A cultural exchange

The Baltimore Ravens are the Superbowl champs! I know it has nothing to do with Cameroon, but just thought I’d throw that out there since I live in the “B.”

Today we intended on rising early to head to Foumban, but it didn’t really happen that way. I made it up early, but I guess the late night kind of wore Akilah out. So we ended up spending a good portion of the day in Bafoussam.

Since she was still a little tired, I walked up to Cybercafe Premier, our favorite spot. It was kind of crowded when I entered, but I brought my laptop along for just an occasion. I motioned to Pat, the admin, that I wanted to hook my laptop to the ethernet, and he found me a spot. Let me tell you, aside from the fact that there must be a firewall block on MS Outlook so I couldn’t receive any email, I was extremely happy nonetheless.

Being on my laptop meant a faster connection. I don’t know how they connect to the ‘net overall, but for me, this was the fastest usage I’ve experienced since being here, and I wanted to savor the moment. But then all of a sudden this guy comes over and taps me. I look up and smile as he says something in french. I have no clue what he’s saying, so I knod and go back to my work.

He taps me once again, and I do the same thing, look at him, nod and continue my work. After he does it the same time and receives the same response, the guy next to me (who I later found out was his friend) told him I didn’t speak french). So the gentleman says to me, “Excuse me, I’m sorry to disturb you.”

Being from the states, if someone says that to you, you figure their apologizing for having bothered you while you’re busy. However, it turns out this person spoke very good english, and his next statement was something to the effect of, since you won’t answer me, I’ll just disconnect you. I was immediately furious, who the hell is this guy disconnecting me, and why?

I say to him, “that was rude, why’d you disconnect me?” His response was essentially that he had my attention now; and at the same time I’m getting even more upset. I ask again why’d he disconnect me while I was working. His response? Well it turns out he’s the owner of the place and thought that since I was ignoring him that he didn’t want my business.

My immediate response was that I didn’t ignore him, but merely responded to him the way I would’ve responded to anyone else who’d come up to me and disturbed me while I’m working. Then I asked him if he noticed and heard that I didn’t speak french why didn’t he just speak to me in english. It was more than obvious that I didn’t understand him, moreover, each time he tapped me, I looked up at him and smiled. So why didn’t he just say he wanted to speak to me?

After packing up and vowing not to ever come to this joint again, and try to discourage any other’s I met not to as well, I first decided I hadn’t done enough to lay him out for what he did; Owner or not! So I marched back to the area where he was setting up some additional computers to speak my mind.

Well, I’m glad I went to speak to him, because as it turns out, we both got our points across to one another, and we both learned something. He mentioned that just because I’m American doesn’t excuse me from being disrespectful, that when you visit another country that doesn’t change who you are. My response was, you’re exactly right, but when you were tapping me, each time I acknowledged you, and went back to my work. So you in effect, received the same response anyone who did something comparable, in the states, would’ve received.

We spoke for about ten minutes then we realized the problem was a cultural difference. When he said to me he was sorry for bothering me, he was attempting to say to me that he wanted to speak with me. Now how was I to know that? I informed him that in the states, if someone wants to speak with another person, they say just that, “excuse me, but my I speak with you?”

He spent all that time trying to get my attention because he noticed I was writing code (i.e., HTML code) and he thought I might have been doing something I wasn’t supposed to. Essentially his statement was that not many people in Cameroon carry their laptops to spots and write code in the open; that someone doing this may have malicious intents. Once I assured him that I was just a web designer and was editing a few pages of mine, he felt a lot better about the situation.

At this point I was relieved, but still intended on leaving. His last statement as I was about to stay was that he would appreciate it if I remained and continued using their services. Feeling a little easier, I decided it was a good idea, besides, I still had a lot of work to do.

If one listens to the response Serge (that’s the owner) gave me, and that of the two bank representatives, you would really think Cameroonians were untrustworthy people. This has not been my experience here and I hope not to run into it either.

I’m glad we got that together. Now I’ve got another friend in Cameroon. But time’s getting late and I need to run back to the hotel and check out. By the time I get there it’s about a half an hour later than what I was supposed to be there and Akilah’s in the room worried that something happened.

We’re ready to go and on the way to the Moungo agency, we stop at a small restaurant Akilah likes, Sweet Home. It’s a nice spot and the food is really inexpensive. I wasn’t really hungry, but Akilah got something to eat; actually she ordered exactly what I did last night, rice with string beans and carrots. I was stunned to find out the cost was only 600 CFAs, because last night I paid 3000 CFAs for the same dish! Yeah it had a different sauce, but that was it. Gees.

I think the chargeurs of the various gares know our faces by now, because as soon as they see us, they’re all running our way to convince us to ride in the car they’re loading. It’s funny how no matter when we arrive, everyone always needs “deux plus.” Ha!

One guy almost got jacked up though. I’m walking with two bags (relatively heavy) on my shoulders and another large one (with Akilah’s two gift boxes inside) in my hand, and Akilah’s walking a few steps ahead of me. This one chargeur tells her his car is going to Foumban, but of course she keeps walking, we’re taking the agency vehicle.

However, dude doesn’t seem to like the fact that she keeps walking so he pulls her book bag to make her turnaround, she manages to pull free and keep walking; but as soon as I get to him I switch bags to the other hand and tap him on the shoulder. He looks at me and is now trying to get me to ride his vehicle, all I want to do is knock him down for grabbing her, but instead I look him in the face, shake my head and fingers at him to indicate he’s not to touch her and continue walking.

I’m pretty sure he knew what I was saying, because the driver of the vehicle he was loading honked and laughed at him as I walked away. I’ve been told that this is how some people respond when they really want you in their bush taxi, but I’ve never experienced it. I guess it was good that my hands were full, I think I would’ve rushed the guy from behind.

We made it to Foumban safely, Akilah taught her adult english class and we ate at the bar next to the Lycée where she teaches the classes. Beans and beignets again; it’s still unbelievable that two people can eat for 175 CFAs! Where can I get a deal like this at home?