Sabba Njowra

We have returned! After a few wet, hungry, beautiful days up on the mountain, we are back in Bamenda. It is just so lovely up there that I hope you can get a taste of it through pictures, but I'm sure they don't do it justice. Thursday afternoon Papa Karissa drove us up to the village, on a road that puts the Bowman road to shame, especially when it's muddy. For the last section we rode on the back, holding on to the rails and nearly falling off more than once... woohoo! When we arrived, we were welcomed enthusiastically, especially by Fadi and her family; her parents Yaya and Moa, her sister Maimu, and her brothers Yunu and Yusufu. There were plenty of other children running about yelling and waving and staring at the "white man" who had come as well, but that's nothing new.

And theennn... we got to ride! It was marvelous and grand and perfectly perfect. Sarah and Katelyn and I rode out to the very edge of the cliff that looks out over the entire Ndop plain. The fog rolled in and out; one minute we could see clear to the lake all the way across the plain, and the next the mist would be so think we could barely see 10 feet in front of us. I was quite sore the next morning, but it was completely worth it.

Once the sun set, we had dinner and soon after went to bed, though it was only a little after 8 o'clock. It was a good thing, though, because Fadi and her family wake up at 4 to have breakfast and pray before the sun rises. We didn't get up that early with them, but we tried fasting with them all day long. It was slightly easier than I thought it would be, but when sundown came, I was more than ready to eat and drink to my heart's content. Friday morning after washing dishes, Fadi took us out to see Balu, the other side of the cliff that looks down on several villages and farms. In the distance you could hear music that was playing in some bar or house down there, but other than that and the mooing of cows as they followed us around the mountain, it was completely peaceful and quiet. We sat and drank in the view for awhile, but eventually the clouds began to roll in and we hurried back before the rain started. I've found that in Cameroon the mornings are usually sunny and it's in the afternoons that the storms come and last into the night. Well, in the rainy season, anyway. I hear that in the dry season it barely rains at all, so I am grateful for all the storms and fog and rain while it lasts. After a quiet afternoon of reading, napping, and talking, we got to go riding again. The men had taken the horses to go to the mosque, so we had to wait for them to return to ride, but that way we could catch the sunset! ...Or so we thought. The rain came again and we got soaking wet, but it was just as fun running about in the rain. Feels a little more like Lord of the Rings that way, which, of course, is everybody's dream.

Here comes the rain!

(Moa's collection of pots - isn't it lovely?)

While we were there I picked up a few words of Fulfulde, to add to my repertoire of greetings in French and Pidgin (forgive me for my atrocious spelling, though - I'm just guessing here). They welcomed us into their compound by saying "Lalay, lalay, lalay" (welcome, welcome, welcome) to which you respond by saying "Useko, useko, useko" (thank you, thank you, thank you). Greetings include "Tonoy?" to which you respond "Walla," "Noy habbaru?" to which you answer "Jam," and "Eh satina?" to which you should say "Mi saati." All three of them are basically "how are you?" and "I'm fine." (And just in case you were wondering, "Mi footi" is "I farted.")

Last night it was nice falling asleep to the sound of rain, protected from the nasty bugs by our mosquito netting, our stomachs full of delicious food. Then this morning we woke at around 7 and had a bit of bread and coffee before the benskins, or motor-taxis, came to take us back to Door-Market (the end of the dirt road). That was quite the adventure. We had to pay them extra because of the muddy road, and we ended up slipping around and getting off to walk a couple times, but it was fine. A little mud never hurt anyone. From Door Market we caught a taxi back to Bamenda, which was also funny, because there were 7 of us squished inside and one of the men was just a little tipsy. Again, though, it was fine, more funny than problematic, and finally we were dropped at the end of our road. It's nice to be back again - Sabba Njowra is beautiful, and peaceful, and a break from normal life, but I gotta say, I do love taking showers and using my computer and making top ramen (I stocked up on some last time we went to the market).

"Make education your first husband!"

Tomorrow us girls are going to a dance show held at in Bamenda at the Top Star Hotel! We were invited to it by Derick, the dance teacher, and got tickets last week. We are all quite excited; apparently there is going to be a red carpet and a dinner and then dance presentations, so we are getting dressed up and I'm sure there will be pictures soon! Then Monday we start school, so it looks like routine is finally making its way into our so-far-relaxing life. Then next weekend is Sallah! Amazing how time has gone so fast.