Mmmm steak!

On Sunday, we had family church, which is where Bob, Joan, Tim and Bethany spend church at home, listening to a sermon on a tape and do an open discussion between them. I’m not sure how often they do it but this past Sunday I participated. We listened to a sermon that a family friend from I think Minnesota had put on an MP3 player for me to take to the Lokkers. The sermon was on always looking to Jesus in times of trouble, confusion, questions, or just in general any time. That seems to be a pretty big theme in the New Testament and the pastor wanted to stress that.

Afterwards, we mostly relaxed. Abdu came over to my house and we watched Twelve Monkeys. It was an interesting movie and I think Abdu was a little confused at times, and so was I. By the end I more or less had a sense of what happened and did my best to explain it to him. It takes place entirely in America and so I did my best to explain the social cues and context of phrases, sentences and the meanings of certain things that he probably wouldn’t understand not being from America and not seeing a ton of American films. I think he got most of it. Afterwards, Bethany, Tim, Abdu, Dayyibu and I played Monopoly. Dayyibu and Abdu had a little bit of trouble at first since they had never played but I think the next time we play they’ll do much better.

Yesterday, Dayyibu and I went into town to get a few things. We needed to check the price on a sprocket (the chain-driven gear on the back of a motorcycle) for Bob’s bike since it’s wearing out. We can’t get a new one but we can fix the piece to it that’s wearing out with a welder so it’s okay. We tried to find a sheet of gasket material so I could cut a new gasket for an engine that was in pieces but no such luck. We ended up using paper from an old calendar to cut a new gasket. We dropped a motorcycle wheel off at a machine shop to have them wire brush the inside of the rim since it’s very rusty and can create a hole in a tire tube as you ride the motorcycle. When we got the wheel back, it actually felt worse than when we dropped it off. They didn’t really smooth out the part that we wanted smooth. Instead, it looks like they took a grinder to it, and it now has sharp bits of metal. So much for that. I ended up taking a wire brush to it myself and then some sandpaper. It’s pretty smooth now. While in town, we also stopped at a hardware store to pick up some electrical connectors so Bob and I can work on hooking power up to Dayyibu’s house. We also stopped at a grocery store so I could get some bug killer for my room. I had an ant infestation in my bathroom but now it’s all taken care of.

Last, but certainly not least, we stopped at a place called Salamon Voyage. It’s a taxi park where people wait for buses to come along and take them to other cities in Cameroon. It also has a chop house in the back where people who are waiting for the next bus can get some food. I wanted to go there because I heard they have good soya, a dish with cut up bits of steak meat. It was delicious. It tasted just like a steak from back home. Dayyibu did the ordering and I just sat down and waited. It cost 500 francs (a little over a dollar) to get a dish that had probably about a third pound of meat. They also give you a plate that has a little bit of salt and pepe (a pepper similar to cayenne) on it. You eat the meat with your fingers (with your right hand) and can dip it into the salt/pepe. Dayyibu I and split three orders of the meat and we each had a cup of hot tea. The tea was very good and sweet, with lots of sugar. All in all the whole meal cost a little less than 5 dollars between the two of us and filled me up pretty well. The area where the giant meat slaps are cut up looked pretty unsanitary but hey, that’s what the fire is for. Joan said as long as the food is still hot when you get it, you’ll be okay. Never eat something that isn’t hot except for fruits that have not been peeled yet. They’re still okay.

The chop house had picnic tables with benches to sit. It was a little awkward because just about the whole time we were there, there was a man down the table from us that would NOT take his eyes off of me. It was just constant staring. It’s like he had never seen a white man before. Other guys in the room gave me occasional glances but not the blatant stare of this man. I’m used to getting looks in town, most of them are indifferent. Sometimes the children smile and wave and shout “Nassara!” (white man). And then adults who personally know whoever I’m with, like Dayyibu or Sulemanu, will come up to me with a smile, shake my hand and say “good morning!” or “welcome!” or “how are you?” I do my best to respond in Fulfude, trying to learn the language, but then ultimately I have to say “Mi yafi, mi famay ko bii da Fulfulde” which means “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Fulfulde.” They just smile and continue in as much English as they can.

Yesterday, I taught Tim, Bethany, Abdu, Joan and a man named Hagi, more about engines using a chalk board to draw out diagrams. I also continued to work on the engine that was missing a gasket but it has no compression. I can’t determine where it is leaking compression without an air compressor, so we’re going to have to figure out a way to hook some compressed air up to a tank. It may be a while before we have something though. Afterwards, Abdu and I watched another movie. Then dinner time came and I spent the evening with the Lokkers.

Today, we went into the “bush” to take a man from the church home. The bush is basically the middle of nowhere. It’s referred to as the “bush” because, as you can guess, there are lots of wild bushes and not very many roads or paths. To get there, we drove in a Toyota Hilux, which is basically a beefed up version of the Toyota Tacoma. Its suspension is very stiff and the half hour ride there was very rough. I even hopped a few inches off the seat a couple times when we hit deep pits in the road. We loaded up some firewood at the man’s home and took it back with us to use during the wet season. They burn fires in the bukarus (the grass roofed huts) in order to keep bugs out and get rid of moisture. Currently, I’m teaching Abdu how to use his newly set up Yahoo mail account.

That’s all for now!