Christmas in Cameroon
Christmas in Cameroon. I’m not one who celebrates Christmas any more, but I do give recognition on occasion since so many around me observe it. Since it’s a holiday, Akilah and I decide to go to the beach; Becky decides to join us. After taking her run down the beach, Becky joins Akilah and me in the sand; we’re just being grown children playing in the chocolate sand.
This sand is amazing. It’s soft, and has a resiliency that normal sand doesn’t. Don’t try building a sand castle with it though. Won’t happen. So instead, we drag our feet in it and cover our legs occasionally with a bunch of the sand. There’s gotta be something therapeutic about this stuff. I’m sure lava can do something for the skin, right?
Becky decides to go out into the water and enjoy the waves. Don’t know about you, but I’m the type of control freak who doesn’t like being in any environment that I can’t control. Water is one of them. There’s nothing to hold on to, and you’re totally at the mercy of NOTHING if something happen. There’s nothing there to save you. Maybe fate, but then are you being saved? I’d rather not find out so I opt to stay in the sand. I’m not chicken, just rationalizing a more conducive choice to my continued . . .uh, breathing.
After a while in the water and ducking under the forceful waves, Becky tries to convince Akilah she should join her. Thinking of her lack of treading ability and her not being the best swimmer, Akilah decides to stay in the same area I’m in. At this point we’re in what some would consider the children’s area of the water. Its up to my knees.
At one point we do decide to venture a little further. The water’s now midway up my thighs, that’s about as far as I want to go. The waves are nice, but every now and then you get one of those – what Akilah and I call aftershocks – follow-up waves to come in and just overtake you. One of them was so powerful it knocked Akilah down and she almost lost her glasses. See my theory of not trusting anything you can control seems to have been proven true.
The rest of the day is pretty eventless, as I decide to go to the room and relax, while the others stay at the beach. Akilah does come in at one point and tell me that she actually began ducking the waves with Becky. She was really excited about that. Glad for her, but I’m still not interested.
Earlier we all agreed to have dinner at the hotel and meet up somewhere about six or so. Remember, I’m just breaking fast, so I want to be ordering food so that not long after I can be replenishing what I lost for the day. But there go those Cameroonians taking about an hour or more to prepare the food. Actually, they’re not bad; it’s just that when you’re hungry, YOU’RE HUNGRY.
Christmas dinner was nice and quaint, before we eat; we go around the table so everyone can say one line about anything in their life at this point. I don’t remember what everyone else said, but I essentially say that I’m happy to be enjoying my stay in Cameroon. Translated, I’m more than ecstatic about being here with Akilah.
After dinner, which for me was legumes (which literally means vegetables, but in Cameroon it means any type of chopped green leaves), plantain chips and pommes frittes (french fries), I leave after a little of our conversation to kind of rest. I’m getting tired and need to lie down a little.
A few hours later Akilah and I decide to go to the lobby area and have a hot cup of tea. When we get down there, there are some other guests (don’t know where they were from, but they were all but nice) being rather irritated with the nice guy behind the counter. See they were trying to pay their bill for what they’d eaten, but I guess he was taking just a little longer than what they would’ve preferred to prepare the bill. He was going a little slow, but as I’ve learned, almost everything here does. So what’s the problem?
One of the guests looks at the woman attempting to pay the bill and says, “Uh…this is B.S.!” (Of course I gave you the abbreviated version.) Then walks away. After another three minutes or so, the woman begins complaining again for the guy to move quicker, then finally becomes so irritated that she takes the receipt book from him, detaches her receipt and tells him she’ll deal with it later. At least that’s what I think she said. Based upon they’re accent I don’t think they’re from the states, but wherever they’re from, I don’t want to visit that country.
Considering the guy was just given a hard time, Akilah and I made sure he knew we weren’t upset about the wait and used words and actions carefully so he wouldn’t think we were anything like them. We place our order of tea, and enjoy it when it finally comes. What you have to remember is that here, sometimes the waiter is the cook or person who will also be assisting in the preparation of whatever you’re ordering. Naturally that takes time.
When we’re done we want to show the two staff persons that we’re appreciative of their hard work since we’ve been there. We ask about they’re favorite beverages, and once they’ve told us, we tell them both to get one each and add it to our bill; it’s a holiday gift from us. They were extremely appreciative.