cameroon- the house 2

"i'm just going to drive, we don't need to call the driver. i wanted to go on some errands. do you mind? i'm getting these hilarious outfits made of this blue faux snakeskin print i bought. faux snakeskin! you know how we love to dress up! it's going to be hilarious. it's going to be great. our family, and pam, jan, nancy and scott will all be wearing them while we travel. you'll love it..."

we were walking through the house, picking up things and plopping them in bags, getting ready to leave. judi was talking and thinking and preparing to leave. she was saying names of people i didn't even know, referencing them like they were my long lost friends.

i was following her taking in all the surroundings.

the house was large, but not in a disgusting way. it's presence didn't make you feel uncomfortable. they had picked loud vibrant art to hang on the walls, which helped, coupled with many of my grandmama's pieces, my favorite. her art is impressionistic, capturing people and places in their full juicyness, with lot's of color and even more emotion. the kind of painting that makes your heart throb, the kind that makes you want to jump in and wrap yourself up in her strokes.

i looked over at one of the walls, where i noticed a painting i hadn't paid much attention to before, in my youth. if i wasn't in the studio with my grandmama while they were being painted, then i only got to see these works when i saw my uncle. which wasn't often. it was a few feet high and a few feet wide and had my little sister and me on the right standing in different positions, me with my cousin torri propped up on my hip. she was just a baby and i was probably 10 years old. on the left side of the painting were torri's 2 older sisters, who at the time were close to being 4 and 7, with their looks captured perfectly. one was aloof, the other self-satisfied and delighted.

as i looked at the image i became very emotional. torri was on my hip, and i was looking at her with great love and care. i remember how much i loved my baby cousins. it was real. i've been drawn to this world my entire life, have loved pulling them into my world at any chance i can get. my history was painted in front of me and currently i was living out my dream. i really have the heart of a midwife.

seeing this made me want to cry. it made me feel more connected to God. it made me thankful for where i was at in life.

when i was done staring, i walked around the corner and found judi, head-in-fridge pulling out water bottles.

"... i thought it'd be fun! cameroonians love dressing in the same fabric, so i thought when we went to some of the big celebrations up north we could all do the same thing. the locals will get a kick out of it. anyway" (head and torso out of fridge) "we have to go pick up our dresses from the shop, which is in a muslim district, you might want to put a scarf over your shoulders. it's no big deal, but i try to dress conservative or at least make an attempt when i go there. the men appreciate it. then we can head over..."

the kitchen was bright, very bright. it had an alerting freshness, a few stoves, many knives clinging magnetically to the wall, shiny and able. the living room could host a gymnastics competition and the dining room table was as smooth and long as a bowling alley. well, not quite, but in normal home furnishing land that's what it would equate to.

upstairs we collected soccer clothes and running shoes.

"i keep getting lost!" i told judi.

"i know!" she cackled "isn't this house strange? it really is. the upstairs all looks the same. you walk out of a room and can't figure out which way to go. when my parents were here i had to tape balloons on their door! ha!"

it was true. very similar to a hotel hallway, there was nothing helping me distinguish door 1 from door 2, except for the magazine collages hanging on the outside. the girls had personalized their gateways. "Yanni's Room". She had a poster that said "they lie, they cheat... they're you're friends. the OC". I don't remember Torri's door.

the hallway jetted down separating the upstairs in two, ending in a cozy space at the top of the stairs, full of craft supplies and family pictures. clinging to the sides of the walls were signs of life, of family living. shoes in piles, stacks of books.

the top half of the house was low key. the bottom half was impressive. the top had framed pictures of children's art. the bottom had professional art.

"this is the family room." she opened the door, exposing an area that held a few couches, a few computers, a television, and cats. my aunt is always laughing. she laughs between breaths, between words, between thoughts. she told me the wacky cat names, none of which stuck but all of which made me love my family even more. "let's keep them in here though because Euphrasia, the maid, is allergic. but we can come in here tonite and watch American Idol. we're kind of obsessed! oh and Euphrasia, she's hilarious. we've got our little thing going on, you know what i mean. our girl thing, she gets it. she's weird, like us. you can joke with her. so-" she said, looking all around "i think i've got it all. are you ready to go play soccer?"

i was.

"great. let's go!"