UWAR GIDA

A little adventure to Fujua and the Fondom of Laikom

2007-01-29T01:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago in one of my interviews, the old woman I was interviewing, Hajiya Sa'adatu, said that her grandfather, Mai Kyaungida, used to travel to and do trading at the Hausa settlement of Fujua, located in the Fondom (chiefdom) of Laikom (Laikom is where the Kom people of Cameroon originate). In her tale, she told me that the Fon (chief) of Laikom asked her grandfather what he should give him in return for all of the items he brought his way. And Mai Kyaungida said, 'give me some small small woman, I like me some small small woman.' So the Fon gave him one of his young daughters, too young to be married, but Mai Kyaungida took her all the same. He kept her in the Hausa quarter of Bamenda, and when she reached the marrying age, they had her convert to Islam, changed her name to Hadiza, and then he made her his bride. This Hadiza was Hajiya Sa'adatu's grandmother.

To verify this tale, as well as other stories I heard about Fujua and Laikom, which are situated near each other, I decided to take a trip to these places which lie about two hours' drive north of Bamenda. I took with me my friend, Hadijah, as well as an educated, intelligent and helpful young Hausa man (Umaru) from the Hausa quarter of Bamenda. As you can see in the photo above, the road to Fundong--the administrative headquarter of the division we were traveling to--was quite treacherous. But at least the road itself was good. We arrived at Fujua at about 10am. There I interviewed an elderly man and woman. Many people were not present in the village that day because the local market had taken it's turn in another town. We did get much information, however, and I started to see some important historical patterns for my work.

After these interviews, we decided to go the palace of the Fon of Laikom. This was a few kilometers past Fujua on a gravel road. I drove the car further and further into the mountains. At first the road was fine but as we kept climbing, it became more sandy. Finally, the car just couldn't make it up anymore. So we had to leave the car behind, and trek for another 30 minutes up the mountain. We finally made it to the palace and we were given an audience with the Fon himself, a man of 87 years but still going strong.

We bowed to the Fon and presented him with our gifts of Fanta (I'm sure people in the past used to bring palm wine, but we found out beforehand that he likes soda drinks) and kola nuts. We then were seated on the opposite end of his court. From his throne he inquired why we came to him, where I was from, why did I take such a risk in seeing him, and why my husband allowed me to travel to remote places like this. He spoke no English, but his courtier/translator spoke very good English. I then told him I wanted to ask him a few questions for my research, to understand his perspective on the history of the Fujua Hausa settlement in his Fondom. I was also hoping that there would be some Kom oral tradition to this end. All of my requests sat well with the Fon, and my Hausa friend and I approached the throne and proceeded to interview the Fon for close to 40 minutes.

At one point, I asked him whether or not he keeps a charm. He answered in the affirmative, but when I asked him what elements made up his charm, he said I would have to become his queen first before he would tell me. I politely declined, but asked again to no avail. He then said he would like for me to find another woman of my characteristics to become his queen. I said I had no power to make any woman do this, but he was insistent. Just to get it over with, I said I would try.

Before leaving, the Fon wanted to bless us so that we would have a safe journey back to Bamenda. His courtier demonstrated how this was done. The Fon poured the Fanta (orange soad) into a glass and drank from it. The courtier was hunched below the Fon's throne on the steps, with his hands cupped together in front of his own mouth. Then the Fon proceeded to pour the Fanta from the glass into the courtier's hands, at which time the courtier quick sucked up the Fanta. I then, of course, had to follow suit. So I knelt below the Fon. He poured more Fanta into his glass and then poured it into my palms--which, I should add, were completedly dirty from driving and trekking up the dirt roads). He poured so much Fanta though, that I couldn't get it all into my mouth so it ended up spilling everywhere! Umaru went next. Hadijah was also supposed to go through this, but she told a white lie, saying that she was fasting that day. So she happily escaped the dirty, sticky state the rest of us found ourselves in!

By this time, we were all ready to leave. The whole thing was a bit eerie-feeling. We walked back quite quickly to the car and high-tailed it out of there. We got back to Fujua at the mid-day prayer time. So we stopped so that Hadija and Umaru could wash and pray. I also thankfully was able to wash up a bit. After this whole ordeal though, I then needed to drive back to Bamenda. Normally I wouldn't blink an eye at a two-hour drive, but the road has one too many turns in it for my liking!

When we finally got back into the city limits of Bamenda at about 4pm that afternoon, I can safely say that I was never so happy to be in Bamenda, to be back 'home'! While I know I should go back to Fujua to follow up on the research, I also loathe the prospect of doing so -- even though they said next time they would gather all the elderly people for me for a group interview. I came to the conclusion yesterday that I myself will not go back. Rather, I hope to send Umaru in my stead as he is more comfortable and familiar with the place. Even though I'm happy that I did make this trip--and even a lot our Cameroonian friends were impressed given the remote location of these places!--I really feel I don't need to push my luck! The stress of it all put me out of commission for two days afterward as well, time I can't afford to waste as I only have about two months of research time left!

But I figure, in the end, this all makes for a good story -- and I hope you have all enjoyed it!

2007-01-29T00:37:00.000-08:00

To all of our blog readers: sorry we have been remiss the past couple of weeks of adding posts to the blog. Sadie and I have both been incredibly busy during the week, and thus completely exhausted in the evenings and on weekends. I hope you can forgive us, especially since we know that many of you check our blog frequently.

This said, I'm giving you a double dose today -- network status permitting.

The picture you see here is of Aishatu Ibrahim, a seventy-something year-old Hausa woman here in the old Hausa quarter of Bamenda. As many of you know, one of the themes of my research is cleanliness/hygiene and changes in understanding the human body. Aishatu is a woman of many many talents, one of which she is showing here. About two weeks ago, she showed me the process of making 'bakin sabulu' or 'black soap', which is supposedly an old Hausa tradition. To make the soap, Aishatu first burns peels of plantains, coco yams, etc. Then she soaks the ash in water, and strains the ash from the water. Then she places that water in the black iron pot you see here in the photo, adding 'miyanga' or 'palm kernel oil'. The black sludge-like stuff in the large bowl just behind her is the finished soap. Most people in Bamenda and in Cameroon generally don't use this soap anymore, as it was never taken up in commercial/mass-produced form. But some Hausa women still do take the time to make it, and actually prefer this soap to other, more popular soaps, in washing their newborns and toddlers. This is also a small money-making venture for Aishatu, as other women in the quarter will purchase this soap from her. She can then use this money to buy food and other items for her own consumption...including those bananas and coco yams she will use to start this process all over again.

Appliance woes

2007-01-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

OK, so Sadie and I bought a used fridge--a smaller-sized one--in late November with the help of our friend Dairou. It was a pretty old fridge that the patron of the business got in Europe (just about all electrical applicances and cars and computers and etc etc here are used and imported from overseas), but we thought it should probably work just fine, right? Absolutely wrong! After one day, the fridge overloaded our voltage capacity and all the electricity went out in our apartment. This is hindsight, however, for at the time we thought the problem was how the wires were set up in the apartment or something. Our caretaker had an electrician come to look at everything, and even he thought it was probably the fridge. But everyone else said, "no, it can't be the fridge." In any case, it had stopped working so Sadie and I brought it back to the store where we gave them a little money to fix it. Needed a new part -- whatever. We got it back and it did the same thing. This time we were absolutely certain it was the fridge's wiring. The telling evidence here is that when Sadie tried to move the thing to unplug it, she got shocked just by touching the top of it!! Needless to say, we took it back immediately, but the salesboy said he couldn't give us our money back. What? "No, the patron says we can only give you the money back if we sell this fridge at some time." *#&%*! OK, well, whatever. Fine. So we go back a couple weeks later. The fridge is still there. No takers. Then we come back just before Christmas and tell them that they can keep our money, our business, but just give us a TV or something. "I have to call my patron," says the salesboy. Again, ok, fine. I come back a few days later and he never called him. I make him call him right then and there. He comes back to say I must give them an extra $40 to take a TV. "WHAT?!?!? NO, no way. You're only doing this to me because I'm white." "No, no," says the salesboy. "My patron doesn't even know you are white." I say we're coming back with a Cameroonian friend the following week, which we do--two of them. We finally get the salesboy to call his patron again (note: a lie is caught here for he talks to his patron about the white man who had the problem with the fridge). He says we can go to the other shop where his patron is today. So we go there and after much negotiation, Sadie and I get a TV -- though we did have to put in an extra $30 for it. Our friends said the TV was worth what we paid for it, so all is good. Uhhh...not really. After 5 days of enjoying our new entertainment--which consists of 2 channels, one of which shows a South African channel called 'E'--and after getting sucked into WWE wrestling and bad Sunday night movies like 'XXX' and 'Exit Wounds' (though we did catch 'Tootsie' on Sunday morning!), the TV decided to stop working. Ugh. So I bring it back to the store just this past Wednesday where the patron's technician 'fixed' it: it worked for a day then kaput. So back I go again today, and now I'm waiting for the replacement TV... because, you know, the technician needs to 'look' at it before they hand it over to us. I'm hoping the third time is a charm, but I'm not holding my breath. Cross your fingers for us, alright?

Muslim Women Association of Bamenda

2007-01-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pics of some of the women I have been interviewing for my project. The first pic on the left is of Hawa Mohamed, who is supposedly 120 years old. She is the daughter of the first Sarkin Hausawa (Hausa chief) in Bamenda-Abakwa who came here just after the First World War. And she has had--count 'em--5 husbands!! Outliving them all! The other pic is of all the women I met during the first interview with the association, which happened the day after Christmas.

A Christmas Update

2006-12-29T02:10:00.000-08:00

[note: i wrote this blog yesterday but was only able to post it today]

Belated Merry Christmas to everyone! Sadie and I are still pushing along here in Bamenda. The research is going pretty well, though we're now in a bit of a lull with the holiday season, which in Cameroon this year also includes the Muslim holy day, the Feast of the Ram.

Last weekend was quite an eventful one for Sadie and me, though. It started off on Friday with a visit to our home by Usuman (the friend we stayed with in Yaoundé) and my former SIT director, David Benson. SIT Cameroon was the study abroad program that took me to Cameroon over seven years ago, and we hadn't seen David in at least 6 years. It was a short but happy reunion. [See pic: Thomas (SIT driver and host father), Usuman, Sadie, me and David].

On Saturday, Sadie and I hiked up one of the mountains at Sabga village to see Usuman and his mother, Hajja. We made it back to our home in Bamenda in the late afternoon, took nice long showers, and curled up in front of the computer with mugs of Horlicks and hot milk to watch our Christmas movie of choice this year: “Love Actually” (which our dad sent to us nearly two months back). It's about the only thing we had here to put us into the Christmas mood, and it definitely did that...if only for that one evening. We then fell asleep in our bedroom listening to the BBC broadcast of "King Lear."

On Sunday, Christmas Eve, Sadie and I made our way to Hadija's house. We've been spending on average about one night every ten days or so at her place. Her husband (Usuman's brother) and children are in the US, and she's been waiting for a visa for over a year now. She's been helping me a lot with my research, making contacts and translating from time to time. She's just an overall wonderful person...we really don't know what we'd do without her.

We didn't do much on Christmas Eve, just relaxed. Our mom called us as well, which was definitely the highlight of our evening. Sadie thought it was probably best that we didn't do much actual celebrating as it would make us miss home that much more. Hanging out with our Muslim friends definitely made sure that happened...though so many of them called us to wish us a happy Christmas anyway.

Christmas Day itself was a bit more eventful. I was supposed to have interviews with a bunch of old Hausa mothers that morning, but the meeting was postponed till the following day. So we relaxed a bit more, just chatting, playing with Hadija's cat. Hadija's landlord/neighbor invited us over to have the Christmas dinner with them, which they said would start at 2pm. Neither of us really wanted to go, as we don't know the family well at all and wanted to simply be with our close friends on that day. But an invitation is an invitation, and there was really no way we could refuse: they're right next door. However, 2pm became 3pm, and Sadie and I had a date with the internet phone service at 3:30, so we just upped and left. The neighbors' other guests hadn't arrived, and we figured it was more important to call our own family back home (calls that we had planned for some time) than to make nicey nice with people we don't even know. So off we went to the MTN center, where we stayed for two hours. We got to talk to our mom, brother, father, grandmother, my hubby, and Sadie's friends.

When we got back to Hadija's, we knew we had to go to the landlord's house to make an appearance. Here's a part of my email to Ivan that explains what happened next:

"when we went to their place finally, they seemed a bit put out, even after we explained why we had to go. ugh. sadie and i really hate when people kind of just want a piece of us. we don't even know them very well, you know? and to top it off, hadija got food poisoning from their food! And though Sades and i shared the same dish (a local dish called achoo), i've been sick all day with diarrhea ... though she has been fine. we also haven't had electricity all day today, so i've had two excuses to just lay around. the stomach cramps are actually pretty painful...didn't sleep that well at all last night...b/c of that, but also b/c our new neighbors got a g*d d*mn rooster! oh my god...before 5am it started crowing. i've never wanted an animal to die so badly before."

But today is another day, and I'm feeling much better. We also spent the better part of the afternoon with Rukayatu, our Bamenda mother and neighbor (and also mother of Dairou, our old driver and now basically our brother). She's an incredible woman who has and is putting eight children through school, four of which are not hers but were orphaned when Rukayatu's sister and brother-in-law died 16 years ago.

So all in all, we had a nice and relaxing couple of days...with just a few up-and-down moments scattered in the middle. But isn't that what the holidays usually turn out to be anyway?

Collaborative Haikus, Group 2

2006-12-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Electricity
Some think it’s necessary
But don’t count on it

I wanted to talk
Sorry, but I have bad luck
I couldn’t get through

Don’t think I’m a jerk
Just my crappy phone network
Giving me the blues

2006-12-12T02:38:00.000-08:00

About 3 weeks ago, Sadie and I spent the weekend with Usuman's mother (Hadja) and sister-in-law (Hadija). It was a great time, so relaxing. Hadja lives sans electricity in the mountains above Sabga. Really wonderful people. We also spend much time with Hadija, who lives in Bamenda (she's waiting on a visa to join her husband and children in Maryland!). Left pic: Sadie with Hadija in front of Sabga Hill. Right pic: Hawa, Hadija, Hadja and me.

A glimpse into our daily life

2006-12-11T00:27:00.000-08:00

1. No fridge (we did have one for a couple days...but we decided that having an appliance in the house that causes all the electricity to go out and simultaneously shocks sisters was not such a good idea after all).

2. We drink powdered milk that's imported from the Netherlands (the best part of waking up is NIDO in your cup!).

3. We haven't had a hot shower since we left the U.S.

4. We handwash all our clothes.

5. The only processed foods we eat are bullion cubes for cooking and chocolate...oh yeah...and NIDO.

6. Dusty as hell here -- it's the dry season and the Harmattan winds from the north are relentless! Two days after washing the car, it's completely covered with red dust. Ugh.

7. A lot of our friends and acquaintances are from polygamist families.

8. Weekly, sometimes twice weekly, trips to Fish Point, the main food market in Bamenda, where one can buy the following for roughly $4.70: 8-10 tomatoes, 3 onions, 10-12 peppers (hot ones!), a pint-size bag of chopped green beans and carrots, 10-12 plantains, 4 small papayas, 6 bananas, a small bucket-full of Irish potatoes, fresh herbs, huckleberry leaves (njama njama), and two cups of red beans. Yeah…food is NOT a problem here.

9. We boil all of our drinking water.

10. We've been reading the same August issues of _The New Yorker_ and _Rolling Stone_ for the past three months now (though some of the pics and cartoons have graduated to wall-decor status).

11. Harmony finally learned how to drive a stick...grace à Dairou. Now we're free as birds in our used Euro Toyota Corolla.

12. A one-liter-plus beer costs a dollar.

13. Fried plantains.

14. Mornings are filled with landmark African neighborhood sounds: the crowing rooster, the radio beats, chirping birds, the repetitive swoosh of sweeping brooms, a baby crying, and a little later on the chatter of women as they wash and hang their clothes out to dry.

15. Missin' home.

BABE, Part III

2006-11-28T05:09:00.000-08:00

Our apartment from the outside...and the view from our front door. Again, if you wanna climb those mountains, you're just going to have to get off your butt and visit us!!!

BABE, Part II

2006-11-28T04:58:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some pics of our new home in Bamenda...quasi-virtual-tour style. The first pic is our sparsely furnished parlor. We laid the floor and made the curtains ourselves - be proud, Mom! With all of the red and gold, I'd say we're already ready for Christmas time! Once you pass thru the curtains, you'll see the deep deep interior of BABE (next pic). To the right, you'll find our little kitchen, for which we had to buy our ancient euro fridge, cooker, stand for the cooker, and the gas canister. Back in that deep interior now, go straight ahead behind the partial wall and you'll find our bathroom. To the left, across from the kitchen, is our bedroom (see that blanket? yeah, it's cold in Bamenda in the evenings; that's what we get for living at 1600m above sea level). Next to our bedroom is the other bedroom which we just use as storage (yes, the whole apartment looked like this before we got a hold of it). And lastly, passing back thru the curtains, you get your last and final view of the parlor. Those ken chairs are nice, eh? If you wanna sit in one, you'll have to come visit us!!!

BABE

2006-11-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

So, as you read in the "Jack and the Beanstalk" post below, our lodging situation at Sabga turned out not to be the best idea, despite Usuman's wish for it to be so. We did, however, get quite lucky in our hasty apartment search in Bamenda. We had been searching to no avail all day last week Thursday (the 9th). We even considered renting a crazy huge apartment (three bedrooms, each with its own toilet!) for $130 a month, with electricity and water excluded (the latter of which wasn't even working, so we would have had to trek to Mecca and carry huge buckets of water up three flights of stairs...to bathe, to do laundry, to flush the toilet!). Then, lo and behold, a friend of Dairou's family (remember: Dairou, our good friend/driver extraordinaire) told us of a new place in their neighborhood on the outskirts of Bamenda that had just been completed and had good security. The apartment is in a complex (where we can park the car) along with four other units. We made a deal with the landlord the next morning, and proceeded to move in ASAP. And we've been happy with the choice ever since. Each apartment has two bedrooms, a parlor, a kitchen and toilet...and it's only $50 per month! And the water is free...though freezing :) To add some extra security (besides all the bars on the windows), the landlord cemented in broken glass bottles on the top of the wall/gate to the outside -- which seems to be the main form of external security in these parts.

The only downside to the apartment is that the entire interior is painted sky blue, and the trim on the windows and doors is, as Usuman calls it, "ox-blood red." Sadie says it feels like living inside Babe the Blue Ox. :)

It took us a number of days to furnish the place. All the floors were just cement, so we needed to buy the funky plastic flooring that just about everyone has here. We sort of have a red-gold thing going for the parlor...while all the other rooms are quite the hodge-podge. We got some great ken chairs/furniture that are made locally; they've got lots of charm and are actually ergonomically sound (sorry, I'm a nerd) -- though I must say I do miss having a comfy couch! To add a little character to the place--and to get rid of some of the blue--Sadie bought some good poster paper and plastic pastels at the market to make us some paintings for the walls. Definitely a bonus when the sister accompanying you on your research adventures happens to be a crazy talented visual artist! To feel a little more in touch with the world, we also bought a radio at the market, on which we can get the BBC and sometimes the Voice of America. All other channels are either Cameroonian or Nigerian. There is no jack for a phone or cable, so internet and CNN on TV are out of the question. BUT -- the place is already starting to feel like home away from home, and it's really great to have a place of our own -- finally!

Pictures coming soon.

Worth your time…to read this post

2006-11-20T10:36:00.001-08:00

Note to all readers: For the interest of the story, some of the events mentioned may have been placed out of sequence or may have been made up entirely. However, the integrity of the story was dutifully considered and therefore has resolved to stay nearly true to form.

Title: "Fe! Fi! Fo! Fum!"

Cast of Characters:
Jack . . . . . . Harmony
Giant. . . . . . Yerima, Usuman's bro (next Lamido of Sabga)
Faerie Lady. . . Usuman
magic beans. . . Usuman's connections
Narrator. . . . .Sadie

Scene I. "A Lucky Break"
Setting: Yaounde, a populous city with minimal archival substance to offer

Narrator: Once upon a time, there lived a "whiteman" by the name of Jack. He was a rather bright fellow who took amusement at frolicking amid the fields of research. The only worry in the world for Jack was his lack of a quality research hub where gathering and compiling data would come with ease. . . oh yeah, and the occasional computer malfunction, but that's another story. One day while Jack was inquiring around town about the best "frolicking zone", he met a special Faerie Lady who possessed magical beans that could potentially aid Jack's thirsty endeavors.
Faerie Lady: Now Jack, I will give you these magical beans if you give me something in return.
Jack: Anything! Just as long as I have a private and convenient location for my very important work.
Faerie Lady: Yes, yes, if I give you these beans, you will surely have a private and convenient space for your work. All I ask in return is that you massage my wing with some oil. Oh, God, the pain is too much. Will you do it? If so, I will gladly give you the beans.
Jack: Oh, of course! No problem!
[Jack massages wing]
Fearie Lady: Oh, thank you! Here are the beans. And one more thing. . . these beans must be soaked in water overnight, then boiled for four hours before they'll be of any use. Ciao!
Narrator: So off Jack went with careful instructions in his ears, high hopes in his heart, and magical beans in his pocket.

Scene II: "When Crying, Be Moving"
Setting: outside Jack's abode

Narrator: Jack, having 3/4 of a Type A personality, processed the beans almost exactly as told (the beans boiled for six hours, not four 'cause Jack stopped for a beer or two and kind of lost track of time). Nonetheless, they were strong, and immediately post-planting, the earth began to shake and up came the hugest beanstalk in the whole world. Honest! Jack was so thrilled, he couldn't contain his excitement.
Jack: Wow! This looks really promising!
Narrator: So up, up, and up he climbed, gaining more vigor with every lunge. Finally, Jack reached the summit.

Scene III. "The Truth Is Bitter"
Setting: Sabga, a quaint village nestled in mountains atop the beanstalk; more specifically: the Giant's compound

Narrator: So there Jack stood, gazing all around at the wonderful mountain scenery. He didn't think he had ever seen any place so beautiful in all his days. Just then, he saw out of his peripheral vision a building of the brightest blue in the whole world. Honest!
Jack: Golly gee! I think that's supposed to be my research hub! Oh boy, I can't wait to see what's inside. It appears to be perfect, at least from afar!
[Jack approaches blue "hub", opens door, and saunters on in]
Jack: Well this doesn't seem right at all!!
Narrator: To Jack's amazement, everything in the house was larger-than-life giant-sized. What was a little boy to do?
Jack: Egads! I can't work here! This place is fit for a big man, not a small boy. The parlor is massive and the dining area is even more huge!
[Jack steps into dining room and sits in a chair. The table is too high for Jack to reach]
Jack: My goodness, how am I supposed to eat here? These chairs are too large and the table is much too high. And what's more, the window is broken, there's no outlet for my computer, and parts of the ceiling are missing, creating some heavy drafts!!!
[Dismayed, Jack looks through the remainder of the house]
Jack: What?!? There's no sink in the bathroom and no frickin' door, either? And don't get me started on the bedroom! The walls aren't painted, just this "charming" cement slab, and the bed is waaaayyyy too filthy for sleeping. Dirt everywhere! No, no, this isn't promising at all!
[Without fair warning, the main door opens and in walks the Giant]
Giant: Fe! Fi! Fo! Fum! Do I smell the blood of a whiteman?
[Jack trembles in his shoes]
Jack: Tis I, sir, the whiteman you speak of. Please don't hurt me. The Faerie Lady assured me this was a private and convenient location for my very important work. Was she mistaken?
Giant: Why no, of course not! Do not be frightened little one. I am the landlord of this building and you have my word, this is a very private and convenient place for you. After all, Sabga is a quiet and safe village, perfect for the line of work you are in. In Sabga, you are free. You can ride horses. It's no problem. In towns below the beanstalk, you must pay. Here in Sabga, it's free. Did I mention you can ride horses? There's no problem.
Jack: Uh yeah, thanks. Say, are you going to do something about that broken window?
Giant: Why do you not eat meat? The Faerie Lady called and said you eat no meat.
Jack: For the same reasons you don't eat pork. You don't believe it is good for you.
Giant: Ahh, I see. Do you like horses? You will come with me to a horse race.
Jack: Sure . . . . Say, about this place that I'm apparently living in for the upcoming five months . . . I was wondering how often you use this space for your own needs?
Giant: No, it's okay. You will have this house all to yourself. I only use it once in a while. Not often.
Jack: How often is not often?
Giant: Well, I take breakfast here each morning, which I'll be expecting you to accompany me to, and I also come every evening for my dinner, and again, you will join me. But at that time, it won't be just me, but many of my friends, too. And then sometimes I'll stop by between mealtimes, just for the hell of it. Oh, and I can't forget my children. They'll be popping in regularly. I'm not sure why, they just will. Otherwise, this place is completely yours alone. You will have much privacy.
Jack: Huh . . . and do I get a key for the outside door?
Giant: Well, you have a key for your bedroom. You will keep all of your things in there. Okay, you understand everything. I will leave you to rest now.
Jack: Wait! There's no outlet in that room for my computer. Where am I supposed to work?
Giant: Uh, well, there's an outlet in the parlor. I did have a television with cable plugged into it, but I removed the tv before you came, so feel free to use that one. You see, Sabga is nice. Here, you are free.
[Giant exits stage right]
Narrator: Jack was so flabbergasted by his meeting with the Giant, he just plopped himself down on one of the enormous chairs in the parlor and meditated on the ridiculousness of his surroundings.
[on ceiling: two coca cola beach balls dangling, one sadly deflated, the other itching for a good volley; on walls: posters of New York and the previous year's horse race]
Jack: With all the mismatched furniture and frat-boy decorum, this place is an all-out Man Pad. The only thing missing is a Sports Illustrated Calendar, Swimsuit Edition. Is it possible I'm being too critical? Maybe I should sleep here for the night and think about what I'll do tomorrow.
Narrator: Never one to give up easily, Jack held his courage tightly. He grabbed a pillow & blanket and made his bed on the sofa.
Jack: I'll sleep on this tonight. The bed the Giant wants me to use is, well . . . I wouldn't allow my spoiled dog to sleep there!
Narrator: As Jack cozied himself in his makeshift bed, he thought he heard the sound of a key unlocking the side door.
Jack: Can that be possible? The Giant gave his word that there'd be no nightly disturbances. I must be hearing things.
Narrator: But Jack's ears did not deceive him. Through the darkness, he made out the figure of a woman.
Jack: Hello? What is going on? Do you need something?
Narrator: There was no reply from the woman, but soon Jack was able to see that she was one of the Giant's wives. He thought to himself that she probably forgot something and would soon be on her way. Still, Jack did not think it was right for her to enter his hub like that without first knocking, and he wondered who else might have a key. His wonderment was cut short, however, when another figure entered the side door. Unfortunately for Jack, it wasn't a woman this time, but a man! That's when he realized what was happening. The Giant's wife was making a bed for the man in the second bedroom, and like the bathroom, it had no door!
Jack: No! No! What are you doing?!? He can't sleep here. The Giant said no one else would be here at night! Please, no! There's no door for the toilet! What if I have to use the bathroom and he sees me naked?!
Narrator: The strange man argued with Jack that he was really nice and nothing bad would happen, but Jack was not convinced.
Jack: Where is the Giant? Let me speak with him! This is not right!
Narrator: Jack stormed out of the building and ran to his landlord's house.
Jack: I do not want that strange man sleeping in the other room. He has no door and there's no door for the toilet. What if he sees me naked? My husband would be very upset!
Narrator's interjection: Yes, Jack has a husband.
Jack: I'm sure he is a very nice man, but I do not know him and my husband wouldn't like it. Please! It is a very bad situation.
Giant: Okay, no, it's no problem. That is fine.
Jack: You know, I think it would be better for everyone if maybe I found a different place. That way, you and your family could use the building as you wish. It would be easier. Besides, it's too far down the beanstalk to use internet and I'd be really exhausted. Is that okay?
Giant: No, it's no problem. That is fine. But at the bottom of the beanstalk, you must pay. It is not free, and there are no horses. In Sabga, you are free and it is very peaceful. But, if you want to go, that is fine. You can do as you like.
Jack: Oh, thank you. I am sorry, but it is simply not a good situation. Turns out, this place isn't private or convenient at all!
Giant: No, it's no problem. You can go.
Narrator: Mortified, Jack slinked back to his now defunct hub, and hoped his carefree frolicking days were not over. He barely slept that night and when morning came, he gathered his things and slid down the beanstalk, never to be heard of in Sabga again . . . aside from the occasional interview.
THE END!

On to Bamenda!!

2006-11-17T06:57:00.000-08:00

Apologies again for the delay in posting! Sadie and I have recently moved to Bamenda and have been busy setting up shop. It's been a crazy week...to say the least. So just keep posted. We'll have something juicy up in the next few days or so....barring any electrical outings. :)

“Cripples Can’t Carry Cake” (Sadie’s alliteration)

2006-11-05T05:49:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes on Friday; it really means a lot to hear from all of you. And to add to this, the day itself turned out to be a lot of fun: perhaps this is the beginning of the end of my October-bad-luck streak! Cross your fingers for me, K? (To fill you in, not only was October replete with technical misfortunes, but on Nov. 1st, there was a bit of a “household accident” whereby the pinky toe on my left foot nearly broke; so basically I’m lame at the moment. Should do wonders for my informant relationships when I interview disabled Hausa beggars, J/K.)

Despite my being a temporary cripple, Sadie, Dairou and I went out for the day to run some errands, one of which was to pick up my long-awaited research permit…that I ended up getting for free! I also had maps of my fieldwork area printed, checked emails (which we hadn’t been able to do for over a week), and we picked up ice cream and cake for the evening. (One nice consequence of being lame, I have found, is that little sisters have to carry everything for you, including your own birthday cake!) For lunch, Sadie and I scarfed (word?) down couscous, pineapple and yoghurt; and Ivan and I had a great talk on the phone that wasn’t compromised by horrible static and low rates of connectivity – for once! When evening rolled around we indulged our sweet teeth {see cake pic: from top left going clockwise: Sadatou, Flore (a girl living at the house with Usuman’s family), Halima, Adama and me} while watching “The Bourne Identity” on a borrowed projector.

All in all, a fab day. Let’s hope it’s all good from here on out!

Fasting and the Fête de Ramadan

2006-11-03T02:09:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, the holy month of Ramadan ended over a week ago, on the 23rd of October. Though some of you have perhaps—and unfortunately—associated the passing of Ramadan this year with the so-called “fourth deadliest month” in Iraq since the war began, we hope that this small post will help change that perception a bit with something a little more positive.

To fill you in (if need be), Ramadan is a month of fasting and of prayer. One is denied food AND drink during daylight hours, so breakfast is had before sunrise (about 4:00am here), and families break the fast of the day after sunset (6:30pm). Children may chose to fast for 2, 4, 6, etc number of days (as long as it’s an even number) to prepare them gradually for when they will need to fast for the entire month as a mature adolescent. We decided to do the same, fasting for 4 days with the family. The first two days we fasted were OK and passed without incident; the second day was particularly nice as we ended up spending it at the beach! But the last two days we fasted, just before the end of Ramadan, we both got horrible headaches. Probably had something to do with driving around in a car trying to shop for food that we couldn’t eat. Sadie ended up getting car sick and almost vomited. Do NOT let you’re little ones try this at home!

On a more positive note, we learned that when you break the fast in the evening, you eat different kinds of foods than you would normally for dinner…and they’re yummy! You start off by drinking tea, and there are plates of oranges, bananas, papaya sprinkled with lime or lemon (we’re not sure which one…both are called “citron” here), avocado smothered in mayonnaise (Cameroonians call avocados “pears”), deep-fried dough rings and fried bean cakes (kosai) from the Hausa quarter of Yaoundé (known as “Bric”…make sure you roll the “r” big time). And the meat-eaters, of course, had their beef. All in all, breaking the fast together with the family is a really wonderful experience. Toward the end of the month, though, everybody is so tired; Usuman and Habiba said they didn’t really even feel the hunger anymore, it’s just that their bodies were completely worn down.

The day of the Fête de Ramadan, which Muslims here call “Salla,” seemed to be a big relief for just about everyone – except for Habiba who was cooking for everyone all day. It was a day of getting dressed up in your new clothes and finery, of good food and music, and of celebration with friends and family. And in most Muslim villages and towns in Cameroon the festivities lasted throughout the week.

In sum, while this is a VERY brief summary of how our friends in Cameroon’s Muslim community experienced Ramadan, we hope it will help balance out whatever CNN has been showing you from the frontlines in the Middle East. PEACE!

(Pic above: The lady to the left of Sadie is Habiba, Usuman’s wife; most of the other people in the photo are relatives of Usuman and Habiba.)

Back in the game

2006-11-03T02:06:00.000-08:00

Apologies AGAIN for not posting in over a week! I’ve had a number of computer problems to deal with over the past month, and I thought they all would have sorted themselves out a week ago. But most things just seem to take somewhat longer to solve when you’re overseas (or it just seems longer because the time I have here is so finite!). I’m happy to write, however, that all of my technical issues are now 99% A-OK! (The 1% is reserved for the left-over anxiety I’m still carrying around with me.)

Some Signage

2006-10-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

Check out the locale of Buea Town’s museum:

What do you think? Should we submit this one to Family Feud? We asked 100 people…

A summary of our sojourn in Buea

2006-10-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Our apologies for not updating the blog recently! Internet access in Buea, while definitely present, was not always 100% reliable…kinda like the electricity there, as well. Sadie and I ended up spending a total of three weeks there and just got back to Yaoundé this past Sunday. On the plus side, the archival work in Buea went extremely well. Prince Henry Mbain, the retired-yet-still-working archivist there is an absolute gem, and kept the documents coming. At the end of our time there, he remarked to us that he had never seen anyone plough through the documents so quickly, saying that we did the work of ten people. Of course, this was a nice feather in our cap…which definitely helped uplift our spirits amidst the boring, dreary (though beautiful) landscape of Buea Town. While there, Sadie and I stayed at the Presbyterian Church Synod, which was nice enough, clean enough, and had a public kitchen so we were able to cook our own food. The only problems were that the manager was a bit socially awkward and that the building was quite old, making all of our clothes and belongings a little more pungent-musty-smelling than we would prefer!

On the way back from Buea, however, we did manage to have one day of pure fun in Limbe. We stayed in a nice hotel (that had hot water for about 5 minutes!) right on the ocean. Dairou, a wonderful young man and an “extended family member” of Usuman’s, has been the one driving us around Cameroon for the past few weeks, as the roads are quite dangerous and besides, we would have no idea where we were going! He and his brother Abduraman—a student at the University of Buea—came with us to Limbe, and we all fasted together that day, as it was in the middle of Ramadan. That made dinner that evening all the more enjoyable. It was definitely our best day in Cameroon thus far.

Being back in Yaoundé has been great…except for the work. I took many people’s advice and gave a pretty hefty “present” to the head archivist at the National Archives. I’m sad to say that while she has done a few things, the service is still slow and no one in there can hold a candle to Buea’s Prince. This sad fact, along with my conclusion that the British just left more interesting and organized information about their colonial endeavors, has made the work-part of being in Yaoundé very frustrating. So, in sum, living in Buea sucked but the work was fantastic, while work in Yaoundé drives me crazy but the life in here—especially with the Buba family—is fun, exciting and comforting…kind of like our home away from home. Let’s hope that my upcoming fieldwork and our living situation in the Bamenda area will be positive on both accounts!!

The Times, They Aren't A Changin'

2006-10-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

In 1917, Mr. P.V. Young, a leading officer in the Cameroons Province, remarked in his report, "Most unmarried men and very young people will find Buea very dull as there is nothing in the way of amusements." We're sad to say . . . well, the title says it all.

Going to Buea...and thanks for your sympathy

2006-09-23T05:04:00.000-07:00

Just a note to let you all know that we are going to Buea this Monday for a couple of weeks to do some research in the anglophone archives there. Will try to update the blog at least once while we're there. Looking forward to some time on Mt. Cameroon and getting on the beach at Limbe! And thanks also to many of you for your sympathy in our archival trials and tribulations. Things have happily gotten better. Barbara has come around a bit, though two of her assistants are lost causes. But alas! There is a new assistant that is fabulous and he works really hard to get us what we need. We told him we owe him a few beers for all of his help. Diana K. also tried to post the following comment in response to the archival blog--which we will definitely heed--but it didn't show up:

"Is there anybody else working in the archives? Or do you know anyone
who has? I'd be willing to bet that "no typing" and "we stop bringing
documents after 2" are NOT rules.

"If you were in Russia, I'd suggest getting the archivist a "present"
and explaining that really, you'd much rather type, because you can't
possibly carry all that paper back. Perhaps a present for the
assistant, too. But you should find out the culturally appropriate
way to do it.

"(to add to this, again, if you were in Russia, I'd see both "rules"
as pretty explicit requests for bribes)."

Harmony has actually already been told by her prof here that we need to pay the taxi fare of the archivist in Buea to give him a little incentive to actually show up!

C'est la vie...of doing research in developing countries!!

The Neighbor Baby - Gojo!!!

2006-09-23T04:56:00.000-07:00

Gojo before:

Gojo after Halima got a hold of him:

Update on appearance (Sadie Hairstyle #1)

2006-09-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

Collaborative Haikus, Group 1

2006-09-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Can’t sleep
The noise penetrates
In the middle of the night
The frogs are humping

Mathias
Lightening has struck me
I’m in love with your sister
I know where you work

High Octane
Boundless energy
“Iron Lady*, are you tired?”
Usuman can’t be stopped

*Usuman’s nickname for Sadie

My introduction to the national archives, or getting “lost in translation”

2006-09-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Day 1 – Wednesday, 13 September
After introducing myself to the head archivist, Barbara, I got to work making a list of all the colonial documents that I wanted to see, as per her instructions. One VERY fortunate turn of events was my discovery that the archive has a good amount of its German texts translated into French! But I’m afraid this was the first and the last of the happy moments in the archives for the next two days. Here are some summaries/extractions of my conversations with Barbara on Day 1 and Day 2 at the archives:

Harmony: Is it alright if my sister comes with me tomorrow to assist me in typing up the documents that are important for my research?

Barbara: Yes, she can come, but the number of documents is very great. You should use the photocopying machine here. I have assistants that do the copying, and it only costs 25 cfa a page.

Day 2 – Thursday, 14 September
Sadie and I arrive at the archives. I fill out a form of all the documents I want to see that day. I asked for 8, but Barbara only brought back 4, saying that when I was finished with these 4, she would get the others. Sadie and I get to work. After perusing my document a bit, I took out my trusty Alphasmart keyboard and set to work typing up extracts of the document. About 10 minutes into this, my dialogue with Barbara resumed:

Barbara: You cannot type out the documents. It’s necessary that you copy them.

Harmony: Really? I thought what you said yesterday was just a suggestion. It’s just that carrying all of these papers around with me, were I to copy them, would be very difficult.

Barbara: The director of the archives says no typing. You must photocopy. When you are ready to copy, give the document to him or her (pointing to the assistants).

Harmony: I’m sorry. I understand now, I didn’t know it was a rule.

Time passes. We’ve finished with the four documents and I asked one of the assistants to find the other 4 (the archivist has gone out for lunch). She goes and comes back a while later with only 1. “The other three weren’t there,” she said. “They could be in a number of places in the building. We can search for them next week.” Ahhh!!!!! “Ok, ok, keep my cool. Must be nice to the archivist and her helpers.” So I get through that document. By then the archivist has returned from lunch. It’s about 2:10pm, and I ask her what I should do about getting these “missing” documents, or perhaps asking for different ones so that I can continue working till 3:30.

Barbara: I’m really tired, and I don’t feel well. And the documents are far away; I have to walk all the way down to that building over there. Oh, everybody is tired today.

Harmony: Ummm….so I suppose I can’t walk down there and get them myself? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Barbara smiles.

Harmony: So does this mean I can’t do anymore work today? I don’t understand…. The archive closes at 3:30, right?

Barbara: The reading room is open till 3:30, but we stop getting documents for you at 2pm.

Harmony: Oh! I had no idea. Nobody told me that was the rule. Ok…so…we’ll just leave now…. Every archive has its own rules, I guess…ha, ha, ha…uhh...ugh…..

In packing up my things for the day, I noticed on the door a list of rules for proper conduct in the reading room. While it said nothing about the 2pm cut-off time, the final and perhaps most defining rule I was forced to take home that day (accompanied by the virtual tail between my legs) was to “RESPECT THE HIERARCHY.”

The end of our street...

2006-09-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

“La Blanche!”

2006-09-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

“La blanche, la blanche, la blanche!!” Everywhere we go it’s “La blanche!” Yea, I get it. I’m white. Do you get it? “La blanche!” I guess not. Harmony and I deal with it by giving the locals a taste of their own medicine; however, “le noir” doesn’t seem to work as well. I just recently had my hair braided with extensions (aka mèche) which makes me stand out a little more and the stares and comments have increased in frequency. Yaoundé is a big city with a lot of white people walking around. In the less urban areas of Cameroon I don’t really consider the comments annoying, but in Yaounde it drives me nuts. I know why it occurs, but I’ll never get over it. The other day Harm and I were walking to the internet café when we passed a small group of African men. One of them remarked to the others en francais, “The white people look dead. Now why is that?” What the hell is that supposed to mean? You’d look dead too if you were as pasty as I am, but I can’t help that now, can I? Oh, well, “la blanche” I am and “la blanche” I’ll stay.

Slowly but Surely

2006-09-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

Harmony here. Yesterday, Tuesday, I met with Gerald Chilla (the Cameroonian at the Embassy who helps out Fulbrighters) and my professor at the University of Yaoundé, Verkijika Fanso. Prof. Fanso was fantastic, even more nice and jolly than I remembered. We met with a few people, and he thinks we can get around having to pay the $1000 research permit fee; he’s even hoping that I won’t have to pay anything at all. Cross your fingers! I guess they are going to try to get me the permit through the university, saying that I’m directly connected to the university by virtue of working with Prof. Fanso. This all might take some time, but at least in the meantime he said I can start working in the National Archives here in Yaoundé, and he took me over there to introduce me to the staff. So I can actually start working! They are supposed to be open by 7:30am, but he said that is unlikely to happen on a reliable basis. The real downside is that the archives are only open till 3pm. But at least it’s a start. It’s so nice to finally get to work!

Third Person Blogging

2006-09-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody…just so you all know, my sister Sadie and I decided to do this blog together. So, if you see the pronoun “we”, please do not be confused. Please also know that I’m not sick in the head (at least not yet) for referring to myself in the third person. Apologies if that was confusing in the previous blog. So for future blogs, just assume that both of us are writing the blogs unless otherwise indicated. So right now, I’m telling you that it’s just me, Harmony, writing this one, K?

Likes and Dislikes

2006-09-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

We are borrowing this format of likes and dislikes from Harmony’s dear friend Rob in Colombia. We hope there is no fine for such an egregious violation of intellectual property rights! J/K

Dislikes

1. That the fee for a research permit increased just before my arrival from 10,000cfa to 500,000cfa (just a slight increase from $20 to $1000).

2. The little sparks that fly out of the socket when I try to plug in my laptop.

3. Although entertaining for…oh…about 5 minutes, the loud, pig-like snorting and duck-like honking sounds of the 5 million neighborhood frogs that get their groove on when the sun goes down.

4. Old greasy Frenchmen who hit on our lovely 15-year-old host sister.

5. The bandit-infiltrated taxi system of Yaounde and crazy-ass taxi drivers.

6. Imperious Americans at the US Embassy who scoff at the Cameroonians working in the cafeteria because they can’t make “perfect” coffee and have it on time, ESPECIALLY on the first morning of the work week.

Likes

1. Usuman: the Fulani business man who knows everybody and their mother; the guy knew so many people at the airport, he walked right past the immigration line to give Sadie free passage…and at customs as well. We also got our Cameroonian drivers’ licenses within a day.

2. Habiba’s fine, fine cooking – me oh my!

3. 4 host sisters who seem to have this incredible balance of self-confidence and humility.

4. Cameroonian employees at the US Embassy who are presently trying to get Fulbrighters exempted from the g*d d*mn $1000 research fee.

5. The fancy internet café with high-speed access that’s just a 10-15 minute walk from Usuman’s house.

6. Cameroonian yoghurt; it actually tastes like yoghurt (unlike most US brands).

Pics below: view from Usuman and Habiba’s balcony and 2 of our 4 host sisters, Adama and Halima

Arrival in Douala

2006-09-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Just to let all of you know, I arrived safely--but not uneventfully!--in Douala. Luckily the hotel that the Embassy has me staying at has an internet hookup in the room -- quite the surprise and a nice change from my first visit to Cameroon 7 years ago! Hopefully I can arrange something similar when Sadie and I are settled in Bamenda. We shall see. The flights themselves were fine, but in grand Air France style my flight out of Boston was delayed, shrinking my layover in Paris to just minutes! We arrived at de Gaulle airport around 9:15 am, an hour before my other flight was to take off. I thought it would be alright, but as some of you know, de Gaulle has to be one of the most poorly organized airports in the world. We all had to take buses from the airplain itself on the tarmac to our gate/terminal...and that ride took a half hour! We "landed" at terminal E, and I had to get to terminal F. I asked an airport agent if I could make it to F in time, and she said in French, "yes, they are just right next to each other." Ok great, I thought. But alas, only gates 1 thru 40 of F were next to terminal E. Gates 41 and up (where mine was) were in a completely different building! So I had to take another frickin' bus, which took over 15 minutes! Luckily I befriended the Algerian-Italian bus driver and he tried to speed things up for me (he thought I was was from Canada b/c he thought my French was good -- a little confidence in my moment of dread). When I finally got to the terminal, one of the agents thought I wouldn't make it, but she pushed me thru security anyway and then I ran like a bat out of hell! When I got to the gate, I found out that they hadn't embarked yet; they were waiting for me and some other folks whose flights had been delayed as well. Fricking Air France. Maybe some of you are thinking, well...people miss planes a lot b/c of delays. But the problem of flying to Africa is that most airlines only go to particular countries maybe twice a week. If I would have missed my flight, I might not have arrived until the weekend or even next week...leaving my little sis in the dust (she arrives tomorrow!). Luckily this didn't happen. And in any event, all of this craziness took my mind off of leaving home and being homesick...at least for a little while.

Taking off

2006-08-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

I got my tickets today and came to the realization in the shower this evening that this time two weeks from now I'll be taking a shower on a different continent, more specifically, in the bathroom of Ousmane Buba in Yaounde. Kinda crazy. The date of departure is Thursday, August 31, and I won't be back stateside till April 25th! Wish me luck.