ghetto celebrities

i live now in mbo, on the outskirts of bandjoun, though we are actually closer to bafoussam. this is the first internet cafe i find. internet and cell phone technology is exploding here. i bought a cell phone that appears to have an eternal battery life and a high intensity white LED on the top that also serves as a flashlight. things that are cheap are food and transportation, that which is essential. mama angeline peeled about 30 kilos of cassava, which she got at the market for 2000 CFA (4USD) and i helped chimelle to wash it and put it in hand-woven wicker baskets lined with banana leaves. the earth is a deep red, like a rusty metal plate shining in the sun, and it creeps everywhere so that everything may as well be adobe. each short-distance taxi holds up to six passengers and is 150 CFA between each of Bafoussam, Mbo, and Bandjoun. the long-distance bus goes from yaoundé to bafoussam for 500 CFA. today mama gave me what turned out to be a tamale wrapped in a banana leaf with gumbo. if you like tamales and gumbo it is a good combination. on the ride from yaoundé we saw little black monkeys, biches, and antelope quarters at the bushmeat market \ gendarmes control point. the gendarmes do not appear nearly as corrupt as the nigerian police, but i know they try their best. you just can't beat nigeria, pal. my family speaks french and the language unique to bandjoun, Gomala. our french teacher Djenabo taught us to haggle in french using common camerounais slang. i have to remind the cabbie to Mbo that i will pay him 150 or else he will help himself to 175. the family has a hut outside where the chickens hang out and they cook things that they wish to cook with wood. the smell of burning will hit you upon entering any large african city since most people cook using wood. on the road all bags they are holding up are 100CFA. produce is sold by le tas and if you want to haggle you ask them to add more to the pile, unless you are buying by pi?ce, in which case you negotiate the price. it is apparent that the people getting rich here are the french cell phone companies, whoever makes maggi cubes, and brasseries generaux de cameroun. as the economist claimed, it is clear that cell phones have the biggest impact in improving the economy. mine gets reception just about anywhere in the country. there is a outdoor gathering in Bafoussam with the billboard DECOUVREZ LES RICHESSES DE L'ECOUTOURISME, for which cameroun has great potential, but the more tourists come, the less foreigners will feel welcome here. the lady on the cooking show sprinkled some of the Maggi msg bouillon cube on her fish soup as the voiceover sponsor discussed how all happy families who enjoy taste and flavor have mothers who use Maggi. as robert and i drank our lukewarm oversize bottles of trente trois i noticed a poster advertising a system of points offered by another beer company, whereby, with a certain number of points one could a kilo of rice, a can of tomato paste, cooking oil, 400g of soap, a bag of spaghetti, a bag of rolls, or a bag of maggi cubes. alcool, c'est la cause et la solution de tous les probl?mes de l'homme