Beginning of Kribi Adventures

I'm going to split my posts about the last two weeks in Kribi up into three or more sections. This is the first one.

Written the Second Day in Kribi:

We left the SIT office at 8am Saturday morning in order to drive south to Kribi. Kribi is a a coastal beach town about 5 hours from Yaounde by bus. In order to get to the office on time, I left my house before anyone else was awake, Saturday is the only day that the whole family sleeps in. I had packed the night before, getting ridiculed for how much I was packing for “only two weeks” although, at this point, I’ve been in Yaounde for just about 2 weeks and have already used/worn everything I was packing for Kribi. 

Marianna read on the bus ride to Kribi

After a relatively uneventful bus ride during which I napped and played games with the others, we arrived at the Kribi “guest house” that was our accommodation that night. After getting our room assignments and dropping off our bags we all immediately changed into bathing suits and headed down to the beach. Oh how I wish I had brought my camera to the beach that first day! It was so perfect and so much fun. I spent the majority of the time in the playing in the water. There were those in the group that clearly had never spent much time in the ocean saying thing like, “even when I’m standing, doing nothing, the water pulls me back.”
   
     None of the Cameroonian student know how to swim so, for them, the ocean is a very scary thing. We got Christelle and Arsen to come in a little bit. Although, they never made it past where the waves were breaking. They both seemed to enjoy the water, just as long as they were at a depth that they could comfortably sit.

After over two hours in the water, we wandered back up the guest house for a dinner of fresh fish, fresh fruit, and rice. After dinner we were given information about our new host families. My host family consists of two daughters (11 and 15) a mother that designs and makes dresses, and a business-man father who owns a boutique in town. I was also excited to learn that I would have my own room! It’s not that I can’t stand sharing a room and bed with Gael, I was just looking forward to the prospect have getting my own personal space for a little while. 

The interior of the guest house.

The rest of the evening was spent spending quality time with the other students, who, outside of school hours I haven’t really gotten to spend that much time with. I also spent sometime playing with Christiane’s sons who are accompanying us while we’re here. Nathan, the 4 year old, was collecting snails and putting them “with their family” all in the same place. Before going to bed, Ariene, put my hair into four tight french braids that lasted until the morning. I finally went to bed, later than usual, in the room that Christelle and I were sharing. 

Ice Bucket Challenge Cameroon- When there's no water to shower
this is what you have to resort to...

The next morning I woke up to rain and choir music coming from the Church next door. We had the morning, following a 7:30 breakfast, to do what we wanted (with the very strong suggestion to start working on the pile of homework that is due this week). So, what did I spend most of my morning doing? Swimming. Monica, Cora, Danny, Elias, and I went down to the beach and spent another 2 hours in the water. Ariene also came with us, and with some serious support, we got her to come all of the way our to chest depth. She only lasted a few minutes but it was still exciting to have her come out and join us.

We returned from the beach hoping to take showers before meeting our host families only to realize that the water didn’t work in most of our rooms, and barely worked in all of the others. With some serious team work and the help of some rainwater, everyone was able to at least rinse off before lunch. After lunch, we pack up our bags and headed of to meet our new host families. 

As I said before, my host family has four people in it. The house is pretty good sized. One enters through a gate and, by turning right, can enter the house through my host mom’s reception/workspace that holds her sewing machine and is where she greets her clients. Through that is the living/dining room which, although very nice, seems sparse after my Youande family’s very full living room. Beyond the living room is a hallway that contains my sister’s, my parent’s and my rooms. At the end of the hallway, you find yourself outside. To the left it a courtyard-type space where laundry is hung and the dog lives on a chain. Straight ahead is the kitchen, which is technically unattached to the house. To right is the bathroom, also technically not attached, and barrels of water store for kitchen and bathroom uses. Around the corner to the right, brings you back around the house to the front gate. 

The family is very excited to have me, I am the first student that they’ve hosted. When I arrived, my host mom sat me down and asked me a whole bunch of questions. The daughters, who apparently had greatly anticipated my arrival, were both very quiet and shy. After a while, I got a tour of the house and then was invited to unpack. I was also told multiple times to act as if it were my own house. After unpacking and showing my sisters pictures of home on my computer, I was served a very large dinner of fresh fish, fried fish in a peanut sauce that consisted of even more smoked fish, and rice. While I ate, my host mom sat with me and asked me even more questions. 

The moment that stands out most in my mind from our dinner conversation was my mom’s shock when I mentioned to her that we had mosquitos in the US. To her they were always presented as an “African problem.” I had to explain that, while we do have mosquitos, we don’t have malaria which is what defines the difference between African and American mosquitos. After dinner, I had to turn to homework. But almost as soon as I had sat down in my room, my host sisters came in asking if they could play with my hair. I said yes, of course! Like Ariene had, they found the texture of my hair very difficult to manipulate but enjoyed it nonetheless. Once they’d finished with my hair, they moved on to exploring my iPhone and Cameroonian cellphone, not that I minded, there’s not much on either. Although, when I plugged my phone into my computer to charge it, a whole ton of pictures that they had taken with it popped up.

All in all, I’m excited for our two weeks in Kribi which seems almost a Cameroonian paradise if only someone would turn down the humidity. 

Friday, September 19

My Friday:

1) This morning kicked off with our first French exam. I think is went pretty well. After we were done, we also had individual reflection meetings with our French teachers.

2) In the second half of the morning, we closed up our first module with a thematic discussion. Several of the lecturers came to join us. We discussed the topics we'd covered and any questions pertaining to them as well as the over arching question, "What is development?"

3) Our discussion went so long that we only had a very brief lunch break during which I went up the street and bought roasted peanuts and an ear of roasted corn from a lady on the street.

4) After lunch we had another dance class! It was just as much fun as last time and even more of a workout. We added on to the bottle dance that we learned last time and also learned about dances from the coastal regions.

5) At the end of the day, we discussed our 8am departure tomorrow morning for the beach town of Kribi (google it). We'll be in Kribi for 2 weeks. While we're there we will also be staying with families and holding out usual classes. We're going to Kribi so that we can visit specific organization but also so that we can visit and work with the Bagyeli people, a minority group that we will be studying. I won't have regular internet access during our stay there but I will probably post a few times during the next two weeks. I'm so excited to be on the beach, even if it's even hotter and more humid than it is in Yaounde.

Shit SIT Cameroon People Say*

During lectures and discussions I frequently jot down quotes in the margins of my notes. This is my collection of quotes from the first 3-ish weeks of classes. We wrapped up our first module today so I figured it fitting to post them. They were taken from guest lecturers, other students, and SIT staff

members during classes. (Disclaimer I don't necessarily agree with these quotes)

• “I see you smiling, I want to hear your smile”

• “You are privileged to watch this movie”

• “They took away the ability to feed themselves and to make money but also their culture, traditions, and language and that’s just as painful.”

After class work time. In the far right corner is Elise. Elias, Danny and
Khalilah are sitting together discussing their group project.

• “'Culture does not make people, people make culture'”

• “Tradition is a practice, culture is practiced.”

• “This is social sciences, there are no right or wrong answers in social sciences.”

• “In Africa, people are racing to please the West, and thus are not themselves.”

• “Globalization is a dream it’s not a reality”

• “The Western individualist says I am because I am where as the African says, I am because we are”

• “Time is a cultural phenomenon”

• “If we want development from the West, we should use the parameters of the West.”

• “The essence is to share, to see things the other way... so you don’t have the same view you came with...”

• “Any experience you are going o experience here are the same someone is going to find if they are going to go to the US...The same bag and purse snatchers are everywhere.”

• “Boko Haram is not Cameroonian”

• “Paul Biya is one of the most intelligent presidents in the world”

• “Football is the top most religion in Cameroon... when we are winning we believe in Cameroon”

• “He’s not a devil, he’s just a president”

• “No two countries practice the same democracy”

• “I will use ‘Western democracy’ and ‘African democracy’ and these mean different things"

• “There is still what we call mental slavery where people from Europe, America, still think they are superior and Africans are inferior”

• “One black in the White House, the rest in prison”

• “We have some of the best laws in the world but the application of those laws is very preferential”

• “In Africa we don’t talk about feminism, that is a Western concept... we just know that we are all humans”

• “Every country that has succeeded depended on their roots... they looked at their local realities”

• “How can Cameroon go back to its roots? The first thing is mental decolonization”

• “The western region is the one place in the country where good globalization exists... globalization is choosing the right things to copy.”

• “African leaders are corrupt because of the corruption of the outside world”

• “We should put aside Western democracy and re-coin our own democracy taking into consideration our own realities”

• “Each time you copy, you photocopy, it’s not authentic”

• “Globalization is a channelized dictatorship”

• "If Cameroon were practicing free and fair elections, the democracy would be a lot better than in the US"

• "There are no set rule of democracy"

• "In Cameroon we say that even dogs don't practice same sex relationships- a male dog cannot meet another male dog without fighting and these are considered animals less intelligent than humans. So if you participate in a same sex relationship you are less than those dogs"

• "I define poverty as lacking something you value"

• "I don't believe in globalization... there has been cooperation among nations since the beginning of time"

• "There will never be a global village"

Rainy Season Out the Back Door of the Office.

• "It depends on how you define globalization"

• "Your education system is done intentionally... You don't learn anything about other countries... You only learn about the power of America."

• "Same sex marriage is not human rights, that's a cultural concept"

• "If I want to go to the US with my two wives, the US government will tell me 'no, you can't enter because you have two wives.' But then they are violating my culture, my rights, and the rights of my two wives who agreed to marry me."

• "The body that is supposed to me the most equal in the world has inequalities, the UN is unequal."

• "Globalization is an idea constructed by a culture trying to impose itself"

• "Human rights cannot be defined as universal"

• "So you are saying the old white guys are sitting in an office somewhere deciding what to impose on other countries through globalization?" "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

• "It's saying no, the world should not be in one man's command"

• "Governments are controlled by multinationals, at least in the US you know that"

• "Money isn't always the solution"

• "It's not development in terms of politics or economics but its a developed love for themselves and one another that's not developed in the United States, or at least not in my community."

*The title is based off of a series of YouTube videos called "Shit ....Say" making fun of whatever population the video is titled after. I am not making fun of anyone here, I just thought the title worked. 

The Cast of Characters; The Main Players in My Cameroonian Life So Far

FAMILY:

• Gael- My 17 years old host sister who is in her second to last year of secondary school with whom I share both a bed and a room. Gael was adopted by my host mom from their former maid. This makes for an interesting dynamic in the family. As the only girl, and as the daughter of the former maid, she is expected to do more around the house than anyone else. “Adoption” is relatively common in Cameroonian society although it may not take an official form, many families and mothers who have the means take in children in need of a home. 

  

  A relatively low quality selfie of Glendon, Gael and I.

• Glendon- My 9 year old host brother. Glendon hates homework and loves watching TV, especially American and Japanese cartoons dubbed in French. Glendon is very clearly the baby of the family. Anytime he’s hungry other people get him something to eat, it is a struggle everyday to get him to take a shower, and if he whines enough, he can get a bowl of chocolate cereal with extra sugar added made for him anytime of day.

• Sony- My 19 year old host brother. Sony is the family’s go to for any technological questions or issues. He’s currently a university student and doesn’t live at home when school is in session. Sony is the only one in the family I’ve seen with a laptop, which he often has on his lap while watching TV in the living room. 

• Blakely- My 23 year old host brother who is also currently a university student. Along with Sony, he spends a lot of time playing soccer with friends when living at home. He also does not live at home when school it in session.

• Maman- My host mother works for the government in the Ministry of Sports. She spends extensive hours during the week working and always comes home in her heels and business formal wear extremely exhausted. On the weekend she loves working out at a local park/sports facility. There are also several pictures of her with the president and first lady hanging in our living room. 

* There is also a 21 year old sister who is currently in London getting her Masters in economics. She left Cameroon this past August to move to London. She attended unergrad in Paris.

SIT STAFF:

Nathalie at the Cameroon-Ivory Coast soccer match.
(Im my post about the match, I also posted a picture of Serge)

• Christiane- The Academic Director of SIT Cameroon and a previous employee of the Peace Corp, she also teaches our Research Methods and Development class. Christiane is the go-to for absolutely everything. She lives next to the SIT office with her American husband and their two adorable little boys.

• Nathalie- The SIT Homestay Coordinator, Nathalie knows everything and anything about our host families. She works very hard to make sure each student fits with their family and helps solve any issues.

• Serge- The Program Coordinator, organizes our extracurricular events and greeted us at the airport when we arrived. Serge also is the keeper of the keys to the SIT library- there is a collection of novels, academic books, and all previous ISPs (Independent Study Projects). 

• Kiki- Also an SIT employee, he works at the office opening the gate whenever someone arrives and rings the bell, runs errands, takes out the trash, cleans, and also helps out at Christiane’s house next door. I’m not sure how old Kiki is but I think he’s around our age. He’s been working for SIT since 2010. When Kiki isn’t working he spends a lot of time reading the office’s books, sitting in on our lectures, and joining in on group discussions. Kiki also hangs out with us when we have free time and sometimes joins the groups when we go on outings (like the soccer game or this past weekend).

• Thomas- My French teacher, he has been working with SIT since 1990! Thomas is an older man who all wears well coordinated suits that are just a little bit too big for him. He’s a great teacher and very patient. 

OTHER STUDENTS:

• Ariane- One of the Cameroonian students in the program. She’s small and energetic and always very carefully dressed. 

Arsen using one of the office computers.

• Arsen- Another one of the Cameroonian students in the program, he is very “cool.”  I put cool in quotations because he wears sunglasses indoors, wears a lot of baseball caps, pops his collar, and wears slightly saggy pants. Arsen gets very into class discussions and always has intelligent questions to ask. He is also always open to questions about Cameroonian culture and loves to give advice.

• Christelle- I’m doing the students in alphabetic order but Christelle just happens to be the third Cameroonian student in the program. Christelle is studying journalism and lives by herself in an apartment near the University of Youande. Christelle is probably the Cameroonian student with which I am closest.  

     Cora (and her cracker) on the front balcony of the SIT office

• Cora- From Bates College, she is majoring in Anthropology and French. Cora is originally from Massachusetts but now lives in New Hampshire (and loves Vermont). She runs insane amounts every single day to stay in shape for her lacrosse team at school. Cora is the only other student in my French class which makes for a very personal and fun class! We are also working on our first big project together, a research project in which we plan to focus on something pertaining to education. 

• Danny- From Brooklyn, he’s a student at Brown University. Danny loves music and dancing, he plans to research the rap culture in Cameroon. This past weekend, he also participated in a fairly free form rap show.

• Elias- Also from Massachusetts, he attends Yale University where he is studying Political Science. Elias took as gap year between high school and college during which we studied abroad in Senegal thus his conversational French is very good. 

Elias, Ariane, and Christelle talk while watching the
afternoon rain storm roll in.

• Elise- One of three student from Pomona, she is the only student in the program from the west coast. Elise hails from Oregon and is one of the most practical people I’ve ever met. Elise, absolutely loves to dance, as we found out during last Friday’s dance class. She also meditates every day. 

• Khalilah- A Weslyan student, she too loves to dance and is even in a West African dance group at school. Khalilah is researching Cameroon’s rap culture with Danny. Directly after the program she is flying to South Africa to visit her cousin. Khalilah’s father is Congolese (her parents met in the Peace Corps) and she has family all around the world.

• Marianna- The second Pomona student, Marianna is also probably closer to her host family than anyone else. Marianna is an avid ultimate frisbee player and her goal is to bring ultimate to Cameroon in some way. She is also from Massachusetts and spent the past summer working at a summer camp in Keene, New Hampshire.

• Monica- The other GW student in the program, Monica is also studying International Affairs. We have a lot of friends in common and I’m excited to have someone who shared my study abroad experience around to talk to when we get back. Monica started school in France, where her family was living at the time, putting her a step ahead as well. She’s lived several other places during her life both internationally and within the US but currently is living in Baltimore. She has also spent a good bit of time in India which is great to have someone who can relate to my experience there as well.

• Morgan- The third and final Pomona student, Morgan lives in Boston. This is her second time visiting Cameroon and third time in Africa. Morgan is very into African politics has taken a lot of classes on the topic previously. She is very into the classes we’re taking here.

BROCCOLI, BROCCOLI, BROCCOLI! (Thursday, September 18)

5 Things I Did Today:

1. Before school I stopped by the supermarket and bought mango juice, applesauce, and frozen broccoli (which I was VERY excited to eat).
2. In French class we recapped the section of the novel that we had read and prepared for our French exam tomorrow.
3. Our second class was a recap of Cameroonian economic history done by one of the professors that spoke last week. This time his slide were in French and he spoke primarily in English but also recapped everything he said in French.
4. In the afternoon we had a lecture on contemporary Cameroon (history and culture) conducted by the professor that lectured yesterday. He was very passionate and very energetic. Before his lecture I got a chance to talk to him individually about his work and research in Cameroonian education.
5. We had another student’s evening meaning that the office was open until 8. Cora and I studied for the French exam tomorrow and then we all hung out. I got to cook my broccoli, and we also made a GIANT plate of pasta and sauce. It was the first time I’ve gotten to cook since I’ve been here!

Sitting down to eat our giant plate of pasta altogether! (From left to right: Elias, Monica, DAnny, Khalilah, Marianna, Me)

Monica make fried plantains and an omelet in the office kitchen.

Marianna eats pasta.

Wednesday, September 17

1. In French class we recapped our visit to the University yesterday and then discussed culture and development.
2. We had out first lecture on the history of Cameroon spanning from the post-colonial era through the first president’s reign. President Ahdijo remained in power from 1960 to 1982. Today’s current president, Paul Biya, has been in power since 1982. 
3. I bought lunch from the mama up the street. Today I had rice, beans, and fish. It was way too much food for me to eat on my own and was spicy but I enjoyed it thoroughly.
4. During our free time this afternoon I started thinking about the classes that I have to take next semester and in the rest of my time at George Washington, not something that I necessarily want to have to think about while I’m here.
5. I had non-powdered milk for the first time since I’ve been here today!

1. Our morning lecture on the history of Cameroon from pre-colonialism through the reign of Cameroon’s first president was postponed a second time because the lecturer called with car problems so we had from 8am-10am free. Luckily the internet began working again giving everyone the chance to catch up on communication and research.
2. French class today was all together. As a whole group we went over vocabulary pertaining to university life. 
3. Following the grammar/vocabulary lesson we all caught taxis and headed of the the University of Yaounde 1 where we met with students. The students that we spent the afternoon with all belonged to the same student society, one that Serge was the president of when he was a student at the university. Their current president explained what their society was (basically an academic focused organization for students studying anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and sociology) and how it functioned. After that, we walked to the other side of campus for lunch. Two American students were assigned to a Cameroonian student for the time that we were there. Rodrigue, Cora, and I spent most of the afternoon talking about university life but also many other small things in our lives. Rogrigue is 20, in his second year and studying philosophy. He has 7 siblings, 4 sisters and 3 brothers. He also does karate competitively but originally got involved because he like the philosophy of the practice.
4. When we got back to the office we had another free hour to hangout, use the internet, and check out any of the previous student’s research projects from the SIT library. 
5. In the evening, once again, I returned home and dove into homework. Like every night, we watched the Spanish soap opera at 9pm on the dot. Later in the night I also helped Gael with her English homework. She started school yesterday and already has copious amounts of homework. She was up later than 1am last night and then got up again at 4am to finish her work before school! 

Lunch at the University of Yaounde 1. Everyone pictured is a member of the SIT program. From left to right: Khalilah (Weslyan University), Arsen (Cameroonian student in the SIT program), Elias (Yale University), Christelle (Cameroonian student in the SIT program)

Cora and I with Rodrigue.