Happy Halloween!

Halloween isn’t exactly celebrated here in Cameroon, and in fact, no one in my village had heard of it. It was a bit difficult to explain, but people were happy enough to hear about it. Their lack of celebration did not stop us from celebrating, however. Some of us PCVs got together and put on our outfits and went out to the market. Two of my friends had the local nursery school uniform made in their size. People either thought it was hilarious, or were very very confused (often a bit of both). They would laugh with their friends and then just stop and stare. I went as a market bag. They have these giant woven plastic bags here used for transporting clothes, food, or anything else you can imagine. The bags are large enough to fit me inside one of them. So I just cut a whole in the bottom and wore it like a dress. I chose not to wear it during the day, since I attract enough attention as it is by simply being a foreigner, but I did wear it out at night. We all went out for food after it became dark. We walked out of the house and a group of young children were standing around out front. The second they saw me they burst into some of the most genuine laughter I have ever heard. Like side-splitting, doubling-over, pure joy laughing. One kid literally ended up on the ground in the dirt he was laughing so hard. “Dat whiteman di wear bag-oh!” He cried. (Or, “That whiteman is wearing a bag!”). They thought it was absolutely hilarious and were also a bit bewildered perhaps. It sure made my night though.