God Bless Garoua
I was “down south” (a relative term) this week. One week away from Pitoa? Gone from dirty Garoua? Not having to eat rice and beans every freakin day? A week of “cooler” (an extremely relative term) weather? The chance to see monkeys and hippos (we saw both!)? No classes for 6 days?! Some peace and quiet… away from my overwhelming, though well-intentioned, host family??
I have returned (a day early due to some unfortunate circumstances), and let me just say that I LOVE Pitoa! This town is off the hizzy! I am sorry for all those armpit jokes that I made about you! Let me pay tribute:
Ma Chambre, complete with aluminum roof and door. [aka- My Luxury Quarters/Personal Sauna]
La Ride [aka- The Baddest Wheels on the Block… Albeit, the only wheels on the block…]
La Douche. [aka- The Deluxe Commode/Bath]
La Cuisine. [aka- The Ultimate Kitchen]
La Rue [aka- My Hood. The Street in Front of My Homestay. I Run This.]
When I lived in the USA… let’s just say I was not exactly patriotic (I will not disclose exactly what I was, because Big Brother is watching). Now that I live in a foreign country, let me tell you about my love for all things American. Actually, I won’t; cuz it will take me too long, and time is money on a dial-up modem. Just use your imagination. Well, I had a similar experience simply by moving down a province in Cameroon. I think that all Americans should be forced to live in a third world country for a year.
Anywho, we spent a night at a Catholic mission called Maison d’Accueil. It is run by these Polish nuns, who like to pretend that they do not speak English. I have not seen nuns in all their garb since the last time I saw Sister Act II. It was quaint and we saw mad foreigners! I met this one Dutch guy who has been living in Cameroon for years and loves it, and also a group of French girls our age who are here on vacation. It is always interesting to hear how the other foreigners wound up here. I tried to figure out how the nuns ended up here, but my French was not quite up to it and they insisted on continuing on with their “we don’t speak English” game. Although, I did make the 7 hour trip back up north all by myself! I am taking this as a sign that my French is improving, since I did not wind up in Chad, Nigeria, or Congo.
In my travels I have noticed that it seems like no matter what foreign land you are in, people (particularly the guys) are eager to show off the 20 or so English words that they learned in some grammar class years ago. Here is a sampling of the attempts which I have encountered:
Indigenous Male: “Hello! You are beautiful!”
Thinks to self: Merci, mais je sais ca déjà. Thank you, but I know that already.
My actual response: A smile and a “Bonjour.”
Indigenous Male: “Good Morning! Will you marry me?”
Thinks to self: C’est après-midi, douchebag. It’s afternoon, douchebag.
My actual response: A smile and a “Bonjour.”
Indigenous Male: “Madam! You will be my third wife!”
Thinks to self: Excusez-moi, pendant que sortir mon fait a la maison macis. Excuse me, while I get out my homemade mace.
My real response: A smile and a “Bonjour.”
Goodness, it’s worse than RPI. No offense to my male RPI friends! Love you! :D Anywho, time to go eat some beans! Don’t enjoy Thanksgiving too much without me :p Mmmm…. Turkey… stuffing… cornbread… drinkable water… :::sigh:::
I have returned (a day early due to some unfortunate circumstances), and let me just say that I LOVE Pitoa! This town is off the hizzy! I am sorry for all those armpit jokes that I made about you! Let me pay tribute:
Ma Chambre, complete with aluminum roof and door. [aka- My Luxury Quarters/Personal Sauna]
La Ride [aka- The Baddest Wheels on the Block… Albeit, the only wheels on the block…]
La Douche. [aka- The Deluxe Commode/Bath]
La Cuisine. [aka- The Ultimate Kitchen]
La Rue [aka- My Hood. The Street in Front of My Homestay. I Run This.]
When I lived in the USA… let’s just say I was not exactly patriotic (I will not disclose exactly what I was, because Big Brother is watching). Now that I live in a foreign country, let me tell you about my love for all things American. Actually, I won’t; cuz it will take me too long, and time is money on a dial-up modem. Just use your imagination. Well, I had a similar experience simply by moving down a province in Cameroon. I think that all Americans should be forced to live in a third world country for a year.
Anywho, we spent a night at a Catholic mission called Maison d’Accueil. It is run by these Polish nuns, who like to pretend that they do not speak English. I have not seen nuns in all their garb since the last time I saw Sister Act II. It was quaint and we saw mad foreigners! I met this one Dutch guy who has been living in Cameroon for years and loves it, and also a group of French girls our age who are here on vacation. It is always interesting to hear how the other foreigners wound up here. I tried to figure out how the nuns ended up here, but my French was not quite up to it and they insisted on continuing on with their “we don’t speak English” game. Although, I did make the 7 hour trip back up north all by myself! I am taking this as a sign that my French is improving, since I did not wind up in Chad, Nigeria, or Congo.
In my travels I have noticed that it seems like no matter what foreign land you are in, people (particularly the guys) are eager to show off the 20 or so English words that they learned in some grammar class years ago. Here is a sampling of the attempts which I have encountered:
Indigenous Male: “Hello! You are beautiful!”
Thinks to self: Merci, mais je sais ca déjà. Thank you, but I know that already.
My actual response: A smile and a “Bonjour.”
Indigenous Male: “Good Morning! Will you marry me?”
Thinks to self: C’est après-midi, douchebag. It’s afternoon, douchebag.
My actual response: A smile and a “Bonjour.”
Indigenous Male: “Madam! You will be my third wife!”
Thinks to self: Excusez-moi, pendant que sortir mon fait a la maison macis. Excuse me, while I get out my homemade mace.
My real response: A smile and a “Bonjour.”
Goodness, it’s worse than RPI. No offense to my male RPI friends! Love you! :D Anywho, time to go eat some beans! Don’t enjoy Thanksgiving too much without me :p Mmmm…. Turkey… stuffing… cornbread… drinkable water… :::sigh:::
posted by Me at 9:04 AM
1 Comments:
Ummm your kitchen confuses me...
Enregistrer un commentaire
<< Home