The great thing about having to uproot your life every few years is that you take things for granted less, and the departure always make you take notice on insignificant details of daily life. The other day, my fellow PCVs were discussing how we wish we can record the sounds of this country. Here are some of mine:
• the neighbor’s chickens that come to my back yard to eat scrap food
• old clunky cars and busses that struggle to make it up the hill
• the RFI (Radio France International) sound bite that announces time
• sound of Batié, pidgin, and Cameroonian English
• merchants yelling prices of different things in the market (cent-cent franc! deux-deux cent!)
• rain falling on my tin roof
• Nigerian music, specifically P-Square
• Cameroonian music of any kind
• Cameroonian sayings from Cameroonians: Ouais! tsk tsk. je dis que, tu m’as gardé quoi? patience, ma fille, etc.
• ringing tone from MTN when you call someone
• the general chaos that occur when many Cameroonians are in the same area
• sound of kids saying “bonjour, madame Wendy”
In other random reporting of things I will miss about Cameroon: bar shopping. In case you were wondering what are these big yellow slippers, they are my most prized bar shopping purchases. One Saturday afternoon, while sitting at our bar in Bafoussam, a guy walked by with several pairs of shoes as they do. Those big yellow duck feet stood out and I immediately thought, “omg those are too funny, I must have them!” It all began as a joke, but now, I think these may come home to the US with me and become the mascot of my service!
