Wednesday

Yikes, I'm behind.... but here's the list of 5 things I did on Wednesday

1. Dr. Niger-Thomas returned this morning to give a lecture on the economics of women in Cameroon.
2. We had free time until 2pm to hangout, eat, and get some work done.
3. As a group, we visited the Peace Corps. Originally the visit was supposed to be last week as a part of the development organizations module but had had to be rescheduled. It was weird, and very interesting. Weird because the Peace Corps is in a really nice building with security and air conditioning and the presenters spoke English with American accents (aka they were American). It was interesting in general to learn about the Peace Corps its programs, and what its doing in Cameroon. 
4. After the Peace Corps visit, as soon as we got back to the office, I sent an email to an education-focused NGO contact that one of the presenters at the Peace Corps had given us. Hopefully Cora and I will be able to use the contact in our research. I hope to use the contact for my Independent Study Project at later in the program as well. 
5. Today we have 60 days left in Cameroon! Sometimes that sounds like a lot and sometimes that feels like barely enough time at all. Today was also a big day in Yaoundé because the Lions played Sierra Leon again. When there’s a soccer match, the streets are incredibly busy leading up to the start and then their extremely quiet. On my walk home, there were significantly less cars than usual including taxis. There were also fewer people in the streets. The streets felt relatively empty until you passed a bar or restaurant with TVs where
   you could find a large clump of people straining to watch the action. Everyone watches or listens to soccer matches when they occur. The match ended 2-0 Cameroon.

View from the Peace Corps Office

Tuesday

Monica sits down to eat food from the
maman

1. Today was our last French class of the semester! The program is organized so that we get a full credits worth of French but with all of the classes concentrated at the beginning of the program. 
2. Our second class of the day was titled “Youth’s Opinion on Women’s Roles and Place in the Society.” Two university students joined us for a discussion about how they perceive women in Cameroonian society today. It was very interesting because they’re view was much more optimistic (unrealistic?) than Monday’s lecturer, Dr. Margaret Niger-Thomas, who is a professor in Women’s Studies and works for the government in the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Family.
3. I bought lunch from the maman up the street; les haricots avec du riz (beans and rice).
4. After eating, Cora and I headed to the local public school where we are conducting the majority of our research project to pick up the surveys we had left with the guidance counselors. We also got a chance to sit down and chat with two guidance counselors and a computer sciences teacher. 
5. At home, I sat down and recorded our survey results on my computer in a spreadsheet and began to look at trends. It wasn’t that hard, except when I couldn’t read a student’s handwriting- which was often.
   
   

   

   Cora speaks with the head guidance counselor, our
   contact at the Lycee de Tsinga.

   

   The local public school.

Monday

Monica reacts to her birthday "cake"

1) Today was Monica’s 20th birthday. Instead of buying her a cake like they did for Morgan, Monica was given a platter of bananas and avocado and another platter of bread. She also got a small pound cake and some Nutella. She said that it was “better than any cake.”

2) We only had one class besides French class and it was postponed to 3pm-5pm.

3) The one class we had today, was our first lecture on women’s role in development. I’m really excited for this unit, it should be very interesting.

4) When I got home, I was surprised to find the living room filled with my oldest brother’s friends. It had been raining so I met them all wet and tired.

5) As per usual, Gael and I watched the same soap opera together. Things are just getting more and more complicated. I’m not sure I could ever begin to described all of the plots.

The birthday spread (minus the pound cake)

10 Aspects of Cameroonian Culture That Took Time Getting Used To

The first group photo we took in Cameroon.
Hiking Mont Febe above Yaoundé from the monastery.

1) In Cameroon, crossing your legs is seen as incredibly rude. Sitting with your legs crossed it seen as a sign of superiority. I didn’t realize how frequently I cross my legs when I’m sitting on a couch or in a chair. We sit in basic plastic chairs for classes and when taking notes sometimes I really wish I could cross my legs

2) It is incredibly important to always greet people. The first time you see someone in a day you have to greet them with “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir,” depending on the time of day. It is offensive to not greet someone in the morning, even if you’re just woken up and are on the way to to bathroom. Simultaneously, when arriving at school, before talking to a teacher or professor it is incredibly important to greet them. It is generally good practice to do the same for anyone you interact with regularly, waiters, or people working at stores. 

 My French class. ("Stolen" from the SIT Cameroon Facebook page.)

3) You don’t make prolonged eye contact with someone when talking to them. Instead of fixing them in the eyes it is better to look at them and then let your eyes wander every now and then.

4) It’s considered weird to eat and walk at the same time. Not that this is something I do frequently but sometimes you’re running late and want to save time by eating on the way.

5) It is not common for Cameroonian families to eat together. Rather, you eat when you’re hungry. At the two houses I’ve stayed at meals are generally prepared ahead of time and then left for the household to eat at will. Also, many people don’t eat three meals a day at regular times but prefer to eat then they get hungry, whenever that may be. 

The group at the Lion's match several weeks ago.
("Stolen" from the SIT Cameroon Facebook page)

6) Before eating, if you do eat with others it is custom to always wish others a “Bon Appetite” Similarly, when if you come across someone eating, or someone about to eat it would be very rude to not wish them a “Bon Appetite” or simply “Appetite”. Usually one responds by saying thank you or returning the sentiment. 

7) There is no social stigma behind picking your nose. People, my French professor included, will pick their nose while talking to you without thinking twice.

8) To get someone’s attention you make a hissing noise or a kissing noise at them. What would be viewed as potential harassment in the US is very common place here. When hearing the sounds, most Cameroonians will automatically turn their heads to make sure that it isn’t directed at them.

The view from our apartment's front balcony.
We're on the first floor directly below is the parking area
where a lot of the little kids play. The building and
parking area are closed off by a gate.  In the distance you
can see the President, Paul Biya's, house. It's the square
building on the top of the hill to the left of the center palm
tree.

9) Taxis are all over Yaoundé. When one wants to take a taxi they stand on the sidewalk, or walk in the direction they’re going. A taxi approaching will honk their horn to get you attention. At they slow down by you, you call the name of the place you’re going through the window (and often how much you’re willing to pay). If they accept they’ll come to a full stop so you can get in if not, they’ll drive away. It is common to have to ask up to five taxis to take you where you want to go before finding one that is going your way. This is partially because taxis will take multiple passengers at once, going to varying locations. 

10) For someone who didn’t have a whole lot of TV growing up, the amount of television watched in households is very different for me. My Yaoundé home has a TV in all three bedrooms and the kitchen. Sometimes they’re all playing the same thing. On top of having TVs on all the time, most of the time, the volume is turned up much higher than I consider necessary. I’ve gotten relatively good at ignoring the TVs, allowing me to do my homework in the same room.

10 Things I Did This Weekend

SATURDAY:

1. We had classes today which made the week feel just that much longer. Initially Saturday was supposed to be just an end of module Thematic Discussion however, a lecturer had to postpone so we had classes all morning. 
2. After classes Khalilah, Danny, Elias and I went out to lunch as a restaurant that makes pretty good omelets. 
3. When I got home the Cameroon-Sierra Leone soccer match was on. The game ended in a 0-0 tie between the teams. Technically the game was supposed to be a home game for Sierra Leone however, because of ebola, Cameroon said that they would only play if Sierra Leone’s team traveled to Cameroon. Even if you hadn’t known ahead of time, it was very evident that a soccer match was taking place in the city. All day people on the streets were wearing their Lions paraphernalia. People were wearing silly Cameroon hats and walking around with flags. While at lunch, we watched a man attempt to get into a taxi with a massive Cameroonian flag, which we ended up having to hold out the window even though it dragged on the ground 
4. I slept TERRIBLY Friday night so I was exhausted all of Saturday and just generally not feeling well so I took a solid nap in the late afternoon
5. Elias invited all of the other students, and some of our host siblings, over to his house to hangout in the evening. I’ve been on the outside of his house and knew that it was incredibly big, but I hadn’t realized that it was as quite as big and as fancy as it is. Elias had never even been in the living room space we spent most of the evening in. It started raining in the later evening, just as I was about to head home. Luckily, the walk between my house and Elias’s isn’t that long. I was still soaked by the time I got home. 

SUNDAY:

1. Sundays are great because they’re the one day I get at least an hour of extra sleep!
2. After getting up I started right in on school work that continued all day long. I was not the only one, every single other person in the house, my host mom wasn’t home, spent the entire day doing school work. Glendon, who, at 9, has a shorter attention span than the rest of us and considerably less homework mentioned several times how boring we were all being. 
3. I took a laundry break around 1:30 since it was so nice and sunny out in hopes that my clothes would get some solid drying time today.
4. Last week a chicken appeared on our balcony. By appeared I mean that someone bought it and put it there while I was at school. For the first day it was sitting in a basket with its legs tied together and then after that, it had a sting tied to one legs attaching it to the balcony. I dislike chickens and this one was hanging out making a less on the balcony. One day I did laundry and it was very much in my way. Not to mention that it would crow loudly between 4am and 5am every morning waking all of us up. Friday the chicken got moved to outside near the parking lot area of the apartment building, just under our living room balcony. Today, Gael was feeding it by dropping food off the balcony and a bunch of the peacocks that roam the neighborhood came by and started stealing its food. We would chase them off every now and then but got sick of it throughout the afternoon. That is until, I heard Glendon call for Gael saying, “Gael, the peacocks attacked the chicken.” I’m pretty sure the chicken it ok. It was one of those moments during the day that I thought, “I’m a long way from home.”
5. I finished the novel we’re reading for French class, “Une Vie de Boy.” 

Recap of this Week

In order to catch up with my blog posting this post is going to be a quick rundown of my past week.


Sunday spent the day unpacking from Kribi and doing homework. Cora came over to my house to work on our research project together. The first research project is kind of like a practice for our final independent study projects. Cora and I are working together to look at the resources available to teachers and students in Cameroonian public school to aid students who consistently fail classes. I got up at 6 in the morning and went with my mom to the outdoor sports facility where there are workout classes. The instructor stood at the top of a set of stairs and the participants stood below following them. There was probably around a hundred people but people came and went throughout. The class was kinda of like a mix between pilates and Zumba.

Monday was our first day back at the office which meant INTERNET! Although, because everyone was excited to use the internet again, it was really, really slow.

The giant place of pancakes (plain and
banana) we made in French class Thursday

Tuesday we had only French class and a quick debrief of the schedule and protocols for the rest of the week. This week we're continuing our module on development organizations and have visited several of them. I headed home early which was really nice and even got to take a nap. I realized that my host siblings all nap for about 2 hours in the middle of the day. My 45 minutes nap was ridiculed as being too short.

Bringing Marianna's cake out (a surprise for all of us)

Wednesday after French class we headed out to visit ACDIC, an organization fighting for the betterment of agricultural workers conditions. The presentation was really great and the organizations work was very interesting. After a very quick lunch at the office we went to visit MUFFA, a Cameroon-based micro-finance organization for women.

Thursday my French class make banana pancakes with Nutella for everyone else just as the other French classes had the past two days. It was also Marianna's birthday so we made her "M" "2" and "1" shaped pancakes. After everyone had stopped  We had until 1 to relax. After lunch we headed to RELUFFA, an organization that focuses on alleviating hunger in Cameroon but does so by addressing many different issues such as resource depletion, deforestations, subsidized imports, and workers rights. A representative from CED, another organization that works with pygmies, also joined us at RELUFFA.

Happy Birthday Marianna!

 Friday (Today) we had no classes until 10am. This morning we visited the World Bank which was a very different perspective from the Cameroonian organizations that we've been visiting. We've had two lecturers refer to the IMF as the "International Misery Fund" and several of them have talked negatively about the World Bank Groups and IMF's development policies in Cameroon and Africa. This afternoon we also had another dance class which, as usual, lots of fun and hard work.

Elias (and Ariane) at the World Bank.

Waiting for the World Bank lecturer to arrive

Pretending to be serious and professional.

Final Kribi Post

To make things easier (and maybe more interesting) I’m just going to pull out the highlights of my second week in Kribi. 

Hair half-way undone.

Sunday evening my host mom made, and finished, the skirt and top that she had designed for me so I wore the skirt to school on Monday and the shirt on Tuesday. 

Tuesday we started our module on development organizations. We started off by visiting WOPA, an organization to help young women under the age of 25 gain autonomy. WOPA mostly works with young women who, for whatever reason, have been unable to get enough of an education to support themselves. We got to eat lunch and chat with some of the program’s beneficiaries. 

I took my braids half-way out with the help of two of Marie’s friends which allowed me to at least wash the bottom half of my hair. I had the house to myself for the majority of the afternoon on Tuesday which was REALLY nice. 

Undoing my first braids

                                       Wednesday we only had French class. I hung out at the hotel for a little bit but headed home in time to cook lunch for myself. Before I had the chance to take my braids all the way out and wash my hair, Marie asked if she could re-braid it in a different style. The braids she did this time were SO small, it was incredibly impressive (but also hurt a little). 

Second braided hairdo (I could French braid
or put it in a ponytail)

Thursday we drove for 3 and a half hours to visit two FAGAPE (an organization that works with the Bagyeli population). At the first site, we explored a failed project that had been funded by a Canadian organization. The organizations that worked to implement the program hadn’t worked with the Bagyeli or asked them what they needed. 

One our way to the second site, the van broke down. The van which, I might add, had only two windows and was incredibly hot. We also had to fit four people in rows made for three. The seat I sat in had no back rest, and a sharp metal piece poking into my leg. The second site we visited was home to a successful school project. On the way back, the van broke down several times, usually as we were going up a hill. We finally made it back to the Hotel Ni D’Or after 7:30 pm. A car was hired to bring us home in groups. Danny, Elias, and I were last and, about half-way there, the car ran out of gas. After a VERY long day, we made it home. 

Being welcomed with song and dance
at a Bagyeli camp.

Friday was a very short day in terms of school work. I went home and got to hang out with my family and pack. When I gave my host family their gifts my host mom brought a another skirt and shirt that she had made me. On top of the surprise gifts, she wouldn’t let me pay for any of the other things she made me!

Young Bagyeli boy dancing as a welcome. 

Saturday morning I was very sad to leave my Kribi family. I felt very at home with them and loved the time we spent together! At the same time, it was nice to get back to Yaoundé where it isn’t as humid and we get fewer stares on the street. I also feel like I know my neighborhood, Bastos, in Yaoundé. 

One of the things I learned in Kribi is how much my hair is a plays a role in my identity. It sounds kind of shallow saying it. When my hair was up in braids, I felt like a big part of me was changed or                                                                                     missing.

Monica and Cora arrive to the hotel in pouring rain.

Elias's host brother plays in the ocean

The bus leaving my neighborhood Saturday morning.