Tonight was one of those nights when I thought to myself, “Wow, I really am in Africa!” What happened, you might ask, to bring that thought to your mind? Well, I was lying on my bed, in complete darkness due to a power outage, listening to drums beating. Around that time, I was also contemplating taking a cold bucket bath by candle light. Beating drums and candle-lit baths do not happen every night, especially not in conjunction with each other, hence the realization I had.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Foumban, Cameroon. The Barillas hosted Thanksgiving for all the missionaries around us. We had a great group of about 35 or so, and we were not lacking for food. We did use our imagination to pretend the chicken was turkey, but other than that, we got to enjoy traditional, American Thanksgiving food. I even got to enjoy my personal favorites: sweet potato casserole and cranberry sauce. One of the missionary ladies even shared with me her recipe for making cranberry salad from craisins. Let me tell you, her concoction tasted pretty authentic! (Of course, anything she makes is incredible.)
We are not lacking in fun here in Cameroon, either. Thursday night, we had 11 ladies spending the night at our house. It was definitely a full house, but we made the most of it, playing game after game until about 10:30 or 11 at night. (And that’s considered late here in Cameroon!) Conveniently, the power was off, so we didn’t have much difficulty ending the night with a rousing game of sardines in the dark. It’s incredible how hard it can be to find someone in pitch dark, without any street lights reflecting into the house. I may have been just about the last person to find the hider, but it was still fun!
On Friday, we continued our festivities by heading to our “water-park.” For those of you who may not remember from previous mentions last year, our water park is a river sourced by a natural spring with various pools and small waterfalls. I think we ended up having 7 kids and 6 ladies go on the excursion, and we all had a blast! All of the kids braved the rocky waterslide down the miniature waterfall. (Nothing grandiose, mind you, but still scary for some.) The youngest, the 4-year-old, however, had absolutely no fear of the water. She spent all afternoon watching the rest of the kids enjoy the waterfall, before deciding that she couldn’t leave without trying it. She finally told me, “Miss Rachelle, all of the other kids are having fun, and I want to have fun too.” I was nearly completely dry at this point, but I decided to give in to her plea. I eased into the freezing water, set her on my lap, and slowly scooted myself over bumpy rocks. Finally, we sat perched at the top of the big foot drop. (Like I said, this was a small waterfall.) Although that may not sound like much, I was a little nervous—not for me, but for the four-year-old on my lap who couldn’t swim. But, I finally pushed myself over the last rock and slid down. It was fun! I held the little one with one arm, and when we hit the water, she just naturally floated.
Of course, her immediate response was, “Let’s do it again, Miss Rachelle!” And so we did, three more times. By the fourth time down, however, my body had sustained enough scrapes and bruises protecting the little one from the rocks. She hadn’t felt any of the rocks, so she was still eager for another ride down. I was able to pass her off, and she took two more trips down the waterfall. Despite the fact that I’m still sore today, I have absolutely no regrets!
