Nalsala

Nalsala= "la blanche" in Fulfulde.

I am sorry to report that today was the final day of the weave, affectionately known as Carmella. Ngaoundere is HOT. And the 5 pounds of fake purple and brown hair just wasn’t cutting it. Spent about 3 hours this afternoon with about 4 women huddled around my head, jabbering away in Fulfulde. A lot of the women in my compound are forbidden by their husbands to leave their houses. I seriously have no idea what they do all day. Normally when I get back from school and ask them about their days, they reply that they did “rien” or nothing. Seems like it is lots of Brazilian Soap Operas, gossiping, and cooking. Interestingly, lots of Cameroonian families have “domestiques” (a servant)- even the families with no running water.

Tomorrow, my neighbor is taking me to get some traditional Muslim henna. She just got out of a 10 year relationship and is now living at home with her father, his 4 wives, and her 15 brothers and sisters. She married at age 14 and had her first child at age 16. She once had 4 kids, but 3 have died. This woman is about 3 years older than me. I talked to her a little bit about Sophia, her daughter only remaining 5 year old daughter. She told me she prays that she will be able to go to a University and marry after she finishes schooling.

Visited the “Lamidat” or head of the Muslim church in Ngaoundere. He used to be a political, economic, and spiritual leader but lost lots of his power after colonization. He still has servants- they are born into servitude and can become free by converting to Islam. However, since there families have been servants for generations, they have zero relatives, contacts, or money to help them get started. Therefore, the vast majority of them choose to not convert and stay slaves for life.

When we walked into the Lamidat’s “palais”, there were huge decorated columns. Someone in the group innocently asked what the decorations were, and we soon found out that they recounted the stories of a few lucky prostitutes… Apparently these “sinners” were buried alive inside these columns a few centuries ago…

In other news, I can’t believe Wake lost by 1 to Miami. Joey, I can’t believe you kicked a 50 yard field goal to beat us- and I can’t believe we lost to Navy. Congratulations on bragging rights for the year. Tonight the Eagles play the Giants and the Phillies are on too…. Wish I could portkey home for the night.

Just got bit by a mosquito, I really hope I don’t get malaria again.