Thursday October 30, 2003

Now that we’ve had the computer for an entire week, the members have begun to get the word out. We’re also putting up signs that tell people where we’re located (right now, we’re in an unmarked building in an unmarked office inside a cement wall, although there is an old, barely readable sign on one of the cement walls). We figure with the new computer, signs and the brochure that I’m working on that tells all the great things about the cooperative, we should have people flooding in to become members in the next few weeks and months. If they don’t... well, we’ll have to go to Plan B. Isn’t there always a Plan B?

Wednesday night, I cooked my first big meal for my friends! It took a while to get up the courage, and to know the market well enough to know what ingredients were available, but I did it, and I think it was a success! I had over my friend Yves, the french guy who is helping me with the new house and who has cooked wonderful french food for me several times, and Gabriel, the manager of the supermàrché and his fiancée who have me over often for meals and to watch bad american films dubbed in French (“Showtime” with Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro-what was he thinking?- is a favorite). I made a classic southern meal of cornmeal fried fish with sautéed squash and onions and mashed potatoes. I have to say though, that I really dislike cleaning fish. The gutting part I can handle, but the scales flying all over the place it what really makes it bad (sorry for those of you who may be vegetairans). In my new house, I’ll have a real kitchen inside the house with a sink, so that should make the task of cooking dinner much more pleasant than cleaning fish in the bathroom sink.

This weekend, I’m heading to Kumba for the annual Peace Corps Cameroon Guitarfest! Its kinda like Lollapalooza, but different. Its being hosted by my friend, Cathy, who is supposed to be working for NISCAM, a now mostly defunct bank wrought with corruption, but is actually assisting local womens’ groups get organized. The big draws of Kumba are the large market with lots of black market items smuggled in from Nigeria-the home of the African black market- and Classy Burger, a hamburger and fried chicken restaurant run by an American who used to live in Georgia. It’ll be really nice to see some of my friends I haven’t seen in over two months now.

I promised to start my observations of life here in Cameroon this week, so for the first week since I’ll be traveling on them this weekend, I’ve decided to talk about Bush Taxis. Bush taxis are some melange of regular taxis and public buses which traverse Cameroon getting people where they need to be (but not necessarily when they need to be there). There are “stations” in every major town in Cameroon and in larger cites, mutiple stations depending on which direction you want to go. A number of different “agences” or bus companies have locations in and around the area of the station, each with their own specific destination. Perhaps its easier to understand if I explain what I will be doing Saturday morning. There are two “stations” in Edéa, one that goes to points north on the north end of town, and the other which goes to points east and south (on the south end). Since I need to travel to Douala to change buses there, I will be heading north. There are no agences based in Edéa, so I wait for a bush taxi passing through to stop to drop off and take additional passengers. This bush taxi can take several forms, a traditional Greyhound-type bus, a modified full-sized van or a Toyota Corolla or equivalent car. The price to Douala is a flat-rate of 1000 FCFA (a little less than $2), unless you command the entire small taxi, in which case its closer to 8000. The large buses are obviously the most comfortable, but they come around less frequently and only on selected routes. You actually get your own seat on those. The vans are modified such that there are five rows of seating, including the row with the driver. In these, about 24 adults including the driver travel- children are not charged and sit on top of either their parents or whoever else is willing to hold them. Sitting five across in these can be painful, especially if a large-ended woman happens to be sitting in that row. The aisle to get to the back of the bus are fold-down seats such that when full, no one is going anywhere unless the side sliding door is opened.

Once I get to Douala, I have to take a taxi from the south side of town where I will get dropped off, to the north side where the agence area is for points north and west of Douala. This includes Kumba. I've been told there's an agence that goes directly to Kumba, which is a good thing and will prevent me from having to change buses again in some, likely out of the way, city such as Buea.

10 observations and rules of the buses:
1. Buses do not leave the station until full, except Centrale Voyages between Yaoundé and Douala which leaves on schedule (mostly).
2. When buses are not full, they employ "hustlers" to try and get you on their bus instead of the bus next door by promising that they will leave first. These hustlers sometimes sit inside the bus making you think the bus is fuller than it actually is trying to persuade you to get on.
3. If you want to sit up front with the driver, you sometimes have to pay extra for the priviledge.
4. If you're in a van and sitting in the last row next to a window and you want to get out at your village which is not a regular stop for the bus, you will be expected to exit through the window, unless you are a woman or old man.
5. Vans, not often buses, are routinely stopped by police who control/extort money from drivers who are interested in arriving at their destination without delay. Without payment, police will examine all of the driver's papers (license, registration, insurance) and then proceed to examine each of the passengers' papers. This process can take hours if the policeman so desires. Usually, 500 will prevent this from happening.
6. If you have a package you are traveling with, it goes either above or below the bus (if that's an option). Much care is taken in making sure that things don't fall off the top of the bus during the trip.
7. Its generally accepted that the driver will have a beer or shot of whiskey before leaving. It "loosens him up".
8. Buses do not have shocks, and thus traveling over unpaved or poorly paved roads and speedbumps can be painful and is not recommended for those with bad backs.
9. If you need to go to the bathroom, inform the driver and he will decide where to pull over. The passenger side rear is the accepted place for releiving yourself with the maximum privacy. Women do the same.
10. Bad West African music (yes, there is good music, but its not very popular) is almost always played at loud volumes throughout the trip ensuring that you and more importantly, the driver, stays awake.

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Tuesday, November 4, 2003

I returned from Kumba yesterday afternoon after almost six hours of travel each way on the vans described above. Needless to say, I slept quite well last night as my body recovered.

Guitarfest was awesome! There were about 25 of us who came from all around the region to get together for food, friends and fun. My friend Zal who lives in Kribi came up on Friday night to hang out in Edéa for the night and to travel to Kumba together on Saturday morning. We had a great dinner of roasted chicken, plantains and fries and took a nice walk around my town. The trip to Kumba was much as expected, but when we arrived and saw many of our friends the drain of the trip left us.

The party started after dark, and there were five performers, including me! I was encouraged to perform a few numbers at the last minute and one of the guitarists who could read music well agreed to help me out with no rehearsal whatsoever. I sang five songs, but really should have only sung three. The other two were sadly lacking in practice, but it was all in fun, so why not? The other performers varied in skill levels, but just getting up there was something and the audience, although admittedly a bit under the influence, was very encouraging. There were even a couple who had written songs themselves and performed them. My friend Jeremy, who lives virtually on the Nigerian border, had a particularly funny one about being a "psychotic, neurotic Peace Corps volunteer". The evening was one of those experiences I will look back upon fondly for the rest of my life.

Kumba, the city, is not all that special, although we did eat at Classy Burger several times- which did have quite a tasty cheeseburger. I did get a chance to walk around the market, which, although very large, was mostly unremarkable for the product selection. I did get some nice fabric to have a shirt made, and now need to find a good tailor. I also had the opportunity to practice my pidgin, which was lots of fun. The woman I bought the fabric from in the market was pleasantly surprised with the amount of pidgin I knew, which was great to hear. Pidgin is derived primarily from English, but is truly its own language. For example, "I want to eat a steak" is translated to "Ah de wan chop kaw-bif". Fun stuff!

I went by my landlord's house on Friday before I left and told him that I was moving out before the end of November and reminded him that I had already paid the month of November. His wife, who really runs the show, was not there at the time. She was, however, waiting for me in the market and stopped me on my way to work this morning. She was clearly not happy that her three-year Peace Corps gravy train was coming to an end. She even had the gaul to suggest that I hire a full-time guard to stand outside my house in my crowded neighborhood to protect me. I told her that I shouldn't have to pay for a guard just to stay in that house. She started to give me a whole sob story, but I stuck to my story, and she saw that I wasn't going to change my mind and that it was already done. Finally, after about five or ten minutes, she let me go. I told her I would return the keys after I had left the house. I knew she wasn't going to let me go easily, but its all for the best.

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Wednesday, November 5, 2003

I took a tour of the school in which I will be teaching beginning next week, and of my new house last night! The school is for the kids of the employees of Alucam, and while not quite to US standards, is probably the nicest school in the country. Their classrooms even have air-conditioners, and they have a computer room with dial-up internet access! Its pretty unreal, and I would feel as though I'm not helping the people who need help except for the fact that 98% of the students are Cameroonian, and its opportunities like this that give them a chance to succeed in the wide world and give something back to their own community. I will be teaching two different classes each for two hours a week beginning on Monday afternoon. The students are between 8 and 10 years old. I'm very excited about it!

The house is about three doors down from the school within the Alucam "plantation". Its a really nice two bedroom house with screened in porch, kitchen and outdoor sink for washing clothes. I feel a little guilty about this, but I have three airconditioners and two water heaters, which is absolutely unheard of for Peace Corps volunteers. I am getting all of this for the same price per month as my current house, with the balance being paid-in-kind by my work at the school. The best part is that utilities are paid for and that my closest neighbor will be a healthy fifty feet or so, which will allow me to sing and play music and have dinner parties without people caring. I will be getting the keys sometime late this week or early next week after their finished putting a new coat of paint and fixing the place so its close to perfect! I can't wait!!!