6/10/2001:je suis fatigue. i’ll be short. the drive from Yaounde to Babadjou was a bit long. great group though... the math/science trainees i'll be spending the next couple of months with. it rained as we entered the town. a good omen/blessing in cameroon.
met our respective families at the chief’s reception hall. after some confusion, i understood that Narcisse (aka Das) Tschaffou, his wife (Mirabelle/Sameera) and their 20 month old daughter (Isma'ila) were to be my host family. Jean-Pierre (Das’ nephew, aka Petit Prince) and Susan (Das’ mother) rounded off the family.
the presence of a few friends confused me (relatives???) but that was cleared up at dinner when the family, minus Susan (she eats alone in the kitchen), sat for dinner... rice, fish stew, potatoes, and potato purée.
they’ve got much in the garden in the way of food stuffs, a pig, 2 geese and a compound with 3 buildings. i’m staying in the largest (a white house) with Petit Prince and the geese. accommodations are quite good, actually... electricity, but no running water. petit and i drew water from the well at their neighbors across the street.
seems like i can wash with untreated water OK. boiled my filter’s candles but the seal b/w them and the filter isn’t water tight... will have to ask the PC staff about it tomorrow. bon nuit, je suis fatigue.
oh... Das and i are the same age.
IMAGE: the geese that lived across the hall from me in my host-family's house. they were kept indoors in an unfinished room to protect them... from the elements and animals, i suppose. male geese are really aggressive. they'd let out the most fiendish screeches at night. anyway... it quickly became my chore to let them out and into the house every morning and evening.
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