bamenda and back

2/21/2002:
...well, was to and from Bamenda today. tired now... mostly b/c it’s late. Isma was too cute the entire time. too dirty as well. but i think i ended up being dirtier by the time i got back here this evening.

got to the bank. sent some letters. was unable to find an envelope to send that audio cassette i made. did send Isma and Das off. but didn’t do email. got mail from BP 5033. talked to the fam... got a few things from Vatican [imported goods supermarket]. got here safely... coming home is nice now.

wished Arouna and Dairou [two muslim friends in douala and yaounde] bonne fette by phone. tomorrow is eid al-adha! [feast of the sacrifice]... didn’t get to email. next time. spending eid in Ukpwa. gonna chop [eat] meat! Maggie is coming, too.

das is here

2/20/2002:
was just thinking this morning that Das was supposed to be coming around to visit around this time. end of Feb... fete du mouton [feast of the ram, or the sacrifice]. figured i should let Paul and Maggie know, as i may be in Bamenda or at Ukpwa if/when he shows up.

well... Das is here. he’s chillin’ to Um Kalthoum in the living room, perusing through my old Newsweeks. his edible adorable daughter, my sister Isma’ilah, is sleeping in the other room. has the dress Nunu got her and her hair is all done... she’s too cute. beautiful girl.

we’ll be off to Bamenda together tomorrow morning around 10am. gotta make a few changes to my plans (can’t pick up my package), but it’s worth it. family always comes first, n’est-ce pas?

mira pregnant

8/12/2001:
Diarou was right. Mirabelle is pregnant. i brought up the topic today while we were both doing laundry on the balcony. she just laughed and asked if Das told me... i denied, but i don’t think she believes me. anywho... i pray they’re blessed with a healthy child. maybe a boy. maybe i can help them name him/her.

the lights are out... took a tough bath just now. bones aching. from that and laundry...

...lights just came back on. lying here in bed debating whether to iron my pants now or not. could get up early and do it. could just wear them wrinkled.

i had a long conversation with Francois this afternoon. all about my cross-cultural presentation topic. we spoke at length about death and mourning and so many other things in regards to culture and religion. he has a background in anthropology so we both went off on tangents often. tradition and modernity. cultural values and logical reasoning. faith and explaining it away. it was nice getting into all that... religion, sociology, etc.

i find my topic interesting, comparing death and mourning across cultures. there are some issues with comparing what i describe as an ideal of a Muslim context and the reality of a West Cameroonian one... not really accurate. also an issue saying all that and then some in French. we’ll see.

i'd like to ask Diarou about the history of the North. how the people became Muslim. when?... whether they moved there, were conquered or converted. if there is a local/native culture underlying or mixed-in with the Muslim culture and how it manifests itself. talking to Francois really got me excited about reading the literature and history of this country. looking forward to that.

the talk also got me thinking about the future... how i want to keep up with the religion/sociology/anthropology aspect of my education, but in what capacity? higher degrees? just reading? conversations like today? i.e. formal or informal.

the same goes for plants; form or informal education and career choice??? and teaching, where does that fit in? the work Francois did with an NGO in Kribi on forest conservation and local cultural perception of their work is attractive. a mix of natural and cultural resource work.

so many questions to address in 2 years. don’t know how/why i thought i could plan the rest of my life (it seems like that, at least) from here?

meeting my host family

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.