Buea mountain race

Buea mountain race
Originally uploaded by rbairdpccam.

Maa Marie, Shella, and the new small woman

Maa Marie, Shella, and the new small woman
Originally uploaded by rbairdpccam.

Small Woman at youth day

Small Woman at youth day
Originally uploaded by rbairdpccam.

Youth Day, Buea, Babies

My best woman friend from Bafut just had her second child at 21. Maa Marie, the Fon of Bafut's 6th wife gave birth to healthy baby girl on the 12th. She can't name it until after the Fon gives her the traditional name... but it's looking good for Kelsey Rose (2). They have said the baby will be "very black!" (then they snap their fingers and say "tcha"!!) because it's ears are dark.

In other news, I went to Youth Day in Nseh where I have discovered I like to watch handball very much. Lots of cute kids doing nutty traditional dances and karate demonstrations.

In the beautiful town of Buea in the SW province, I witnessed the most amazing feat of insanity and human willpower. Around 500 people ran up and back down the highest mountain in West African in a 44km race called "Mt. Cameroon Race of Hope." A number of people ran in those clear plastic "gelly" sandals, I saw one guy shoeless. The winner crossed the finish line on his butt, winning a few million francs (couple thousand dollars). It was quite hot... and more than a little bit amazing. We plan to hike up and back down over a 2-3 day period. The fastest runner did that in about 4 and a half hours.