When my alarm went off this morning to wake me to get ready and go to church, I was mad at it. Giving that loud mouth alarm the cold shoulder and a dose of the silent (ok, maybe snoring, im not sure) treatment, I rolled over and went back to sleep. I woke up REALLY LATE! I think I slept for 12 hours. I felt well-rested, but also guilty for having skipped church. Not just for the normal reasons one would feel guilty for skipping church, but also because this is part of my work here. I have to integrate, and church is a great way to do that. And the people at the church get mad when I don't show up haha. So, well-rested, but guilty, I read a chapter of my book (YA YA Sisterhood, haha) and promised myself I would use this day to clean my desperately dirty house. Problem is, where as sometimes guilt can be a great motivator, today it made me lazy. Soooo, well-rested, guilty, and lazy, I popped in a DVD of a season of Grey's Anatomy (not my show of choice, but I've already watched every other DVD left by my predecessor except the Sopranos).
Just as I settled in with a bowl of oatmeal and banana and the show started, my phone rang. It was Tatiana, my Cameroonian friend. She had already called twice this morning, but feeling well-rested, guilty, lazy, and a bit antisocial, I had ignored the calls. However, the message of yesterday's episode of Grey's Anatomy had been "boundaries dont keep other people out, they fence you in." So, being that Tatiana is the best friend I've got here, I answered the dang phone. She said she was at the Catholic church (not the church I go to), and her choir concert started in 10 minutes, could I come? Well-rested, guilty, lazy, and anti-social, I DID NOT WANT TO GO! But what I said instead was, "ok, je viens..." (ok, I'm coming...)
I threw on some nice clothes and a headscarf and walked to the church. I was about 20 minutes late, but as I walked up, I got chills as the Hallelujah Chorus rang out in perfect harmony from the mouths of my friend and her choirmates. "HawlleyloujAH, HawlleyloujAH!" I quietly entered and stood in the back, but a man the call the papa of the choir came and got me, telling me, "You cannot stand in the back, you are not nobody!" He put me in a chair in the front row. I sat there for the next 3 or 4 hours, watching as three different choirs performed. Most of it was in French, but every once in a while an English song would come along. They sang, "I have da POAWA of God een mee. I have da SPEEREET of da SAWN of God een mee." And they danced, BOOOOOY did they dance! It was so much fun to watch, my eyes welled with tears a few times - once because the moment was spiritual, the other times just because I was thinking to myself, "My life is so freaking cool right now!"
At one point, as Tatiana's choir was performing, one of the members came out into the audience and got me! I had to go onstage and dance with them! I'm sure my cheeks were flamingo pink, but if there's one thing i know how to do after 13 years of dance classes, it is how to easily pick up dance steps. So I danced. And it was fun! They sang and we danced, repetitive steps and stomps that went with the beat... then all of a sudden, at this church choir concert, I'll be darned if those choir members didn't drop it like it's hot! They went down in a squat, swirling their hips, and I stayed up - shocked, i looked around at the choir, and they looked at me and laughed and swirled and I looked out to the audience, put my hands on my hips, shrugged my shoulders and laughed HARD. I'm sure my cheeks were American stop sign red. I was so relieved when the papa of the choir came and took my hand to lead me off stage that I wanted to hug him! But, i didn't...
I sat back down, laughed some more, and watched the rest of the show. Afterwards, they presented some awards, even having me, a visitor and a protestant, present one of the awards (I have no idea what it was for). And then we ate... A good thing about Cameroon is, whether it is a long, boring meeting or an energy-filled performance that you must sit through, rest be assured, there will be food at the end!
I was in such a good mood that, after Tatiana walked me home, I not only washed all the dishes, but also mopped all the floors. My house is no longer desperately dirty, and I no longer feel guilty, lazy, or antisocial.
I am sorry this long post lacks the spice of pictures, but I honestly wasn't expecting anything momentous to happen today. I will leave you guys with one picture and a thing I love most about Cameroon - the sky.
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| The view behind my house tonight. A beautiful conclusion to an eventually beautiful day. |
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