Latest Endeavor

This past month, I’ve started eating daily with a Cameroonian family in my neighborhood. I devour the carbohydrate rich couscous with a sauce with many condiments including MSG-in-a-cube (MAGGI). The mother, Madame Sadjo is a single mother, because the father died about seven years ago. I feel they are more progressive than the typical family en brousse in Cameroon. There are five children ranging from 22 to 9.

The more fascinating thing: family disputes, gossips, fights are trans-cultural and trans-global. I may sound like an ignorant enlightened. I’ve become basically the “grande seour” (big sister) of the family. At 6:30 a.m. some mornings I hear knock-knock... “Andrea, Andrea… tu est la?” Or at other inconvenient times: I am in the middle of a bucket bath with a knock, knock at the door to come to dinner.

Deconstructing family dinner:

The oldest son get’s his own plate as well as I because I am the “guest” or probably because I am the “Nassara”. The rest of the family, the females: eat with their right hand and share a communal plate of couscous and share a communal plate of the “sauce”. I wonder how illness spreads quickly. Hmmm. One can look at this as gender differences.

Some gender differences:

From my post-mate  Women are not aloud of their houses… Their jobs are to cook, clean, raise the children. (I walk around and see these Muslim men sitting there… no wonder there is no work ethic here…my prejudice tangent)

From my counter-part In all Africa the woman is considered second class. Women are placed behind men. “It is not like in your country where there is equality”.

From my observations  At the high school there are more boys than girls. My student told me men are stronger than females. Well, naturally! There derives another possibility that supports men’s “superiority”. They only consider physical strength.

Men can have more than one wife… I personally believe in monogamy. Younger women (girls at 15) are desirous for marriage because they are more likely to do as they are told.

The male students feel the need to push the buttons and “chercher la problem” more so with female teachers. Students live in “fear” of male teachers at my school.