November 16, 2011
I need to get better at blog-writing. Sometimes when I describe things or events that are happening, they make perfect sense to me because, well, I'm living them. But what about you, my audience? What am I not explaining about life here in the Adamawa region of Cameroon, Africa? What do you all want to know about? Any topic ideas? I have discussed food A LOT (but don't mind discussing it further if anyone has questions about it), my work at the hospital and high school, and bits and pieces of the culture here. What am I not including in these blog posts that would give you all a bettter idea about Peace Corps here in my village in C-roon? Please let me know in your comments below....and again thanks for following my bloggy blog.
Just some other random topics I don't think I've mentioned:
Most common illnesses volunteers get sick from here (me personally and the tales I have been told): stomachhhhh stuff giardiabacteriaamebas in any and all forms, malaria, weird skin problems like skin falling off due to heat/malnutrition absesses or bacteria in skin, worms in feet etc, dental problems where volunteers get sent to south africa to get cavities filled
Ethnic groups that I see on a daily basis:
Dii the largest ethnic group in my village, their language is called Dii-roo. Most recently, they are descended from a city north of us called Mbe. Before that, I don't actually know where they came from. They are primarily farmers, harvesting everything from yams in Mbe to beans and sugar cane here. The Dii are hard-working but, in my opinion, a bit stubborn
Fulbe, their language is Fulfulde, they are known to be nomads and at one point travelled all the way from Senegal and took over the three northern regions of Cameroon, they are herders (which means they always sell milk) and are very nice. Some small villages around mine are Fulbe where people have settled to stay. Ethnic groups other than them always joke that the Fulbe are thieves; because they always travel from place to place, it's said that they just take things as they go along
Mbororo, smallest ethnic group around here, their language is Yako (but I've never actually heard this spoken I dont think), they are primarily nomads and herders like the Fulbe, I can tell them apart from the others by the blue scars on their faces, a ritual called, appropiately, scarification. They also sell lots of milk in village :)
In the next town over, there is a large population of an ethnic group called Mboom. I'm not quite sure what makes the Mboom different from the Dii other than their languages, but I'm sure there are lots of differences.
Random Rituals:
-When the chief has something important to tell everyone in the village or news to spread, he sends the town "crier". The other night when Nini and I walked to the store to get a mambo chocolate bar (my guilty pleasure of 100 FCFA, approximately 20 cents), we passed the crier out yelling on the dirt pathways between people's homes. At first I thought it was the town fool, but Nini told me that the chief sent him. Apparently, he was telling all the families that once they sell their beans, they need to go immediately to the schools and pay the fees for their children. I'm impressed; go chief!
-Prayer times for Muslims in town: 5 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 6:30 pm, 7:30 pm. If meetings are held in town, it is always in the afternoon interspersed with the prayer times. On Fridays, there is a longer prayer for the first afternoon one that begins at 12:30 pm. I do not see women going to pray at the mosque in town like I do for the men. During Fasting, I would see women going to prayer at night, but was told they bring they mats and pray outside the building while the men all participate inside.
The Fools
We have two "foos"or fools in our village. These are people who, if we were in the red-white-and-blue, their families would most likely pay for them to be in a special home. But here, special homes don't exist, and they are harmless, so we just accept the fools and they are parts of the village like anyone else.
Fool number 1 lives one dirt road over from me. He has been wearing the same outfit since I first arrived in February; a torn up leather coat and shorts. He doesn't wear shoes and just walks around our neighborhood. Sometimes he picks up trash and puts it in his pockets. Sometimes he pushes dirt from one side of the street to the other. He mumbles to himself, but doesn't bother anyone. He has a family that feeds him every day and he just sleeps outside their house. I asked someone once why his family doesn't bath him or buy him shoes. The response I got was he doesn't want to. I've been told he wasn't always like this, but didn't feel like pushing details as to how he got this way.
Fool number 2 is more interesting. According to town gossip, he used to be a big man in village and worked in many cities around Cameroon. But he got greedy, and took some sort of potion/medicine, and then became a fool. He still has his same family and children from when he was a fool and still plants corn and everything...but he's just a bit different. He sports pants, flipflops, a nylon running jacket and a train conductor hat. He is always holding a clipboard and writing scribbles on pieces of paper that he finds. On his clipboard/pallette, I have seen anything from a feather to an old piece of metal to a cookie wrapper. When I pass him he always says "Bonjour Hadidja, ca va?" and starts talking French normally...and then slips into some sort of rambling/local language/jibberish that I or no one understands. He visits the hospital, hobbling along because his ankles are tied closely together with string. I'm pretty sure he ties his own ankles together...not sure why, haven't figured that one out. He sings; the kids knows all his songs and sing with him (hamo lamo kiimoo mi hamo lamo kii, not sure what it means but that's verse 1). During market days, he yells at dogs passing by and invisible people on the street. He visits the hospital to see his friends that are sick or to scribble jibberish on his clipboard. He is completely harmless and everyone is entertained by him...except for when he starts yelling at the clouds in front of the hospital. Then the supervisor tells him to go back to his field.
I need to get better at blog-writing. Sometimes when I describe things or events that are happening, they make perfect sense to me because, well, I'm living them. But what about you, my audience? What am I not explaining about life here in the Adamawa region of Cameroon, Africa? What do you all want to know about? Any topic ideas? I have discussed food A LOT (but don't mind discussing it further if anyone has questions about it), my work at the hospital and high school, and bits and pieces of the culture here. What am I not including in these blog posts that would give you all a bettter idea about Peace Corps here in my village in C-roon? Please let me know in your comments below....and again thanks for following my bloggy blog.
Baby alice, Salomon and Alison (I'm her godmother)
Just some other random topics I don't think I've mentioned:
Most common illnesses volunteers get sick from here (me personally and the tales I have been told): stomachhhhh stuff giardiabacteriaamebas in any and all forms, malaria, weird skin problems like skin falling off due to heat/malnutrition absesses or bacteria in skin, worms in feet etc, dental problems where volunteers get sent to south africa to get cavities filled
Ethnic groups that I see on a daily basis:
Dii the largest ethnic group in my village, their language is called Dii-roo. Most recently, they are descended from a city north of us called Mbe. Before that, I don't actually know where they came from. They are primarily farmers, harvesting everything from yams in Mbe to beans and sugar cane here. The Dii are hard-working but, in my opinion, a bit stubborn
Fulbe, their language is Fulfulde, they are known to be nomads and at one point travelled all the way from Senegal and took over the three northern regions of Cameroon, they are herders (which means they always sell milk) and are very nice. Some small villages around mine are Fulbe where people have settled to stay. Ethnic groups other than them always joke that the Fulbe are thieves; because they always travel from place to place, it's said that they just take things as they go along
Mbororo, smallest ethnic group around here, their language is Yako (but I've never actually heard this spoken I dont think), they are primarily nomads and herders like the Fulbe, I can tell them apart from the others by the blue scars on their faces, a ritual called, appropiately, scarification. They also sell lots of milk in village :)
In the next town over, there is a large population of an ethnic group called Mboom. I'm not quite sure what makes the Mboom different from the Dii other than their languages, but I'm sure there are lots of differences.
Traditional wedding in the streets of Ngaoundere
Random Rituals:
-When the chief has something important to tell everyone in the village or news to spread, he sends the town "crier". The other night when Nini and I walked to the store to get a mambo chocolate bar (my guilty pleasure of 100 FCFA, approximately 20 cents), we passed the crier out yelling on the dirt pathways between people's homes. At first I thought it was the town fool, but Nini told me that the chief sent him. Apparently, he was telling all the families that once they sell their beans, they need to go immediately to the schools and pay the fees for their children. I'm impressed; go chief!
-Prayer times for Muslims in town: 5 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 6:30 pm, 7:30 pm. If meetings are held in town, it is always in the afternoon interspersed with the prayer times. On Fridays, there is a longer prayer for the first afternoon one that begins at 12:30 pm. I do not see women going to pray at the mosque in town like I do for the men. During Fasting, I would see women going to prayer at night, but was told they bring they mats and pray outside the building while the men all participate inside.
The Fools
We have two "foos"or fools in our village. These are people who, if we were in the red-white-and-blue, their families would most likely pay for them to be in a special home. But here, special homes don't exist, and they are harmless, so we just accept the fools and they are parts of the village like anyone else.
Fool number 1 lives one dirt road over from me. He has been wearing the same outfit since I first arrived in February; a torn up leather coat and shorts. He doesn't wear shoes and just walks around our neighborhood. Sometimes he picks up trash and puts it in his pockets. Sometimes he pushes dirt from one side of the street to the other. He mumbles to himself, but doesn't bother anyone. He has a family that feeds him every day and he just sleeps outside their house. I asked someone once why his family doesn't bath him or buy him shoes. The response I got was he doesn't want to. I've been told he wasn't always like this, but didn't feel like pushing details as to how he got this way.
Fool number 2 is more interesting. According to town gossip, he used to be a big man in village and worked in many cities around Cameroon. But he got greedy, and took some sort of potion/medicine, and then became a fool. He still has his same family and children from when he was a fool and still plants corn and everything...but he's just a bit different. He sports pants, flipflops, a nylon running jacket and a train conductor hat. He is always holding a clipboard and writing scribbles on pieces of paper that he finds. On his clipboard/pallette, I have seen anything from a feather to an old piece of metal to a cookie wrapper. When I pass him he always says "Bonjour Hadidja, ca va?" and starts talking French normally...and then slips into some sort of rambling/local language/jibberish that I or no one understands. He visits the hospital, hobbling along because his ankles are tied closely together with string. I'm pretty sure he ties his own ankles together...not sure why, haven't figured that one out. He sings; the kids knows all his songs and sing with him (hamo lamo kiimoo mi hamo lamo kii, not sure what it means but that's verse 1). During market days, he yells at dogs passing by and invisible people on the street. He visits the hospital to see his friends that are sick or to scribble jibberish on his clipboard. He is completely harmless and everyone is entertained by him...except for when he starts yelling at the clouds in front of the hospital. Then the supervisor tells him to go back to his field.
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