and Mike joined up with us. In typical African fashion, she was supposed to arrive around 1:00pm. We got there around 1:30 and I think it wasn't till 2:30 perhaps that she finallly rolled up, with the Governor. Meanwhile, everyone waited, as the grands slowly trickled in and live music played, and cold drinks were served (yes, cold drinks, what privilege).

The reason for her appearance was that she was doing a country-wide tour, which started in October 15. going till Nov 15, to talk to kids and present her medals. I'm not sure which province she was from, but she mentioned in her speech that one of her first meets or championships was in Garoua, so that's where she got her track start.

There were many school groups there and it was nice to see them all get a chance to see and listen to an Olympic athelet and to see such pride in her being Cameroonian. The lamido mentioned, that if anyone happens to break her record in the future, may they also be a young Cameroonian. After speeches form the grands, she gave a small speech and walked around shaking some hands. I really liked her. Jessie and I were feet from her but couldn't bring ourselves to push through. There was more music of course, and dancing.

We both agreed that it was such fantastic luck to run into that, that it was well worth the wait, and that was the closest we had ever been to an Olympic athelet. The music on the other hand, was another story, and you'll have to ask me about that later!