Today, we got invited to go to a seminar on the impact on Cameroon of Obama’s reelection and the new Chinese president.
When I called my Cameroonian counterpart a few hours before the seminar was about to start, I asked him if there was anything Shaun and I needed to prep for, seeing as election vocab isn’t something my French is particularly versed in. He, of course, said no. So, we went.
We showed up the advertised starting time of 3 (we should’ve known better!) and the seminar started at 4. At the time it started there about 50 Cameroonians in the room…
First on the agenda was an explanation of the US electoral college system and how it was that Obama won. Little did I know, I would be leading this explanation! Immediately, my heart started pounding! Using the simplest phrases I know, I explained electoral votes based off of population and majority wins. I will admit, it wasn’t perfect since I had a clarify a few times the electoral college isn’t real people and that there is no process to choosing who is on the electoral college, but, red and blue states and electoral college votes got explained at the expense of my heart rate!
Last year, I was baking pumpkin pies getting ready for Thanksgiving…this year, I am explaining American politics in French in Cameroon! A lot can change in a year, and it is funny to think of all the random things we do in a days work in Cameroon.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, be thankful you aren’t explaining the American electoral system in French! : )
27 months in Cameroon 