Dining with royalty
So today was the day we scheduled to have dinner with tailor/seamstress Rahimetou. We kind of erred. We assumed when she invited us for dinner that meant to meet her at the tailor’s stall at about five in the evening. However, when we arrived there, she had already left. I was thinking, “I wonder where she would go if she knew we were coming?”
Amadou, the tailor, had one of the other young women walk us around to her house. After about two blocks the young lady saw someone who was going to the same house, and sort of handed us off (in a polite way of course). This young lady took us directly to the house, which was in the complex directly behind the building we met her in front of.
It was a huge complex with at least six homes from what I could tell from the first glance. We were going to the first house. I figured someone in the area must have a little money since there were two satellite dishes in the center of the complex.
When we entered Rahimatou was there waiting for us in a nicely decorated pagne outfit. She mentioned to Akilah that she’d been waiting for us since three. Wow! Now we know when you’re invited to dinner in Cameroon, that mean’s you should arrive just before or after three in the afternoon.
At some point during dinner she even mentioned that had it been a weekend, we would’ve been expected to arrive at eleven in the morning. Eleven? For what you ask? To talk, and walk, and talk, and walk a few times, then to eat. That’s quite a bit of socializing. Do we do anything similar in the states?
We entered the home and were invited to sit. We talked for a brief bit with Rahimatou before being introduced to the woman of the house. Her name was Fatimatou, and neither Akilah nor I could accurately ascertain her approximate age. Which from my point of view was very good. We essentially came to that conclusion after viewing pictures of the pair and their respective families. (SIDEBAR: in Cameroon, it’s almost a national pastime to take photos and show them to guests who visit your home; and I don’t mean just a roll of film, we’re talking albums!)
Whenever guests arrive at a Cameroonian home, they are immediately offered a drink, the same as in the states. However, in this case, someone (another family member) ends up going out to fetch the drinks. Not too bad, but can you imagine sending a younger sibling or child to the store to select beverages for your guests? And to come directly home for that matter.
Dinner was extremely delectable, as Rahimatou prepared an all-vegetarian meal for us. We were both pleased and shocked. The meal consisted of a freshly prepared salad dish with carrots, red onions, avocados and tomatoes. There was even lettuce! This is almost a rarity here.
The main course was Bamoun couscous, cabbage with a pistache (a seed from a certain variety of squash from the area), sliced koki, boiled plantains and sweet potatoes. The food was good, but all the new flavors were definitely over-stimulating for this American. I’m sure I would’ve eaten much more had I been used to the tastes, but I think my palate was in overload.
During our pre-dinner conversation we found out that the woman of the house, Fatimatou, was the niece of the former sultan. Which means that she is somehow related (directly or indirectly) to the present sultan. We were dinning with royalty.
That was definitely a shocker. However, in a place like Foumban where quite a few folks adopt the name Njoya (the name of the sultan) you would expect everyone to claim some relationship. But the mere fact that our hosts had several photos with the present sultan, we pretty much assumed this was the real thing. And not just photos of him, but standing near him; in his entourage or sitting on his lap (as the Fatimatou’s daughter was doing in several pictures) and any other conceivable way.
It must be said that it felt good to socialize and spend time with a native Cameroonian in their home. Although I couldn’t speak a lick of french, my translator (Akilah) did very well with assuring I was included in the conversation. Turns out Rahimatou would like to learn english and was seeking suggestions on lessons from Akilah.