My journey to work
I’ve been meaning to include a little Flip action on here for a while.
So here we are, my journey to work. Apologies for the lack of embedding at this point – assorted technologies are just not Cameroon compliant.
The journey follows a very different daily commute to the one I made in Hanoi (movie here) just two and a half years ago. (I was shocked when I checked the dates – seems so long ago)
Time for some audience participation? I think so.
I’ve set up a Flickr group where others can also add their films. Remember to keep it under 90 seconds so that Flickr will accept it. It’d be great if we could get some films from around the world. Particularly other volunteers and those living in exotic places. But I also wouldn’t mind seeing hellish train journeys from back home..well, just so I can feel good about my life.
Since settling in my home I’ve enjoyed my little walk to work. Check out the kiddies shouting “Whiteman!”
Tags: bamenda, cameroon, my journey to work, myjourneytowork
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November 13, 2008 at 10:31 am
You’ve inspired me into action once again, Steve. While Flickr is absurdly slow to load in Cameroon (nothing unusual there) I’m already visualizing your commute in Bamenda.
My bicycle commute in Buea is the best 5 minutes of my day, hands down. It’s all downhill on a fairly steep, well-paved road. I’m often able to pass most auto traffic on the way in. It’s the closest I get to feeling like a superhero. Going home is an altogether different story, of course.
If I can engineer a solution for strapping a camera to the handlebars I’ll try creating my own “journey to work” movie. Very cool.
November 14, 2008 at 5:15 am
Great, thanks for posting this! I have many friends from Cameroon so it’s really interesting for me to read your stories about what it’s like to live there and with a video…wow even better! Post some more if you can!
November 14, 2008 at 6:51 am
Wow. I am speechless. I loved the video. I was totally tickled by the little kids calling you “whiteman.” You are an exotic being. You are a rare creature and they have all eyes on you. Smile.
And the pictures on flickr from Sister Rose…I don’t even have words. I need to eat there. You’ll have to show me where it is and I will sit down and dig in. Wow.
It is weird, but last night I had a dream that I was eating njamanjama and fufu and it looked exactly like the njamanjama in your picture. Darn it. Now I am hungry. You are lucky…hehehe…is Sister Rose your favorite restaurant so far? What else do they serve that is good?
Mezam PolyClinic looks different form when I was there…it must have changed over time, very much, i bet. Oh, your house is cute…what a nice color…red…very cozy. Feeling at home already? Sorry about crichi. Nasty little pissing devils. Santan’s children, I tell you. I despise those things. Evil. Pure evil.
I agree with Carol. More videos coming? Please.
And Bill, what are you waiting for? I understand u have a an “office” in Batoke…so do we get to see the commute on foot, toes in sand, when you walk along the beach?
Ourman, enjoy the “ming-gwin”…toasted grasshoppers. I don’t like them much myself but they are totally crunchy and healthy. And taste like melted butter. Uh, like popcorn with melted, salty butter. Right?
November 14, 2008 at 7:29 am
Bill, I look forward to seeing your film.
I hope that my traveling and working overseas days won’t end once my Cameroon term is up. I’d like to build up a number ofg “walk to work” videos during this career (for the want of a better word).
Carol, you are welcome. I may be getting out of town at the weekend so perhaps it is time to show you some of the surrounding areas.
BB – Sister Rose is at, I think, Foncha Junction. It seems very well known and talked about for the quality of its food (I will blog it all soon). They basically have two choices chicken or fish. It’s the only time I eat fish here largely because it is not dried, smoked or small and full of bones – none of which really appeal.
Fufu is okay – you can’t hate fufu but I just think how good it would taste with a chicken madras sauce of something spicy and exotic. I find it just a bit bland and heavy (sorry!).
The grasshoppers? They were fufu corn esque – in other words their taste was fine but I can’t imagine me ever craving them. Maybe as beer food – salted or spicy.
BB – feel free to add your own walk to work film if you can.
November 14, 2008 at 7:38 am
You are too funny. Strap a camera to one’s head?
Ok, try and catch some grasshoppers and roast them for breakfast. Bon appetit!
November 14, 2008 at 10:05 am
Thanks but I had cornflakes, yogurt and lovely Cameroon coffee.
November 14, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Questions, questions,
What do you do at the polyclinic?
What do you wear to work?
Who do you work with?
Who speaks / doesn’t speak English?
What’s the hardest thing you have to do where the lack of language is the problem?
How easy is it to get out of town and into those hills, and what’s there?
November 14, 2008 at 2:53 pm
David – might help if you were vaguely polite about it and perhaps explained why you were curious.
November 14, 2008 at 4:09 pm
ah bless, he just sounds keen – cut him a little slack?
( dunno why he needs to know what you wear though…LOL!)
November 17, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hi
Thank you minxlj for coming in there – until I read down the posts until I got to yours, my face was burning with embarrassment.
Steve, I meant no lack of politeness. I have been reading your blog on and off and I watched the video, and I was thinking it would be interesting to know more.
I’ve never been south of the Sahara but when I look on the map I see Cameroon is not far from D R Congo, with its current problems, and in the scale of Africa, maybe it’s not that far from Senegal and Mali, from where I have been enjoying music for years.
So I was wondering what your feeling is being in Cameroon? And because I like to see animals, I was wondering how preserved the animal life is the hills outside of time, and what the experience of being there would be like.
And I was trying to build a picture of what your life is like – can you relax and wear what you like, or is there a dress code for expats or people generally who work in places like the polyclinic? In other words, what is the society like?
And about the language, well I wonder how you manage to interact with people – do lots of people speak English or are you to some extent marginalised by not speaking French, or perhaps you do? Or perhaps most people speak English and French.
So that was the idea, and if you thought I was impolite I meant nothing bad, and maybe you could reflect on the tone of your reply, which didn’t exactly make my day.
Can we start again?
All the best
Daivd
November 17, 2008 at 1:33 pm
David,
Course we can start again. I was probably a bit cranky when I added my message.
I tell you what, in time I’ll use it as the basis of a recap blog post.
Will try to do it asap.
cheers
Steve
November 17, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Hi Steve,
Great reply. I have plenty of cranky days.
Looking forward to reading more.
Best wishes
David
November 26, 2008 at 12:31 pm
[...] post was inspired by Steve Jackson’s “Journey to Work” Flickr video that he posted last week. He encouraged others to participate, so this is my [...]