Tag Archives: buildings

Out and About

Anthropology, Travels, , , ,

We saw lots of things just driving from one place to another in Yaoundé. Perhaps the first most notable thing is the traffic:

Lots of cars going lots of places, with very little space between them. If someone is in your way, you just go around them (especially if you are a motorcycle!):

We saw signs of affluence:

as well as more basic means of getting around:

We saw auto parts and tire stores:

and shoe stores:

and even fancy graves (people are often buried in the family compound; this one just happened to be on the roadside):

We saw lots of construction:

And lots of wires:

and some grand hotels:

And lots of churches:

I think it is safe to say that there is a lot of variety visible even just from the road. While there is certainly more to see, one benefit of this trip was that it started our readjustment back to the realities of life in Cameroon. There will certainly be more to adjust to, but it is nice to get that started, and notice where things have changed since we were there 15 years ago, and what has not — and where Cameroon is similar to DRCongo, and where it is not.

Around the Center

Family, Travels, , , ,

Here is a picture of Kim walking from the center finance office to the building where we stayed on the trip. The cement may look older, but SIL is celebrating its 50th anniversary of working in Cameroon, so that’s understandable. Between the buildings, there are of course lots of living things, moving and planted. Some of the moving things we saw in the first day:

We found this not small beetle hanging out outside of an office we were visiting. This guys was just across the way from our apartment:

and he stuck around for a close-up:

Joel certainly got lots of lizard pics, but we’ll save those for another post.

This view looks back toward the finance office, with many of the linguistics offices in the building below. With lots of bushes and trees, of course. Looking straight down the hill is the kitchen and dining hall:

This is the center library:

Here is Joel showing us a rainwater reclamation system (and two lizards):

And a Jacaranda tree, which graced us with purple snow on our path:

And James graciously posed next to some ripening mangoes:

It was encouraging to stay in a place with so much logistical support already in place, but also to see the beauty of God’s creation at our very doorstep!