For the 7th of December, the grand opening of the Cathedral in Mongomo was scheduled. The day after is some kind of religious holiday for the catholics. All of that meant we're not gonna work for three consecutive days.
On the 6th,the president of Ecuatorial Guinea, Camerun, Central African Republic and some bishops, or whatnot, of Vatican were to come to Mongomo. Our work-duty was to welcome them out on the street. All the workers from our and campo 4 were obliged to attend. Before departure, it all looked like a primary school excursion and I was the teacher. They kept asking me when we gonna go, where we gonna be and what we gonna do there - I had no clue. Somehow, we arrived to the designated place around 10am - the parade was scheduled at noon. It actually started after 3pm. First they all put us in one place, then kept moving us about a kilometer down the street so we can be aligned one by one next to the road. We were given flags of the nations represented on this rally. On our side of the road were "civilians" and on the other were organized groups - veterans, Cameroonians, old women in traditional dresses, schoolchildren, some sort of a cheerleaders, etc. They all singed and danced to the traditional music, or drumbeat. None of them were represented in large numbers (maximum 20), but it looked amazing for me - so many colors, shouts and dance moves, it was all similar like I've imagined it to be. They move so fast, shake their bodies (especially booties - and they were mainly plump, voluptuous women, so they've had a lot of bootie) and chant in their language - awesome.
Taking pictures on this sort of events, and generally of all government buildings, is prohibited. Even if you want to photograph a random person on the street, you need their permission. The police officer approached one guy and told him not to take more pictures, as he's gonna confiscate the camera.
It was really hot that day - the sun was shinning like crazy and not a single cloud to block it, you couldn't find a shade anywhere and I brought only one bottle of water.
First we've seen the preparations of different parts of an army, then they laid down the red carpet and after an hour, or four, they came. They strolled down the street that was blocked by road blocks got in the car and drove by us. We waited for 6 hours for those 10 minutes. Nevertheless, I've seen so much interesting people, outfits, choreographies. I'm sure that I'll remember this day for a long time - the day that I've almost seen the president.
In those non-working days, I've had my first crisis - I had way too much time to think and hardly anything to do, so so I was really homesick. It's not a pleasant feeling at all. I think I'm doing a bit better now...
In the coming days, after the fiesta, only thing worth mentioning was that I went to Bata for the second time (again on business), but have driven by the ocean, have felt the sea air and humidity. I hope that my residencia (ID) will come in recent future.
P.S. I regret for not writing this post immediately after returning from the fiesta, cos it feels like I've forgot something and didn't present that happening properly, the way I experienced it.
I'll try not to make the same mistake again. As I pretty much summed up my previous two months here, from now no I will be posting new things as they happen.
On the 6th,the president of Ecuatorial Guinea, Camerun, Central African Republic and some bishops, or whatnot, of Vatican were to come to Mongomo. Our work-duty was to welcome them out on the street. All the workers from our and campo 4 were obliged to attend. Before departure, it all looked like a primary school excursion and I was the teacher. They kept asking me when we gonna go, where we gonna be and what we gonna do there - I had no clue. Somehow, we arrived to the designated place around 10am - the parade was scheduled at noon. It actually started after 3pm. First they all put us in one place, then kept moving us about a kilometer down the street so we can be aligned one by one next to the road. We were given flags of the nations represented on this rally. On our side of the road were "civilians" and on the other were organized groups - veterans, Cameroonians, old women in traditional dresses, schoolchildren, some sort of a cheerleaders, etc. They all singed and danced to the traditional music, or drumbeat. None of them were represented in large numbers (maximum 20), but it looked amazing for me - so many colors, shouts and dance moves, it was all similar like I've imagined it to be. They move so fast, shake their bodies (especially booties - and they were mainly plump, voluptuous women, so they've had a lot of bootie) and chant in their language - awesome.
Taking pictures on this sort of events, and generally of all government buildings, is prohibited. Even if you want to photograph a random person on the street, you need their permission. The police officer approached one guy and told him not to take more pictures, as he's gonna confiscate the camera.
 |
| Veterans |
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| Cameroonians |
It was really hot that day - the sun was shinning like crazy and not a single cloud to block it, you couldn't find a shade anywhere and I brought only one bottle of water.
First we've seen the preparations of different parts of an army, then they laid down the red carpet and after an hour, or four, they came. They strolled down the street that was blocked by road blocks got in the car and drove by us. We waited for 6 hours for those 10 minutes. Nevertheless, I've seen so much interesting people, outfits, choreographies. I'm sure that I'll remember this day for a long time - the day that I've almost seen the president.
In those non-working days, I've had my first crisis - I had way too much time to think and hardly anything to do, so so I was really homesick. It's not a pleasant feeling at all. I think I'm doing a bit better now...
In the coming days, after the fiesta, only thing worth mentioning was that I went to Bata for the second time (again on business), but have driven by the ocean, have felt the sea air and humidity. I hope that my residencia (ID) will come in recent future.
P.S. I regret for not writing this post immediately after returning from the fiesta, cos it feels like I've forgot something and didn't present that happening properly, the way I experienced it.
I'll try not to make the same mistake again. As I pretty much summed up my previous two months here, from now no I will be posting new things as they happen.
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