Safari!

Yesterday the SIT students went to le Parc National de la Bénoué for a safari. While I'm currently in Adamawa province, the park is in the North, so now I've been to 7 out of 10 provinces!

We had to leave Ngaoundéré at 5:30 AM in order to arrive early enough to see animals. It felt just like a ski trip, and it was really cool to walk through the city to our meeting place while the call to prayer was going and people were making their way to the mosques.

Once we got to the park, we saw our first animals surprisingly quickly: giraffes! Later we saw antelopes, monkeys, some really pretty birds, and lots of hippos.



We also got to take turns riding on the roof of our van, with 5 to 6 people at a time enjoying the breeze, scanning for animals, and dodging tree branches. It was a lot of fun, especially because the road was bumpy. It could be very painful at times, though!

Everyone I've takled to about Northern Cameroon have stressed that it's really hot, and they were right. We were boiling in the van towards midday, and we probably could have made tea with our water. Luckily, an inpromptu water fight with my three youngest sisters later that day cooled me down.

Saturday was amazing as well. A Nigerian dignitary was visiting the lamidot (local chief), and there was a big celebration to welcome him. There was a lot of really great music with drums, balafons, long trumpets, and mandolin-like instruments. It was all very North African-sounding, and I couldn't help but be reminded of some Balkan Beat Box songs. There were also a lot of horses present, with beautiful decorations and riders is traditional costumes.



I've been trying to get pictures of my new hair, but it's been difficult. Here's a view from the back as well as all the hair that was cut off:




Also, my youngest host sister is officially the cutest girl ever. Here she made a traditional baby sling for her teddy bear and pretending that my water is another baby. To bad I can't figure out how to rotate it on this website:



And here's a picture of some friends making knives:

Making Knives!

During our first day in Ngaoundéré, my friends and I met some really cool metal workers at the Grand Marchée. After talking with them for a bit, they told us that we could come back another time to help them make knives.

This morning, that's exactly what we did! My friend Steffan got to make his blade from scratch, heating it and pounding it into shape with a big mallet. I took turns working the hand bellows with a friend, after which I painted hilts, decorated, and polished hilts. It was a lot of fun, and we're going back Sunday to hopefully make more. It's great that the guys are so willing to explain things to us and to let us try firsthand. How many people can bring back souvenirs that they've made themselves?

Train Rides and Haircuts

Today is my third day in Ngaoundéré, a northern city in which I'll be staying for the next two weeks. Getting here was a lot of fun: we took a 14 hour train ride from Yaoundé. This was my first time on a train, and it was great! THe journey started around 6:30, so I got to enjoy the scenery and the cool breezes as we went north. Once it got dark I hung out with friends and ate pineapple that we bought from vendors through the train windows. I had a nice sleep in my top bunk, then woke up a bit before we arrived.

The city here is inhabited by a lot of Muslims, and it definitely shows. Mosques are everywhere, and there's a definite sense of Arab culture here. I even had shawarma for lunch today, although it acn't compare to Israeli shawarma.

My family here is really nice: it consists of two parents ans 6 sisters. The youngest is 3, and speaks only Fulfulde (people here only laern French once they go to school). The oldest is 20.

On another note, I cut my hair! To be precise, I had 3 friends do it. I had decided in Kribi that I was sick of having long hair, so our first night in Ngaoundéré I let my friends go at it. It's now above my shoulder and slightly curlier than before. I really like it, and I'll try to put up pictures soon.

It's a Small World

Earlier in the day when I was at the cyber cafe, a (white) woman noticed the Brandeis shirt that I was wearing and asked me if I went there. It turns out that she's from Reading, MA, and knows someone from Peabody who's currently volunteering at a hospital here in Yaounde. I love it when I meet people who have actually heard of where I'm from; it makes me feel as though I'm not totally disconnected from the world, after all.

Spring Break!!

I've just returned from Kribi, where I spent the last three days (Tuesday-Thursday). Kribi is located ont the beach, so this was the closest thing to a spring break that us SITers are going to have.

The hotel that we stayed at was located literally on the beach, so the first thing that everyone did after the 4 hour drive from Yaounde was to jump in the ocean. The water was REALLY warm; it was definitely hard to believe that it's the same Atlantic that's so cold in New England. There were also some pretty big waves, and it was a lot of fun to swim and to play frisbee in the water.

Typical of any beachside town, the food consisted largely of fish. I wouldn't say that I like fish, but the fish I ate in Kribi was AMAZING. I even liked the plantains-dinner in Kribi the first night was the only time that I have enjoyed eating plantains.

During our second day in Kribi we visited two pygmy camps. These weren't really camps in any traditional sense of the word. The first was a cluster of maybe 2 or 3 houses right alongside a road, while the second was one house set back from some Bantu (non-pygmy) houses. In each area we got to ask questions with the help of an interpretor. It was definitely an interesting experience, although these pygmies were quite modernized (comparatively) and hadn't lived in the forests for at least a decade. One group was Christian, and except for a few of the women they were normal-sized.

I spent the rest of the trip on the beach, either swimming, playing frisbee, or just hanging out. We headed back to Yaounde on Thursday, and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Pope, who was in town for a few days. I was in Kribi for the majority of his stay, but he drove past my house (which is on a fairly large road near where he was staying) a few hours after I got back. I have to say, the popemobile was a lot larger than I expected it to be!


On Sunday I'll be embarking on a 12-hour train ride to Ngaoundere, where I'll be staying for 2 weeks before starting my Independent Study Project. Ngaoundere has a lot of Muslims and a very different culture than Yaounde or Dschang, so it should be an interesting experience. I'll try to keep you all posted once I find an internet cafe there.

Pictures!

I was finally able to post pictures to facebook. You can see them here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012779&id=1239090093&l=fe020c8819
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012783&id=1239090093&l=e4ddc61c28

In Which I Explore the City

I've done a lot of exploring around Yaoundé recently, as the title of this blog suggests. Let me tell you a bit about it!

On Tuesday I went to a really nice park with a few friends. Le Bois de Sainte Anastasie, as it's called, is a great secluded, woody area in the midst of busy Yaoundé. It's also located across the street from a supermarket and boulangerie, so we decided to have a picnic of wine and cheese while we relaxed, listened to music, and play cards. It was a great stress-free activity after a day of class.

Yesterday I hiked up a local mountain (Mt Febe). I don't mean hiking in the traditional sense of the word: a paved road winds its way up the mountain and past a nice hotel located about mid-way up, so we followed this road the whole time. The views were great, and even a sudden burst of mysterious rain (it apparently didn't reach the rest of the city) couldn't ruin the fun. We took advantage of my friend's portable speakers to listen to music while we walked; by chance our group was made up entirely of Jews, so we felt it highly appropriate to listen to my Yiddish hip-hop CD. It was pretty surreal, rocking out to Jew music as we passed Africans along the road.

After our hike we got dinner at a local pizza place. It's geared towards ex-pats so it's a bit expensive, but it was great to have pizza after going so long without it.

Look, Americans!

Yesterday the SIT-ers went to visit the American Embassy in Yaounde. It was a really strange (yet really nice) experience. Driving up to the embassy, it was amazing how American the building looked in comparison to the rest of the neighborhood. Top it off with the outrageous amounts of security we went through, and it felt just like we were back in the states.

We met the ambassador, who's from Boston, as well as a few other staff members. It was great talking with other Americans who were actually familiar with places that I know. For example, did you know that Salem Hospital (where I was born) donates some of Cameroon's only dialysis machines?

On the way out after our meeting, I stopped for a bathroom break with some other girls. We were absoilutely AMAZED to find soap and toilet paper, and could barely contain our excitement when we realized that the toilets were automatic.

On the Road Again

These past few days have been really busy, so here's what I've been up to:

Thursday:
The SITers travelled to Batoufam (around 2 hours from Dschang)to meet the chef superieure, an important chief in the area. He showed us around his palace, which was decoratd with a lot of really cool traditional artwork, and told us about his duties as a chief. He also gave us a great lunch which included goat, wine, and champagne mixed with coffee syrup (a great combination).

Friday:
I packed up my things and headed to Bamenda for the weekend. This city is in an anglophone province, so everyone spoke English. However, the accents are very strong and a lot of Pidgin is spoken, so a lot of the time it was easier to understand French than English. Later in the day we met with members of the SCNC, an organzation that wants independence for anglophone Cameroon. The government doesn't like the SCNC (the people we talked to had been arrested a few days before) so the meeting was very last-minute so as to not tip off the wrong people.

Saturday:
Free day! I went shopping for crafts and generally wandering around the city with a few friends. We ate at the Obama restaurant for lunch-slow service, but the name made up for it-and watched pirated Disney movies that some other people had bought in the evening.

Sunday:
We met with John Fru Ndi, the leader of the main oppostion party in Cameroon. After answering our questions he took us to meet a local fon (a chief) at a celebration that his supporters were holding for him. It was cool to meet the chief and to see traditional dancers there, but I definitely got the sense that Fru Ndi really wanted the American students to enhnce his rep.

Monday:
8 hour drive back to Yaoundé-I had forgotten how hot it is here!

A guide to the pictures:
1. The Waterfall at Mamy Wata, near Dschang
2. Neighbors/cousins of my family in Yaoundé
3. My Yaoundé sister Flore and me
4. A view of Yaoundé from the SIT office
5. My room in Yaoundé