Rollin' along- part II

BIRTHDAY PARTY
The 19th of February was my 29th (again?!?) birthday. In Cameroon, no one throws a party for your birthday. If you want to celebrate, its up to you. So, I decided to have a party at my house for the occassion. I spent all of two days cooking and preparing for the fête, and was helped the afternoon before by Sylvie, who came to cook the Cameroonian part of the meal. I decided to make some good 'ole american food, including chili, tuna casserole and cake with chocolate icing. About 12 friends and folks from the bank came and ate. We had such a great time that we got up and danced for a while after it was all over. People brought food and wine, and I ended up with lots of leftovers (I gave a bunch to Alain to take home to his family). I'm sure there are many more parties to come.

VISIT FROM A SMALL FRIEND
It was Saturday morning, and I decided to go out with my machété and trim the hedges a bit. I left the porch door ajar and went about my business. About an hour later, I came back in the same way I left. I was a bit startled to see a bright green snake slithering off to the corner away from me. As it turns out, the snake (although young) was a deadly green mamba snake, one of the most poisonous in the world. Of course, I wasn't thinking about that. I just wanted him out of my house. Luckily, he was only in the screened porch, and not in the house proper, so I sealed off the house and went inside, hoping that he'd find his way out.

A bit later, the guys who cut my lawn about once a month or so came by and did their job. When they came looking for payment, I mentioned that I had a snake in the porch. They became quite alarmed and one of them took the rake he was carrying and expertly tapped the snake on the head with the blunt end. About six taps later, he had crushed the snake's skull, and removed the body to the bushes.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
March 5th was the biggest day of our bank's annual calendar- the general assembly meeting of all members. It happens every year after the annual audits and budgets are complete. The members are brought together to approve the budget, propose changes to operating procedures and vote on various board members. And, like any other gathering in this country, its an excuse to eat and drink together. The president wanted to give everyone a piece of the agenda, so I was given the task of not only making my own statement (comments about the past year, business seminars and a first goodbye and thank you), but also the task of presenting the 2005 budget. I had overseen the assembly of the budget, so I put together a budget rationalization sheet and presented all of the numbers and explanations. There were over 70 people there, and George told me that it was only the second time in the bank's history that they had been able to assemble a quorum for the meeting. The meeting was videotaped and photographed (I'll be bringing back a copy to watch over and over like wedding festivities- I can't wait to see the tears in people's eyes as they listen to hours of speeches in french). Afterwards, I went to the VIP reception (the regular members were served chicken, bread and beer) where we had a massive display of food and drink. The grilled fish had to have been at least 20lbs and had eyes as big as 50 cent pieces.


INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY
Once a year on the 8th of March, women around the world take the day off and parade and hold seminars promoting women. In Cameroon, its a HUGE deal, which takes weeks of preparation. Women all buy the same fabric for the parade, which all the important folks in town attend (along with a marching band which doesn't really march). Afterwords, everyone eats and drinks until they can't stand up anymore. Given that the bank's women's committee has been very successful in the past year, with a membership of greater than 40 women, they wanted to take part in the festivities.

I ended up as the official photographer for the group, and took numerous individual and group poses. I also took photos of them marching in the parade and them eating afterwards. My payment was a tasty meal and drinks at the end of the day.