Our Saturday in Pictures

We had a great Saturday.  We woke and got out of bed a little later than usual, having promised Hein, our dutch friend and VSO colleague that we would go watch him play football (soccer for North Americans) near his house.  He had promised us a pancake breakfast to follow so who could refuse.

We had a bit of difficulty getting a taxi that morning - lots of people going to the market I guess.  The picture here is from the top of the hill called Mile 2, looking down the hill toward the centre of town.  Notice the beautiful hills in the background.  And that yellow car coming forward, that is a typical Bamenda taxi - a small Toyota.

We made it to the football field to see Hein playing the last five minutes of the first one hour half.  The heat was scorching and Hein was exhausted when he got off.  We sat on a bench under the shade of trees, fieldside, while he cooled down and changed out of his sports jersey.  That gave us the opportunity to meet a couple of his fellow footballers who all said that Hein was a very good player.  As you can tell from the pictue, he is pretty tall.  Taller than Dave actually.

After the match, we headed off to Hein's for the promised pancakes.  While he was showering and changing, Dave played techie and cleaned his laptop etc etc etc - you know, what Dave does.  He is quickly becoming the techie for the volunteer group and for his and my organization.  Believe me it is needed.

As you can see, Hein is putting a very special ingredient in his pancake mix.  Supposedly, it makes it rise better. All I know is that they were tasty and Dave has not forgiven me yet for saying they were so.  He thinks I have betrayed him as the premier pancake maker around.  But Hein you see is Dutch - therefore, pancake making is in his blood. 

I must say we had a long discussion about whether or not they were pancakes or crepes.

This picture is proof of how delicious they were. We had them with lemon and sugar or honey, and some had bananas in them.  YUM!  So good that I admit I had some difficulty resisting an after brunch siesta while Dave and Hein continued to clean up and update his computer.

After the pancake feast, we all returned to our place.  Actually we returned to our local boulangerie/pub where you can get some great bread, buns and cookies (baked on the spot), but where you can equally sit on the veranda and enjoy a beer.  Not cold because the fridge has not worked for weeks, but fresh.   This is where Dave and Linda and I go almost every day after work.  We all downed one beer and then I left for that afternoon siesta I wanted while the boys watched a Manchester football match.

Refreshed and well rested, I met with the boys and we headed off to Sister Rose, a new restaurant that one of the volunteers discovered.  Since it is in walking distance from our place (it will be even closer to our new place!), off we went.  Down the hill the road is blocked for 'road works".  Interesting stuff here - no real barrier and people line up to watch or trudge through the outskirts to the other site.  Not exactly the safest thing to do but when in Rome....

We arrived at Sister Rose's in plenty of time.  Three volunteers were there already enjoying a cool drink. Soon, Linda (our room mate), Gweniera and Ros arrived.  All three are here for a short term placement from the Welsh Assembly.  They return home in two weeks.  We will miss them.

So here is the whole party, clockwise from the front left:  Ros (Wales), Hein (Netherlands), Michelle (Australia), Catherine (Canada) Michael (Austria), Heather (UK), Dave, myself, Gweniera (Wales) and Linda (Wales).

So let me tell you about Sister Rose's.  They only serve two dishes really, each big enough to feed two people easily.  You can have a chicken, or you can have a fish.  Each dish comes with jama jama, a local dish made with a leaf very much like spinach and spiced up with whatever, and cooked plantains.  This is a typical Cameroonian meal.

Our little group shared two chickens and two fish.  As you can see, it looks delicious, and it is delicious.  We had a roaring good time until the sun started setting and most of us needed to head down the hill and past the infamous road block, even trickier in the darkness and with what seems like thousands of motor bikes trying to cross in the same spot pedestrians are crossing.

Dave, Linda and join split from the group at our junction, saying many goodbyes and promising to do it again soon.  It was the end of a good day!