Get over those fears

We intended on getting an early start today, however, our journey to Batie got off to a late start. It could’ve started early, however, plans were kind of messed up from the beginning. The beginning was 4:30 am. Today was one of those days!

Since I’d previously figured out the water is usually turned on over night, I had all intentions of getting up early to wash dishes, and store some water for our return on Sunday. You should’ve seen my disappointement when I found out the water was not on. What’s going on here? Did someone screw up? From that point on, there was no motivation for getting up early.

When we finally joined the land of the living and prepared our bucket baths. Afterwards, Akilah washed dishes and somehow convinced me that in order to save time, I should take out the trash and pick up some bread. While these may sound like normal tasks, for a non-french speaking westerner in Cameroon, they are not.

How’s the trash system in Cameroon work? Well, let me tell you how it is in Foumban. Imagine walking past an abandoned or vacant house in a neighborhood, and noticing that the property has instantaneously become a dumping ground. This dumping ground, in Foumban, is the community trash pile, I mean everyone in this area places their trash in this pile.

One thing’s good though, the trash is not allowed to sit. Apparently, someone is assigned with the task of setting the pile afire throughout various points of the day. As a matter of fact, when I threw our bags on there were spots of smoldering trash within the pile. Who does it, when and how, I have no clue.

A particular pet peave of mine is that I hate to see people throw trash out on the street or roadways. Seeing a pile of burning trash has not been easy for me. There’s some part of me that keeps on saying, “That’s not ri-ight.” To console me, Akilah let me know how hard it was for her initially; didn’t work too well.

I figured I would go downstairs and find some young child to do it for me. Yep, I intended to tell him, “Jete.” (Simply, throw out). Yep, that’s what I was gonna do, but of course it didn’t occur that way. There were no children in sight. So I straightened my shoulders and walked out onto the pavement with the attitude of “I can do this.”

While walking to the pile, which is just past the cabine where we make our calls, it felt as though everyone was watching the American taking out the trash. They probably weren’t staring at me any more than normal, but it just felt that way. Felt like I was taking trash and just throwing it on the side of some house on my block, while all my neighbors watch on.

Once at the pile, I’m like, “Phew!” Harmless. Just as I’m ready to throw the bags, three people decide to  come and walk past the trail right in front of me. Great! Now I have to stand here, with the trash, until everyone walks by. Finally, its done. I’ve littered my environment. I’ve contributed to the unsightly trash pile in the community; and its all acceptable. But to whom?

The other task I was assigned to do, was to pick up some bread. We were making eggs and warming the last two veggie burgers from last nights dinner. So it was up to me to pick it up. Luckily, directly across from the trash pile, was a boutique I was introduced to the night before. For some reason I felt totally comfortable with the guy who works there; he had a very unassuming demeanor.

I step up to the counter, and kind of motion to the bread and smile. “Un le pan?” says the guy. I nod and say, “Oui.” Ahhh, that was easy, but I needed to feel the bread to make certain it was soft. The first loaf he hands to me, I feel and just smile kind of snicker at him, as if to say, “You know that’s not what I want.”

The night before, Akilah felt like three loaves before finally finding one that was soft enough for our tastes. The gentleman just smiled, and selected another; it was perfect. I paid and went back to the apartment happy of my accomplishments for the day. I’ve taken out trash and purchased bread. I’ll probably go back to this boutique since its further from the center of activity and the gentleman is very nice.

After breakfast, we head out to catch a taxi to the gare for Muombo Express. We find one quickly and arrive to the gare, and not a moment too late as there were about four people who walked up right behind us. There were a few people in the bush taxi already, and the seats I was interested in were available still; didn’t want anyone to get it before us.