The Legacy…

As promised, here is numero 2. For full reading pleause please play Micheal Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, the song currently blaring in my cyber cafe!

Canada Day-Alas, for the first time I have been seperated from my homeland for the first Canada Day ever. This means I missed out on the typical 1)watch parliament hill celebration on TV   2) predrinking/bbq with friends   3) fireworks    aaaand of course, you few special people know who you are for this one   4)being a good friend and babysitting those who have maybe had a little too much to drink while at the Harveys downtown (coughandieandnathancough). This year was different. I had a class on Canada day and decided to throw my own Canada day parties with my students! It was great, we all cooked food, brought music, and I gave them a “Made in Canada Quiz” and talked and talked about home. It was different, but I still felt equally Canadian!

The Flood- Alright, so ive gotten used to the unpredictable and unexpected here, both the pleasant surprises, and the shocking problems and delays…well…The Flood tops them I think. My office is on the third floor (the top floor) of a building in Downtown Douala. Now, weve experienced the odd lock before, but nothing prepared me for this…

One evening recently, I was in the middle of delivering a lesson to my students for an evening class. Outside it was raining like crazy (welcome to the rainy season) and the rain was so heavy I had to yell for my students to hear me as it hammered the mostly tin roof. I had my students full attention, untill one by one, their eyes drifted down to my feet. Confused, I stopped midsentence to look down and a small lake of water had formed around my feet and more and more water was flowing in from under the door. I was quite perplexed by this, so I walked towards the door, opened…and in the hall way part of the roof had burst, and my entire office was being flooded by a waterfall. Again, Ive seen leaks…but this was a WATERFALL, gushing in with natures full fury. I just quietly observed this shocking scene for a few moments, barely reacted, then turned to my students and calmly said…”hmm, i think we might have to end class early today…theres a…leak…” My students looked out the door behind me and theyre startled expressions showed their alarm and surprise.

Within minutes every room on the top floor and in our training centre as under at least one or two inches of water…and we were on the thrid floor! What a unexpected problem this was. We spent the next hours depseratly rescuing materials and anything sitting on the flood or near the waterfall. Then we had to sweep all of the water and down the stairs, Ive never seen anything like it! Needless to say, I was back to school the next morning with my next. Resilience it the key!

A man of many names-Sarkozy, Le Blanc, Blanc chocolat, Western Man aaaaand Jack Baur of 24? Yep, Ive heard them all. The average Cameroonian hesititates very little to shout random names at you as you walk by, le blanc is certainly the most common, but recently I keep getting compared to Nicolas Sarkozy and Jack Baur…two very different people if you ask me! I prefer Jack Baur, for sure. Sure feels odd when three times and three days you hear someone say “le blanc resemble à Jack Baur!” Next time I hope im close enough or feeling adventurous and turn and say “Oui, je SUIS Jack Baur!” I wonder what the reaction will be?

The Camera-So obviously, walking down the street is enough for me to be recognized as a foreigner, but theres another thing that serves to seperate an outsider even more from local people. Outside of AIESEC events, or events with friends, Ive been very hesitant just to take pictures of the city where i live as well as the people and the way of life here in Cameroon. Carrying my camera around and snaping pictures at will seems to draw attention and put up a barrier between myself and people here, or at least it feels like it for me. Not that people here in general care about cameras, after all in this city, many people here have them themselves. Yet, to take pictures just of people or places at large makes me feel and LOOK like a tourist or a visitor.. .Not that this is a bad thing…its just a bit unsettling for someone trying to blend in and do the Cameroonian thing.

For example when Im dressed in my work clothes, taking motos, or with my local friends, it feels like this is home, and when people see me away from the foreigner hotspots (aka downtown and the wealthy neighborhoods) I dont feel like im perceived as some foreigner here to gawk at things. I fly “under the radar” so to speak (or as mch as I can). But when I walk around with my flip flops, back pack, and camera, I get the impression that Im perceived differently and am somehow more distanced from my surroundings. So for some reason, I feel so akward with a camera here, it feels so stupid, but I had another intern tell me the same exact thing! Oh well, Ill get over it. Some day soon, Ill hire a moto for an hour and just tour the whole area snapping picture after picture for all at home to enjoy!

The legacy- Now that my Tunisian friend has left, I am without a hookup to the Lebanese community. That meant, no more shisha. But have no fear, Ive taken things into my own hands. After finding a few other interns who shrae my life with shisha, I went on a search to find the materials to prepare our “legacy.” Last night, I bought all of the necessary supplies to have our very own shisha, although not the highest quality and suffering from some technical problems, we took it for a test drive on my patio last night, and it was fantastic. The other interns and I have decided to split the cost, and leave the shisha here after we leave for AIESEC and all future generations of interns to enjoy. Another AIESEC LC to be bit by the shisha bug, a proud legacy for me!

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