My back yard viewed from my back door.  To the left, that little part there is my latrine.  the rest of the building back there is for building fire for outdoor cooking and storage, it would appear.

Well, here I am stuck in the house again.  It’s raining.  I was in the village at the “Carrefour” when I got a call that the painter wanted to come and drop off the big buckets of paint for my house!  Hooooooray!   ……so I had to return and then it started to rain, so…..  The painter dropped off the paint and then left.  He will begin tomorrow at 7am he told me.

It was lunch time in the village and I was walking aound looking for something to eat and some people stopped me and said I should try what sounded like “le rah”  which I was thinking meant “the rat”. And I said “le rat? “And they said “oui, le rat”.  “Le rat?”   “Oui, le rat.”  “I never ate rat before.”  Heh, heh, well you should try it .” “But,  where did it come from?”  “The fields.”  “It’s good, you should try it.”  “But….”  “Taste it, it’s good. If you’re going to live here, you’ve got to at least try it…it’s good.”  “But….”  They lifted the cover off the pot for me to see it.  I saw a bunch of rat legs….big ones…. with the little feet attached complete with little nails…..gulp.  I had no other choice but to try it.  Holding on to the little paw, I took a very little bite. It didn’t taste too bad, but I couldn’t really get past the “rat” part, especially since it’s little nails were digging into my hand.  I took a few more little bites to satisfy them grappling with the skin which is very thick and tough,  then said I had to return home for the painter.  They said “take it home and eat it there”.  So I left on a moto for home, rat in hand.  When I got there, I threw it over the fence in the back yard and into the fields from whence it came. Yyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaggggggg.  I realize that I am not the adventurous eater I thought I was!...or maybe that I was once, but no more!

I’ve been walking into town every day to try to make contact and integrate.  Sometimes I just sit and read on a bench in front of the Mayor’s building just to be there.  That’s what I was doing today before I decided to look for lunch…..

Am really trying to make contact with some women’s groups or youth organizations if there are any.  Next week, I will start to make appearances at the schools (which just started their year) and see what comes of it.  Meanwhile, I am really feeling isolated and bored.  I’ve got to find a way to work my way into this community (other than eating rat) which I’m sure I will eventually……patience.  Maybe the painter will prove himself an interesting fellow.

The people I have met, tho friendly, never really ask me any questions about  America.  I guess it's too far out of their reality.  I'm always the one asking the questions and making conversations or offering information other than "good morning (evening), how are you". It is really hard to learn anything.  I recently purchased a map of Batie from a local cartographer.  This is very rare as there really aren't any maps of anything around anywhere in Cameroon it seems.  Anyway, the map seems to have a lot of info on it including history and caste system.  When i finally decipher it, I think I will be a lot smarter. It's a start.