Posts Tagged ‘cameroon’

The long-awaited Peace Corps reunion weekend happened a few days ago. This is the 50th year of the Peace Corps and this was the weekend that loads of events took place in DC. My stage (training group) took this opportunity and organized our own reunion on top of it. Somehow, we managed to get people to fly in from all over the country. Nearly 50 people showed up at the barbeque that took place. People came from San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Denver, and a few were fresh off the boat (plane) from Cameroon just a couple of weeks ago!

our lovely hostess & a serious spread of American BBQ

the fun continues aux états-unis!

In Cameroon, a popular phrase is on est ensemble, which in Anglophone regions is we are together. Cameroonians say it all the time to signify the unity of a community. You say it before you part ways. With each gathering that I have with my PC Cam friends, I understand the true meaning of this phrase that much more. Those two years will bond us for life. The crazy diseases, frequent discussion of bowel movements, strange/awesome food that we ate, the beers we drank, the ridiculous travels we endured and the general amazing-ness of Cameroon will carry our friendship far into the future.

I witnessed this at the greater Peace Corps Cameroon reunion on Saturday evening. A group of volunteers who served in the 60′s has maintained the level of friendship that I just described, and they decided to take this weekend to reconnect every volunteer who has ever served in Cameroon. Roughly 200 people were able to make it to this event. My group came from all over the country, these 200 people came from all over the world. One lady I met came from the Philippines!

the very first PC Cameroon volunteer

the latest group of returned volunteers from Cameroon

We heard the first volunteer who stepped foot onto Cameroon speak, and my friend Gabe who had just returned from his 3-year tour gave a speech as the newest returned volunteer. The speeches left me extremely emotional. Even after 50 years, those two years in Cameroon still mean so much to these individuals. That bond is even stronger than I ever imagined. Words simply cannot describe. I was in a room with 180 other people who would otherwise be strangers to me. Yet because when I utter words such as Limbé, Kribi, ndolé and jama-jama, they do not look at me with perplexity, we suddenly share something incredible.

With time, we all change. We go onto different career paths, different lives in various corners of the world, and even change drastically as individuals. But because of those two years in that one country, we will always be, together.

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So excited to eat Camer food again!

After nearly one year of leaving Cameroon, I finally visited a Cameroonian restaurant. I don’t think I’ve been that happy since I left that country. Le Maestro Bar & Restaurant is located in southeast London by Deptford Bridge. I first learned of this place when attending a talk on Cameroon a few months ago. For months, Autumn (the other Cam RPCV at LSE) and I never had time to visit. Since one of our fellow RPCV is visiting London, we decided to go check it out.

The minute I walked into this somewhat hidden restaurant, it brought me back to Cameroon. The decor is exactly as you would find in one of the nicer restaurants in Yaoundé. While waiting for my friends, I ordered a 33 Export that is the same huge size as it were in Cameroon and chatted up with the staff in French. The first sip of that 33 brought me back to all the time that I spent at a bar in Cameroon, which were a substantial amount since that’s is the main form of social activity.

All the usual drinks one would find in Cameroon!

Once my friends arrived, we perused through the menu and had a difficult time to decide what to order since we wanted everything. We went with the strategy of more is better and had: poulet braisée, poisson braisée, baton de manioc, ndolé, rice, boiled plaintain, sauce tomate, and muton grillé. Anyone who knows me even just a little knows how much I love food. This time, however, I was excited on a whole different level.

poisson braisé + baton de manioc

pimet (spicy sauce that Cameroonians eat with everything)

Ndolé

As the evening went on, more Cameroonians showed up. There was a big surprise party and people were in great spirit. The flat screens on the wall were playing Cameroonian music videos, people were loud and joyful. There was an incredible energy. I was there with two other RPCVs and we understood each other’s excitement. More than any other dish, Brad and I agreed that a bite of that Ndolé brought us back to village days.

Some things still didn’t change about us as Peace Corps volunteers. Cameroonians care about appearance. Everyone was dress to the nines and eating with fork and knife like civilized individuals. We were the only villageois eating with our hands, and the worst dressed people in the room. We are excited about the Cameroonian dishes in the same way that we used to get together and discuss the wonder of a hamburger in Cameroon. This meal reminded me that there are some things only my PC loves would understand. And among many things, we enjoy chopping plenty!

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This is my spot. Much better than the library.

I am tired. For the past few weeks, I have been holed up at a two-story Starbucks in central London prepping for my first exams at the LSE. This British system is difficult to adjust to. I have no idea how the exams are graded and thus my mood swings all day between “oh my goodness, I am going to fail” and “oh please, I got this”. Back and forth, back and forth.

This past week, I’ve been logging 12-hour long days at my beloved Starbucks. The baristas know me, and offer me free coffee when I look haggard. I walk in every morning and they welcome me with warm hellos. Becoming friends of baristas remind me of all the friends in my village and even in the provincial capital whom I bought things from: the veggie lady, the meat guy, the bar mamas, the tailor, the photocopier, the guys at the friperie where I buy clothes. They all knew me by name, and often know exactly what I want when I show up. That is the part of life in Cameroon that severely lacks in the modern world. I miss that even on the loneliest days, I can go buy some eggs and able to chat it up with my friends.

That is not so in London. There have been incidents where I realized I haven’t had any in-person conversations for days at a time. I am living in one of the greatest metropolis in the world, and surrounded by people everywhere, yet it can feel lonelier than a small village tucked away in the mountains of West Africa.

Two more weeks, and I will finally emerge from this academic purgatory, and will finally gain back my social life. With lots of studying also come with lots of bored moments where good ideas run wild. Looking forward to sharing them through this much neglected blog this summer!

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Today marks 6 months since I left Cameroon. So strange. That life feels so so far away now. I was going though my old tweets and laughed out loud at some of the ones I had produced. They also humble me and remind me of that state of mind – much simpler, less stressed, just happy to have the very simple things in life.

The last market day I visited in Batié

I figured, to commemorate, I’d take you back in Tweets from my last days in village up through the first weeks of reverse culture shock!

Last Week in Village

13 Jul: oh man. last night in village. couldn’t hold it together at the bar saying goodbye to friends. teary mess. #PeaceCorps

13 Jul: How I spent my last day in village: http://bit.ly/dmda2J #PeaceCorps #Cameroon

13 Jul: a dog, or a cat, or some animal just walked into my back door & then left. scared the crap out of me! even on my last day! #PeaceCorps

13 Jul: so it was a puppy that came into my house. he came back AGAIN & this time sat in my laundry room. scared me again. #PeaceCorps

13 Jul: hmm.. this puppy is just hanging out in my backyard now. I sorta like him. too bad I’m leaving. #PeaceCorps

14 Jul: taxi dude is here to pick me up. he’s actually half an hour EARLY. good sign. here goes nothing! bye bye village. #PeaceCorps

Last Week in Cameroon

16 Jul: all done with village! last week in y’de to make sure I didn’t catch any weird diseases. #PeaceCorps

21 Jul: free of strange diseases! two more days au cameroun. very bizarre. #PeaceCorps

23 Jul: flying out of #Cameroon in less than 3 hours! Last week with my #PeaceCorps loves: http://bit.ly/9Oj3a3

23 Jul: oh dear, received intro reading list from the LSE for grad school. rude awakening as I get ready to board the flight for the US! #PeaceCorps

23 Jul: au revoir, cameroun. hello, USA!

First month in the USA

24 Jul: omg I’m in America! waiting for my connecting flight to St. Louis @ Philly Intl. this is blowing my mind! #PeaceCorps #ReverseCultureShock

24 Jul: First of many posts on my reverse culture shock: Out of Africa http://bit.ly/9fxESo #PeaceCorps

24 Jul: Internet is SO fast in the USA! #reversecultureshock

25 Jul: I went to Target earlier and couldn’t pick what kind of potato chips to buy… the choices are overwhelming. #reversecultureshock

25 Jul: incredibly ironic that on my 1st night back, no power at my parents’ house after a big storm. mom said I brought Africa back!

25 Jul: drove for the 1st time in over 2 yrs. it really is like riding a bike. not too scary.

25 Jul: visited Sam’s Club just now. they call the US the land of excess for a reason. crazy. #reversecultureshock

26 Jul: Cameroon is already slipping fast away into a surreal dream, and I’ve only been back for one full day. #PeaceCorps

26 Jul: tackling this day in the real world alone. so strange. #reversecultureshock

26 Jul: forgot that bars check for IDs here. funny.

26 Jul: my parents’ cable TV is ridiculous! SO many channels!

26 Jul: I’ve completely forgotten about paper towel – what a marvelous thing! #reversecultureshock

26 Jul: toast & toasters are AMAZING! sliced bread in a machine that pops up? holy cow. #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: going through all of my possessions. boy, do I have a lot of crap. 2 yrs in the #PeaceCorps makes me realize how little I actually NEED.

27 Jul: have I already mentioned how amazing microwave is?! #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: cameroun me manque déjà… *sigh* #PeaceCorps

27 Jul: How I’m dealing with #ReverseCultureShock post #PeaceCorps : America, the Land of Plenty http://bit.ly/c0gyWj

27 Jul: it’s so nice to be able to click on youtube videos and not having skip them! #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: checking out hulu.com for the first time. whoaaaaa this is amazing!!!! #ReverseCultureShock

27 Jul: um… how do I use this oven? so complicated…

27 Jul: just saw an ad for a tv show that consists of men eating an exorbitant amount of food. why is that necessary?! #reversecultureshock

27 Jul: online shopping is AMAZING. I can take as long as I want to make a choice & not feel panicky! #ReverseCultureShock

27 Jul: whoa. strange that it was pouring rain outside and I heard nothing inside the house. no more tin roof.

28 Jul: great to talk to my #peacecorps friends. looking fwd to many reunions. so glad they were there w/ me & are now going through the same things

28 Jul: common consensus among my #PeaceCorps friends who’ve just returned to the US: Americans as a whole are fat and flabby.

29 Jul: oh boy, this iPod touch is CRAZY! it’s like a mini computer! I’m going to really freak out when the macbook arrives. #ReverseCultureShock

29 Jul: This is crazy! I’m waiting at the dentist office and I can tweet! Blowing my mind !

3 Aug: I think my body is rejecting the large quantity of cheese that I’ve been consuming since coming home.

5 Aug: i’m not gonna lie. it’s pretty nice to be able to order ridiculous drinks at @starbucks again!

6 Aug: Hmmm.. I forgot how to pack for a world where wearing the same outfit 3-5 days in a row is frowned upon… I’m not en afrique anymore.

9 Aug: Being able to drink water from the tap is AMAZING!

14 Aug: Heard a lady on the bus to DC spoke Pidgin earlier! So nostalgic. #peacecorpsf

15 Aug: progress on my #reversecultureshock post #PeaceCorps: au village no more http://bit.ly/aLvxB6

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This past weekend, Autumn invited me to attend a Cameroonian forum with her. Dr. Chris Foumunyo is a leading advocate for democracy in Africa who happens to be Cameroonian. I came in contact with him while raising money for my library project, Books For Cameroon. I was happy to attend the talk, and more so, to meet some Cameroonians in London!

The entire evening was wildly entertaining in that while in Central London, I was transformed back to that crazy country. I felt as if I was sitting in a fancy conference room at the Hilton with Cameroonians. The talk was held at the Knightsbridge Business Center and wasn’t an easy venue to find. We got quite lost and was really late. The invitation said the talk would begin at 4:30pm. When we showed up nearly an hour late, the event still hasn’t started. In fact, true to Cameroon form, we began at 6pm.

Although there were roughly 30 of us in a room, at least half were taking pictures as if it were the UN General Assembly. This is typical; Cameroonians love photos and giving events legitimacy. They always loved the certificates that I would give out when they “graduate” from business classes. Later, cell phone rang throughout the talk. My favorite part, though, was when people ask questions, they don’t just get to the point. They would take 5 minutes to introduce themselves, give some background opinions, and then ask the question. This quirky habit gets really painful in ceremonies when speeches are given. Finally, there naturally needed to be a photo de la famille at the end. Cameroonians always insist on taking a large group photo at the end of every event.

All the quirkiness warmed my heart. I was glad to see that even though these elites are in London, they didn’t lose their Cameroonian ways. So often, when you move to another country and spend many years abroad, your culture gets assimilated, myself included. It’s nice to see quirky traditions living on. The talk was very interesting; it concerned the state of democracy in Cameroon and the upcoming 2011 election. It was encouraging to see the dialogue taking place and that Cameroonians are concerned about the future of their country even from abroad.

After the event, people came up to Autumn and me, as they would in Cameroon, curious about our presence. When they found out that we had both lived in Cameroon for two years, really lively conversations took place. Their enthusiasms showed that they appreciate Westerners like us spending time getting to know their country in such deep and profound way. One guy asked, “weren’t you scared? I am from that country, but even now when I go back, sometimes I can get scared.” These exchanged once again validated just exactly why I spent two years there, and made me feel better after a classmate from the LSE told me that personal experiences don’t contribute to “development” discussions. I was reminded that in order to devise effective policy, you have to first understand the people and the culture. Policies shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all framework, but instead, country specific. Science and numbers can only take you so far.

After the event, Autumn and I went to dinner and talked about our time in Cameroon. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe the kind of ridiculous things that we went through, or put up with, for two entire years.

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