From Africa, for one last time
…for this trip at least. In this post: Gabon, polygamy, the end.
I spent 9 days (6th-15th) in Libreville, Gabon working with my host-dad’s franchise of a multinational travel reservation company, Galileo Travelport. Our team spent the week negotiating contracts and setting up computers.
| UNDP 2007 Per Capita GDP in USD |
|
| Sub-Saharan Africa Avg. | $1,998 |
| Cameroon | $2,299 |
| Ecuador | $5,584 |
| Gabon | $6,954 |
| Mexico | $10,751 |
| South Africa | $11,110 |
| US | $41,890 |
Libreville, the capitol of Gabon, is a very pleasant city. I tried to write a paragraph about it, but it came out as a list; here’s my thoughts/observations/research:
- According to the United Nations Development Program, Gabon is one of the richer countries in Sub-saharan Africa (see table on right)
- People stop at stoplights
- There are more white people so I don’t stick out as much. People don’t yell “Eh le blanc!” nearly as much
- The culture is also more reserved than Douala —while not necessarily better, it feels more like home for me; there is a lot less yelling than in Douala
- Though Marius disagrees, I sensed Libreville to also be a lot safer than Douala. Our contact in Libreville, Darius, often left his car locked with his credit card sitting in in the console and computers in the back seat.
- Our hotel had hot water and air conditioning; I tripled the number of hot shower’s I’ve had in the last 4 months.
If you ever travel in Africa, make sure to bring along your immunization documentation —preferrably the orignals. As I found out upon arrival to Gabon, its often obligatory for traveling between countries. My boss paid the $40 fee and I was able to leave with out getting any shady immunizations at the airport. On my way back to Cameroon, the health official gave me trouble because I only had a copy that I had printed from my file server in Austin. However after standing patiently beside him for 10 minutes he let me go.
Overall it was a great trip. I’m happy to have seen a little bit of another African country!
May 1st was labor day here. Everyone from CEFA met at a restaurant where we ate and danced. After a couple of beers, one of my coworkers, an older man, leaned in next to me and said ‘You know, I’m a polygamist. I have two wives!’. Whoa. I’ve learned polygamy isn’t uncommon here, and only a little taboo. From my understanding, it’s much less common among the current generation as before, but still definitely in practice. In addition to my coworker with the two wives, I have another, younger coworker who is a supporter of polygamy. He says it’s European culture that has imposed monogamy upon his country. Polygamy also affects the dating culture as well; I don’t think it’s uncommon to have several girlfriends. Two (or more) wives sounds like a lot of work; monogamy is alright with me.
A few closing thoughts:
- This country is beautiful, maybe except for Douala. It also has amazingly diverse flora and fauna, of which I only saw a fraction.
- This culture is way more social: I’m an American and an introvert, so this was hard for me at times. However, I think it’s often a good thing: people aren’t afraid to interact with each other, there’s a lot less passive aggression.
- My family is really pretty great. It’s been hard for me to let go of some independence to live with a family, and families have quirks, but that’s ok. It was worth it.
- There are no tortillas, tortilla chips, or mexicans here. I’m fairly sure; I’ve looked.
- Corruption exists. This problem won’t go away quickly; it will take Cameroonians like Georges who are motivated to chase it out of the country.
- I think a 6 day 50+ hour work week is too long to remain productive.
- The fruit is amazing here. The avocados are huge and perfect. Also the fish is delicious, although I’ve had more than my quota of fish for 2009
- I really like the way our church in Douala worships before and after services. During the service people are pretty subdued. But before and after, people dance and sing. It’s African and beautiful.
This is my last post before I leave for home. My itinerary is as follows (in local times):
Sunday 24 May
22:55 Depart for Zurich (Swiss (LX) 275)
Monday 25 May
6:25 Arrive Zurich
12:55 Depart for Chicago (Swiss (LX) 8)
15:35 Arrive Chicago
19:40 Depart for Austin (American Airlines (AA) 2491)
22:20 Arrive Austin
In short, I will get into Austin Bergstrom International at 10:20pm Monday May 24th. I go through 6 time zones, so I have almost 30 hours of traveling. Luckily, I fly Swiss Airlines all the way to Chicago which means free wine and chocolate.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. I felt really well supported by all of you who read and commented. One last time, please leave a comment.
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