Fete de Mouton

So another Muslim holiday has come- fete de mouton or "festival of sacrifice". This fete comes approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan. The big thing for this holiday is the killing or sacrificing of a sheep (in commemoration of Abraham's sacrifice of a ram for God). People have been preparing for this fete for a while- hence the sheep all over the place. And apparently most holidays for Muslims here (like Ramadan and this one) involve celebrating over three days although I'm not quite sure what exactly occurs during those days. I did though see festivities for 2 days this time.

Things started Wednesday. First and foremost- no school- yay! So instead of going to school, I went to see the prayer for fetede mouton. All Muslim men (boys) go out to this huge field outside of town to prayer (there is a particular prayer for the fete). Hundreds of men came out and my postmate and I were not only the only white people but the only women (when I asked I was told the women 'don't want to come'however I believe they are more so not allowed to come to the prayer because usually the women are separated from the men during prayer so that wouldn't be possible in the open field). But yes my postmate and I went and even got to sit on chairs under a tent with thebigwigs of the area (they also came to watch even though they are not muslim so it wasn't too weird to just watch everyone pray).

Poor little sheep waiting to be sacrificed right after the prayer

The prayer altogether lasted maybe 5 minutes. Then the first sheep sacrifice was given at the field although a bunch of kids and people stood around so I wasn't actually able to see that although I did see the poor sheep before he was gone. After the prayer, we went back into town and waited to be invited to some fetes.

Men praying on the left and then me with my friend right after the prayer

In the afternoon, some of our friends invited us out for a drink (soda- they don't drink alcohol) and to my surprise they showed up with an entire meal- they brought igname (kind of like potatoes but not- really almost no flavor), rice, tomato sauce, bread and of course- mouton (sheep). Then directly after eating with them, I came home and my neighbor was feting as well and invited me to eat more food and more sheep. They had killed their sheep earlier in the day so I was kind of glad I wasn't around for that - although I did see the blood still on the ground and the lovely skin of the animal hanging on the wall. Oh and my neighbor said she would show me the head...still waiting to see that...

Skin from the sheep my neighbors killed...still on the wall right now by the way

So Wednesday was prayer, sacrifice and lots of food. Then today there were more festivities- although not as extensive. And unfortunately there was school. But then this afternoon- surprise- there was fantasia again! Who knew! So I went out this afternoon and stood with everyone to see the horses and also try not get trampled when one goes loose. And this fantasia was even more fun than the one for Ramadan because I got to see a bunch of students and other people I knew.

Overall fete de mouton was a success and I can't wait for Ramadan and fete de mouton to come again next year. I already know I will miss these holidays when I get back home-nothing like them there.

Yay- Fantasia again!

Mt. Djumbaul

Banyo is in the Adamawa region which is rather mountainous and therefore of course there mountains surrounding Banyo. And there is one mountain in particular, Mt. Djumbaul (I think that's the name) which people climb during dry season. So right now dry season is slowly creeping in and I have been dying to climb themountain since I got here so when my postmate said she wanted to climb it one last time before she leaves, I was totally in. So we have been waiting for a good time (you have to wait for the path to clear up and also for the rain to stop). Well this weekend the time finally came.

We (my postmate, 2 friends, and myself) headed out for the mountain around 7:30am Saturday. The path is actually right near my house too- convenient. We walked and walked and eventually came to some steps which were super steep but kept walking. As we got higher, we could see more and more of Banyo and there were huge rocks all around which kept getting bigger and bigger. we reached the top around 9am so only about an hour and a half to get up-not bad.

Now at the top of the mountain, there is not only a great view of Banyo and surrounding mountains, but some history as well. In case you were unaware, Cameroon used to be colonized by Germans (and yes others like obviously the French and British) but the Germans really left a lot behind and you can still see buildings and structures that they built all over Cameroon. So now at the top of the mountain in Banyo, there were a few things the Germans left behind: structures from where they possibly looked out and fought, some homes, and a prison- yes a prison which I dont know how on earth or more so I can't imagine how on earth a prison was maintained at the top of this mountain- having to make the climb up and then be left up there in chains- miserable. But it was really neat to see all these things left behind and also to imagine how life would have been for Germans in Cameroon in Banyo.

German prison

In addition to the history all around, there were also huge rocks (as I already mentioned). But there was one in particular at the top and the 2 friends (Cameroonians) said that people climb to the top of this rock so I thought I would give it a try. Huge mistake. It was an amazing view atop the rock but oh man it was scary scary to climb up and more so to go down- I had to sit and kind of crawl. I told them never again would I climb that rock.

The giant rock we climbed- from the other side though clearly no way from this angle

View from atop the rock

We spent a good while exploring the top of the mountain although it was a bit difficult to walk around since there was still a lot of grasses and plants (it's not quite ideal time to climb) and then we headed back down, stopping along the way to sit and rest and just enjoy the view. It was amazing just sitting and overlooking Banyo- it looked so peaceful from far away. But alas we did have to actually go back to Banyo. And man I must say the walk back or more so down was almost as painful as the walk up. But I made it and we actually finished it all before noon. So it was an overall success and I am so glad that I now know how to get there. I may even try to make it a regular routine to go up the mountain every weekend (I hope). But I do know I will be going up again soon- apparently the teachers and students at my school always climb it together- very exciting. This can all be practice for climbing Mt Cameroon- that is definitely on my list of things to do before I leave.

Back to Banyo

Market/Tiket Visit

So here in Banyo you can't exactly just go to the grocery store or find a Walmart/Target to do your shopping. Pretty much there are 2 options- the corner store boutique or the market and to get everything you would need you have to go to both- neither option has everything- theres no one-stop shopping here for sure. The corner boutique has mostly packaged items like cookies (lots of cookies), margarine, NIDO (powderedmilk), candles, paper products, shampoo and bread is really the only fresh food item you can find there. Now the market is where you do your real shopping.

In Banyo market days are Tuesday and Friday. These are the days when truckloads of food and products come in and everyone comes out to dothere shopping. Other days of the week you can certainly walk through the market and find some things, but Tuesdays and Fridays are when you can find some really good stuff and stock up (kind of since most food doesn't last that long and not too many people have a refrigerator).

So in the market you see just a bunch of wooden shacks and stands where people are selling all kinds of stuff. I would say there is some organization to the market but not much. It took me a good week of just wondering through on visits to finally understand the maze of the market. There are vegetables, pagne (fabric), jewelry, clothing, meat, etc. And sometimes it can be fun wondering through and hunting for things but other times that market can be very overwhelming. For one thing, nothing nothing is labeled with a price. It's all up to bargaining or at least being familiar with prices beforehand so you know if someone is trying to rip you off. And then walking thought people are always trying to get you to come and look and buy something. I have tried to leisurely wonder through and kind of window shop if you will but I don't think that concept exists here - peopleget in and get out. So sometimes the walkway is really narrow and/or muddy and people almost run you over. But on a good day, it can be a lot of fun- maybe you find some great things- exactly what you've been looking for and you even dosome great bargaining. A good day at the market can really put you in an amazing mood and make you feel like you really accomplished something for the day.

So today was a market day and today was a special market visit- I went to the market at Tiket (ti-kay). It's a nearby village/area about a 10-minute moto ride outside Banyo. And they have their market on Tuesday which their market is much smaller but the unique thing is that on Tuesday people go out to Tiket to sell and buy cattle. So I went with my postmate to see the cattle market. People came from surrounding villages bringing their cattle to sell. Now we aren't sure exactly but we believe it is some kind of bidding process. We did see all the cattle though being brought into an enclosure and it was almost kind of scary - standing in the same area just a couple feet away from huge cattle so we didn't stay close too long and moved over to see the sheep which are being bought and sold like crazy right now in preparation for fete de mouton (should be next week so I'll explain that fete then). After looking at the animals, we walked though the market. It was super nice because it is much more open than the market in Banyo- things were spread out, you had plenty of space to move. It was quite peaceful and the weather was amazing since we were a little outside of Banyo. In fact, it was such a great experience I am tempted to go out to the TuesdayTiket market more often in lieu of going to the market in town. But really in the end,it's always a love-hate relationship with the market no matter which market it is and you can never predict what the next visit will be like. But unfortunately no matter how bad one market trip may be, you always have to go back again- there's no other choice.

Cattle

Tiket Market

Spices, beans and lots of other things

Pagne