Una mica de resum -- A brief summary (amb quatre fotos! With 4 pictures!)

Donant el meu testimoni a l'Església Baptista Etouk-Ebe a Yaundé

Giving my testimony at Etouk-Ebe Baptist Church in Yaounde

Visitant Casablanca anant cap a casa.

Visiting Casablanca, Morocco, on my way back home.

Una Mesquita enorme!
A huge Mosque!




Un cotxe que segurament suscitarà algun comentari :)
A car that will surely cause a few comments :)

Dear family and friends,

quite a few days have passed since the last post! I am sorry if I have kept some waiting for news. You see, I am still waiting for the debrief summary that SIL is writing about my stay. They sent me their first draft for me to review. I sent it back but I am still waiting for the last version. In order to not keep you waiting, I shall proceed and give you all a bit of an account of what I have done in Cameroon from February 2nd to March 16th. Oh, and before I forget: I am in Dos Hermanas now. More about this down below.

Here are two excerpts from the Cameroon debrief summary. Since it's a bit private and I am not going to publish it on the blog, if you have been in my team (which means any family or friends who have been praying and/or giving for the trip), you can write and ask for a copy of the debrief letter, which I also ask you not to publish online.

First excerpt: some of my activities.

-Inserted Bubi text for 9 parables, and EG Pidgin text for 3 parables into Publisher documents.

-Helped with transcription of words into International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in So, Mmen and Lefa.

-Visited village allocation of Isaac family and helped with home schooling.

-Adapted French-based transition primer from Tunen to Bakoko.

Second excerpt: how I mixed in the culture.

Ricard adapted well to different situations and cultures. He seemed to do well with cross-cultural interaction.

Well, that's it for today! Thank you everyone for your prayers! Christina and I still need them, since we are really busy with our wedding plans, me moving to southern Spain, a job interview in the morning, and visiting an appartment in the afternoon. And a lot of work transcribing!

Love in Christ,

Ricard

De nou a casa - De nuevo a casa - Back home

(¡En castellano abajo!)

Benvolguts tots:

Ja sóc a casa! He tardat una mica en escriure ja que he hagut de fer vàries gestions des que he arribat. El viatge de tornada va anar bé: Vaig volar de Yaundé a Casablanca el dia 16 a la matinada, i com que vaig dormir unes quantes hores i estava bastant fresc, i havia d'esperar unes quantes hores d'escala a Casablanca, vaig agafar un tren que em va portar al centre. Vaig llogar un guia per dues hores i mitja molt bé de preu, i l'home, que tenia més de 70 anys, era una enciclopèdia vivent! Vam voltar per Casablanca, vaig visitar Rick's Café per fora, ja que encara no havien obert. Allà em va dir el guia, pobre de mi, que la pel·lícula de Casablanca l'havíen filmat tota a Hollywood. Com??? Nooooo!! Bé, a banda d'això em va ensenyar uns edificis fantàstics (les fotos venen en breu).

Llavors vaig tornar a l'aeroport, i un parell d'hores més tard ja em teniu a Barcelona, amb el papa, la mama i l'Andreu esperant-me a l'aeroport. Viscaaaa! Quina rebuda més fantàstica. Moltes gràcies a tots pel vostre recolzament i les vostres pregàries. En breu escriuré una mica un resum del que he après i fet al Camerun, una mica de reflexió. A tots els que llegiu això i heu estat seguint les meves peripècies, us agrairia moltíssim que anéssiu a l'apartat dels comentaris que hi ha aquí baix, que em deixeu una nota presentant-vos perquè sàpiga que m'heu estat visitant el blog i seguint les històries. M'encantaria. De veritat.

Torneu aviat per llegir les últimes reflexions sobre el viatge! Un abraçada del vostre amic i germà,

Ricard

---------------------------------------------------------------

Queridos amigos:

Ya estoy en casa! He tardado un poco en escribir al haber tenido que hacer unas gestiones desde que he llegado. El viaje de vuelta fue muy bien: volé desde Yaundé a Casablanca (Marruecos) en la madrugada del 16 de marzo, y como dormí un poco estaba lo bastate fresco como para ir a visitar la ciudad. Así que cogí un tren que me llevó al centro. Ahí alquilé un guía autóctono que rondaba (¿es castellano esto?) los setenta, una enciclopedia andante. Visité Rick's Café entre otros lugares (solo por fuera ya que no habían abierto todavía), y me enteré allí mismo de que toda la película de Casablanca la habían rodado en Hollywood. ¡Que desilusión! Pero seguimos, y me enseñó otros edificios fantásticos. En breve colgaré fotos.

Luego volví al aeropuerto , y un par de horas más tarde ya me tenéis en Barcelona, donde papá, mamá y Andreu me estaban esperando en el aeropuerto. Vivaaa! Que bienvenida más fantástica. Muchas gracias a todo el mundo por vuestro apoyo y vuestras oraciones. En breve os escribiré para contaros un poco el resumen de lo que he hecho y aprendido en el Camerún, así como un poco de reflexión y conclusión. Y a todos los que leáis esto, os agradecería que buscárais el apartado de comentarios y me dejárais una nota presentándoos para que pueda saber que me habéis estado siguiendo un poco las historias. Me encantaría. De verdad.

Volved pronto para leer las últimas reflexiones sobre el viaje! Un abrazo de vuestro amigo y hermano.

Ricard

Fotos del poblet (amb comentaris!)

Arribant al poblet amb moto (vam portar aquest home per una distància)

Going to the village on motorbike (we gave this man a lift for a short distance)

El Ludovic llegint la dedicatòria que li vaig escriure en el Nou Testament que li vaig donar

Hiking to high school (or as they say, trekking to school)
Anant a l'escola secundària


El cap d'estudis de l'institut
The headmaster of the secondary school


I visited all the forms, introduced myself, and was able to give the gospel yet again in one of them. This is grade 7.
Vaig visitar tots els cursos, i vaig poder donar l'evangeli de nou en una classe! Aquí estic a primer d'ESO.


Després de l'institut, el cap d'estudis em va portar a una altra escola primària del poble, que també vaig visitar.
After visiting the high school, the headmaster took me to another primary school, which I also visited.


I really wanted a picture of two hands!
Em moria per una foto de dues mans!


Em deien, "Ricard, you are very funny" (Ricard, ets molt graciós)
They told me, "Ricard, you are very funny"


Christina told me, "Ricard, I want you to take pictures of how corn fufu is done, so you can show your mother in Spain."
La Christina em va dir, "Ricard, vull que facis fotos de com es fa el corn fufu perquè li ensenyis a la teva mare a Espanya."


Tal dit, tal fet.


I vinga riure!


Okay, now it's my turn to stirr!
Ara em toca a mi remenar!


Breathtaking sceneries
Vistes magnífiques



Prosper. He's got green eyes!
En Prosper. Té els ulls verds!


Eep! I aquest sóc jo.
Hey there! That's me.

A FEW LESSONS LEARNED IN CAMEROON

Picking the best firewood in the forest

Bathing with a bucket

Giving and receiving things with my right hand

Not throwing things to other people (e.g. keys), but putting them in the hand

Collecting fruit using a large pole with a hook at the end, namely avocados (hmmm...)

Saying “sorry for the left hand” if I’ve realized too late that I have given something with the wrong hand.

Not eating all the food on your plate is okay! Someone else will finish it. The first day in the village, at breakfast time, I miraculously managed to finish a humongous serving of corn fufu thinking it wouldn’t be polite not to finish it. That same afternoon I couldn’t even eat half the huge serving of rice, and I gave the plate (with my right hand) to the hostess. She grinned, happy that I had had enough (if I finish everything on my plate, she may think I still want more). She gave the plate to one of the boys, and everyone was happy.

In the village, paying 100 francs to get your laundry washed is less exhausting than washing it yourself by hand. Yes, I tried. I thought I had succeeded, it looked pretty clean. But she showed me a couple of hidden stains and I let her finish it. 100 francs was nice.

You will get your right arm easily sunburnt if you leave it dangling outside of a moving car for more than an hour. Yes, even at the end of your stay. Yes, on a very hot day. Yes, trying to get more of a sun tan to impress people at home who have been enjoying snow and power cuts for a few days.

Last but not least, as I read on a bumper sticker: “Relax. God is in control.”

Last Days in the Village.

Hello Family and Friends!!!!

Ricard is enjoying his last few days in the village of Bafumen near the city of Bamenda. Tomorrow he returns to Bamenda to go over his linguistics findings with the Swedish linguist who is working in that language area. Ricard will then return to Yaounde either on Friday night (the night bus) or Saturday morning. Please pray that he will have a blessed last five days in Cameroon of serving and learning and that he would be able to debrief and prepare for returning to Spain so that the transition will be a smooth one. Thank you for all your prayers for Ricard.

Love to all,

Christina (for Ricard.)

More pictures (read the newsletter below!!)

Gone to a construction site -- Vam anar a veure una casa en construcció

Loved this tree... -- M'encanta aquest arbre!

La senyera -- Catalan flag :)

Dedicated to Christina! He filled in the heart for me. -- Dedicat a la Christina! Ell em va ajudar emplenant el cor.

Oops... try again!!
Ep... Tornem-hi!!

Hehe... that's much better! :) -- Això ja és una altra cosa!!

Twain twaks (I loved their kid accent!!)

Nate trying on my hat!

En Nate emprovant-se la meva gorra

Surprise picture! Foto sorpresa!

Rainy day... This will be used for toilet water! --
Un dia de pluja... Aquesta aigua es farà servir pel vàter!

Stay in Deuk!!

Village kids!! Yes, Benny the 6 year old MK is there too. The kid on the left sticking his tongue out is pretty funny!

Renée reading a story to her 2 year old son Zach

Family play time! Yes, it's better to do that once the sun has gone down.

Some of the village children. On the left is one of the usual scenes: sister looking after lil' baby brother! She sometimes left him dozing at the shade and joined the ball game.

My bed with the mosquito net. I only used it the first two nights! Yes, I'm taking my Lariam.

Dear family and friends,

My week in Deuk was amazing! I had a great time spending a few days with an American family in the village. It gave me some insight on what it might be like in a few years! Time flew as I helped the couple both with linguistics issued and their kids. They really were busy...

One day I went with Kendall to talk to people in another village about a translation project. I went with three other Cameroonians working alongside with SIL. On the way over there we crashed against a hidden log and had to carefully cross under a fallen tree in the middle of the road.

During some days I interacted with the children from the village that came to play ball in the play area the family has in their front garden. I wrote down a list of words after playing a bit with the children. They got to know me well as I played with them often, gave them chocolate now and then and sometimes even had to stop a fight. "On est ici pour jouer, pas pour se battre.", I would tell them. But that just happened occasionally, but even so I asked Kendall's language consultant in one of the morning sessions I listened in to how to say "don't fight".

Yes, a language consultant. A very good one, Kendall and Renée really appreciate his language abilities. I sat in sometimes, and Kendall would ask some word pairs, and we would discuss what phonemes were the appropiate ones in such and such a word.

To Kendall: "A high central unrounded vowel? Sounds rounded to me. Hmmm... Maybe not."
To the language consultant: "Vous pouvez répéter?" That's one of a linguist's most usual request in a language session.

Kendall to Ricard: "He claims it's an imposive "b", but it sounds plosive to me."
Ricard to the language consultant: "Vous pouvez répéter?" ...... To Kendall: "Sounds plosive to me too..."

So as you can see, I really had a fun time, and a chance to learn from an experienced linguist. I really have a hard time distinguishing if a high central vowel is unrounded or rounded! And an unrounded "u" sometimes sounds like a central "u"!! Help me there, Scott (my Phonetics teacher)

News... Tomorrow I may be going back to Bamenda, the Northwest Region, back to the village called Bafumen, where I had my first village experience. I want to go over my word list after having been absent for two weeks. Christina (my hostess), is welcoming me back, and Lena (the linguist I was partnering with) is happy to know I am going over my word list. I may spend 3 or 4 days there, and then come back to Yaundé about 4 days before flying back home. ONLY 9 days left!!!!!!!!! Wow. Time flies.

A big hug for all of you who are reading this! I'll right more later about the experiences. And more pictures. I have to get ready for the trip. Cheers!

Ricard

A day in the village life of Ricard. :)

Today I had a great day! This afternoon I went for a walk out of the village into the countryside. I met a motorist, I asked him where he was going, and he said he was going to "the palm trees". So I offered him the equivalent of less than a euro to take me there and back to the village (I had already walked a great deal). He accepted readily. The place was even further away from the village!

He stopped the motorbike at the edge of the road and we hiked in the bush for about 15 minutes. It was lovely, I took many pictures and chatted with Guy, who is my same age. He asked me specifically if I knew the Isaacs, so that made me trust him and his machete. He used the machete to cut a slim slice off the edge of a palm tree. Then he put back a funnel made of leaves that went in a container. The funnel covered the edge of the palm tree, which produced this palm tree juice. I tried a bit, and it was pretty sweet! I took many pictures, and will put them up on the web soon.

Then we went back to Deuk, the village was coming from, and it seems he had a small bar where he had some avocados. I bought 6 of them (beautiful avocados) for an equivalent of less than 50 cents. Then he gave me his adress so I could send him a letter from Spain (a packet, he hinted), and I used the "packet" thing to tell him about a "packet" or present that God was waiting for him to open. He listened. I found out previously that he was catholic, because he wrote down the PO box of a nearby Catholic mission, so I asked him if he was catholic. Then I bought the avocados.

I may be going back to Yaounde on Sunday or Monday, I'm not sure. I'll first go to a nearby city (Bafia) either with Kendall or on a motorbike, and then I'll take a taxi to Yaund'e. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing after that. Maybe I'll call the Swedish lady and offer her to be a few more days in the Northwest region, in the same village I was before.

Please pray for a safe journey back to Yaunde and for wisdom as to what to do after that, as I still will have a bit more than a week left. A huge hug for you all! God bless.

Ricard.

Stina got a phone call from Ricard!

And he has had a wonderful week in the village! Tomorrow he travels back to Yaoundé and then he will be going to spend some days in Bamenda again! :)

Thanks for all your prayers!

Stina for Ricard.

Ricard is enjoying village life in Cameroon!

Sorry, Stina doesn´t have any pictures to add... BUT she did get an email from Ricard.

Ricard says he is thorougly enjoying his work in the village. He spends a lot of time with the three missionary kids so that the parents can concentrate on linguistics work in the language. He also has gotten to do some work in the tribal language and has participated in some of the linguistics work that Kendall Isaac is doing in the language, particularly working with the vowel sounds. :)

Thank you for reading this and for your continued prayers as Ricard is now down to his last two weeks in Cameroon!

Ways you can specifically pray for Ricard:

-for him to be physically strong and healthy

-for many learning opportunities

-for spiritual growth and guidance from the Spirit

-for wisdom in all the various circumstances

-for safety in travel and in a spiritually dark area

-for the rest of his trip to be covered financially

-for a good transition back to Europe

Lots of love,

Christina (for Ricard!)

I´m in a really remote village this time!

"Stina? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you!"

"I arrived safely to the village-"

And that´s all Ricard got to say over his cell phone on Saturday afternoon to me (Stina) before the signal was too garbled to understand him and the signal then went completely dead. He called me multiple times after that, but each time I picked up the phone the call was dropped immediately. I am so thankful I got to hear his voice, be it ever so briefly, to know that he made it safely to the village. It is three and a half hours away from Yaoundé. On Saturday night I wrote him an sms and I hope it got through.

Sunday Ricard tried calling me a couple times so even though we were never able to talk it was nice to know that he was thinking of me.

Today, Monday, he has not tried calling (that I know of), but I hope and trust this means that he is very busy and involved with helping the missionary family he is staying with and getting to help with linguistic work in the local language.

Thanks for all your prayers for Ricard and I! We greatly appreciate them and know that the Father hears them!

Lots of love,

Christina (for Ricard)