Calabash bash bash bash

Following my last post, 8 days have gone by which has seemed like 8 weeks! Immediately after the post, our postcards were sent to England! The postal worker insisted that it was safer to post them all in one envelope, and therefore they will be distributed in England. Apologies, as they will not have the Cameroon postal stamp. The worker also said it would be cheaper to post them if the envelope was left unsealed…this seemed completely illogical, as clearly, all the cards would fall out. Absolutely absurd. I sealed the envelope and it was posted. May God be with it.

We visited the market that day, and Tom and I tried on nearly every hat in the hat stall. Some ridiculous hats were tested. I particularly like the hats with mittens attached...photos are linked to below.

I fell ill for a few days last week, and fortunately Tom’s father, Dwight, had sorted me out with some antibiotics he gave Tom to bring out. I took a day off to rest, and fortunately recovered by the time my Dad arrived Thursday 31st July.

He arrived in a 4x4, which the minister had kindly lent him for the duration of his stay, as well as a driver and bodyguard. This came in handy because the roads are absolutely appalling,especially in the rain.

We shared a traditional dinner of beef with bitter leaf and fu-fu, Disappointingly, Mark decided not to eat with his hands! The next day we continued our research in Luh, and Mark helped out in every way he could. Hans, the bodyguard, also rallied villagers to come down and have their feet inspected! They seemed unusually reluctant, must be something to do with Mark's presence. We were quite a team!

The fon of Luh was the first fon my father was being introduced to…and what a fon! This man had the most hilarious, high pitched laugh. In fact, his laugh involved his whole body! His big fat belly bobbled up and down, his legs stiffened and they were flung into the air, and his huge smile revealed some interesting teeth! It all made for an interesting character, to say the least. Again, photos of him are linked below. Our day was long, and the roads were bad, fortunately the 4x4 could handle it easily.

Then next day, we were to visit Sehn, our penultimate research village. The fon here had good English, and was clearly a well educated man. Mark talked about climate change and the local reforestation project that Marcel, one of our team members, was pioneering. He then showed us round his palace, which is his village within a village, if you like. It is where the village councillors meet and discuss village goings-on, where past fons are buried, among many other functions. He showed us a room where the late chiefs are buried, like a tomb. Except in this tomb, the head of the fons are dug up years later, and placed on the soil surface…so within this room were 11 skulls! We were not allowed to look, but the prospect was a little unnerving. He also showed us a small seating area where the adulterous are subject to interrogation by the village notables. I think it was lost in translation, but he definitely said this is where they are “taught fornication”. A punishment indeed, especially infront of the village elders and chief!

The fon here gave us a cock as a present, and our driver from Yaounde was not too impressed when it proceeded to crap all over the car! To be fair, the smell was rather unpleasant for the whole hour long journey home. Grim.

That evening, we arrived home relatively early and I wanted us to visit the tailors to order our new suits! Tom and I were buying novelty traditional Cameroon boys suits, which are dreadfully ugly, but are more souvenirs than fashion items. Tom’s will be petrol blue and mine a gold/brown/beige colour. For £25 each, who can complain! I also ordered a lilac tailored shirt, single cuff, should be tasty.

The next day was an incredible day! It was my father’s turn to be knighted, and he was given the title of “Nformi”, which is the title above me, and two above Tom, which is the position just below the fon. It’s a prestigious title indeed, and he was given a marvellous robe/gown, and an incredible spikey hat, the same as mine but with a “Go-faster” red streak. After being presented with these, he was handed a cutlass and a spear to dance with. The women of the village sang and bowed down and the men danced and played drums. It was incredible, the noise was awesome and the sun came out right at that moment! Mark gave a nice speech to the village, thanking them and discussed various issues to do with the political situation and local development projects.

To each fon we have met so far, we are giving a framed photo of Tom, I and the fon. However, to the fon at our village of Fuh, we also gifted a glass model of Buckingham Palace, which he loved!

My Dad left yesterday morning after a brilliant visit. We continued for our last day of research in Sehn, reaching a total of 1000 data points! This was a great achievement, and we are all very pleased. With one more day of research, we should total 1100 or so, which is plenty.

One day early, our local craftsman arrived with our order! We excitedly greeted him into our home, and he showed Tom and I our carved pictures, with our new names on.

Mine reads:

“Shey M’Bwang Collins Nguang”

And Tom’s:

“Shey M’Kuu Thomas Ngwayi”

These will look splendid on the wall, as long as I have the space in my bag for all of my purchases. I also have a 3.8l Calabash, which is a beautiful. Even more beautiful when full of beer. It's hard to describe, but is the shape of a rain drop, and is used traditionally for dispensing palm wine from.

Today is another Market day, however, as per usual, we cannot leave the house until mid afternoon as the rain is pouring down in bucket loads. The power has gone off, and everyone else is asleep. It is also very cold and my clothes are a little damp. Although, I do have M&S Jelly Belly Jelly beans to cheer me up!

The market was our last, and by far the best! I bought some absurd items, including a flourescent yellow balaclava, a very fake Cameroon football shrt, a pink and green waterproof training top, a "Shakira" onesy t-shirt/shirt combo (it's completely ghastly) and a big orange bobble hat. Tom bought an 80s-esque lightening bolt pink+yellow sweat band and a tasty black and orange winter hat. Great day.

Some more have been added here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25075&l=a6ef8&id=511649878