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.”