Bilbil&Church
on Notes from Quite Far (Cameroon), 05/Aug/2009 20:21, 34 days ago
We went toKaeleto visit Sid, anotherVSOteacher. We stayed with Sid for a few days over Easter Weekend.Duringour visit we managed to climb MountBoboyo, drink the local brewBilbiland go to church. All wereextremelyexhausting things to do!!!We rose early for Church as it was due to start around eight. We had beans andomeletat a roadside hut on the way there. We took water because we knew it would be getting hot later in the morning. We were not expecting to be sat in doors for nigh on five hours!!!The church was a small breeze block building with a tin roof, inside rows of wooden benches were jammed in. On the walls signs stated the areas the benches where in. TheWomen'sChoir,Men'sChoir, Youth Group and so on. We sat somewhere in the middle on the right at the back of the youth section. The room filled quickly, the last people to arrive was thewomen'schoir. Hearing a high pitched wail to start with followed by singing and clapping one by one the women entered the church in a row singing, dancing and clapping till all stood in their rows ready to be seated. Each of the women were dressed in colourful clothes of differing styles but the same cloth ( I think the cloth had a printed mural fromwomen'sday in Cameroon). From what I could make out and understand it was a mix of local singing and chanting with hymns. They sang at several times through out the service and it wasdefinitelyworth hearing and seeing.The service lasted around five hours ( as I said earlier) and incorporated around a dozen baptisms, several confirmations and Communion. The congregation was made up mostly of women and young people. During the service people came and went as the mood (or heat) took them. Half way through I plucked up courage to nip outside and get some air asunfortunatelythe building acted more like a sauna than a church in the hotKaelesun. There people sat in the shade had a drink of water then went back in for more. Organisation was varied with people being hurried up by the steward to get things done due to the fact things were dragging on!! Singing and songs seem to be pickedbythe congregation and accompanied by several home made instruments and an out of tune organ.It was certainly different toBeaconthorpeMethodist church where I attend infrequently!After Church we went to the nearby hotel for a cold drink then wandered back through town via the market to see what was available. Although open the market was very quiet (most people were probably still inChurch!). When we arrived back atSid'swe found that Charles had been to his village and brought back someBilbil. It is a local drink that is made within 48 hours and drank warm. It alcohol content is unknown and general accepted to be like rocket fuel!! After a quick shower it was bottoms up!! As a guest I got to drink the most (thanks people!). It has what can only be described as a burnt and bitter after taste. You certainly feel the quick pretty quickly. It made my interest in Scrabble that afternoon rather limited. Sleep was required!You can see below the murky brown liquid that isBilbil. The white bit at the bottom is sediment.