Send Off

Few weeks ago, Antoine, a driver for the Peace Corps who happens to be the chief of my quartier threw me a going-away party at his house. True to Cameroonian form, I was unaware of the time and whether I was suppose to invite people myself until the day before the event. I was running all around town on that Friday prior, contacting all my friends and people whom I've worked with and informing them to come for my send off "tomorrow at 2pm". I received a lot of, "that's kind of a late notice, but I'll do my best". Usually, when you hear that in the US, that means, "um yeah, I won't be there". Since there were also lots of funérailles happening and various events on the same day, I was expecting for a small gathering with some villagers, instead, I was faced with a FÊTE!

People trickled in slowly. While not on time, the party was well on its way an hour in - this is amazing for a Cameroonian event. I think my friends have all been well-conditioned to my on-timeness. Those 100 CFA fine for tardiness is paying off!

The mayor and his secretary general presented me with three traditional kabbas. Antoine's family prepared a huge feast. My landlord showered the event with champagne. I was symbolically presented with a set of twins in hope that I will have lots of kids and return for a visit in the future. Friends came in from Yaoundé just for the party. People sang my praises for FIVE hours. If it wasn't for the sporadic jokes about me staying and never going back in between, I don't know how I would have held it together. All of my close friends from the village made it despite the crazy events that were occurring simultaneously that day in village.

I was really touched by the speeches that people gave. They made me realize that people do notice the work that I had done and are incredibly appreciative of it. The positive energy gave me hope again in development work and reassured my decision to pursue graduate studies in international development.

Later in the week, I was in Bafoussam and ran into one of my previous business students that no longer lives in village. I told him about my departure, and few days later, he phoned to tell me that he had left me a gift at the local bar. Today, I picked it up and it was a beautiful wood-carving hanging. As I was packing, gifts of appreciation from my time here filled my bag. They mean so much more to me than any souvenir that I could possibly purchase. I am going to miss this country despite its quirkiness, and there will always be a place in my heart for the village of Batié. I hope to do all that I can to pay a visit in 5 years and see how it has evolved.

Turkey Day!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all!

At the very last minute, a friend coaxed me into attending a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by other PCVs. If you didn't know this about me, I am a very lazy person, socially. People like me in a crowd because I just follow whatever plans someone has made, no real objections, ever. I'm the dream of every social control freak. However, this means when there is no one telling me what the plans are, I am perfectly content to stay home and read a book.

For this Thanksgiving, I was perfectly content to go hang out with my Chinese family until someone more or less said, "you are coming to Thanksgiving, it's at this place, show up."

And, per my compliant self, I did. Boy was it a good time!

Besides the subsitution of chickens for Turkey, I think that Thanksgiving might have been more "American" than ones I would've had back in the U.S. As you know, with my Chinese family, we always had to add some Chinese flavor to our Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to someone's family's generous care package, at our dinner, we had the works - stove top stuffing, gravy, chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, brownies, etc. It was legit!

For me, Thanksgiving is one of those rare occasions where it is really nice to be with Americans. In some ways, Thanksgiving is almost like the "American Christmas". Most Western cultures celebrate Christmas, but only Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. And when it comes down to it, the two holidays are similar - it's about being with family, and lots of food! :) I almost prefer Thanksgiving because it doesn't involve the whole present fuss.

I've spent more Thanksgiving abroad in recent years, but there has always been a made-up Thanksgiving upon my return. Next July, there will surely be a Thanksgiving meal at the Lee household! Holidays abroad isn't always easy, and I've had to endure many of them. This is the price you pay for a life of a wandering globetrotter. On the upside, with the right people, these occasions often make memories that last a lifetime.

Celebrating Old Age

This past weekend my rich neighbor had a BIG fête! My moto guy is a family member of this rich neighbor and they live in the same concession. He informed me of this rare event that occurs only once every 5 years or so - a fête to celebrate the elders in the family that reached 70 years old.

For weeks, the rich neighbor's house have had workers layering bricks on the cement barriers, and all sorts of other work. The event was a 3-day ordeal. Friday evening was the Bamiléké traditional dance where villagers not only got out their outfits, but also the animal skin, horns, the works! Most of the neighbors all gathered to see the event, especially the kids.


The next day, I was invited to the mass ceremony honoring the elders. When they told me mass, I thought they meant we'd all meet and then go to a church. But oh no, how wrong I was. They meant they'll bring the church to their gigantic courtyard - and they did. It was mighty impressive!

The makeshift church - pretty legit looking!

Church Choir was there - all pretty in... pink?

People like my neighbor makes me realize that people here have A LOT of money. However, the distribution of wealth is all off (kind of the case everywhere in the world, right?). My motor guy, Emmanuel, who is a part of the family, does not enjoy any of the wealth and he works all day on his moto and gain a measly pay.

Anyway, I attended the mass and then the big dinner afterward. It would have been fun to stay and dance with people, but with all the guests (more than 500), I was pretty lost among all the people I didn't know. So instead of sticking around, I retired to my house soon after dinner. This is when I really miss having a buffer. When Juliette was in village, we would go to things like this and hang out with each other while have a blast with villagers. Unfortunately without her, it's not quite the same, and doesn't feel as safe...