Ngong! (The Real Story Begins)

11-13 December 2009

Population: 45,000 (Or so I’ve been told; it feels like little more than 10,000)
Dominant religions: Islam, 70%, Christianity: 25%
Hottest temperature recorded since arriving at post: 93 degrees, Fahrenheit (keep in mind, though, that this is technically the beginning of the cold season)

I’ve been at post for a little less than a week now and it’s certainly been interesting. Spouts of boredom followed by periods of frustration, and every once in a while a little fun and joy thrown in the mix. I kid, it’s been mostly good here so far. My language barrier is now much higher here than it was during training and I think there’s a few reasons for that: firstly, I don’t speak Fulfulde, the dominant language here. Secondly, I find those that do speak French harder to understand—probably a combination of the fact that I got used to the accent near Bangante and that I’d estimate only about 50-60% of people speak conversational French here. But I’ve been asking around about finding a tutor here in Ngong, so hopefully I can start learning Fulfulde soon. And if I can’t find one here, Garoua is only 30 minutes away, though that’d be more expensive. Regardless, I’ll be fine. These first few months just might be a little slow as I gain (or re-gain) my groundings in these languages.

Ngong is definitely an interesting place. As I noted earlier, it seems a lot smaller than it is and I think that is mostly because it isn’t as developed as, say, Bangante which is smaller than Ngong, but with many more amenities (internet, for one). The market, however, is amazing. It’s kicking every day, but I think I wrote about that before so I’ll let it be for now. Anyway, it’ll be the place that I learn a lot of Fulfulde, because most people there speak that.

I also have my first sort of program planned. There’s a French Catholic Mission in town and one of the sisters does a lot of health projects, mostly focused on sensitizing the population on issues relating to HIV/AIDS. She invited me to come along to a meeting she has with a community group this Saturday. I don’t think I’ll do very much this time but it will be good to observe how these groups work and also to simply work on my French.

Some people have also expressed interest in mailing me some things. Apparently flat-rate boxes from the post office are the cheapest, though padded envelopes get here the quickest and with the least amount of hassle. See the previous post for more info on mailing. My parents are sending me a few of these things but I think there’ll be a continuous need. Here are a few things I could go for:
Incense. You can find it here, I’m told, but the quality isn’t too great and the scents are pretty hit or miss. I have also been told that it is impossible to find Nag Champa here, so there’s that, too.
Mac and Cheese! Or, really, just the cheese packets. I can find elbow noodles in Garoua, but the actual cheese for mac and cheese is virtually impossible. I think some people even looked in Yaounde without any luck.
Deoderant. Yes, maybe an odd request but it’s also impossible to find here. I also grossly underestimated my deodorant consumption when I only brought three sticks with me. The one person I talked to who found it in Yaounde, once, at the market said it was 10,000 CFA (or about 20 clams). If you feel so inclined, I like the Old Spice white stick stuff (I’m allergic to most others).
PHOTOS! I have a few photos from the states but I would really like to have some more photos of everyone! Gimme some photos of what you all have been up to since I saw you last or maybe some photos of us together, too! I plan on decorating at least one wall with them.
Music! Maybe an MP3 CD or something of some new bands you’ve been getting into or some new music that’s come out.
And really, anything any of you send me will be greatly appreciated. Especially a letter letting me know how you are.

It’s been two days since I started writing this post and petite-à-petite, things are getting a little easier. I’ve found some friends in the community, some people who are patient with my crappy French, and some people who are more than willing to help me, l’étranger, figure things out. Last night I was at a bar with some friends, eating some fish and sipping on a coke, and thought, “this is just such a trip.” And it is, it really is.