They had a ball

I arrived back at the Lycée at about 7:30am, there was a tour of the school scheduled for this morning and I wanted to take part in it. However, when I arrived, I found that they’d been up since before 6:00am and had already taken the tour. (They had to get up early to catch the water before it was turned off.) Oh well, I’ll have to try to get one on my own.

We all walked back to the cafeteria and had what would be a Cameroonian continental breakfast. There was plenty of fresh bread, and hot tea that tasted more like coffee. The young lady fixing the beverages was shocked when I told her not to add any milk to my cup. It was a look of, “you’re gonna drink it plain?”

After the breakfast the students changed for their scheduled football (soccer) game. When we arrived to the field there were some people already playing, however, Patrick spoke with them and they were added to the two teams. I guess they played for two hours or more, and appeared as though they had a ball. I don’t know who finally one, because by the time Akilah, Becky and I walked back to the dorms to prepare to leave for the palace visit, they were doing the overtime penalty kicks to break a 2-2 tie.

I’ve been in Foumban for over two months now, and this is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to visit the Royal Palace of Foumban. I’ve heard so much about it, now I finally get to see it. When we arrived, the Sultan was sitting in the front presiding over a ceremony. We found out later it was a ceremony to select a new chief for a family. The father recently passed and the son was coming to the Sultan and elders to ask permission to be installed as the new chief.

This all is very interesting to me; I’m mystified at how they’re able to hold some of their traditions of protocol and nobility, but they’re unable to move themselves ahead because of it as well. I think there’s a place for it, but there are some aspects of what is done that may actually be preventing them from moving forward; so I think anyway.

We watched a few moments of the ceremony, and then went around back to enter the museum. The artifacts and history of this area that are encased there are magnificent. There were ceremonial masks, photos, outfits from the secret societies (which are still in use), and manuscripts going as far back as the beginning of the royal dynasty. The story of how it all started is pretty interesting, and worth anyone searching and reading about.

There was even a copy of the first alphabet, which originally contained 510 letters or symbols; however, over time it was decreased to 77 to make it easier to learn. The official language of the people of Foumban is Bamoun (some also call it Shumom, but Akilah believes they’re two distinctly different tongues). Guess that’s only proper since these are the Bamoun people.

The royal palace was built after one of the Sultans made a trip to Germany and viewed a palace there. Upon his return to Foumban, he commissioned the design and building of the Royal palace. It seemed kind of interesting that it was a palace in a country of a former colonizer, which gave the inspiration for the palace here.

During the tour – or just about at the end – we noticed some Americans beginning theirs. It turns out they were family members of the current U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon. Akilah and Becky were excited to meet them, but had to end their conversation abruptly so they could finish their tour. The visit was good, and considering that we all paid 250 CFAs each for a visit that’s normally 2500 CFAs each, it was a bargain.

We walked around the taxi area in the center of town and all piled into taxis to head back to the Lycée. It was now time for lunch, and the Batié club needed to pack up to head home. We didn’t realize we would end up so far behind schedule.

After lunch, the students did what most students do, lingered around until the last minute before they decided to take pictures as mementos of one another. They also gave their pen pals gifts and exchanged other personal information. Becky and Akilah did their best to hurry them on, but it wasn’t until the three of us began walking towards the main road that some of them caught the hint.

Luckily for those that we left at the school, they figured out it was time to meet us at Moungo. Good for them, I would’ve hated to see someone left behind, though it would’ve been a nice lesson; you don’t let the person with your money for your trip home, leave without you.