Crossing the street in Maga (not as easy as it sounds...)
on Mischa in Cameroon (Cameroon), 27/Sep/2009 11:30, 34 days ago
I've only really done this during the day. I’ve done it at night a couple of times at night (after 6pm), but only with a neighbour and a torch, never on my own. It's a bit easier now there's a moon, because you can see the holes in the track.When I first leave my compound the first people I meet are the men of the compound. As far as I can tell their main activity is to sit on a mat outside the front door and drink coffee. I know the women much better than the men, as I often sit with them at the back of the compound where they do the cooking, washing, and sweeping, chop up goats, and make the juice and the doughnuts which they then sell in the market. I have been getting intensive lessons in basic household chores and cooking skills from the eight year old. My performance has been unimpressive. So far I've only been trusted to pick the leaves off stalks (stewed leaf, onions and mutated cucumbers are currently the only fresh vegetables in Maga) and hold the odd baby.For the local kids me crossing the street is an Event. As soon as I step into view the cry goes up of“nasara nasara” (White person! White person!). Sometimes this is accompanied by a little chant of “Aiii nasara, aiii nasara”. At the moment I’m the only white person in the village (there’s another VSO volunteer here, called Tom, who works with the local council, but he’s still on hissummer holiday). More kids then come out of their compounds and often a group of about ten will decide to follow me down the street.If me crossing the street is an event, me crossing the street doing something is a Big Event. Things like me holding shopping are pretty cool, but excitement knew no bounds when I came back from the well (the water supply to the compound has been erratic, as has the electricity and the phone signal…) with water on my head. I can only carry a very small bucket holding on very tightly with both hands (another area where I am very deficient compared to the smallest of children) and I haven’t actually been allowed to haul water out of the well yet.That, however, is only crossing the street when it is dry. Crossing the street after it has rained (it is the tail end of the rainy season here) is a completely different story (if it is actually raining you don’t leave the house, let alone cross the street). The first time I tried to go to the shops after it had rained one of the girls who live here told me I wouldn’t be able to get there. I laughed and told her I’d been fine. I had to turn back five metres out of the front door.The streets are unpaved and a small amount of rain turns them into impassable mud where only the ducks and goats can get through. If I am really really determined, and the street as dried up a bit, it becomes possible to cross by jumping. To do this I have to watch carefully where the local children are choose to jump as they will have generally found an area where the puddles are only a metre or so across. They will then stand and watch as I jump, which adds to the pressure. Everyone here can jump over puddles very well- I went to visit a relative with two of the girls on my compound on the weekend, and one of them was carrying a large pot of rice on her head, and the other had a platter of food. When we came to the puddles they just leapt over without even putting their hands to their heads, and waited for me from the far side as I prepared for a running jump.The other day I didn't quite make it and lost both my flip flops in a puddle on my way to a meeting, right in front of about fifteen men who were sitting under a nearby tree and laughing. I had to fish them out and arrived at my meeting very muddy, only to find out the meeting had been cancelled (this is very typical Cameroon experience!).The good thing about the streets in Maga? Cows are the closest you get to a traffic hazard...