The older kids seems to "get" the cultural exchange a little better than the younger ones; last Tuesday (using an idea inspired by my fantastic cousin Allison) I did a Q&A type thing with the 6th grade, where they were asked to tell me about themselves and their family and also ask me about my culture and country on a piece of paper, and then I drew questions from a bag. I got a lot of very mechanical questions and descriptions based on how I phrased the assignment (e.g. I said, "you could ask about my family." Question received multiple times: "How is your family?"), but it was still a success in my mind.
Although we're all speaking English, the language here is totally different from what I'm used to in many respects. Their liberal use of the gerund tense led to questions like "are you people eating fufu?" and "are you having blacks in America?" Four people asked if I knew Hannah Montana, and one girl wanted to know why white people have long noses and black people have short ones (thank goodness I didn't pull that question in front of the class...). Later, I was able to go back and read what they wrote about themselves. It was interesting to see what kids said that were the same--for example, a huge majority talked about how peaceful of a country Cameroon is, and that's why they love it. Most of them told me their favorite food, the name of their traditional dance, where their parents come from. It was heartwarming to see so many kids talk about how much they loved their families and how much their parents care for them. On the other hand, there were a couple not-so-happy stories--kids who said they didn't have enough money to eat in the morning or that their parents were sick and didn't work. They stick out in my mind against the others, but really there were very few.
I was planning on continuing answering questions with 6th grade today, but I was not surprised when teachers told me at the last minute yesterday that there "may not be functional classes" on account of International Women's Day celebrations today. It's a huge deal in Cameroon compared to the United States, where the majority of people aren't even aware of its existence (Cameroonians were quite confused to hear that: "it's international!" they argued). Most women wear special dresses made out of a fabric exclusively for Women's Day, and it's different every year. It's got the date on it and everything!
There was a parade this morning which I sadly did not attend. I did, however, spend what seemed like an eternity at a bar this morning with the male teachers. We discussed many culturally insensitive things I have done here (crossing my legs in the presence of a man, extending my arm to shake hands with an elder, etc. Oops.). They definitely looked askance at me for choosing a Fanta, but I decided that 10:30 AM was just not an acceptable time for me to be drinking Guinness. Over the course of the day, I probably drank an entire liter of soda on my own because they would NEVER take no for an answer when they asked what I would "take next." Later in the afternoon, when we met up with the women, we were each presented with a heaping plate of chicken and fried plantains (which I was pretty please with considering I didn't have to dip my fingers into anything--I just had to pick up the food and eat it). Honestly, I LOVE fried plantains, but when this plate appeared in front of me I definitely freaked out a little:
At this point, post-consumption of about half of the contents of this photo, I'm just praying that I don't end up with food poisoning. Unknown meat tends to be a recipe for disaster. But the phrase "When in Rome..." dictates my life in other countries and I am more than happy about it.
So, Bonne Fête to all! Happy Women's Day!
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