Notes from Africa...

By Thavrith Bunkasem

 

#1

A boy, half-naked, is throwing marbles.

His brother, completely naked, wiping snot

With his back-hand. Smiling.

La-lay Nassara. Hello, White man.

Everyone laughed.

I smiled too. But…

then I felt tears coming down my face.

 

 

#2

It’s 6 o’clock in the morning

The stars still shine

The moon still smiles

The rooster crows welcoming a brand new day.

The men and women were ready,

Quietly they marched to the cornfield.

 

 

#3

Full moon. Drum beats.

Dancers dance the real dance.

From my room, I can see many shadows.

Happy.

Children sing in the village of Zaguere.

It’s Chad. It’s Africa!

 

#4

It rained last night…

Pig poop, dog poop, goat poop

Cow dunk

Human feces

Wet ground

Lachakba went to buy baignets (baynhay, type of donuts)

For village breakfast

I smell Zagueré

 

 

#5

A man must have been 60s or 70s

Swinging the hammock under the shade of Zagueré

Talked proudly of his youth.

Drafted by the French to fight the Germans.

They called him Monsieur le German.

 

 

#6

 

African rain

Pours and screams.

It pounds on my galvanized roof.

It dances the African dance along the beats

Of the rolling thunders.

It sings loudly and proudly.

Ah, what a bitch!

Thinking of Cambodia.

 

 

#7

African heat melts your soul.

Minnesotan winter freezes your butt.

Wind gust.

Heat gust.

115+ degrees Fahrenheit.

Damn, it’s hot.

 

#8

A scorpion in my shoe.

The damned creature just stung my sole.

I couldn’t teach today.

Damned Zagueré

 

#9

Djonfiené taught me Moundang.

I taught him anglais.

Under the moonlight

In the village of Zagueré.

 

#10

Jean le Prince introduced a Moundang woman.

Voilà Monsieur, she’s yours for the taking.

Jean, I am le professeur. Are you testing my libido?

#11

Toyota mini-sedan---taxi-brouse, bush taxi.

Four passengers in the front seat.

Six in the back, a goat, a few chickens.

Going over the road full of potholes.

Africa, taking nothing for granted.

#12

Le jour de marché…

Fresh goat meet, beef, and live chickens.

Haggle the price. You can taste before you buy.

Warm billy-billy, the locally brewed alcohol.

You can get high after a few calabases.

Old men and women get together

Talking about their days’ works.

The flea market day.

 

  

 

#13

Under the shades of the mango trees,

Chitchatting with the Moundang kids.

Monsieur, can I touch your hair?

I smile.

I lower my head.

They touch.

And everyone was happy.

 

 

 

 #14

Monsieur le Professeur! Venez.

Come eat cous-cous

Salaamalaikum!

Walaikumsalaam!

Wash my hands

Speak Arabic

Eat cous-cous with my Chadian friends.

Yowa! Hmm, delicious!

 

 

 

#15

Fried sparrow, goat meat---grilled

Beef too.

Eat them with salt and hot chilli

And raw onions.

New taste

It just had to be acquired!

 

 

 

 #16

Colette, my host sister

Skinned the mice

Preparing for Moundang’s

Traditional soup.

Monsieur le Professeur, it’s for you.

Ah, Soko, soko, soko, soko poli.

Thank you. 

I could see the mice smiling at me.

 

 

#17

Walking through lush green forest

Listening to the thunder drumming

Under the gray sky.

Hundreds of furry yellow caterpillars

Swamped in the middle of the path

Like small mount. Mount Caterpillar?

Monsieur, arrêtez! These taste good, ya know?

 

I wouldn't know...

C’est vitamineux, monsieur.

 

 

 

 

#18

The sign says “Welcome to Grandma’s Restaurant.

-What do you want to eat, Monsieur?

-Do you have cous-cous?

-Mais non, on fait pas cous-cous ici!

-What do you have?

-Cow feet soup, cow tongue soup, and N-doulé.

-N-doulé, s’il vous plait.

 

*(N-doulé, vegetable [with okra] soup served with cornball)

 

 

 

 

#19

Salut Tamibé. Salut Lachakba!

Monsieur, we bring gifts for you.

Soko. Soko poli. Thank you.

Here are bananas

Here are mangoes

And here are grilled lizards.

Monsieur, can we play your guitar?

 

 

#20

Kola-nut, kola-nut, kola-nut

Vingt cinq, Vingt cinq. Only 25 cents...

The Moundangs chew kola-nuts.

Old Cambodian women chew beetle leaves.

#21

Sunday, at the open market in Badaji, Cameroon

Surrounded by the Cameroonians and the Chadians

Mostly kids…

La-lay Chinois. Hello, China man!

He-haw, he-haw, shing-shung, shing-shung

Kids imitating the Chinese language.

I smile. Everyone smiles...

Je suis Cambodgien! Du Cambodge,

The land of the Angkorians, the builders of the

Greatest temples.

 

Ah, les Khmère Rouges…

Ah, yes, that too.

I smile. Everyone smile.

But I felt sad inside.

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