I had a hot shower on Saturday.

AWFO

Drove about 7 hours to Dschang on Saturday. Went to my first “boite” and was informed I dance like a Cameroonian (the greatest compliment ever). Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure the guy just wanted me to break up with my faux-fiancé. Zut.

Moved in with our new host families on Sunday- my family is absolutely incredible- unbelievably warm, friendly, and fun. I have a dad, 2 older brothers (21 and 24) and a younger sister (16). There are 3 other kids living, working, and studying in Yaounde now. Everyone seems to love my dad (it is easy to see why)- people are always stopping in to chat or to eat and I love having such a busy house. My father is the head of the boy scouts in Dschang- he showed me his well worn guide book from the late 60s which very well could be sold in Urban Outfitters today. My favorite quote, “Ok fellows, now here’s a bit on how to avoid those dirty jokes…”

I had the crazy experience of being the first white person this little 2 year old girl has ever seen. She took one look at me, froze, freaked out, and ran back to her mom. It about 10 minutes until she found the courage to come touch the back of my leg when I wasn’t looking and run away.

Had my first motorcycle ride on the way to church and hummed the Top Gun song the whole way. Dschang is a total motorcycle town- the motortaxi drivers all line up on the sidewalk in their yellow vests. Went with my brother and his friend (who is 22 years old and the chief of the village). Next Sunday they are taking me to the service in their maternal language of Yemba. Had my first yemba lesson by candlelight last night after the power went out. Everyone got a kick out of my attempts- the sounds are ridiculous;. Found out my dads father (Momo Gregroire) was the one who created the alphabet in the 1940s which allowed the Foreke to communicate with other villages such as the Bafang who speak Nufi.

Dschang is absolutely beautiful- full of lush green foliage and bright red roads of dirt. It is the rainy season now, and when it rains, it pours. The steep dusty roads transform into rusty waterfalls and there is no leaving the house. We could barely hear each other at dinner tonight because the rain was pounding so hard on the tin roof.

Definitely a lot less modern than Yaoundé here- the bathroom/bathing situation is very interesting (we’ll leave it at that…), learned to cook over the fire today, etc. Funny hearing all the stories from the weekend from different students with …one friend is living in an apartment and in the bathroom there is a pig pen with 4 pigs. Another friend gave a puzzle as a homestay gift- apparently the family wouldn’t stop until they figured it out, tons of friends and neighbors came over, and when they finally finished there was a huge celebration. Another student was informed by his father that “there is really no need to talk to my wife” and was introduced to the father’s mistress (who gets along just fine with the wife). Monogomy just doesn’t happen here. Learned about the “2e bureau” today in French which is basically the subtle way to refer to a mistress. It is totally normal here-our French professors talked to us about it like it was no big deal at all.
Gave my host family their gifts last night- they went wild over the Michael Jackson CD (especially Hermann) and couldn’t believe how diverse the US is after looking at pictures. Also attemted to explain for about an hour how my dad is Italian and my mom German and a whole bunch of other things- the concept was incredibly foreign to them and they kept asking if I was American

Learned how to make cous cous(totally different from the stuff at home) outside over the fire- it is ground up corn that looks like flour, but into boiling water until it gets really thick (cooking cous cous is an all day affair). You then make it into balls (the boys were bragging at dinner about the amount they can finish) It is very plain- we ate it with legume and arachide sauce, but my brother informed me it is better with bat meat…