La blanche!

Being hyper-visible is exhausting. I don't mean that as a complaint, just as a reflection of every moment I am outside of my house or the apartment. It is rare to walk down the street without hearing, "la blanche! La blanche!" or, "C'est comment, ma cherie?" It's an interesting feeling to know that every move I make is being watched by alot of people. I feel even more conspicuous when I enter a restaurant and am in very close proximity to the people watching me, it's worse than the former catwalk in the caf (at Dickinson). A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to go to a wedding that was being held at Elizabeth's house. It was one of the coolest experiences I've had so far in Cameroon. True to Cameroonian style, it rained hard at first, but then subsided so the wedding party could continue. Although we didn't exactly know who had gotten married, it was wonderful to be included. The bride and groom's first dance was so beautiful. They looked so incredibly happy and there was not a single person there that wasn't tearing up. After they finished their dance (to a Celine Dion song), everyone else joined in. Les blanches included. We were spectacles on the dance floor. All eyes were on us, and definitely not because of our dancing skills (at least not my skills). It was a moment in which I realized (probably much later than everyone else) that I will never be able to blend in here, and that is okay. Everything I do here is a learning experience in some way. Anyway, as for the rest of the wedding, I unfortunately had to leave early to get home to my host family, but I was told that the fun continued long into the night.

Speaking of important events, I think you all should know about one of my biggest milestones thus far. My first cockroach kill. You may think this is melodramatic, but I am not exaggerating when I tell you that it was the biggest cockoach I have EVER seen, and that I am now a stronger person for having dealt with it. Picture this: two or three days ago, I am sleeping in my bed, all cozy underneath my mosquito net (which is tucked under all of the sides of my mattress, probably prompting you to question how I came into contact with this cockroach, something I am still investigating myself), when I wake up to something falling on my chest. Not just anything. A GIANT COCKROACH. As soon as I become fully aware of the dire situation I am facing, I flick the cockroach off my chest and it hits the side of my mosquito net. I am now literally trapped inside of my mosquito net with a giant cockroach. It is about 4:30 in the morning and still very dark, so I grab my phone and use the light to shine on the cockroach to keep it in my sight in case it decides to attack again. I am frantically pulling on my mosquito net to find a gap for it to exit from, and as soon as I do it scurries out of the net. The only question now remaining is whether or not it has made it to the floor, or is still on my bed somewhere. I decide to err on the side of caution and assume it is still in close proximity. I manage to flick on the lights, and plant myself in the middle of my mattress and scan the room every five seconds for signs of roach life. I can hear it chirping (yes, cockroaches make a horrifying chirping noise), and this only heightens my terror. Finally, after about forty-five minutes of paralyzing fear, the roach comes into sight and scuttles across the floor. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I emerge from the net, and quickly slip on my sandals. The foul crunching sound that results from the squashing of the cockroach is well received as a wave of comfort washes over me. I leave it on the floor to show my host family in the morning (I know they will be so proud of me) and after doing about five more scans of the bedroom, go back to sleep.

There are so many things I have done in the past few days that I want to describe, but it would be hard to list all of them here. Yesterday a few of us went to Briqueterie, the Muslim neighborhood, to walk around and browse for fabric. The fabric here in Cameroon is amazing, I have already made one dress, and have plans to make many more. We walked up what seemed to every hill in the neighborhood, stopping in a couple stores and making our final destination a little stand for fresh fruit smoothies, and delicious boeuftek (tasty beef, french fries, bread, and mayonnaise). It was a very interesting experience, seeing a different way of life in Cameroon. At my house here, I can hear the call to prayer every morning. It sounds five times a day, and when it goes off around 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, I often wake up to the sound of people chanting. At first I was confused, but after having figured out what it is, I love hearing it. It's amazing to hear so many people praying at once, and it reminds me of the sense of community here in Cameroon. Something that's pretty amazing about this place is that there are so few homeless people. The importance of family and community is too important to let anyone go hungry or shelter-less, and so it's very rare to see people living on the streets. Not only do families take care of each other, everyone comes from a village where they can live and will be taken care of. Even if people have moved to the city, they are always welcome and often return to their villages. That is one of my favorite things about Cameroon.

With that, I will leave you to process my roach killing, and promise to write more often in the future!