C'est la vie!

19/10/11

I have been learning an insane amount of information during these past two weeks, mostly regarding the cultural differences between Americans and Cameroonians. It amazes me how different and yet very similar we are in many ways, like how the Cameroonian youth is SO in tuned to Western media and entertainment, and what they see greatly influences their lives in both positive and negative ways (like American youth?). There are so many things that we take for granted, myself especially. Here are a few examples I’d like to share with you that have stuck out in my mind this past week:
1. Sunday was laundry day. This is the second time I’ve done my laundry since I’ve been in country Surprising? I have enough clothes to last me AT LEAST 2 weeks, I’d say 3 at max. If I had known what I know now, I would not have over packed. Anyways, so after only doing my laundry twice BY HAND, I’m already ready to pay someone to do it for me. Doing laundry by hand is not an easy task by any means, and I praise all who have been doing this their whole lives. It’s especially difficult when you’re washing two weeks’ worth of clothing that includes two pairs of jeans and a towel. It took me 30 minutes just to ring out those three items alone. I couldn’t feel my hands afterwards. You really never think how painstaking it is to hand wash clothes when you have a machine to do it for you. I challenge you to wash one pair of jeans by hand…thoroughly…and you will feel my pain…literally. This time I didn’t get scabs on my knuckles.
2. My grandma was using olive oil as lotion (I saw her rubbing it on her legs…I’m assuming it was for moisturizing or maybe she had more remedial purposes for it?). I asked my other older sister, Constantia (this is my youngest sister’s mother who is visiting for two weeks) if olive oil was expensive since I haven’t seen them use it for cooking (they use palm oil for EVERYTHING). She said it costs 5,000CFA which I believe is about $11 for a tiny bottle. Apparently only the wealthy use olive oil to cook with over here.
3. Cameroonians are pretty ignorant concerning the rest of the world (which is true among so many in Africa in general). Just like in the U.S, many Cameroonians have never left their country, let alone their own city/region. Constantia was changing the time zone on her cell phone when she pointed out where she thought the U.S was located on her world map on her phone. She pointed to Europe. This is a common misconception everywhere in Cameroon (I’m sure in many other African countries as well). I had to explain (in French) where the U.S was, the difference between North and South America, and how States are not countries, that all countries are separate of each other and have their own governments/presidents, and basically explain the differences between all the continents. Constantia is educated, mind you. She is going to school for medicine. This just shows you how different our education systems are, and how we are so fortunate to have this knowledge that is so simple to attain. Many people here rely on t.v or hearsay, and what they do learn in school really isn’t properly applied. I also had to explain to her why ninja’s weren’t real.
4. I use less than a full bucket of water to bathe, less when I don’t wash my hair. If I could guess, it might be 3 gallons of water. Since water is so scarce, people don’t have the luxury of taking showers here. Do you know how much you use? Google it. I’m sure it’s an insane amount.
5. I didn’t have electricity for 4 days straight, and there were only 2 kerosene lamps and a few flashlights to use between 7 people. This is normal.
6. The majority of men in Cameroon do not see woman as equals, and women do not have as merely as many opportunities that we do in the U.S. Polygamy is legal here, but the law only applies to men. I’ll elaborate on separate post in the future, but I wanted to share that gender roles and its differences are very visible in Cameroonian society. This reigns especially true among the youth as well. My youngest brother, Jeannot, says that having 5 girlfriends is better than one because you get more out of 5 different girls than you would by just one (one for money, one that’s pretty, one “just for kissing”, one who’s popular, and one who will do his homework) Sounds like a typical answer from a 15 year old…but he wasn’t kidding. It will interesting to see how well I can integrate into my community at post as a woman, especially since I’m “une blanche” (white). Ahhh, I can’t wait! 

I’m going to go ahead and stop there, but I could probably write a book about the cultural differences between the U.S and Cameroon, and I’ve only been here for 4 weeks. I’m going to wrap this up with some highlights of my week:

1. I played soccer with some locals and volunteers
2. I did a Zumba class (one of the stageieres in YD is a certified instructor!)
3. I had my final interview with my Program Manager (PM) on where I would like to be posted after stage. I find out my post in two weeks I believe, and I actually visit my post for a week in November (Nov 7-11…the week of my birthday!). I basically told him that I’m open to go anywhere. There are one or two people in YD that will end up without easy access to water, electricity and internet, and I have a gut feeling I might be one of them. We’ll see!
4. I have my second Language Placement Interview (LPI) today! My French has improved SO much, so hopefully I’ll be able to move up a level (I’m in Intermediate Mid now, so maybe I’ll move to “High”).
5. I got my first marriage proposal

Cameroon Fact of the Week: Paul Biya won this years’ election in Cameroon, he has been in power for 29 years, and now he’ll be in office for another 7 years!

That’ all for now, folks!