August 2, 2009

“If at first you don’t succeed, try again”, I keep repeating that saying over and over in my head. We had our Language Proficiency Test (LPI) last Friday and received our new levels on Saturday. I moved up one level, when I needed to move up two. I have two weeks to get ready for the next test and if I don’t go up another level I will have to stay in B-town an extra week or two until I speak French well enough. Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers going because I desperately need it!
Saturday we were given our bikes and had a training session on general bike maintenance. Brad and Heather- you would be so proud. I now know how to remove the tires, fix a flat, repair a broken chain, adjust the breaks and a couple other things. After class, another trainee and I rode into town for lunch. I forgot what a work out biking can be, especially with a lot of hills! We had a blast but I couldn’t help but feeling like bible salesman. If you can picture it: two Americans riding new bikes, with helmets and back packs on and everyone was staring at us. When we got back to our neighborhood I had a group of about 10 kids start running along with me, yelling “Le blanche est sur le velo!” Two of the children raced me all the way back to my house. I was dying laughing the entire time, sometimes children can just make your day!
I am really looking forward to using my bike at post and am hoping that it will help stop me from wasting money on moto’s and taxis. I plan to use it to go to work and into Bali Town. Who knows, maybe when I build up my endurance I will try the trek into Bamenda! But for now I think I will take it one step at a time!
We visited B-town’s Chief this morning and I learned another big difference between Cameroonians and Americans. Time means completely different things. We were told to be at the SED House before 10 to go to the Chiefery. Well, in actuality that meant leaving at 11:15. I was getting extremely frustrated thinking of everything that I could have been doing during that time (washing clothes, studying French, reading War and Peace, etc.). All of the Americans kept discussing what constructive things they could be doing with this spare time while the Cameroonians laughed, talked and generally had a good time. In hindsight, maybe we could learn a few things from them. As a general population they seem a lot happier and a whole lot less stressed!
The Chief of B-town belongs to the Bimilake (not sure if I am spelling this correctly) tribe and there are 15 chiefs in the dynasty. He was educated in England and has an engineering degree but came back to B-town to be the chief. He has 20 wives and sixty something children, but he wasn’t sure of the exact number. When he was asked if you had to be a polygamist to be a chief his answer was yes and that he wanted to tell us what he told a newspaper once. He believes that every man is a polygamist but that their country’s law makes it illegal. At least in Cameroon it is recognized and legal. Basically, he believes that no man is faithful or can be. This chief is also not known for empowering women or helping bring about more women’s rights! Somehow I am not in the least surprised by this, but I feel extremely sorry for him because he truly believes this to be true. Although I had a difficult time with his beliefs and opinions, we had a good time looking inside his home. We also had a wonderful lunch that was prepared by two of the previously mentioned 60 wives. Oh, I forgot to mention that each trainee that went had to give 1000 F CFA for a gift to the Chief. You cannot go empty handed to him but on the other side, you don’t leave empty handed either. We were offered what wine was left. All in all, I thought it a pretty good trade! Hopefully one day I will get some pictures posted of all these great things I have been describing to you!
For now, I must go work on my Independent Exploration Project (IEP) which is on Eco-Tourism in Cameroon. I am excited about the project but not excited about presenting it in French this Saturday!