tak (and a party or two in copenhagen)

i get back on the 21st at 1 p.m. and present at 3 p.m., save me some lunch

i am in copenhagen right now, just the other day bought 40 beers for sofie's party, this is mos def the cheapest place in scandanavia, it was 5 dollars for one beer at the supermarket in oslo, about 2.50 for one at the store in stockholm, but only 20 dollars for 30 (only 1 dollar and 50 cents) here. i also bought some malbec wine, about 10 dollars per bottle.

i am here for 1 more hour and then london for one night and then nyc for 3 nights and then back home.

this is another scattered blog, but i wanted to just write, and quickly because that is all of the time i have.

i would love to describe the past few days to all of you, sofie's party and up until 5 a.m. and yesterday at the park with berit and partying with new friends until 4:30 a.m., and then seeing the vincent van gogoghs at the festival today, and having a great time but squeezing a lot into a few days, but detail might come later. one detail though first, i met a girl who has been to branson twice because her aunt lives there. i hope she visits me when she comes next time.

here are thoughts i have written down while here.

it's always the simple things (that matter), and here they are

i saw a rhodesian ridgeback at the train station in gothenberg and it made me happy and thinking about it later made me homesick while sitting there waiting for the train with an aching right foot and no money to spend

i saw another dude's hair who looked like todd's, when it is long, the first guy i saw in stockholm had the exact same

i love sending camden a postcard from every city, and have, unless circumstances have really really been bad, i have almost missed busses to send him a memory and some words from my travels

i love knowing people, and feel comfortable very quickly with most



well, i guess more to come, if i find time in london, if i'm not out with my friend danny

and if not there, then maybe a final blog in nyc, and i guess i will keep this active but only for travels

peace, and soon

beautiful places and welcoming spaces

and expensive beer

in oslo, norway it costs $5 for a beer and $30 for a 6 pack, and that is at grocery store

i don't know how todd and zach made it when they were in sweden, where the beer is also so expensive (and low in alcohol), you can only get high alcohol content from the government store

but the sun is up from 5 until 10:30 (and that is short compared to June) but during the winter it is so dark and people have "sun" rooms to get the light they need

but wait, they found the black market, and as i mentioned in the last blog the women are so beautifuly, so i know how they survived

but everything else has been welcoming and beautiful - stockholm was amazing and oslo is too

and i am couch surfing, which for those of you who don't know, it is an online society of travelers who offer up their couches or floors or beds to fellow travelers and then take advantage of that hospitality when they are traveling

i just joined, even though todd told me about it 3 years ago, because a guy Oliver told me about it in Stockholm and told me of Jachym, from Czech Republic, who is a student in Oslo and so i joined and requested a spot and he mailed back and now i am here

it is awesome, he met me at the train station, showed me where to get a 24 hour pass, told me places to go, showed me the grocery store, and shared a beer with me

and he said the weather was always beautiful when travelers come because they need to see the city at is best, so i brought the weather

well, there is probably more to say, but i need to rest before my train in the morning

to scandanavia and beyond

well, i left london after using the internet at an amazingly fast speed and able to talk to home for some time, and while passing through the west end and picadilly circus and seeing people drink on the streets and sitting by eros drinking tennessee whisky, while i was with my huge back pack, and then caught the N9 bus at 1:30 a.m. to get to the airport right before 3 a.m. where i cleaned up in the diaper changing room and slept and woke up from a dead sleep (like the sleep that i had in Green Park in london on my way to cameroon) and thought i might have been late for my flight but i made it and had a bagel

and arrived in sweden to ABBA and beautiful skies and in line to change my money, and asking how to get to town, a man said he would bring me and i road with him, Klaus, and his son, Axel, the 30-45 minutes in to Stockholm and his son had been at a language/soccer week in london and got to meet the chelsea team and claus had been to eureka springs before and was another free soul, he was into tai chi and kadeo and lived in colorado and traveled and had been to arkansas and eureka springs was my fourth guess as to where he had been and he said he loved it and smaller towns like that, but we talked, scattered because he was like me, and he tried to tell me about the city and then Axel and i spoke in slow english, and it was awesome meeting a great family and good guy and he dropped me at the train station

here i waited and bought all of my tickets, and with the exchange rate it was a lot, scandanavia is expensive i am realizing

but then to old town and looking for a hostel and my shoulder is hurting, my bad one, and to two hostels until finding the last one and getting a bed that the reserver didn't show up, and showering

boy was it scalding, but it really wasn't, i just hadn't had a warm shower in, it seems like years, months, and then walking around looking for a grocery store and buying cheese and milk and beer and to 711 (which is everywhere here, i think a taiwanese company from what i remember when i saw it everywhere in asia) to buy oreos and ritz and then eating that for dinner and going out with oliver (from germany), monica (from nc), and danny (from melbourne) to a biker bar (it seemed like) and getting a 9 dollar beer and walking back

and sleeping until 11:30, oh good sleep, and waking up, moving rooms, going with danny to the royal palace for the changing of the guards and then to the Vasa museum and more oreos and milk and olympics and drinking beer

in the morning i will go to city hall for a tour and then off to oslo

sorry for the detail, but it has been a good time, the people have been great, though i know they are said to be cold, i think this is mainly in the winter, so the summer time has melted them and Klaus made my welcome here great, the expense of things has made me pinch my pockets and only eat from grocery stores, and the three travelers i have befriended have made me want to continue my adventure (i even joined couch surfing.com from Oliver's suggestion, todd told me to join a few years ago but i haven't been to europe since then - which is where i think it is most worth it to couchsurf)

i can finally say goodbye to the bugs, hello to the chilly weather, and the beautiful beautiful women, i can't walk a block without shaking my head, zachary and todd the bodd spent a semester here - it must have been amazing...

so from here to there, i will enjoy, and be home soon

bye de bye bye

i'm out

of africa, of energy, of almost everything

i truly am out of energy, out of energy to scratch another bug bite or rash, out of energy to finish my paper, out of energy to sleep (though i really need to, but my flight to Stockholm leaves at 7:40 a.m. so i am going back to the airport soon), and out of energy to write

so i will keep this short...as short as possible

chance, james and i had an eventful day going to Douala on thursday (i think it was thursday, though i asked James that day 4 times what day it was, and now i forget) going to get some fabric which we couldn't find and then some gifts and then following me to get postcards and then Vietnamese food, which was fitting because Loan was not with us but her culture was represented and then to the airport and those two checking in and then having a beer with Takor and saying goodbye to him and them leaving me in the air conditioning to wait to check in for 5 hours (not until 3:30 a.m.) while i nodded in and out of consciousness (as i did that entire morning after i checked in for my flight - at one point i was woken up to get on the plane and my left leg and arm were asleep so i could barely walk)

and now i'm in london after two airplane food meals and an amazing meal at Wagamama and watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Trafalgar Square and then to the internet and it is so fast that i haven't known what to do with myself

i have spent 2 hours now and really only done a few things, but here are two photos (including the one at top), and i promise more to come, one of chance on the first day i brought out a ball and the other one of some cool glasses on some cool people,


and i can now say, in the language of you people, bye de bye bye

to the bugs, to the bruises, to the starches, and almost to the dirtiness (i need to take a shower first)

peace

goodbye hell of the roads

what a ride and what roads!

this was my 4th time taking this trip (to mamfe or back) and as James exclaimed, probably my last because not until the roads get paved will I go back (well, if I am in Cameroon before this happens, I will, but timing right I will only be back when the road to Mamfe is paved)

before my time is up there are other general observations that are always on my mind or in front of me

the days go by really fast, so I feel sometimes I miss out on telling you events, about people, about details.

I am dirty.

there are bugs, lizards, flat spiders, tarantulas and big white-chested scavenger crows, OH MY!, everywhere

Takor told me that they call albinos (which there are seemingly a lot here) germans in mamfe (which i am guessing because of the historical german presence there) and the myth is that they never die

i killed the chicken, sliced its neck, for dinner one day – this is for Sam and Afton, I love the way they live in Mamfe, buying the food they need that day and buying it straight from the Earth, I eat everything and even seeing how and where it is prepared is not the best for my stomach, it is still fine though, actually nothing really upsets my stomach, except historically travel and smells, so seeing something doesn’t

my soccer abilities are okay, but I need to work on my skills, it is harder playing on dirt and high grass, I am spoiled by “turf” and Bermuda blades in Arkansas

and an update on the language and foods here

Language
“Chil” – really saying child but it comes out with the “d” off (sounding more like Chia, as in the tea), and they use it as often as they say “Jesus Christ” (also with a very different pronunciation and emphasis) to express surprise or wonder

“Command” – ask, give directions for (e.g. Takor, when ordering koki, states, “I will give a command for the best koki”)

“What of?” – what’s going on with…? (e.g. what’s going on with Chance? meaning what’s up with Chance?

“Not so?” – am I right or am I right? (e.g. Chance says, “the stars are beautiful tonight, not so?”) but also meaning “is that right?” (e.g. “you are Hunter, not so?”)

“Heh” or “Heh?” – say this with a neck/head twist (like that of our dog Clay) and when it is with a question mark it means more of surprise (e.g. “We people like fufu and eru” to which many people will say, “Heh?”) but it also means “Uh-huh” as in understanding (i.e. when always talking to Dr. Peters he does this when I am telling a story to the point where I repeat myself and he tells me, “I’m getting you,” but the “Heh” before that was supposed to be my indication of that)

“Junior” and “Senior”- younger and older, instead of saying older brother and younger brother, locals say my junior brother or my senior brother

“own” – not just used for “my own” but “your own” in place of “yours” and “our own” in place of “ours” and so on taking the place of any possessive necessary


Things eaten/drank
Castel – Come and see teachers enjoy life (Elvis, Takor’s brother told me this is what it means)
Mutzig – dancing (this is again what Elvis said)
Amstel – love me if I am single (what Elvis said this means in French)
Pelforth – Elvis just laughed at this (as did the people in the bar when I ordered it) because it is the “worst” beer in Cameroon (and it actually was, but not entirely terrible but a dark beer and kind of like a smoke stout)
Guinness Smooth – just a lighter version of Guinness
Isenbeck – James had this in Yaoundé
Satzenbrou – another beer from James that I sipped
Soya – basically beef jerkey that you eat with powder pepe but sometimes the meat is to chewy but the taste is so good so I chew it and spit it out
Kola seed – so so bitter (closest to a bitter beer face I have ever come, had to drink it with palm wine to swallow it down)
Sugar cane – just bite a piece off and chew all of the liquid out and spit it out, taste like sugar or sugar water



as i sat in the back seat sleeping i couldn't help but think that with every bump I was closer to fish pies, then with every fish pie I am closer to Europe, and with every European postcard I am closer to home, but not yet

Goodbye to mamfe, not yet goodbye to the bugs

this is dedicated to

the language, food, and people of southwest province cameroon

Language
“Asha” – “Sorry” or “I’m sorry”, but not meaning to apologize but instead being sorry for someone (e.g. I step into the mud, all my fault, and Sharlotte says, “asha,” because she is feeling empathetic), but then someone has said it means “well done” (e.g. George Bell entering the kitchen during our party for the community and saying to us while looking at the food being prepared, “asha”)

“We are together” – I took this has three meanings, one being that “We agree,” another being “We understand each other,”and the final being “We are one” as in “Everything is okay” with the final meaning being the one most accurate because it is more an expression of “Don’t worry, we are together” as in the only thing that matters is that we are in each other’s company, safe and healthy (e.g. Takor couldn’t not reach the motorbike up the hill with Chance on the back and they both fell getting small injuries, Takor’s statement was “We are together” similar to what someone would say to you in a wreck in the U.S. stating that “As long as we are all okay, than everything is fine)

“Fakatos” – old and crappy (e.g. George’s car is called “Fakatos” car)

“Spintoros” – active and energetic (e.g. Hunter is a “Spintoros” man)

“Chop” – used as either a noun for a meal or food, but also as a verb to eat something

“I de chop” – the present tense of eating (i.e. I am eating)
“I done gone chop” – the past tense of eating (i.e. I have eaten)
“I de go chop” – the future tense of eating (i.e. I’m going to eat)

These previous three tenses are all part of Pidgin and can be used to describe many actions (e.g. one if have heard many times is “I de go field” meaning “I’m going to the field”)

“How?” or “How now?” – “How are you?” to which the normal response is “I de fine” or “fine”

“Small small” – very little (e.g. “My appetite is small small” meaning that “I’m not hungry”)

“Plenty plenty” – a lot (e.g. Obie Joe stated about the Mamfe Central debt problem, “We owe plenty plenty”) or just many or much (e.g. when someone has many children Mr. B.B. stated, “when you born plenty”)

These previous two phrases are part of Pidgin and illustrate the use of repetition with one word to emphasis a condition. This method is used with many adjectives. These words can also just be used once to mean a similar condition.

“You people” – y’all

“Pressurize” – to pressure someone

“Sensitized” – to know about something, be used to it (e.g. when I asked if the children understand community development or participate in the UAC activities, like the clean-up campaigns, often, the Besongabang community leader stated something along the lines of, “They are becoming more sensitized to UAC and these activities and the more sensitized they become the more they will participate”)

“Trek” – to walk

“White man with a long nose” – what I have heard some of the children singing when we drive by, George told me that this is a common song that they sing and he was shocked that I started singing along

“Clothes vs. empty skin” – Shirts vs. skins

“Picking” – your own children (e.g. Mr. Agbor B.B. was stating when discussing Child Abuse in Egbekaw, “As you treat your own picking, treat all children”)

“My own” – instead of just saying mine, people say this (e.g. when finding a phone on the table that looks like someone else’s one would ask, “Is this my own?”)

“Ease” – to pee (e.g. Doctor Peters replied to me when I asked for the toilet while at the bar, “Do you need to ease yourself or poo poo?”)

“Hawking” – selling (e.g. the children around town who hawk groundnuts, which are peanuts)

“Peace Corps” – this is not widely used but I have heard it sometimes to describe us, even though we are not with Peace Corps, but just as general development workers or general “white man” from out of this country (many times people refer to us as just being from Europe, as encompassing all “white man”), and since their experience with these development workers is most with those volunteers with Peace Corps this is how they simply refer to us when explaining to others who do not know us

“Current” – to be up to date on current events or knowledge of a subject (e.g. at the Egbekaw thematic discussion George stated that these would help others “become current to what is being discussed,” or something like that) but I have also seen it used to describe “your current” meaning a current photo of you

“Craze” – crazy (e.g. when referring to a man who she doesn’t like Delphine said, “He de craze”)

“Dash” – to give (e.g. when I gave a bottle to a boy at the field, he had seen me give one to another kid and asked before, but when I gave it to him he questioned with eyebrows up, “you dash me?” or just now Esther, the new wash lady, saw my soccer ball and knowing I just gave Aloys a pair of shorts said, “Hunter, You dash me this now”), kind of as in a gift


Things eaten/drank
Palm
Palm wine
Red wine and Coca-cola
Red wine and Guinness
Guinness – a different taste and everyone has their own thought about its effects such as the man last night, and many other men, who say it helps the machine (the payness, penis)
33 Export – Aloys says this means Friendship
Castel –
Mutzig –
Castle Milk Stout – George says this makes you infertile, decreases the sperm count
Unknown bark – that Dr. Peters gave me that is supposed to give strength and make you anxious as well as an herbal mixture with the same bark and whiskey and many other herbs from Dr. Peters that is to help with everything (like many of his remedies)
Nigerian whiskey (Heatman)
Indian whiskey and scotch (8 PM)
Bitter (Bitta) Kola – helps with constipation and acts like Viagra (according to many people here)
Kola Monkey – a cool looking fruit that villagers harvest in the bush
Boiled (gran) groundnuts – peanuts
Pepe – really good spice paste they use here
Coconut right off the tree that I harvested
Spaghetti Omelet
Egusi green vegetable (really good)
Egusi pudding
Koki – a really good spicy bread-like meal that is made from koki beans
Casava
Fufu (tasteless dough) and eru (a leaf vegetable)
Gari (yellow tasteless dough) – people compare these two (Fufu and Gari) to mashed potatoes but they aren’t really
Yam
Plantain (in almost every form)
Slowboys – Escargo, Snail
Cow or pig liver (I don’t know which one) and intestine
Cow skin


Observations – people have no hesitancy in keeping their finger in their nose (opposite of the social construct we abide by with that being appalling); teeth here are beautiful; all children have short hair (as is mandated by the schools) so I have a hard time telling some of the younger ones apart by gender; I have taught Elvis and other volunteers how to toss the Frisbee and Elvis learned the fastest and then taught a friend; there is a game called Draft I have seen people playing which uses a checkers board and checkers but they play it so fast that I do not understand the strategy or rules, I would like to learn;

and the almost arrests in Yaounde

well, here are the photos i promised, and hopefully as many as i can post, i am spending this next 45 minutes doing so,



but before that, a quick review of the trip to Yaounde - first a crazy bus ride there to make it at 12:45, a crazy cab to the hotel, a bargaining show down at the hotel, showers and then to the party 2 hours late, arriving to paradise in Cameroon (a swimming pool, hamburgers, brownies, beer, music and other Americans, one of whom worked at Camp War Eagle in the Ozarks - but no photos because it was not allowed)...then getting pizza near the hotel and later in the morning finding the best bakery which we frequented over the next day for eclairs, icecream, hamburgers and hot dogs, walking around town trying to find postage and postcards but postcard were $1 to $2 a piece and i ended up only buying some basil to throw on some of the bland meals but after a morning and afternoon doing that on the 4th we went to find the Vietnamese restaurant but ended up taking two cabs and consulting with many people to only find a Chinese restaurant (which didn't look so good, but my meal was good) and then going back to the hotel and resting until one of the coolest nights i have had so far began at a Jazz Club named L'awale where the Embassy guy who runs Cultural programs told us to go and so we went and it was amazing, starting off with just jazz and some singing by the crazy entertainer who was also playing at the independence day celebration and then some beautiful voices from both men and women and Lanissa - a young woman who works at the embassy - and we sat there and enjoyed for hours and then to bed to wake up to more of the bakery, changing money at the Hilton in a nook illegally and then almost getting arrested for taking a picture but working our way out of it with Courtney's French skills and telling them that we needed to call the embassy and see if sending us to a military office and buying them a whiskey each was really how things worked and then more unsuccessful shopping and then to the bus station while almost being arrested - probably not so much us as the cab driver - because the driver saw the cops and knew that we had illegally fit 6 into his cab and so he drove through the middle of traffic to allude them and after clipping another car's side mirror and almost hitting a bike the cops stopped us and we jumped out, grabbed the bags, tossed the money and got to the bus company and finally, an hour late, hopped on the bus and made it to Buea after passing a bad wreck on the bridge over the bay from Douala where one person must have fallen from the bridge because of all of the people peering over and into the water but we mos def saw an old man with a bloody broken leg and motorcycle on the ground and a younger man with a bloody arm and body after having apparently smashed into the windshield of the car stopped near by, but home and drinking with Jason, the Scottish volunteer whose last day is tomorrow, and trying to leave in the morning but Tako couldn't find a bus but Loan left instead and fit on to one of the 3 spaces left and so we are here where i am now about to post photos, i actually earlier bought some Heinz ketchup and then having the dinner celebration for Jason's last night at the Orock's and tomorrow to Mamfe and continued life on the project and in the Heritage Inn with the others and our game of settlers



photos, now, (and for more, see Berit's photos on facebook),



well, it doesn't seem to be working, so maybe haynes will have time to download some i will try to send him over e-mail and then post them for y'all

until next time, and as always, whenever that may be, enjoy your summer while i enjoy Cameroon

c'est L'Afrique (this is africa)