For several weeks, Brian and I looked around at our apartment’s bare walls and wished we had something to make them seem homier. We’re now beginning to have the opposite problem: not enough wall space. If there’s one thing Cameroon is never in short supply of, it’s art, and let’s just say we’ve taken full advantage.
Yesterday didn’t help because our friend’s sister-in-law, who also lives here, hosted one of her famous exhibitions of local artists in her home. The prices were much better than what we’d pay in the market, and we didn’t have to haggle as much, which was nice. We ended up buying a pigmy window (pictured above), a pair of carved wooden pieces (about 2-3 feet tall) that look like tusks and traditionally sit on either side of a chief’s chair, and two masks with brass detailing. One of the vendors gave us two more miniature masks as a thank you gift; they’re called passport masks because travelers would carry them as proof of the tribe to which they belonged.
In addition, we bought one more painting (we already have two) from our favorite local artist, Lawrence. He is the son of the woman who cooks for us twice a week, and whereas we were originally just trying to help out her family, now we’re genuine groupies. His paintings always have so much thought behind them, and listening to him explain their stories is half the fun. The one we bought yesterday is of someone trying to gather all of the elements in his arms as the colors are being blown around by the wind—it’s really beautiful with lots of blues. Almost all of his paintings are three dimensional due to his incorporation of ropes, shells, stones, etc. to add texture. Anyway, you get the idea: we like his work.
For those of you who are planning to visit, we’re already excited thinking about taking you to the little art stores around town. Several are within walking distance, including one of our other favorites, a small woodcarving shop. There are so many different kinds of wood here, from the darkest ebony to deep reds and smoothly polished light varieties—it’s pretty much heaven for my forester husband. This particular shop is a fun place to bargain, which I’m finally starting to get used to.
Similarly, I feel like we’re finally hitting our stride in other aspects of our life, as well. Although we’re still busy, we no longer feel overwhelmed by teaching five different classes every day. I love the challenge of working with everyone from seventh grade to AP Lang back-to-back-to-back; each class has its own rewards, and together they give my days a fullness I’m not used to.
One development that has helped us handle our busy schedules is the easy access to different forms of exercise. We were pretty concerned about this when we first arrived because it gets dark at about 6:30 every day; I was used to taking walks or bike rides with Brian in the late Iowa evenings, so I wasn’t sure how I’d adjust. What I didn’t anticipate was how many opportunities ASOY would provide. At least one or two afternoons a week, I play tennis, and Brian runs the little track (if you can call it that—it’s more of a beaten path) around the school and laughs at my backhands. I’ve also been helping teach swimming lessons to the elementary kids two days a week, which has been so much fun, and we usually swim some laps after the kids go home. In a few weeks, the school is going to start offering aerobics and yoga lessons with local instructors, which will give us even more options. I’ve mentioned that we like to walk the hills on the edge of town each weekend, and this is also a nice way to chat with whichever teachers happen to walk that same morning. Once November comes around, Brian and I will use these hills to start helping with the training for Mt. Cameroon. Each January, the school takes a group of middle- and high-school students on a backpacking trip up this volcanic mountain, the highest peak in West Africa. We’ve volunteered to be leaders, along with a couple of other teachers, and we’re really looking forward to getting started. My point with all of this is to say that we’ve been more than pleasantly surprised by how active we’re able to be here. In fact, I’ve never been anywhere that I’ve seen so many people outside exercising. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, the road on Mt. Febe is packed with Cameroonians walking, jogging, and doing calisthenics—the best is when a group of them runs by chanting in unison, with the women adding ululations over the top. Talk about motivating!
Some of you have asked what we do for fun here, and again we’ve been pleased by the options available. Emily always teased us that we were a little too hermit-ish in Ames, and we’ve been doing a much better job of branching out and being social here. In addition to the activities at school, we also get together with the other teachers many evenings for games, drinks, or both, and a group of us has gotten in the habit of playing poker most Saturday nights. I’m proud to say that I no longer need the cheat sheet to know that a full house beats a flush, and I even occasionally win a few hands. It’s a low-stakes buy-in, and it’s a nice way to spend an evening chatting with friends and unwinding after a long week at school.
One of the most relaxing ways to spend a Sunday is found at the hotel halfway up Mt. Febe. For the price of brunch, you not only get to eat the delicious buffet, but you can use the pool for free and lounge around all afternoon. The deck chairs overlook an amazing panorama of the city down below, and it’s so nice to sprawl out with a book, watch the bright yellow weaverbirds build their nests in the trees nearby, or just take a nap in the sun. We heard right away when we got here that this is a favorite pastime of the locals, and after trying it ourselves, we can see why.
When we’re not grading or planning lessons, we also relax at home. We have a nice little balcony and like to sit out there and read on the weekends, although we only have one deck chair at the moment, so we have to take turns. We’ve also been working on our French with the Rosetta Stone program we splurged on before we left. It’s very visually oriented, and there is a lot of matching and speaking, so it feels like a game. I wish we had more time to work on it, but even the small segments we’ve done are already helping.
Finally, there are the social events that spring up unexpectedly. Last Wednesday, for example, the teachers were invited to the Saudi Arabian ambassador’s house (yes, the same person whose son wasn’t doing his homework in my class) for an end-of-Ramadan celebration. The mother of the family had spent days making an unbelievable spread of dishes—the desserts alone covered an entire table. They were very gracious hosts, and we had a fabulous time. (I mingled like I was supposed to, but honestly I would have been content to sit in the corner and spend the night eating the dates they had shipped in for the occasion—I’d never tasted anything like them!) On a smaller scale, I’ve been going over to another teacher’s apartment to watch the presidential debates (2:00 in the morning our time); she always has coffee and cookies, and we feel very festive cheering and booing at the TV in the middle of the night.
Overall, we’re loving life here. Sometimes with these blog posts, I spend too much time on one specific event, so I just wanted to give you more of an overview and communicate that enjoyment.
In terms of upcoming news, some of you already know this, but we’re going to have the chance to visit Uganda in a couple of weeks for a teachers’ conference. The conference ends on a Wednesday, so we’re going to stick around for a few more days with some of our friends and sightsee. The plan is to do some white water rafting on the Nile—let’s hope for good weather! We’ll keep you updated.
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