Smells of Cameroon

I described the sounds of cameroon.. now I think its only appropriate to talk about the smells of Cameroon. I read in a book recently, because I do alot of that here, about a family that went back the the states and realized it doesn't smell. Things smell in the states when you put your nose right up in it, but there are hardly ever general smells. I think this might be true, other volunteers say so too. Cameroon however has tons of smells. The ones I'm about to write about, are my oppionion, not of everyone and not of everything.

The smells started on the flight over here from Paris to Yaounde. Just circulating the same air and same smells of people who probably had been traveling just as much as we had. Put it this way.. my post mates sister came to visit a couple weeks ago, and when she was leaving they confiscated her deoderant at the airport because securitydidn't know what it was. Point made? That probably goes for toothpaste too.

However I think the most dominating smell is of wood fires. Most families do their cooking over a traditional wood fire outside in a 3 walled kitchen. I like the smell of it, I don't actually like smelling of it so thats why I don't use my traditional kitchen in the back of my house. And it's ALOT of work. Along the sides of the street, mommies cook over grills made out of metal barrows or tire rims that they fill with coals. They grill corn, prunes, fish, plantains and other stuff. The fish always smells the most amazing. Men are more likely to be grilling the soya or brochette, strips of meat on sqwere, grilled over a similar homemade barrel grill kept hot by logs of wood sticking out one cut out side of the grill. Cameroon smells of delicious food.

Side note: The selection of meat is a bit different than what I was used to in the West Province. There is beef and if I'm lucky, goat. But the East is famous for it's bush meat. Cane rats- rats larger than cats, porcupine, some armadillo like animal I forget the name of that has scales and climbes trees, viper, and monkey. As you've heard me complain about before, there are pigs and ducks all over the place, but I've never had either since I've been here. I'm determined to find out why.

Pigs smell too, obviously. But they particularly smell because they are behind my house. Chickens kind of have their own smell too, and they walk around all over the place or wait in cages along the side of the road to be sold. If they didn't have a scent of their own, I bet they picked up another smell hanging out in garbage piles or in the fields. It's a new meaning of "free range meat" here.

There are no regulatory systems on pollution, specifically from car exhausts. There are tons of motos around here that add to that smell in the air, but worse are the huge logging trucks and agence busses that go from city to city. Thick black exhaust.

walking outside through the fish market, well that smells, and so does the meat market, also outside perfuming the air. The fruit and veggie stands are not that far away to its a nice balancing smell.When you walk into hannafords or price copper is the first thing is the veggatables and fruit, but can you smell them? Maybe its the pesticide, or the shiny wax coating or the blowing air conditioner that prevents the smell. Same with meat behind the cases or the fish on ice in the back of the store. Thinking about it I bet you can't even smell the lobsters in the tank unless you put your nose close enough. Not the case here.

There are very minimal sewage systems. Example: my well where I get water is right next to my dranage system for my house, hence problems with water contaimination. Anyway, most people use latrines/outdoor bathrooms or just go to the bathroom outside. I have no problem with this, I didn't think one could actually be an expert at squating outside.. I think I'm getting there. I think that private latrines are very clean, like if I was to have my own latrine in the back yard, it would be clean. Otherwise.. if the world is your bathroom, it will probably smell like it too. And sometimes it does.

Laundry.. doesn't smell like lavender snuggle spring breeze fabric softener that's for sure.

Finally, I think that Cameroon smells like earth. Sounds strange, I know. It smells like earth especially when it rains or when its really sunny and all the vegetation is growing. There is a huge lack of pavement here, the provincial city I think it the only one in the province that is paved, other than the road to the capital which is currently under pavement construction. I can also count how many buildings there are above 1 story. Maybe these are some of the reasons that it smells like I actually with nature and earth. Sounds a bit hippy-ish, but it's true and it smells nice. Don't worry i'm not turning into that crunchy granola peace corps volunteer some of you have pictured in your immagination or in my nightmares... I still wear mascara everyday.