Why I think I'm camping...

(Well, I should be writing a newsletter but blogs are so much more fun!)

Why, After 25 Years, I Still Feel Like I’m Camping Over Here

It is not likely that you have ever been on a camping trip or a vacation excursion that seemed like it never ended. Probably more like the opposite – one that you WANT to last forever. Well, maybe you should consider mission work in a tropical country because that is what our life feels like sometimes. Let me explain.

1)      Well, it is warm. I never camped in cold weather. 

RFIS after a rain storm

2)      The scents and smells: The smell of where you grow up is… home. When you go on vacation you smell different things; plants, foods, even the air smells different. Yes, sometimes you have the smell of a port- a-john wafting through the air. The smells here are unique to this place: the grass, the rain, the flowers, the palm oil in food, the compost, and, yes, port- a-john smells in the streets. There is nothing like a hyacinth here and nothing in the world compares to the scent of this flower

                                or a Queen of the Forest tree in the evening. And the air is often laced with the smell of campfire smoke.

3)      What about odd habits people display when camping? Brushing your teeth outside; showering or bathing in a building outside of the house or tent; walking back inside with a towel wrapped somewhere visible, either around the waist or  draped on an arm, head; cooking your food outside. We see all of these things (and more) pretty much every day.

Pretty sure I have a pic of Emelda cooking corn at this fire pit but can't find it now!!

4)      Sounds: Can you hear the crowd laughing five campsites away? Can you hear a child being disciplined? Or the radio a little too loud? The shouts of an impromptu soccer match in the nearby field?

5)      Tasting and sharing: have you invited your camping neighbors over to share your fire and have a hot dog? I can stop at my neighbor’s and taste her meal almost any day. And that music I often hear from a distance – that is because people are sharing. They are happy with their radio and want to bless you. (Nope, I don’t often appreciate the blessing since I grew up in a quiet world.) The taste of a fresh mango! Nothing like it where I come from. Peaches are close, but, no.

Channah picking the mangoes pictured

      What about those interesting tastes you only got when you went on vacation or when visiting someone a distance away, what were they? Some for me were: a certain store’s ice cream, Aunt Betty Ann’s macaroni and cheese, salt water taffy. Well here, even the “normal” things taste different. Did you know that peanuts taste different, even from different regions within Cameroon? Garlic, onions, tomatoes, celery, chicken; they are all different here. Not to mention the rest of the exotic tropical fruits God put here.                   

  

Pineapple growing in my yard, spicy peppers above it

If you are interested, ask me about Josiah’s first trip to the U.S. and bananas.

6)      Sights: I sure didn’t grow up with Palm trees visible outside my window but here, they’re everywhere.

This one makes me think of Florida and a college evangelism trip.

These useful beauties are visible right outside my kitchen window.

 And now, whenever I see an evergreen here, no matter how often, especially the ones that look like white pine, I cannot help but think back to Wildrose Court. I also did not grow up with grasses four feet high all around me, though I did see that on our trips to the beach. I only ever knew poinsettias that were inside plants bought at Christmas time and though they are not very common, the beautiful plant does grow seven feet high in some yards here.  Ok, so maybe I never saw poinsettias growing wild around my campsites in the U.S. but there sure were unique plants I enjoyed in those locations. And now, even after so long here, the plants around me still seem so exotic. 

 And how many of you saw uniquely colored or shaped houses en route to your family vacation spots? The interestingly painted houses here certainly make me recall those drives.                                          

artwork on the entrance to a hair salon

businesses along the road

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I really wanted a picture of a house around here that has three shades of green (not complimentary) on it. Or another one from my old neighborhood that is... well, more shades of bright green. But I don't have those photos so here are two others.  

 When they began finishing the houses and businesses in the new developments along the road leading east out of Yaoundé, I swear there was nothing but pink (Pepto Bismol pink) available at the paint store.

7)      More sounds: outdoor sounds- constantly!  Crickets, wind, rain, other people’s barking dogs, certain bird sounds that always make me think of the beach, and oh, that season when the frogs are loud and annoying outside my window! More birds. (When I catch that lovely bird outside Channah's window that likes to come visit the guava tree I'll add it, in the meantime, enjoy some pictures below of birds in another region of Cameroon that our friend Bob has taken.)

So, there you have it. I have spent the last 25 years camping.

Bob's photos