12/15/2001:
30th day of Ramadan. off to IST with moms (over-packed, of course).... bisalaamah insha’Allah!
12/16/2001: Eid day, in Limbe!
kul ‘aam wa-nahnu bekhair! (may ever year find us in goodness). sitting in the Hotspot Cafe at the Botanic Gardens with mama. gorgeous view! the rhythm of the tide has brought some serenity down upon me. the low afternoon sun reflecting off an endless placid Atlantic surface is quite a sight.
indeed, everything since Baffoussam has been such a contrast to [the dryness of] Wum. ahhh... the tropics! God i miss plants. trees. nature. Wum town is so lacking in that regard. i came to Africa realizing i wasn’t going to the desert-sahel but thinking the tropics wouldn’t/couldn’t be bad. and they aren’t, but i’m not there!
no complaints... no, i am complaining. but still grateful for what we do have up there in Wum and Bamenda. but right now i’d trade in amenities, email and all else for the peace and freedom that trees and tides could give me.
the drive in from the high grasslands of the Northwest Province was something. not spectacular but so interesting in the gradual transitions b/w all the zones. and there’s a PCV in about each one. the dry season stopped Up Station in Bamenda. it even rained in Bamenda last night. from the West on it was so lush. so green. so fresh.
the plantations in the West and Littoral Provinces were a sight. banana/plantain, coffee, papaya, rubber... the endless rows and patterns along rolling hills and a backdrop of mountains. the plantations made me think of Apollonian order. the epitome of it... in a Dionysian jungle [references to The Botany of Desire].
i’m looking forward to a stroll through the gardens this week. early morning or late afternoon. i’m going to ask God of one thing... to keep my heart here for this next week. i mean not to let it go fluttering away and get entangled in the tall trees, lush foliage, beautiful flowers and the roll of the ocean. b/c i need to go back to Wum soon. and my heart needs to come back with me.
IMAGE: me at the Hotspot Cafe at the Botanic Gardens in Limbe. that's the atlantic in the background. or the gulf of guinea, to be exact.
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