Dear all,
I am back from the field! I have driven over 600km with the motorbike and met many creatures; a Sultan, many cows, a Japanese,...
I have two assistants, Salih and Youssouf, (see photo on motorbikes). Because I want to work with different ethnic groups I want to be able to communicate directly in their own language. However it is not easy to work with two different assistents since you need to have managerial skills... my managerial skills are sometimes not even sufficient to manage myself as some of you might have experienced... The next period I will therefore only take one at a time.
My Fulfulde is getting better again and I manage to follow most conversations though I still talk like a four year old. But I am quite positive that before I leave my language skills will be fine J. It is really nices to talk directly to people.
I can’t help to mention my biggest frustration; there is no way to have a lazy morning here! In Maroua I slept next to the biggest Mosque of town. Because Muslims have to pray at 5 a clock, the Imam starts to wake everybody up at 4 a clock. He just doesn’t whisper that they have to do waky waky to pray, but starts to howl as if he just has been kicked in his nuts, waking up the whole city.
I therefore was looking forward to the quietness of country life in the field, however the first night in the field, the local cock had his home next to mine and as a proper Muslim he also felt the need to wake me up at 4 a clock in the morning.
Except for this little noisy inconvenience, it is nice to be back in the bush. Spending the evenings under a sky filled with stars, talking around the fire with just the crickets tsjirping and an occasional sigh of the cattle makes me happy and brings back all the souvenirs. I spent the first evenings in the camp of Lamido Manou, who I have followed during my last period in Cameroon. This is like homecoming though there are many new children. Moreover, the children I went herding with have now become young men. As playful as they used to be, making fun with me, they have turned now in very serious and quiet persons as the code of behavior of the Fulani requires.
Though it has been 5,5 years many people still recognize me. When I walk at the market people come to me, “Ab is that you? You used to be huge! Now you are much skinnier and you look like a young boy. Where are your children? Did you get married already?” People start to get a little worried now that I still didn’t manage to get married, especially the women in the camp of Lamido Manou. Fortunately they always still have a daughter to offer to me for a bargain, only some 5 cows. I might convert to Islam if I can’t make a choice. For the sake of neutrality in my research I am considering to marry as well a Musgum, Kotoko and Pullo and then there is still one place left for a European woman (potential candidates who are interested in this fourth
position can react on this website).
Most of the time when this occurs I have a for me total strange black face in front of me talking. I try to find out where we possibly could have met... however 9 out of 10 times I have no clue. It is not fair because there are so many black faces while I am the only white face in the surroundings, easy to remember.
I went also visiting my old friend, the Sultan of Logone Birnii. We spent the night in the second palace where the women of his (grand) father used to stay. For background info his grandfather had 99 women because he thought that 100 was too much. His father had around 49 women. The actual sultan has a modest 6 wives from all ethnic groups in his territory for the sake of neutrality. He immediately received me in his palace and we spent two evenings together chatting and interviewing.
His last words were that “his palace is always open for me”, not many people who can say that eh!
Concerning my research, I haven’t managed to visit as many nomadic groups as I wanted but especially visited local authorities. In Cameroon the legal system is very complex. There is not one system but a “plural legal situation” where different authorities have the right to treat legal issues. There are three degrees of traditional chiefs who all judge conflicts at their level and there is the state with different organs judging conflicts. Conflicts often move between these levels and people make choices to involve certain legal courts and avoid others. To understand this I assisted at some trials. The next fieldwork period will mostly consist of visiting nomadic groups to understand how they deal with conflicts in the different areas they are visiting.
Back in Maroua it is very nice because the time seems to have stood still... the friends I made back then are still there. Especially Father Giuseppe Parrietti is treating me as a son, always eager to receive me, to talk and to spoil me with nice Italian food.
Oh yeah, I didn’t tell how I met the Japanese? That is another story....
I will write again in some weeks after my next fieldwork period!
Ab
I am back from the field! I have driven over 600km with the motorbike and met many creatures; a Sultan, many cows, a Japanese,...
I have two assistants, Salih and Youssouf, (see photo on motorbikes). Because I want to work with different ethnic groups I want to be able to communicate directly in their own language. However it is not easy to work with two different assistents since you need to have managerial skills... my managerial skills are sometimes not even sufficient to manage myself as some of you might have experienced... The next period I will therefore only take one at a time.
My Fulfulde is getting better again and I manage to follow most conversations though I still talk like a four year old. But I am quite positive that before I leave my language skills will be fine J. It is really nices to talk directly to people.
I can’t help to mention my biggest frustration; there is no way to have a lazy morning here! In Maroua I slept next to the biggest Mosque of town. Because Muslims have to pray at 5 a clock, the Imam starts to wake everybody up at 4 a clock. He just doesn’t whisper that they have to do waky waky to pray, but starts to howl as if he just has been kicked in his nuts, waking up the whole city.
I therefore was looking forward to the quietness of country life in the field, however the first night in the field, the local cock had his home next to mine and as a proper Muslim he also felt the need to wake me up at 4 a clock in the morning.
Except for this little noisy inconvenience, it is nice to be back in the bush. Spending the evenings under a sky filled with stars, talking around the fire with just the crickets tsjirping and an occasional sigh of the cattle makes me happy and brings back all the souvenirs. I spent the first evenings in the camp of Lamido Manou, who I have followed during my last period in Cameroon. This is like homecoming though there are many new children. Moreover, the children I went herding with have now become young men. As playful as they used to be, making fun with me, they have turned now in very serious and quiet persons as the code of behavior of the Fulani requires.
Though it has been 5,5 years many people still recognize me. When I walk at the market people come to me, “Ab is that you? You used to be huge! Now you are much skinnier and you look like a young boy. Where are your children? Did you get married already?” People start to get a little worried now that I still didn’t manage to get married, especially the women in the camp of Lamido Manou. Fortunately they always still have a daughter to offer to me for a bargain, only some 5 cows. I might convert to Islam if I can’t make a choice. For the sake of neutrality in my research I am considering to marry as well a Musgum, Kotoko and Pullo and then there is still one place left for a European woman (potential candidates who are interested in this fourth
position can react on this website).Most of the time when this occurs I have a for me total strange black face in front of me talking. I try to find out where we possibly could have met... however 9 out of 10 times I have no clue. It is not fair because there are so many black faces while I am the only white face in the surroundings, easy to remember.
I went also visiting my old friend, the Sultan of Logone Birnii. We spent the night in the second palace where the women of his (grand) father used to stay. For background info his grandfather had 99 women because he thought that 100 was too much. His father had around 49 women. The actual sultan has a modest 6 wives from all ethnic groups in his territory for the sake of neutrality. He immediately received me in his palace and we spent two evenings together chatting and interviewing.
His last words were that “his palace is always open for me”, not many people who can say that eh!
Concerning my research, I haven’t managed to visit as many nomadic groups as I wanted but especially visited local authorities. In Cameroon the legal system is very complex. There is not one system but a “plural legal situation” where different authorities have the right to treat legal issues. There are three degrees of traditional chiefs who all judge conflicts at their level and there is the state with different organs judging conflicts. Conflicts often move between these levels and people make choices to involve certain legal courts and avoid others. To understand this I assisted at some trials. The next fieldwork period will mostly consist of visiting nomadic groups to understand how they deal with conflicts in the different areas they are visiting.
Back in Maroua it is very nice because the time seems to have stood still... the friends I made back then are still there. Especially Father Giuseppe Parrietti is treating me as a son, always eager to receive me, to talk and to spoil me with nice Italian food.
Oh yeah, I didn’t tell how I met the Japanese? That is another story....
I will write again in some weeks after my next fieldwork period!
Ab
