So far, most days have more or less been the same. I start out by teaching Algebra at 8:15. I have a break from 9-10, and then I have swimming from 10-11:30. Lunch is from 12-12:30 and then I have free time in the afternoon.
The algebra class has been coming along fine and I think most of the students understand well enough. They had a test today and most of the kids did pretty well. I can see a definite improvement in swimming. The kids are getting their rhythm and form down a lot better than it was when we first started. They usually only have a couple times to practice swimming a year. Once at FES in February, and then maybe one or two other times when going to the ocean.
Today we mostly practiced the side-stroke, having each individual student practice the strokes that are giving them the most trouble (either back stroke, freestyle or breast), and then some diving practice. Today we gave the kids more free time than they usually have and I think we’re hoping to leave for swimming a little earlier each day next week (around 9:45) to give them just that much more free time. We did chicken fights towards the very end which was a lot of fun. I was a base with Cory on top and we, as a team, definitely did better than most.
Most evenings, after dinner, I usually play games with the kids. Usually we play Mafia where one person is the killer, one person is a doctor, and just about everyone else is a townsperson. Everyone “goes to sleep”, the killer selects one person to kill, everyone wakes up and finds one person dead, everyone starts accusing everyone else of being the killer, and a narrator is overseeing the whole game as it progresses. Or we play Murder in the Dark. A very similar game but takes place in the dark and involves moving around to avoid being killed off.
Yesterday afternoon, I did laundry in the washing machine here at the Convention. While the laundry was going I fell asleep. I slept from about 1:45 to 6:30. Dinner was at 5:30 so I missed it. By the end of dinner, there’s usually only a little bit of food left so I figured it probably wasn’t worth getting dinner at the convention, which costs 2,500 francs ($5.30). I wanted to get some soya (steak meat) so I walked out of the convention to see if anyone nearby would be selling some.
Usually there’s a guy just across the street from the convention who has soya on a stick, but by the time I got there (9 or so), he was already closed. I was hoping to get cuts of soya instead of soya on a stick anyway. Actual cuts of the meat always taste better than on a stick. There was a 15 year old boy, named Belami, near where the man across the street usually has his cart/grill open for soya. He told me he could take me to a place that would have soya at this hour. I asked him where it was and he pointed in the direction of the neighborhood that Joan told me not to go towards at night. There are lots of bars, casinos and thieves in this area at night and it’s not really safe. He said it wasn’t far and I figured as long as I stay in a lit area and don’t follow him into any dark alleys, I should probably be okay.
We only walked for about four minutes, passed a couple bars and casinos, and there was a vendor right on the street with his grill going, with strips of steak cooking. He gave me a small sample on a toothpick and I asked for 500 francs ($1.10) worth. He took two strips of steak of the grill, cut it up into smaller pieces, put it in a brown paper bag, sprinkled some peppe sauce (hot sauce) on the soya, and put the bag on the grill to keep hot while we did the money transaction. I gave him 500 francs and 100 francs to the boy for his help. I then walked back to the convention, made myself some beef flavored Ramen noodles I bought at the store in the market and had a delicious dinner. All in all, it wasn’t a bad deal.
Tomorrow, I will go with Joan and a few other moms here at the convention to a baby naming ceremony in a town about an hour outside of Banyo. It’ll be my second baby naming ceremony in Cameroon and apparently there will be a lot of people there.
I uploaded some more pictures to Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036763&id=1337370415&l=380582917b
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
FES in Bamenda
On Sunday morning, around 7:30, the Lokkers and I left Banyo to go to Bamenda. It took about 9 or so hours to get here. The ride wasn’t too bad. It was a bit sunny and hot that day but the ride was smoother than normal thanks to our luggage weighing the suspension down a little bit. With no weight, the springs are pretty stiff and you feel every bump.
We arrived at the Cameroonian Baptist Convention in Bamenda just in time for dinner and the opening ceremonies of FES, the two week missionary kids school. The children, ages 6 to 8th grade, each had to do some sort of presentation. The kids either recited poems, sang songs, one girl played the piano, and Tim prepared a video slideshow of the Lokker family.
Currently, I’m staying in a guest house at the convention. Most families share a one or two room apartment but I, for a little while, have a whole house. It has about 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and one bathroom. They more or less didn’t have a place to put me so they put me here in the meantime. It was being occupied by a family of seven up until January. When I first got here, I was told I would probably be staying in this house the whole time and get a house guest this Friday. However, now it looks like I may move to a place a little closer to the center of the property. I kind of like it here though. It’s big and it has internet access that I can plug into. The other rooms wouldn’t have that. We’ll see what happens.
Every Monday through Friday over these two weeks, my day will start around 8:15 with teaching algebra to the 8th grade with Sherri. The class has five students and it lasts for about 45 minutes. I start out by either going over homework problems from the previous night, or going over the day’s lesson and using a white board to write out the problems and work through them. Then the kids practice some problems from the book on their own, we go over them, and then they start on their homework. The kids seem to be doing pretty well so far. I just hope it doesn’t get really tricky and that I can continue to teach in a clear, understandable manner. One example of the kind of problems we’re doing is: A dress shop sells more expensive dresses for $45, and less expensive dresses for $20. If they sold $1,375 and 20 more of the less expensive dresses than the more expensive dresses, how many of each dress did they sell? Usually Sherri and I will probably assign about 15 problems for homework each night. Both Fridays, the students will have a small test.
After algebra, the kids have language arts. Then it’s swimming time. It’s a few minute drive to the hotel with the swimming pool we’re using. We’re there from 10:10 until 11:30. I’m helping an adult named Nathan to teach swimming techniques to the older boys. I’m also occasionally helping out Bethany who is teaching two girls similar stuff. So far we’ve practiced treading water, scissor kicking, the freestyle stroke, breast stroke, backstroke, and diving. Soon we’ll start the butterfly stroke after the kids have improved on their endurance and technique.
The pool is 15 meters long and 8 meters wide whereas most full size pools are 25 meters. It feels about 8-10 feet deep. Still, it’s a pretty good size considering we only have about 10 students in the water at the beginning. Around 10:45, little kids (ages 4-7 approximately) from FES come, and we share the pool. So it’s a pretty nice setup but the water is a bit murky. It doesn’t smell odd, other than how pools usually smell, but it’s just a bit dark and hard to see under.
The younger kids lost a toy today towards the end of the session and Nathan tried to find it on the floor of the pool using goggles. He said that he could only see an area no bigger than four feet wide. When he was at the bottom, I could not see him at all. I joked at lunch that if someone died in the pool and sank to the bottom, they wouldn’t know about it. Apparently, a few years ago, on a Saturday night, there were people partying at the hotel, and one man was probably a bit too drunk, fell in the pool and drowned. His body wasn’t found until Monday morning, when someone was swimming and felt him at the bottom. Yikes.
When we get back from swimming, it’s just about time for lunch. Then I have free time in the afternoon while the kids are doing other classes such as art, music and learning about the Olympics. Dinner is at 5:30 and then after that, it’s mostly have freetime again. If there are events happening, then I would participate in those but last night nothing really happened. I make small chit-chat with some of the people around here but usually most people are pretty busy, so I’ve been spending time in my room, relaxing and catching up on some reading.
We arrived at the Cameroonian Baptist Convention in Bamenda just in time for dinner and the opening ceremonies of FES, the two week missionary kids school. The children, ages 6 to 8th grade, each had to do some sort of presentation. The kids either recited poems, sang songs, one girl played the piano, and Tim prepared a video slideshow of the Lokker family.
Currently, I’m staying in a guest house at the convention. Most families share a one or two room apartment but I, for a little while, have a whole house. It has about 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and one bathroom. They more or less didn’t have a place to put me so they put me here in the meantime. It was being occupied by a family of seven up until January. When I first got here, I was told I would probably be staying in this house the whole time and get a house guest this Friday. However, now it looks like I may move to a place a little closer to the center of the property. I kind of like it here though. It’s big and it has internet access that I can plug into. The other rooms wouldn’t have that. We’ll see what happens.
Every Monday through Friday over these two weeks, my day will start around 8:15 with teaching algebra to the 8th grade with Sherri. The class has five students and it lasts for about 45 minutes. I start out by either going over homework problems from the previous night, or going over the day’s lesson and using a white board to write out the problems and work through them. Then the kids practice some problems from the book on their own, we go over them, and then they start on their homework. The kids seem to be doing pretty well so far. I just hope it doesn’t get really tricky and that I can continue to teach in a clear, understandable manner. One example of the kind of problems we’re doing is: A dress shop sells more expensive dresses for $45, and less expensive dresses for $20. If they sold $1,375 and 20 more of the less expensive dresses than the more expensive dresses, how many of each dress did they sell? Usually Sherri and I will probably assign about 15 problems for homework each night. Both Fridays, the students will have a small test.
After algebra, the kids have language arts. Then it’s swimming time. It’s a few minute drive to the hotel with the swimming pool we’re using. We’re there from 10:10 until 11:30. I’m helping an adult named Nathan to teach swimming techniques to the older boys. I’m also occasionally helping out Bethany who is teaching two girls similar stuff. So far we’ve practiced treading water, scissor kicking, the freestyle stroke, breast stroke, backstroke, and diving. Soon we’ll start the butterfly stroke after the kids have improved on their endurance and technique.
The pool is 15 meters long and 8 meters wide whereas most full size pools are 25 meters. It feels about 8-10 feet deep. Still, it’s a pretty good size considering we only have about 10 students in the water at the beginning. Around 10:45, little kids (ages 4-7 approximately) from FES come, and we share the pool. So it’s a pretty nice setup but the water is a bit murky. It doesn’t smell odd, other than how pools usually smell, but it’s just a bit dark and hard to see under.
The younger kids lost a toy today towards the end of the session and Nathan tried to find it on the floor of the pool using goggles. He said that he could only see an area no bigger than four feet wide. When he was at the bottom, I could not see him at all. I joked at lunch that if someone died in the pool and sank to the bottom, they wouldn’t know about it. Apparently, a few years ago, on a Saturday night, there were people partying at the hotel, and one man was probably a bit too drunk, fell in the pool and drowned. His body wasn’t found until Monday morning, when someone was swimming and felt him at the bottom. Yikes.
When we get back from swimming, it’s just about time for lunch. Then I have free time in the afternoon while the kids are doing other classes such as art, music and learning about the Olympics. Dinner is at 5:30 and then after that, it’s mostly have freetime again. If there are events happening, then I would participate in those but last night nothing really happened. I make small chit-chat with some of the people around here but usually most people are pretty busy, so I’ve been spending time in my room, relaxing and catching up on some reading.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
A wedding and some pictures!
On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a wedding in the nearby town of Mayo Forra (about 45 minutes away). The wedding was very long and felt more like attending church than attending a wedding. Abdu and I were there for four hours and didn’t get to stay the whole time because we had to leave to go camping before it got too dark. The wedding had about an hour and a half worth of sermons, lots of dancing and lots of singing. It took place outside of the Baptist Church in Mayo Forra, and just about everyone there was Christian, I believe. The Muslims around here don’t really have weddings. You’re just married when you decide to be and go to the government to get the proper documentation. I was the only white person there and I got a lot of looks, which is pretty normal. The bride and groom do put a ring on each other’s finger at the end, but there is no kiss like there is in our weddings in the States. They do, however, get money stuck to the foreheads as a gesture of good fortune during a dancing/singing part of the wedding. I thought it was pretty interesting.
Another thing that was pretty interesting is that the bride looks sad throughout the whole wedding. The whole time I thought something was wrong but apparently it’s a tradition. It’s supposed to be a sign of humbleness and shame. She really looked depressed. I figured every woman was as happy as could be on their wedding day. She certainly didn’t look it. Joan told me that she probably is very happy on the inside-you’re just supposed to look sad.
Tomorrow morning, the Lokkers and I will leave to go to Bamenda for two weeks for a missionary kid’s homeschooling session called FES. Bob will actually come back to Banyo a couple days after we get there but will be back again in Bamenda to see Tim graduate. I will be helping out, teaching Algebra to 8th grade students. While I’m there, I’m hoping to get my hands on some hard to find motorcycle parts, as well as parts to make the air compressor usable. We shall see what I can find. I’ll also look for gifts and stuff to bring back home since Bamenda is apparently a good place to find lots of good “African-style” goodies. I’m just about all out of cash. I spent my last little bit on some soya after the wedding. So now I can go to an ATM at a bank in Bamenda and withdraw some more.
I uploaded a ton of pictures to facebook and everyone can see them by following this link. You don’t need a facebook to view the photos. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036304&id=1337370415&l=f412a9d1fe
Another thing that was pretty interesting is that the bride looks sad throughout the whole wedding. The whole time I thought something was wrong but apparently it’s a tradition. It’s supposed to be a sign of humbleness and shame. She really looked depressed. I figured every woman was as happy as could be on their wedding day. She certainly didn’t look it. Joan told me that she probably is very happy on the inside-you’re just supposed to look sad.
Tomorrow morning, the Lokkers and I will leave to go to Bamenda for two weeks for a missionary kid’s homeschooling session called FES. Bob will actually come back to Banyo a couple days after we get there but will be back again in Bamenda to see Tim graduate. I will be helping out, teaching Algebra to 8th grade students. While I’m there, I’m hoping to get my hands on some hard to find motorcycle parts, as well as parts to make the air compressor usable. We shall see what I can find. I’ll also look for gifts and stuff to bring back home since Bamenda is apparently a good place to find lots of good “African-style” goodies. I’m just about all out of cash. I spent my last little bit on some soya after the wedding. So now I can go to an ATM at a bank in Bamenda and withdraw some more.
I uploaded a ton of pictures to facebook and everyone can see them by following this link. You don’t need a facebook to view the photos. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036304&id=1337370415&l=f412a9d1fe
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Power out, for a bit.
Well I’ve been without power since Saturday. Actually, the power just came back on to my house a few hours ago. Apparently the voltage from the town’s power station surged to 380V Saturday morning and should have tripped a main circuit breaker about a half a mile away from Wouram. The circuit breaker cuts off power to the Wouram hospital, and about 40 houses, mine included. Well, the circuit breaker did not do its job and the 380V continued to the hospital and every house it serves. As a result, a breaker at the hospital blew and started a small fire. No one was hurt and the damage was limited to just one room, but it caused quite a bit of a headache for the hospital’s technician who had to clean up the mess, and is still repairing the damage done. The hospital has power now though so I guess it’s mostly fixed. Luckily none of my electrical stuff was hurt since the power was cut off at the hospital when its circuit breaker blew, and caught on fire.
Since I haven’t had electricity, I haven’t been writing my blogs in my spare time in the evening, and then sending them out when I access the internet which is what I usually do. When I’m on the internet for only a couple hours every couple days, I don’t really have the time to write out a blog. My time is usually spent writing emails, checking Facebook, checking the news, and seeing if I can find any advice online on how to fix certain engine problems. But, since I now have power and internet, I will try to write a short blog. Not much has been going on outside of the normal. I’ve been diagnosing motorcycle electrical problems here, checking out rough idling pickup trucks there… Things like that.
I’ve been operating by candlelight and flashlight in the evenings. I’ve been sticking to most of my reading during the day or at the Lokkers, who always have power for lights since they have solar power and batteries and are not relying on the town’s electricity. Although, they don’t always have 110-220V to power computers which is a luxury I do have in my house, that is, when the electricity is working.
Today, the Smiths, the people whose internet I use, just came back from the States. They arrived in Younde a couple days ago and flew into Banyo at the same “airport” strip that John and Sherri flew out of three weeks ago. Bob picked them up from the airport and took them to their house, a few minutes away from mine. They brought with them my camera cable that my sister or mom shipped to them while they were still at home in Colorado. I’m hoping to load a few pictures online. We shall see how it goes since the internet is a bit slow.
Until next time…
Since I haven’t had electricity, I haven’t been writing my blogs in my spare time in the evening, and then sending them out when I access the internet which is what I usually do. When I’m on the internet for only a couple hours every couple days, I don’t really have the time to write out a blog. My time is usually spent writing emails, checking Facebook, checking the news, and seeing if I can find any advice online on how to fix certain engine problems. But, since I now have power and internet, I will try to write a short blog. Not much has been going on outside of the normal. I’ve been diagnosing motorcycle electrical problems here, checking out rough idling pickup trucks there… Things like that.
I’ve been operating by candlelight and flashlight in the evenings. I’ve been sticking to most of my reading during the day or at the Lokkers, who always have power for lights since they have solar power and batteries and are not relying on the town’s electricity. Although, they don’t always have 110-220V to power computers which is a luxury I do have in my house, that is, when the electricity is working.
Today, the Smiths, the people whose internet I use, just came back from the States. They arrived in Younde a couple days ago and flew into Banyo at the same “airport” strip that John and Sherri flew out of three weeks ago. Bob picked them up from the airport and took them to their house, a few minutes away from mine. They brought with them my camera cable that my sister or mom shipped to them while they were still at home in Colorado. I’m hoping to load a few pictures online. We shall see how it goes since the internet is a bit slow.
Until next time…
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Fire!!
Friday started out by removing the front tire of Bob’s motorcycle. It needs new spokes and he has a friend who may be able to find some new ones. Before we’re actually able to get the spokes, I have to remove the remains of the old, broken ones, and sand down the rough inner rim, like I did with the rear wheel on the same motorcycle. I also tried to fix Abdu’s bicycle for the millionth time. He and I, over the course of a few days have taken apart the rear set of gears, known as the cassette, on his bicycle trying to get it to ratchet in one direction correctly. There is a spring that is worn and we’ve done everything we can to try and get around that fact but nothing seems to work for longer than a few minutes. We’ll have to try to find a new part for it.
Around lunch time, a nearby fire spread very quickly. The people in this area purposely burn fields in order to cut them. It’s easier to burn tall, overgrown grass and shrubs than to cut them. They need to do this before the wet season really starts in order to clear fields to plant crops. The whole time I’ve been here, it’s been happening. You see a small fire here and there every once in a while. However, today was very windy and as a result the fire spread very quickly. It came within a few meters of Bob’s home and no more than two meters from Dr. Smith’s home nearby. I took picture while the fire was at its peak, oblivious to how close it was to the peoples’ homes. I was in a different area, not noticing people scurrying around, using branches to beat small fire and buckets of water and hoses to put out larger ones. I have some pictures I will upload to the internet as soon as I get my camera cable which should be in about a week.
Bob says the fire has never gotten this close to his house before and it hardly ever spreads this quickly. The fire originated on the other side of a river nearby but managed to jump over the river, I guess through firey ashes being blown in the wind. Joan said sometimes when people start these fires, they don’t always pay close attention to them, and they walk away. Usually the fires go out by themselves which is very surprising. This area is as dry as California during the peak of its forest fires, yet the fires always go out on their own. Today however, the wind had the upper hand in the situation. Luckily, no one was seriously injured and no homes burned as far as I know. Dayyibu got a few very minor burns from putting fires out but that’s about it. Hopefully no more major fires will happen again!
Around lunch time, a nearby fire spread very quickly. The people in this area purposely burn fields in order to cut them. It’s easier to burn tall, overgrown grass and shrubs than to cut them. They need to do this before the wet season really starts in order to clear fields to plant crops. The whole time I’ve been here, it’s been happening. You see a small fire here and there every once in a while. However, today was very windy and as a result the fire spread very quickly. It came within a few meters of Bob’s home and no more than two meters from Dr. Smith’s home nearby. I took picture while the fire was at its peak, oblivious to how close it was to the peoples’ homes. I was in a different area, not noticing people scurrying around, using branches to beat small fire and buckets of water and hoses to put out larger ones. I have some pictures I will upload to the internet as soon as I get my camera cable which should be in about a week.
Bob says the fire has never gotten this close to his house before and it hardly ever spreads this quickly. The fire originated on the other side of a river nearby but managed to jump over the river, I guess through firey ashes being blown in the wind. Joan said sometimes when people start these fires, they don’t always pay close attention to them, and they walk away. Usually the fires go out by themselves which is very surprising. This area is as dry as California during the peak of its forest fires, yet the fires always go out on their own. Today however, the wind had the upper hand in the situation. Luckily, no one was seriously injured and no homes burned as far as I know. Dayyibu got a few very minor burns from putting fires out but that’s about it. Hopefully no more major fires will happen again!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Alat, Internet cutting out, and National Youth Day
On Sunday, Bob, Abdu, Sulemanu, Mosa, Dayyibu and I went to a town called Alat for church. It was a very rough, 40 minute or so drive away. I met a man named Isa at the compound there. It was just us seven guys there in a bukaru (a place for meeting/gathering). Bob did the service. Afterwards, I went on a quick tour of the compound. There is a hospital there built by the Cameroonian Baptist Convention, like the one here in Wouram. They have a workshop for building stuff like buildings and little portable household flashlights. The flashlights are basically small-diameter PVC pipe perfect for AA batteries. They then put an end cap on each side with a few LEDs on one of the end caps. They have a battery recharging station nearby for the flashlights. This way, people in the town can take these flashlights home, hang them from the ceiling and have some light for the night time. The batteries last for a few days, and when they’re depleted, for a small amount of money, they can exchange the depleted batteries for charged ones.
After we got back and had some lunch, I taught Abdu how to play Rummy 500. He seemed to get it the first hand. But then the second hand he started having trouble which confused me. He understood it fine the first time, then seemed to lose what he learned. Oh well. He started complaining it was too difficult and by that time it was time to leave to go watch a soccer game. Bethany, Joan, Abdu and I walked towards town for about half an hour to go to a soccer game very close to where the talent show was. Anna, the Peace Corps worker I spoke to at the talent show told me about it and invited us to come. She coaches an all girls soccer team and they compete against other all girls teams in the area.
They were supposed to have a match that was supposed to start at 2pm. We got there at 2:45 and they hadn’t started yet. The whole time we were walking there Abdu told me we were going to be too early. “Anna says it starts at two. That’s in Africa time. The game won’t start until four!” Well, luckily they started not too long after we got there, around 3ish. It’s very true about Africa time. When someone says 10 minutes, they mean 20-30 minutes. When someone says an hour, expect an hour and a half to two. The main reason they started so late this time is that the other team didn’t even show up. Anna had enough of her own girls show up for the game that she just split the whole team in half, and they played against each other. Anna asked Abdu if he’d be referee and he willingly said yes. He refereed the whole game which lasted about two and a half hours. I think the score was somewhere around 2-1.
Then, we walked back to Wouram. On the way back, I stopped to take a picture of a sign that was nearby some gendarme (national police) on the side of the road. Joan came running up to me and said “put your camera away!” Apparently, the gendarme have been known to demand cameras, especially if you try to take pictures of them or of official signs. I was doing neither of which but I could have easily been mistaken for doing so. Luckily they didn’t cause a problem and we kept walking. She told me as we were walking about one missionary who came, had a really nice camera and the gendarme demanded he hand it over. The missionary then called the local king, essentially the governor, and had the king speak to the gendarme. It was all worked out and the missionary kept his camera but learned to be more careful next time.
On Monday, I worked on the Mitsuba motorcycles’ electrical problems. The orange one was used and abused as a taxi and had been worked on by the mechanics in town. Its electrical system has been completely butchered. Wires are cut, joined with other wires they’re not supposed to be, some are fried, and some are completely useless. I found one strand of three wires that ran through the motorcycle but weren’t connected to anything on either end. It’s no wonder the machine doesn’t work well. The blue one on the other hand hasn’t been messed with at all but for some reason nothing electrical on it works except a useless alarm system’s “chirp chirp”. These motorcycles have all the bells and whistles: an alarm system, fuel gauge, and even a remote starter. Those are things you wouldn’t normally find on a motorcycle back home because they’re usually unnecessary. Here, however, they’re considered essential. At least, that’s what the Chinese manufacturers want you to think. However, all these bells and whistles just create more problems when they break. There are more wires in these motorcycles than in a Toyota Corolla. It’s ridiculous. And it’s a headache. Needless to say I didn’t have much luck on Monday.
Tuesday, I got Dayyibu to help me translate some songs we sing at the Tuesday morning devotion each week. Tuesday’s devotional occurs in a different bukaru than it usually does and we sing a few songs. By writing down the song in Fulfulde and then in English, I’m hoping to learn some more words. I picked out a few words I see/hear frequently and wrote them down separately as well as a reference. Afterwards, I helped Yusufu and another boy named King do some work for the store Bob is building near the hospital. Specifically, I helped dig a trench in front of the store to help prevent flooding by allowing rainwater to run away from the store. It was harder than I thought it would be. I only worked for half an hour and I was exhausted. I don’t know how these guys can do it for a couple hours at a time. I guess you get used to it and built up the strength for it. I forgot to bring some gloves with me and got a couple calluses but nothing too bad.
On Tuesday, I tried to find wiring diagrams for the Mistuba motorcycles but the internet cut out before I could really get too far. It was out for the rest of the day and on Wednesday too. That’s why I wasn’t able to post a blog then but I’m doing that first this time in case it cuts out again. The internet here occasionally cuts out and it happens for one of three reasons. 1) The electricity in Banyo is out, which happens on weekends and for a few hours in the afternoon every couple of days, 2) the internet sever at the Cameroonian Baptist Convention in Bamenda, which we get our internet through is out, or 3) the connection between here and Bemanda is out. There’s no telling how long I’ll have internet now so I’m working as fast as I can.
Today is a national holiday called National Youth Day. It’s a day for celebrating the children. There was a parade near the soccer field which Joan and I walked to. There, kids from all different ages from all the schools in Banyo marched in the parade holding signs, Cameroonian flags and singing songs. We walked around for a bit after the parade, chatting with some people Joan knew. I bought a pastry that looked a lot like a funnel cake without powdered sugar. It was pretty good. Then, Bob picked us up and took us into Banyo. Joan went grocery shopping and Bob and I bought some wood to make benches and tables for the store that is opening up. I think tomorrow we may start to build them.
After we got back and had some lunch, I taught Abdu how to play Rummy 500. He seemed to get it the first hand. But then the second hand he started having trouble which confused me. He understood it fine the first time, then seemed to lose what he learned. Oh well. He started complaining it was too difficult and by that time it was time to leave to go watch a soccer game. Bethany, Joan, Abdu and I walked towards town for about half an hour to go to a soccer game very close to where the talent show was. Anna, the Peace Corps worker I spoke to at the talent show told me about it and invited us to come. She coaches an all girls soccer team and they compete against other all girls teams in the area.
They were supposed to have a match that was supposed to start at 2pm. We got there at 2:45 and they hadn’t started yet. The whole time we were walking there Abdu told me we were going to be too early. “Anna says it starts at two. That’s in Africa time. The game won’t start until four!” Well, luckily they started not too long after we got there, around 3ish. It’s very true about Africa time. When someone says 10 minutes, they mean 20-30 minutes. When someone says an hour, expect an hour and a half to two. The main reason they started so late this time is that the other team didn’t even show up. Anna had enough of her own girls show up for the game that she just split the whole team in half, and they played against each other. Anna asked Abdu if he’d be referee and he willingly said yes. He refereed the whole game which lasted about two and a half hours. I think the score was somewhere around 2-1.
Then, we walked back to Wouram. On the way back, I stopped to take a picture of a sign that was nearby some gendarme (national police) on the side of the road. Joan came running up to me and said “put your camera away!” Apparently, the gendarme have been known to demand cameras, especially if you try to take pictures of them or of official signs. I was doing neither of which but I could have easily been mistaken for doing so. Luckily they didn’t cause a problem and we kept walking. She told me as we were walking about one missionary who came, had a really nice camera and the gendarme demanded he hand it over. The missionary then called the local king, essentially the governor, and had the king speak to the gendarme. It was all worked out and the missionary kept his camera but learned to be more careful next time.
On Monday, I worked on the Mitsuba motorcycles’ electrical problems. The orange one was used and abused as a taxi and had been worked on by the mechanics in town. Its electrical system has been completely butchered. Wires are cut, joined with other wires they’re not supposed to be, some are fried, and some are completely useless. I found one strand of three wires that ran through the motorcycle but weren’t connected to anything on either end. It’s no wonder the machine doesn’t work well. The blue one on the other hand hasn’t been messed with at all but for some reason nothing electrical on it works except a useless alarm system’s “chirp chirp”. These motorcycles have all the bells and whistles: an alarm system, fuel gauge, and even a remote starter. Those are things you wouldn’t normally find on a motorcycle back home because they’re usually unnecessary. Here, however, they’re considered essential. At least, that’s what the Chinese manufacturers want you to think. However, all these bells and whistles just create more problems when they break. There are more wires in these motorcycles than in a Toyota Corolla. It’s ridiculous. And it’s a headache. Needless to say I didn’t have much luck on Monday.
Tuesday, I got Dayyibu to help me translate some songs we sing at the Tuesday morning devotion each week. Tuesday’s devotional occurs in a different bukaru than it usually does and we sing a few songs. By writing down the song in Fulfulde and then in English, I’m hoping to learn some more words. I picked out a few words I see/hear frequently and wrote them down separately as well as a reference. Afterwards, I helped Yusufu and another boy named King do some work for the store Bob is building near the hospital. Specifically, I helped dig a trench in front of the store to help prevent flooding by allowing rainwater to run away from the store. It was harder than I thought it would be. I only worked for half an hour and I was exhausted. I don’t know how these guys can do it for a couple hours at a time. I guess you get used to it and built up the strength for it. I forgot to bring some gloves with me and got a couple calluses but nothing too bad.
On Tuesday, I tried to find wiring diagrams for the Mistuba motorcycles but the internet cut out before I could really get too far. It was out for the rest of the day and on Wednesday too. That’s why I wasn’t able to post a blog then but I’m doing that first this time in case it cuts out again. The internet here occasionally cuts out and it happens for one of three reasons. 1) The electricity in Banyo is out, which happens on weekends and for a few hours in the afternoon every couple of days, 2) the internet sever at the Cameroonian Baptist Convention in Bamenda, which we get our internet through is out, or 3) the connection between here and Bemanda is out. There’s no telling how long I’ll have internet now so I’m working as fast as I can.
Today is a national holiday called National Youth Day. It’s a day for celebrating the children. There was a parade near the soccer field which Joan and I walked to. There, kids from all different ages from all the schools in Banyo marched in the parade holding signs, Cameroonian flags and singing songs. We walked around for a bit after the parade, chatting with some people Joan knew. I bought a pastry that looked a lot like a funnel cake without powdered sugar. It was pretty good. Then, Bob picked us up and took us into Banyo. Joan went grocery shopping and Bob and I bought some wood to make benches and tables for the store that is opening up. I think tomorrow we may start to build them.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Talent Show.
Last night, Abdu invited me to go to a “party”. I said sure since I’ve never been to a party with teenagers around here. He said it was hosted by the school so I figured it was a much different party than what I’m used to at home. It actually ended up being a talent show. Abdu and I took a taxi into town around 6:45pm to go Salamoun Voyage to get some soya. They didn’t have any meat so we walked across the street to another chop house called Mayo Banyo. We had some soya, bread and coke.
Then we walked to a grocery store and I got a Mambo Bar which is a chocolate bar. It was pretty good, definitely better than Hershey’s. Then we walked to “Mairie de Banyo” which is the mayor’s administrative office where the talent show was being held. We got there around 8:20 and there were a lot of students and other people to watch standing around a roped off area in the center. In the roped off area there were a bunch of seats for teachers and administrators at the school to sit. In front of the seats was the stage for the performers and curtains to close off the stage in between acts.
Shortly after we got there Abdu told me he could find me a seat. I said no thanks. I didn’t mind standing around with everyone else. But he insisted. Well, he went up and talked to someone, and sure enough, they opened the roped off area to me and motioned for me to sit down in a seat. I felt REALLY AWKWARD being able to sit down. I felt like I was fulfilling the stereotype of a privileged white person as all of these Africans are standing together, crowding around, initially staring at me sitting down in my seat. I sat down next to an American girl in the Peace Corps that I had met at the Lokkers home about a week ago. Her name is Anna and I believe she’s somewhere in her mid-twenties. Sitting on the other side of her was a young American man named Lee who teaches at one of the three high schools here in Banyo. It was nice to be able to chat with Anna and learn a little more about the area, the schools and the talent show.
The show started around 8:40 or so with a group of girls singing. Most of the acts were either dancing, singing, a combination of the two, or a skit. I didn’t really understand the skits since they were either done in French or in Pigeon but I really enjoyed the show. If someone liked a certain skit, they could come up and put money in a box right in front of the stage. The audience would go wild and start to clap and cheer when people would put money in. I believe the money was split between the school, as a fundraiser, and to the skit performers themselves. The show had about 20 acts and lasted around two hours. Afterwards, Abdu and I went back into town for a little more soya, and then walked home. All in all, it was a pretty good night.
Then we walked to a grocery store and I got a Mambo Bar which is a chocolate bar. It was pretty good, definitely better than Hershey’s. Then we walked to “Mairie de Banyo” which is the mayor’s administrative office where the talent show was being held. We got there around 8:20 and there were a lot of students and other people to watch standing around a roped off area in the center. In the roped off area there were a bunch of seats for teachers and administrators at the school to sit. In front of the seats was the stage for the performers and curtains to close off the stage in between acts.
Shortly after we got there Abdu told me he could find me a seat. I said no thanks. I didn’t mind standing around with everyone else. But he insisted. Well, he went up and talked to someone, and sure enough, they opened the roped off area to me and motioned for me to sit down in a seat. I felt REALLY AWKWARD being able to sit down. I felt like I was fulfilling the stereotype of a privileged white person as all of these Africans are standing together, crowding around, initially staring at me sitting down in my seat. I sat down next to an American girl in the Peace Corps that I had met at the Lokkers home about a week ago. Her name is Anna and I believe she’s somewhere in her mid-twenties. Sitting on the other side of her was a young American man named Lee who teaches at one of the three high schools here in Banyo. It was nice to be able to chat with Anna and learn a little more about the area, the schools and the talent show.
The show started around 8:40 or so with a group of girls singing. Most of the acts were either dancing, singing, a combination of the two, or a skit. I didn’t really understand the skits since they were either done in French or in Pigeon but I really enjoyed the show. If someone liked a certain skit, they could come up and put money in a box right in front of the stage. The audience would go wild and start to clap and cheer when people would put money in. I believe the money was split between the school, as a fundraiser, and to the skit performers themselves. The show had about 20 acts and lasted around two hours. Afterwards, Abdu and I went back into town for a little more soya, and then walked home. All in all, it was a pretty good night.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Cheap products.
Monday, I slept through my alarm and Bob came to my door at 10:20 to see if I was okay. He thought maybe I was feeling sick but I explained I just didn’t wake up. He just kind of laughed. No big deal. I fixed a leak on the carburetor on the orange Mitsuba, took it for a test drive for not even a minute and the chain fell off. I took the rear wheel off and found A) the bolt/nut holding the rear wheel on wasn’t tight at all. In fact, it had about an inch of play where I could slide it back and forth. B) one of the wheel’s ball bearings was extremely loose and needed to be replaced. And C) The eye-hook that applies tension to the chain was stripped and not holding up at all. These extremely cheap bikes always have problems with them. It’s like as soon as you fix one thing, three other things go wrong. I don’t understand how a country with incompetent motorcycle engineers could control most of America’s debt but somehow it happened. I guess if you make large quantities of cheap products, your customers just have to keep on buying more cheap products when their first set of cheap products breaks. Did I mention this bike is not even a year and a half old? I asked Dayyibu if it was maybe under a warranty and he looked at me kind of puzzled. I explained what a warranty was and he kind of just laughed and shook his head. By the end of the day, I was so mad with Chinese made products. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a Chinese made motorcycle or car. What a headache.
Tuesday, Dayyibu and I went into town to get parts for the Mitsuba, some new spokes for Bob’s Jialing motorcycle and some lighting fixtures for Dayyibu’s house. We’re currently in the process of switching it over from the 12V solar power system to the 220V electricity coming into my house. The fixtures all need to be changed over to ones that can handle 220V. We had to go to about 5 motorcycle parts stores to find the parts we needed and we still couldn’t get the spokes for the Jialing. They’re not very common around here. Most motorcycles you see are either made by Mitsuba, Daylong or Carter. You occasionally see a Honda or Yamaha but it’s really up in the air as to whether it’s a legitimate Yamaha or Honda. (See my blog from a couple weeks ago explaining knock-off brands around here.) I switched over all the parts for the Mitsuba, got it back together and the rear seems to be working great. Dayyibu took it for a test drive and he said it did well. It was parked for about twenty minutes and then the stupid carburetor started leaking again! I couldn’t believe it.
I called it a day on the Mitsuba and started to take a look at the diesel powered air compressor. I read the owner’s manual on the compressor and engine before doing anything. I gave the engine a try and it started up on the 8th or so pull. Pretty good for not having run for over a year. It sounded pretty strong and compressed air really fast. It seemed like the tank would fill in just a couple minutes. My compressor at home takes about 5 minutes to fill. Admittedly, this is a 10hp Yanmar diesel powered compressor, whereas my electric compressor at home is I think rated at 4hp or so. It had a leak in the air pressure regulator so I took it apart to see what was wrong. A rubber gasket wasn’t sitting in its spot right, so I adjusted it, put it back together and there is just a little hole in a pipe.
Bob’s friend Abdu is going into Bafousam, the third largest city in Cameroon and can pick up some parts for us. Hopefully he’ll be able to find new spokes and a few gaskets for Bob’s Jialing motorcycle which has an oil leak. Also, hopefully he’ll be able to find new fittings for the air compressor, a hose, an air gun, and a tire inflator. That would really make the compressor very useful. He’ll be back in a few days I think, so we shall see.
Tuesday, Dayyibu and I went into town to get parts for the Mitsuba, some new spokes for Bob’s Jialing motorcycle and some lighting fixtures for Dayyibu’s house. We’re currently in the process of switching it over from the 12V solar power system to the 220V electricity coming into my house. The fixtures all need to be changed over to ones that can handle 220V. We had to go to about 5 motorcycle parts stores to find the parts we needed and we still couldn’t get the spokes for the Jialing. They’re not very common around here. Most motorcycles you see are either made by Mitsuba, Daylong or Carter. You occasionally see a Honda or Yamaha but it’s really up in the air as to whether it’s a legitimate Yamaha or Honda. (See my blog from a couple weeks ago explaining knock-off brands around here.) I switched over all the parts for the Mitsuba, got it back together and the rear seems to be working great. Dayyibu took it for a test drive and he said it did well. It was parked for about twenty minutes and then the stupid carburetor started leaking again! I couldn’t believe it.
I called it a day on the Mitsuba and started to take a look at the diesel powered air compressor. I read the owner’s manual on the compressor and engine before doing anything. I gave the engine a try and it started up on the 8th or so pull. Pretty good for not having run for over a year. It sounded pretty strong and compressed air really fast. It seemed like the tank would fill in just a couple minutes. My compressor at home takes about 5 minutes to fill. Admittedly, this is a 10hp Yanmar diesel powered compressor, whereas my electric compressor at home is I think rated at 4hp or so. It had a leak in the air pressure regulator so I took it apart to see what was wrong. A rubber gasket wasn’t sitting in its spot right, so I adjusted it, put it back together and there is just a little hole in a pipe.
Bob’s friend Abdu is going into Bafousam, the third largest city in Cameroon and can pick up some parts for us. Hopefully he’ll be able to find new spokes and a few gaskets for Bob’s Jialing motorcycle which has an oil leak. Also, hopefully he’ll be able to find new fittings for the air compressor, a hose, an air gun, and a tire inflator. That would really make the compressor very useful. He’ll be back in a few days I think, so we shall see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
