The Unexpectedly Expected

Or, Why Our Stereotypes Are Dumb and We Should Open Our Minds

It seems like everyone wants to write the blog Ten Things You'd Never Do In the U.S. And there's nothing wrong with that post, with admiring what is exotic. It's impossible not to notice what is so different from what we're used to!

But I want us to remember, too, that not everything is the "exotic," different, black to our white. Nothing is that simple. So here's a list of seven stereotypes, many of which I held and which are commonly held, but which are simply not true. 

1. Weather

Stereotype: Sub-Saharan Africa is hot and dry. There are huge savannas with blowing golden grasses, parted by the long legs of giraffes as they pass baobab tress on their route to the watering hole. The sun beats relentlessly.

Reality: In the West Region of Cameroon, there's a rainy season and a dry season - and in rainy season (March to October) it gets COLD. I mean, it's not winter. (To my students, I explain winter in the U.S. as being like living in the freezer for three months. They are mind-blown by this idea.) But I head to buy long sleeves and sweaters and jeans because I didn't pack them! I have even been known to wear a *borrowed* airplane blanket like a wrap skirt over leggings. And yes, I have gotten compliments on that wrap skirt…

...turns to the red mud of rainy season.

The red dust of dry season...

2. Food (aka Noms)

Stereotype: The African children are staving, I've seen them on the T.V.

Reality: You should see some of the fat mamas here, with their butts slouching over both sides of the motorcycle whose engine strains to drag them up the dirt track to the top of the hill. In West Cameroon, there is food and food a-plenty. And a lot of it is foods we would recognize: pasta, rice, potatoes, chicken, beef, pork, fish, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, green beans, red beans, white beans, black beans… The staples are here, they're just prepared differently. Peanuts are eaten roasted, boiled, paste-d, and sauce-d -- just not butter-ed. In some cities, you can even get Lindt chocolate, Oreos, and deli meats (if you're willing to pay a premium price, anyway)!

I believe "baaaa" translates to "Please don't eat me."

3. Everyone Is Dying of AIDS

Stereotype: See above.

Reality: Some of the biggest killers here include diabetes (see Food section), cancer, and traffic accidents. The big money issues - HIV/AIDS, malaria, even polio - are definitely present and definitely matter, but that's just not the whole story.

4. Religion

Stereotype: People really only believe in voodoo, animal worship, traditional healing, sacrifices to ancestors, and evil "sorcellerie" magic.

Reality: OK, there is a lot of that. People definitely pour salt and Fanta as sacrifices to the skulls of their ancestors. And people definitely believe that some guy turned himself into a snake and killed two girls, or that someone turned a matchbox into an airplane and transported a bunch of people around the world. (???) But people are also very religious in terms of Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. Some people believe in one or the other, but a lot don't see the contradiction between their traditional beliefs and Christianity, and I think it's worth walking a mile in their shoes before judging.

So there's white Jesus, white Mary, white Joseph...

But there are also traditional practices and sacred places

Like these "sacrifices" of palm oil in calabashes

5. Climate Change

Stereotype: If it exists, and that's a big if, climate change is a First World issue.

Reality: I have been lectured about climate change by many of my Cameroonian friends. They tell me how the rains come later and last longer and they don't know anymore when to plan their crops or when to stop planting because everything is changing. They tell me how more people should use improved cook stoves to reduce deforestation and how awful are the thirty year old cars spewing black gunk into the air. I see much more clearly the impact of climate change on lives here than I ever did in the U.S., and Cameroonians care.

6. Tribalism

Stereotype: It's an African thing.

Reality: People identify themselves as Cameroonian and they're proud of many things about their country, including how much it has developed in the past half-century and its commitment to peace. Just like people identify themselves as American and they're proud of many things about their country, including its commitment to democracy and liberty. But Cameroonians do still identify with a sub-group and have prejudices about other groups. Just ask a Bamileke what they think about the northern Fulbe, or a Southerner about a Bamileke… But then again - just ask a Delawarean about an Iowan, a Californian about a Texan, a Republican about a Democrat…

Diversity in Cameroon might not look exactly like diversity in America,
but it's still there.

7. Humanity

Stereotype: There's us, then there's them, and we just don't have much in common.

Reality:  We're all human. I tell my students that our skin looks different, but our brains and our hearts are the same. This is something I understood rationally but somehow I know understand it with my heart, too. Babies are babies and they cry all night in their universal language. Teenage girls are teenage girls, and they giggle and gossip all night at sleepovers and style each other's hair. Adolescent boys are adolescent boys and they make dumb decisions and consider themselves invincible. Professors like to lecture even those who haven't signed up for class, and politicians like to lecture anyone who will listen about their achievements while bashing their opponents. Presidents talk about security and the economy. People are unique - some are greedy, some are giving, some just want to have fun - but we are all fundamentally human.

Girls just wanna have fun.

Stylin'.

High-schoolers volunteering with orphans

The kids love drawing rainbows and lions and houses.

A year in another country doesn't make me an expert, but still. #noregrets !

Dear PCVs, fellow travelers, & readers: What would you add to this list? What things have you discovered are the same, or what expectations did you have that you discovered were unfounded?