The Land of Juxtapositions

Hello ALL! Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote, but to be completely honest, I've been at a loss of what to write. Basically, after you get over the fact that everyone carry's things on their heads (for example, my friend Danielle carried my 55 lbs suitcase on his head up the mountain), everyone stares at you and little kids whisper, 'white man' as you walk by and some of them cry, every price you are given is just a starting offer and you should start the bargaining by cutting that price in half, everything comes with little black plastic bags from beans and rice to a pair of sandles, everything is dirty, slow (except for the taxis) and broken...kind of looking like it's 30 years old but it's new, and everything you eat is made with orange, incredibly staining palm oil...it's just like any other place!
When I got here, everything was SO interesting and I walked around sort of wide-eyed, but now it all seems pretty normal to me. Everyone sings, no matter who is around or how quiet it is, a typical taxi fare (you take a taxi everywhere) is about 100-200 Francs (500 francs = 1 dollar), oranges are 50 francs each and you squeeze the juice into your mouth, a cell phone (basic) costs about 20,000 francs ($40) and EVERYONE has a cell phone which is pay-as-you-go and you can buy 'credit' for your phone EVERYWHERE as their are 'call boxes' and trasfer places, hundreds of them, everywhere you go. All of this seems pretty normal to me. I moved to Kingston in first year and things were odd but eventually became normal; given that Africa was a little bit more different, somehow you adapt just the same. I'm used to power and water being out for most of the day, I'm used to haggling and walking away when i don't like the price and i'm used to eating rice, beans, water leaf and kasava every day. It is kind of odd that where I am is normal to me, but it is and that's why I haven't written for so long.
The reason I chose the title I did is because I feel as though I understand a little bit more about uneven development... or aspects of 'modernization' mixing with the lack of actual internal momentum for that kind of 'development' or modernizing (all of you who know me well know that I'm cringing every time I use those kinds of words, but for a lack of a better term, I must use them). Although the government here is completely corrupt and disfunctional aka voting is complete joke (for example my boss told me this morning that what happened in the last election was that the register simply didn't contain your name unless you belonged to the ruling party, so those who weren't going to vote for the president who has been ruling since 1982 couldn't vote = landslide victory), there is absolutely no concept of 'garbage' here meaning that there is simply trash everywhere because the city council can't organize pick up, all these types of things being true... somehow there are cell phones, computers, internet and modern clothes. I feel like it's so bizarre to look around and see people in traditional clothes next to dolce and gabana. I feel completely underdressed here next to either of those people because the traditional dress is beautiful and I didn't bring regular clothes here really, mostly t-shirts and the like. I'm sorry this is SO rambly but i'm just trying to write something so that you have some idea of what's going on...what i'm trying to say is that it's just so odd that you have some things that are totally normal and 'western' and then other things outside of the towns that are still very traditional that sort of permeate into the city and this makes for a very intersting mix.

Some other general things to mention are that although there are restaraunts and bars everywhere here they typically serve 3-5 items that are the same aka some traditional dishes, rice, beans, stew and tomato sauce (that is just runny). In addition, the bars and little huts have women with several coolers that serve food (the same food) out of them an a typical meal costs about 300 francs. This is mostly what I eat. I am now in my new host's home, the doctor I am working for and she has 4 children, variously related to her living with her. Something that is quite odd here is that children do ALL the house-related work; they cook all the meals, they clean, they do laundry and basically anything else that needs to be done so that by the time they are about 12, they can do anything for themselves. I guess that gives you a new perspective on children-run households where the parents have passed away - we don't need to teach them how to cook and clean we need to educate them so they can support their families. Speaking of education, what I have discovered here quickly is that unemployment is the BIGGEST problem in Cameroon. The joke in Canada is that we'll graduate and work at Starbucks or McD's but here...they would be greatful for that job. Most university students are lucky to get a manual job or a job driving a taxi or sitting in a call booth (call booths are stands with a phone and person and you pay 100 francs for a call that is under 60 seconds - this is if your phone is out of credit or you don't have a phone). Basically, university students are to work in the government, schools etc but there are NO jobs yet they continue training students in these fields. Basically what that means is that most, probably 90% of the population is either unemployed or self-employed, self-employed being sitting at a wooden stand all day trying to sell oranges, tomatos, accra or smoked fish. I don't understand and I can't conceive of how each person makes a living doing that but I have been told that farmers do alright here in the market... but i see this tiny little table full of handful of fruits/veggies and they sit there all day...I wonder how much they sell... in fact i am tempted to sit all day one day just to see how many oranges they sell. At least they are keeping 'busy' is what some people say. On that note, it doesn't seem like 'poverty' is a huge issue here... what I mean is that you don't see some starving child on the street or some destitute looking person. I guess I came to the wrong place if I want to see that kind of thing - apparently you need to be in a more rural location for such a thing. But I wonder, there must be some of that here... I just don't know where? What this means for me is that it is QUITE difficult to assess what is needed here and thus what I should be doing. Although my doctor is brilliant and great, I haven't had too much to do thus far...i'm sort of working on a survey that is pretty much done, I am supposed to be recruiting people from groups to train them as peer educators but the person i was supposed to be doing that with today didn't show up and i'm supposed to be running a meeting for previously trained educators. I will also (hopefully) be volunteering at a hospital, an orphanage and an HIV/AIDS clinic, and also maybe an NGO that helps widows - widow rites here are CRAZY - I was just told about some of them last night by a friend who's aunt runs the widow NGO. Basically it includes things like no showering, shaving your head, sleeping on plantain leaves and one of the most shocking, rolling a plantain leaf (HUGE), putting some oil on it and putting it in your vagina for a few days in order to protect yourself from the spirit of your husband or other dead men that may want to 'lay with you.' I can't imagine! Right now, my boss found out I can type, so i'm typing BOOKS of notes for her nursing school/institute that she's starting. What i'm going to do is read a bunch and come up with a bunch of things I want to do and get going on those which is apparently doable. SO that's my plan for now in terms of my NGO.
Other than all of that, I was actually really bored this weekend because other than wandering, eating and drinking (pop and MAYBE some beer), therei s really nothing to do here. This weekend I'm going to Douala for a housewarming party for another intern and hopefully next weekend I'm going to Limbe, the beach with black (volcanic) sand. I am planning some trips to the north which is supposed to be really cool and different as well as to Egypt and people's villages to see more 'cultural' stuff. I am much less bored now that i'm at Dr. Khumbah's because there are 4 kids around and Dr. Khumbah is basically the African version of me; really loud, into politics and into AIDS and loves to talk about all those things and more, so we get along and I feel really comfortable there - I even have my own bathroom with a shower head that works (although it only produces FREEZING cold water in the morning and night when the water works...so cold it makes it hard to breathe). I am already feeling better there and my stomach is just fine. I'm trying to think of other interesting things to say but am at a bit of a loss so i hope this satisfies everyone's appetite for news on what i'm up to and how things are! Basically the lesson learned is that not all of Africa is what the pictures show! (although it is really run down and dirty). Hope all is well with all of you at home and PLEASE email me about your lives at home!