T.T.R

Since not everything that happens here is worthy of a story or a blog, but definitely worth remembering, I give you...: Tiny Tidbits to Remember.
1. sugarcane is absolutely delicious, and grace explaining how to eat it without sounding inappropriate was even better than the sugarcane itself.
2. if you're lucky, while traveling at night you will find yourself in what we like to call the "party cabs". also known as little cars with 70's style carpeting on the seats and blue mood lighting.
3. Contemporary Cameroon consists of the professors buying a round of drinks in an underground club and listening to the rain, because, as Eliza likes to point out, it really rains a lot here.
4. one of the rotating meals that my family makes is called gumbo, and has the consistency of saliva. Tastes delicious, but takes some will power to get down.
5. Going to class at the dickinson apartment is always life threatening as a savage goose inhabits the entry way and is not afraid whatsoever, to charge.
6. marriage proposals here are like black licorice jelly beans. no matter how hard you close your eyes and hope for none, you always wind up with WAY too many of them.
7. My host brother, Naba, determined to learn some english from me, and very excited to try it out on Doob in the morning when we were leaving for school--grins, waves, and yells, GOODNIGHT! to doob as we are getting in the taxi at 8 am.
8. while talking to an overly friendly man at my family's wedding, I sassily defended rachel's nose ring with some statements about the United States fashion and her ability to make that choice herself, making it quite clear that I was not about to let Rachel get criticized unfairly from a different cultures perspective. later finding out that this was in fact, not a random person, but rather Colleens host father, I was worried my arguments might have perhaps been not polite, by countering a host fathers opinions. HOWEVER, i later learned that Cameroonians truly appreciate a good debate, because now Colleens father thinks i am the salt of the earth and "quite an intelligent young lady". Who knew.
10. walking up a hill, or...just walking for that matter... at a snails pace in Cameroon is considered only natural, why walk fast and exert energy? I am happy to say I am eating up that cultural difference. what a wonderful concept. my kind of people.

More Tiny Tidbits to Remember in the future.
This is Elizabeth Toutain, signing off.
Au revoir.

Jackie. This isn't a flower, this is you being lazy--(or focusing more importance on other things--good call dad!)

So we have all now gotten our dresses made by the woman down the street named Jackie. She is a very sweet woman, and is a good dress maker, but she isn't one of the greatest dress makers ever. She is a tad lazy. We all got beautiful dresses made that we love, except pretty much every dress needed some kind of minor adjustment. These adjustments haven't been extremely tricky, but Jackie isn't really into over working herself, and so some of the adjustments we are all thinking need to be done by others. My dress is beautiful, and jackie adjusted the straps to fit me perfectly, except instead of cutting the material and restitching it, she simply pinned it up, and then sewed it in place, saying, "oh they're flowers!" haha i mean jackie, i may not know how to sew very well, but those arent flowers...those are a product of your laziness. But I actually like them, so they are okay. I also bought a kaba-a traditional african dress which is basically a pretty potato sack with cool interlaced top material stitches, which I also love.
March 8th is womans day here, and apparently all the women buy this specific print that comes in either pink or green and wear it on womens day. So next outfit is these dresses, perhaps made by doobs mother, who makes really nice things!

Parents in Chon, parties begin.

My host mom went to their village, where my host father is the chief and is there for another week, so my older brothers threw a little party in our courtyard yesterday night. Tex said there would be lots of dancing and a dj, so we all got really excited to see some amazing african dancing, BUT it ended up being just a nice get together with all his grad friends who made amazing cameroonian food and sat around and chatted. My older brothers are amazing, and we love each other. Naba, Edson, and Tex are all about 25-ish, unknown, but love having a host sister to look after and hang out with. They are really nice, and a lot of fun.
Morris, the younger brother, is also a gem. He acts very serious and tough, but then when I get home he gives me a huge hug, or giggles like a cute little boy when i tickle him, so i know its just a front. I like to call him mon petit bebe.

Mangos of god

We had mangos two days ago for the first time. They aren't in season yet, and even so, tasted like they were from heaven. They even beat the amazing pinapple, banana, and papayas, which we did not think was possible.

Le recteur. DIDN'T see that coming.

Mr. Teku took us to have a little orientation at the Catholic University yesterday, which was really nice. We got to meet all the important administrators who all welcomed us with classic cameroonian love. The campus was beautiful, and the classes all look really interesting. They also have a gorgeous church, which I am excited about going to, because they play music with all the good kind of african music. Very exciting. We got to meet the recteur-or president of the college-and were very stunned to find out he is an albino man! Not that an albino can't hold a prestigious position, but albino's here are marginalized a lot, so it was pretty shocking to meet him. He was extremely nice though of course, and was very excited to have us here. So for classes as of now, im taking the mandatory "Contemporary Cameroon", a class called Negritude and additionally Environmental Studies at the Dickinson Center. And at the Catholic University I am taking a class called "La geographie humaine et economique de l'afrique centrale" and "La culture africaine...something or other" The second one we are all taking, and the first one Eliza and I are taking. I am overloading by one class because I really want the environmental science class-which im 99% sure will count for my french major since it focuses more than 50% of its content on Cameroon, a francophone area. And it sounds like overloading is VERY doable here with the amount of academic rigor. If it is too much, I can always downsize.
Classes start soon, so then life will really seem more real here!

Motos-- The new addiction

A few of us have now taken rides on the moto-taxi's, which are the most addicting things ever created. They are not exactly advised because of the obvious safety reasons, but students in the past assured us that you need to try them out anyways and just be careful--which we OF COURSE did. And they were right. They are cheaper, more fun, and actually not scary at all. Holding on isnt even necessary, it doesn't feel dangerous and the drivers, (when you make sure he looks like he's going to be a safe one...ie with a helmet, glasses, etc.) are very good at weaving in and out of the traffic carefully. They are also much more easier to get than the regular car taxis-although you are noticed much more easily--look, a white girl on a moto! Peter and eliza just joined doob and I in our moto addictions, and now are possibly more excited about it than we are.
Dad, looks like im taking that moto back when I get home!

My address

Elizabeth Toutain
c/o Teku T. Teku
P.O. Box 14478
Yaounde
Centre Region
Cameroon

Laisse! Ca c'est MA FILLE!

So right at the beginning, I was in love with my host mother. She is large and in charge. She is loud and protective and immediately loved me when I said hello to her in her maternal language--which her son taught me earlier. The family, however, was quite the shocker. Not in a bad way, in a...sooooooo whos in the family? whats his name? who is he related to? is this a polygamous marriage? where is the dad? WHAT is going on?
There is a little boy, Morris, my favorite who is 12, and who is probably one of the best dancers I have ever seen in my life. He trys to put on this tough guy attitude face, but when i mock him, he grins really wide, and laughs and stops that. He absolutely loves playing games--and loved all the toys i brought for him. We have now lost all three bouncy balls I brought, the gum is half eaten, everyone in the family loves the starbursts, and I have created numerous paper oragami planes and boats for him. This morning, since we lost all the bouncy balls, we went and bought a soccer ball for 3 dollars, which was a hit for not only morris, but the entire extended family. Morris's parents, however, are unknown to me still. I think the mom said that she is in fact, not his mother, that its her sister in laws brother, but he thinks she is his mom, and will tell him the truth when hes older...like our adoption system usually. I learned that there IS in fact, a father, but he is the chief in his village, Chon, and therefore he is there, hence why I still havent seen him. There are two other sons, and another guy who...im unsure of name or relation who lives there. The house almost feels like a dorm, because the mom sleeps upstairs, and everyone else down. I am in my own room with a big bed, and morris and utance, (again, unsure as to whether she is an aunt, a sister, a daughter, whatnot, and another girl, whooooo thinking about it, im not sure lives in that room at all.) Then the three boys live in their own rooms that are outside, with separate doors from the house. But in any case- they are all extremely welcoming and nice, and very fun to live with. Someone was bothering me outside the big doors the other day, and the mom was very insistant that he should leave me alone because i am her daughter, which was pretty great.
My family also owns a bar, which we live right behind. It plays really great african music, and the people are used to seeing white girls, because the have a host student each year, so I dont get QUITE as many stares. Liz, the girl from last year, used to have all the other students come over to hang out there, and so we are all definitely going to keep that tradition going.
Table manners here are awesome, the complete opposite from france and even america. It is considered polite and a symbol that the food was excellent to lick your fingers after your meal-since you eat a LOT with your fingers. And eating a lot is encouraged. heavily encouraged. And we all eat at different times, no real family dinner sit down-we dont have a dinner table even for that kind of thing, so its very relaxed and laid back.
Peter and I also like to get a kick out of our family's unusual practice of loud activities at, inconvenient hours. For instance, Peters family rev's their truck engine every morning at 7:00. to warm it up? its 80 degrees. please.
And my family is in the habit of chopping wood at 5:00 am, which just so happens to be right outside my window. They chop it to start making the food for the day, so i obviously am not complaining, but...really? haha its quite the change in lifestyle!

On a different note, we now have all bought beautiful material and given it to the seemstress down the street to make dresses. So by next saturday we should all have real live african dresses! wew! ill try and get a picture to upload of my dress when i get it.

We are also trying to set up a compost pile and a garden here at the dickinsn center, since a good majority of us are really environmental and sustainably interested.

Yesterday at the market Colleen was mistaken for Shakira, and the man was so incredibly excited by the fact that he touched her, he went down on one knee and shouted so loud and pumped his fist. At the markets, it is impossible to browse--mom would be annoyed. you have to make your decisions very fast (i am annoyed) and know exactly what you want and what size and how many. its stressful but fun--better if you are shopping for food. and the prices are all really cheap, and of course, bargainable.

Thats all for now, its hard to keep updating before I forget everything that happens since the computer access is limited!

--OH and jessica is a cameroonian girl who is here to help us with EVERYTHING. she is hilarious and we are constantly running into misunderstandings or cultural differences between the group and her. but she is really great, and we love her alot.

Rachel and Eliza try to wash their clothes….

Today is our last day at the apartment. We all were a bit…lets say “sick” for the sake of everyone, in the morning, so no one was feeling too up to par- this African cuisine seems to finally be making a joke of our weak stomachs. We cleaned the house, mopped and swept the floors, and then some of us did some laundry. This of course, was a learning experience for the majority of the group. Jessica, who I just realized I haven’t mentioned up until this point—(how could I forget?! Ill come back to her in a minute) was eyeing our techniques while washing the clothes. Rachel and Eliza were, according to Jessica, not doing anything right. Mom will be proud to know that Jessica commended me on my washing knowledge. We explained that no, we are just simply stupid, but rather just have never had to do our clothes by hand before. Finally, after hours of washing by Rachel (she got up at 8 am to do her laundry, and when asked how long Jessica’s laundry normally takes her, she replied, ohh, 10 minutes..haha) we all hang the clothes on the bushes to dry, and finish up. Now, we wait for our host families to arrive to pick us up, and the semester will have truly begun.

Walls of material and syllabuses

Today we met Dean B downtown to buy our first meters of material for dresses, skirts, cabos, the like. We walked in, and had trouble seeing. Bright, bold fabric literally everywhere in sight—on the counters, on the walls, in the bins, just everywhere. There were even bras and undies already made. We took a while to choose our favorites that were in our price range, and are all planning on exchanging because each piece of material will make about 2 dresses each. Later this evening, the professors came over to talk about their classes, and we are all thinking about overloading now. All the classes sound so good, and we wish we could take them all. I placed high enough on the French exam that I will be able to take 2 courses at the Catholic Institute here in Yaounde, along with Colleen, Claire, Eliza and Doob, should they all choose to take them there too. We are all running around trying to figure out what is going to count for our specific majors and at the same time, not take too many so that we don’t give up experiencing Cameroon—so we will see how that all turns out by next week. French lessons start on Thursday. Bring it on.

Trip to Kribi--the image on every postcard getaway

So we packed our swimsuits, lathered on some of our 50-proof sunscreen, and headed to Kribi for the weekend. Kribi is a well known tourist beach spot in Cameroon, about 3 hours away from Yaounde. We were all expecting very low toilet standards for the trip, because Dean B kept insinuating that the toilets were pretty… “sauvage” as the French might say. But we were in heaven when we arrived, realizing that Dean B had been pulling our legs, and the place was actually like a resort. There was even warm water in the bathroom-which is a huge luxury here. We immediately went swimming, and nobody could stop smiling. It was like floating around in the biggest bathtub on earth. I mean, I’ve never been in water quite so warm. Everyone was also really fascinated by the idea that we’ve all been to this ocean, all swam in this same body of water, but now, we are on the opposite side, looking homewards. We all kept picturing where we are on a map in our heads, and it’s just so unreal. While at Kribi, we got to watch a handful of young boys reel in a HUGE net…full of fish. They take the net out with a tiny little handcarved boat, drop the net-and then a bunch of boys pull it in. It was crazy. Doob got the most adorable picture of a little boy holding a handful of his very own fish. Peter made friends with a little boy who wanted to play catch with him. Peter mentioned to us that he asked the little boy his name in French, but that the boy didn’t respond. Peter said “but isn’t it nice that even though we can’t communicate with words, we can communicate with smiles?” About twenty minutes later, when we got him into the ocean on a little inner tube, we learned, to the hilarity of everyone but Peter, that the boy speaks English. The next day we took a trip to the Lobe Falls, which are pretty famous because it is one of the only places in the world where fresh water falls drain directly into the ocean. It was really beautiful, and we got to take a ride in one of those little boats—called piroques—around the falls. We ate fresh shrimp, plantains and French fries. The rest of the time there was spent eating delicious pinapple, papayas, watermelon, fish and amazing kebobs. We all tried to get up on the last morning before the sun came up to take one last dip in the ocean, but none of us ever made it…

Meeting the host families, and...Patrick?

Our host families all came over for dinner. We cooked the usual fishheads, chicken, fried plantains, and rice. Then we waited for them to arrive. Of course, being on African time, most families showed up around, 6:30—when the gathering time was written down as 4:30. Finally, when everyone had sat around for a good long time;  the kids in the house, the families outside, Mr. Teku called us outside to be introduced. We lined up facing them, and one by one got announced, and were able to see our families for the first time. Usually a few people live in the Dickinson Apartment, and this time Anna was supposed to live there, but when everyone had a host family and was so excited, she realized she really wanted one too, and Mr. Teku, knowing all, of course had invited a family for her…just in case. I think It’s pretty indicative of the kind of group we are that everyone was so intent on living in host families. I met Patrick, who I thought at first was my host father, but am now realizing is not. My host mothers name is Marti, and I live in the same area as Doob! What a coincidence. We are pretty close to Eliza and Peter as well. The dinner went fine, and Patrick and I had plenty to talk about, sitting right next to Eliza and her host family. We were all really happy with our families, and now we don’t see them again till after our beach vacation at Kribi!