1/3/11 10:44 Am
Breakfast this morning was pepper soup, yam, and meat. I ate goat meat and they gave me pork. It wasn't just pork...it was a pig leg, skin and everything. That was hard to do. I also had a fruit called pawpaw. Emelia decided not to wake me up this morning for the prayer meeting. I was glad because I was sound asleep at 5:30.
Erica washed the car and we talked about the differences in education in our countries. Derek had breakfast with us and asked all about my time here. He is studying in Amsterdam so he has a different perspective. He wants to skype when I get back home.Emelia went to a funeral and Erica and I stayed at the house and have been watching American music videos. She has so many of them on a DVD. She is obsessed with American music. I plan to send her some stuff once I get back to the states. Soon we will walk up to the church to meet the rest of the group. I think she's planning to show me around on our way there. People are fascinated by the color of my skin, when we go places people point and say things like "white" or "white man". It's so interesting.
When we meet at the manse we will go to Fru Ndi's house for lunch. Fru Ndi is Cindy's next house. That shall be interesting: spending three days living with the leader of the oppositional party. I enjoy when they start talking politics and theology. We shall see what today's conversation will entail.
I'm sort of nervous about going to the next house. I'm just now getting use to this house. It's hard to get used to so many changes all at once. Shelby was near tears last night and I was yesterday afternoon. A change in time, place, people, culture, language, food, climate, experiences, even our bodies are changing. It's all at the same time and its scary, confusing and a whole slew of other sentiments.
Showing posts with label Fru Ndi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fru Ndi. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
New years
1/1/11 8:32 Pm
I am not sure where to start when describing today. So naturally I will start at the beginning. Showering this morning was something special. I could not for the life of me figure out how to shower properly. Ultimately I ended up sticking my head in the bucket of water and then shampooing and then sticking my head back in. When I showered tonight I figured it out and showered more easily.
This morning I was not feeling well. My stomach was nauseous and when I went to eat breakfast I couldn't eat because I thought I would get sick. I felt bad because Erica made eggs. Emelia and I went off to church. We were a few minutes late and had to wait outside until we could go in. Dave, Shelby and I were seated on the chancel and Cindy was sitting between the pastors. Everyone was very friendly. I have never had my hand shaken so many times. After church we went to the manse. We were fed lunch. I only had some rice because I still felt nauseous. Next I went back to Emelia's house. Erica wanted to make me lunch but I wasn't feeling up to eating. After a while she came out with a snack and so I had that. I feel bad saying no every time they offer it but either I feel sick or I'm full. I need to take really small portions tomorrow and see how that goes. I have had more soda to drink while in Cameroon thus far than I have in like a year.
At 12:30 we went to the chairman's house. He is Fru Ndi John. By chairman I mean the head and founder of the oppositional party that is trying to remove the president and by house I mean compound. Shelby compared sitting in his house to visiting the senator. While there, a group of Catholics from Detroit came by. We compared notes about our journeys to Bamenda. The chairman fed us and once again I only took small amounts. I sat next to one of the pastors. Cindy, the chairman, and the two pastors got into a Theological discussion which I loved. We were invited by the chairman to attend a traditional dance in a town called Santa. People were in their traditional dress and doing tribal dances. We danced for the king! It was amazing. The music, the dancing, the colors, it was all so good. It was like a native American powwow but African. After that is was back to the chairmans house for drinks and more food. The Ginger ale here is amazing and super gingery. Amazing! Pastor Julius drive Cindy and I back to the church manse. Emelia picked me up there and brought me back to her house. One of her friends wanted her to come down so we walked down. She offered me food and drink. I turned down the food but accepted a soda. After a while she insisted I eat something so I agreed. I ended up having goat stew. When we came back I stood outside with Erica talking. She couldn't believe that before coming to Cameroon I had never seen a palm tree and half only seen pineapples in the supermarket.
Faith saw me brushing my hair tonight and she was amazed. Her eyes were like saucers. After my shower I was sitting on my bed with Erica and she touched my hair. They are fascinated by it. Erica and I talked about Obama and the president of Cameroon. She told me all about how corrupt their president is. She also thought that the USA is a continent. So we did a rough geography lesson. She also told me about yaounde and how beautiful it is. Tomorrow is church and dinner with Grace. If they don't have plans for us for after church, Amelia and Erica are going to take ne to Bafunda.
I am not sure where to start when describing today. So naturally I will start at the beginning. Showering this morning was something special. I could not for the life of me figure out how to shower properly. Ultimately I ended up sticking my head in the bucket of water and then shampooing and then sticking my head back in. When I showered tonight I figured it out and showered more easily.
This morning I was not feeling well. My stomach was nauseous and when I went to eat breakfast I couldn't eat because I thought I would get sick. I felt bad because Erica made eggs. Emelia and I went off to church. We were a few minutes late and had to wait outside until we could go in. Dave, Shelby and I were seated on the chancel and Cindy was sitting between the pastors. Everyone was very friendly. I have never had my hand shaken so many times. After church we went to the manse. We were fed lunch. I only had some rice because I still felt nauseous. Next I went back to Emelia's house. Erica wanted to make me lunch but I wasn't feeling up to eating. After a while she came out with a snack and so I had that. I feel bad saying no every time they offer it but either I feel sick or I'm full. I need to take really small portions tomorrow and see how that goes. I have had more soda to drink while in Cameroon thus far than I have in like a year.
At 12:30 we went to the chairman's house. He is Fru Ndi John. By chairman I mean the head and founder of the oppositional party that is trying to remove the president and by house I mean compound. Shelby compared sitting in his house to visiting the senator. While there, a group of Catholics from Detroit came by. We compared notes about our journeys to Bamenda. The chairman fed us and once again I only took small amounts. I sat next to one of the pastors. Cindy, the chairman, and the two pastors got into a Theological discussion which I loved. We were invited by the chairman to attend a traditional dance in a town called Santa. People were in their traditional dress and doing tribal dances. We danced for the king! It was amazing. The music, the dancing, the colors, it was all so good. It was like a native American powwow but African. After that is was back to the chairmans house for drinks and more food. The Ginger ale here is amazing and super gingery. Amazing! Pastor Julius drive Cindy and I back to the church manse. Emelia picked me up there and brought me back to her house. One of her friends wanted her to come down so we walked down. She offered me food and drink. I turned down the food but accepted a soda. After a while she insisted I eat something so I agreed. I ended up having goat stew. When we came back I stood outside with Erica talking. She couldn't believe that before coming to Cameroon I had never seen a palm tree and half only seen pineapples in the supermarket.
Faith saw me brushing my hair tonight and she was amazed. Her eyes were like saucers. After my shower I was sitting on my bed with Erica and she touched my hair. They are fascinated by it. Erica and I talked about Obama and the president of Cameroon. She told me all about how corrupt their president is. She also thought that the USA is a continent. So we did a rough geography lesson. She also told me about yaounde and how beautiful it is. Tomorrow is church and dinner with Grace. If they don't have plans for us for after church, Amelia and Erica are going to take ne to Bafunda.
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