Archives for the Month of March 2009 on Marie Lathers's Cameroon Journal
Chefferie floor being cemented. Batoula.
Linden and Geraldine (Dino) at the Beach
Linden and Geraldine, aka Dino, Dinesco, etc.
Linden and Elvis at Seme Beach
Linden at Ngumy's school
Illnesses, etc.
Well, we leave in Egypt in a few days (!) so I want to be sure to catch up on here first. We will be gone for 2 1/2 weeks, first five days in Cairo, then a Nile cruise, then two nights in Casablanca on the way back. We are taking Royal Maroc Airlines, which goes through Casablanca, so why not? We are really looking forward to the trip and have been reading up on the history of Egypt. We also read Death on the Nile, but we don't expect our cruise to be as dangerous. For those interested, we are taking a three-night Movenpick cruise (those Swiss, they do know how to arrange things nicely!) from Aswan to Luxor. We'll take the overnight train back and forth from Cairo. I'll post photos when we return!
In the meantime . . . I am posing a photo of Linden in the Catholic hospital here, where we spent one night together. Linden had a very bad fever (103.5) that lasted more than 24 hours. We were afraid it was malaria, but it wasn't. Just a fever in reaction to something that we will never identify. She was on antiobiotics with a feed, which she absolutely hated, and then on pills once we came home. We slept together in this teeny bed and read from The Arabian Nights.
While we were there, I had the doctor look at my big toe, which had become swollen, swelling up half my foot. I thought I must have sprained the foot, but the doctor (a visiting woman from Belgium) said it was an infection. I had a blister there, so the infection must have gotten in that way. Yuck. And very painful. I got medications and Linden and I had a nice pout.
It took just a day on the antibiotics for Linden to feel better, so we left Friday (10 days ago) for Buea to visit Nalova Lyonga and to participate in a symposium honoring the British anthropologist Shirley Ardener. Then we went back to Seme Beach, the black sand beach we had gone to in the fall, and spent the night. It was great! I am posting pictures of Linden with Elvis and Geraldine.
Well, we came back in one piece and then darned if an insect they call "catepillar" in French here (although it is not the catepillar that they call chenille) and I can't remember what in English FLEW INTO MY EYE and out and left a bad, bad infection. Apparently, it can make your whole face look horrible. My left eye looked like someone had punched it and I had some infection on my chin. It took five days to start feeling better. I am telling you, do NOT leave a window open at night while reading with a light on! It is a really horrible thing to have happen!
We are in pretty good shape now and hope to stay that way until and during our Egypt trip!
I am also uploading a photo from the International Women's Day parade on March 8. That was the day I wore my new shoes and got the blister that caused the foot infection, so I'm not too fond of that day.
Also a photo of Linden in her school uniform outside her school. For those of you wondering, she has her hair in a pony tail!
Also a photo of the chief of Batoula and his wife in front of the palace at the chefferie. I paid to have a cement floor put in, before it was dirt. I'm glad to do something for Fotoula, who has been very good to us!
Women's Day International and the Soaps
Sunday, March 8, was International Women's Day and was celebrated here with a parade and lots of parties. In Cameroon, women buy special women's day material and have dresses made from it to wear on March 8 and then throughout the year. The cloth has images of women doing various things and has inscriptions in English and French about women and women's values. The colors this year were pink, green, or blue. I had a green dress made and I would love to show you a photo of it but I can't find the cord that connects my camera to the computer! Hopefully, later.
I went to the parade with Madame Panka, whose husband is the pharmacist downstairs. She had a special seat in the grandstand and put me next to her. This was better than walking in the parade, which I could have done with the university women professors, but with my new shoes and aching feet I was happy to sit. Then we went to the Prefect's house for a drink and some snacks. Many speeches were made about violence against women, which was the theme this year. The mayor of Dschang spoke very strongly against this type of violence in the Dschang community and I wish we could see municipal officials in the US stand up against such things in their speeches--I really can't imagine it, however.
So it was a very serious day but also a rather frivolous one. After the parade and speeches women in their dresses roamed the streets and bars were full to the brim. There was a lot of drinking. According to Elvis and Geraldine, women's day ends in some divorces when the man won't let his drunk wife enter the home that evening. Alas.
I also learned something very interesting about women and men here in Cameroon, which perhaps extends to other African countries (at least we've seen it in Nigerian soap operas). The man always sleeps in the conjugal bed facing the door (supposedly to prevent robbers from getting to his wife). The woman sleeps "behind him" and at an angle. She must be behind. Wow, this is very odd for Americans! I can't imagine it since I'm always rolling all over the place. Not allowed after you are married, apparently.
Since I mentioned soap operas, I should say that although we don't have a TV we somehow manage to keep up with a few soaps, which are called "films" here--in hotel rooms, bars and restaurants, and from visiting people. Cameroonians seem to love soaps. They especially love the Brazilian, Mexican, and Nigerian soaps, which are dubbed into French. Linden and I especially liked "La Mujer de mi vida," which was popularly called "Barbarita" after the main character. It would appear that EVERYONE in Cameroon knows who Barbarita is and has an opinion of her, even children. Barbarita's lover/husband was always called "Antonio Adolpho"--what a mouthful. Barbarita doesn't seem to be showing anymore, however, so we have turned to "The Mother-in-Law," which must be Mexican. There is also "Paloma," which concerns Paloma's on-again-off-again relationship with Diego, who seems to be angry all the time and tries to look like a pirate. For some reason the show only allows her to choose between Diego and a really whimpy guy that she works with (he wears glasses--give me a break). I taught Linden that in fact there may be at least THREE men in the world, and that Paloma should look for someone else entirely.
We also enjoy some of the Nigerian soaps, especially "Submission." Yep, that's the name. It's not clear if the title refers to the need to submit to the husband or to the mother-in-law. This mother ruins her daughters' lives and even sleeps with one of her sons-in-law, which I found absolutely appalling. Geraldine says it is because the mother is wicked and that the wife cannot blame the husband. ????? Anyway, in the end the mother kills herself a la Madame Bovary, but here she eats cement. Wow.
Back to reality, so to speak: I was in Buea last weekend and attended some events honoring the British anthropologist Shirley Ardener, who has worked in Cameroon for 60 years, at the university. Nalova Lyonga, who is an administrator there and who is working with Case on our study abroad in Buea project, was so wonderful to us and invited me back in May to give a paper. Linden had met Nalova last spring in Cleveland and informed her this time that "you are not as dark as you were last year." She can still get away with that for a year or two, the darling.
Linden is at her new school. I chose a private one, much as I didn't want to, because the Dschang school has 80 students in her class and she was already rather traumatized by the 58 in the village school. Now, she is the ONLY student in her class, since this is a new school and they mostly have young kids so far. The director is wonderful, a former administrator at the university. It is an anglophone school but he hired a teacher for her who is Francophone so she can continue lessons in French. She is very happy there and has a really sharp uniform which I will hopefully post a photo of soon. And the name of the school? --Ngumy's Fantastic International School. Really!! (Ngumy is the director's daughter.)
I will write in a few days about: the fire down the street, Elvis' (resolved) problems with the cops here, and Linden and my stay overnight in the hospital (we are fine now). . .
Working in the fields last fall
Drinking water source in the village
Engineers in Yaounde at home of Joe Naoussi
move to Dschang
Hello! We moved from the village to the town of Dschang last week. I was tired of being so far from the university now that I am teaching, and I think we all wanted to see a bit more in terms of activity and animation. Leaving the village was hard, of course, and Linden's schoolmates and teacher were especially sad. I think it was very exciting for them to have Linden around! However, we will certainly be visiting Bafounda on a regular basis.
The week before that, the Engineers Without Borders people were in the village to assess the water project they wish to complete this summer. It was a very exciting week. They met lots of people and I also met some new people, especially from the administration in Mbouda. The water technician there is already putting a water filter in the Batoula clinic, which will be a temporary solution to the problem of potable water, until the summer when the well can be redone. We all had fun with the engineers (from the Columbus, OH, professional chapter, plus a Case graduate student) and it ended with the males participating in a rousing soccer match with visitors.
The day we left the village was very hectic and was also rather sad and bizarre due to the discovery the previous night of an owl on the premises. Many Cameroonians believe that owls represent wicked souls, evil humans. They do not consider them as true animals, but representatives of particular people. So, when an owl is found it is tied up, alive. The evil person suffers bodily harm when this is done to the owl. That person may come to the owl and ask forgiveness, in which case the owl is set free. If he or she does not show up, the owl is eventually killed and the person also dies, it is believed. All this was taking place as we were leaving the compound. It was very hard on Linden, especially.
We have rented two adjacent apartments in Dschang, one for Elvis and one for us women and girl. They are over a pharmacy on a very busy street--quite a change from the quiet village! linden will start her new school tomorrow--it's actually going to be more like tutoring since she is the only fifth grader! It's a private school which we chose because the public one has even more students in her class (80) than the village school. Also, she is tired of the aggressivity of the children and wants some space. And that's fine! So, she will be attending--get this--Ngumy's Fantastic International School. You gotta love a school with "fantastic" in the name!
I'll add pictures very soon.