Fatass

"Do you think anyone in Rwanda has a %$#^#$% lactose intolerance?"

     - Chris Rock, Bring the Pain

 

I've been called fat to my face several times in the last few months.  Here's it's a compliment.  In one Chris Rock bit, he talks about how in everywhere but America, being fat is a feat ("Damn, how'd you do that?"), and that's true in Cameroon.  Being a Cameroonian and fat is a status symbol, like wearing a really nice boubou or driving your own car.  If I see a bigger gentleman, I automatically try to guess what his job his (it ain't herding cows), and if I see a bigger woman, I automatically try to guess who her husband is.  So it's a good thing being called fat, it means you have the means to manger bien and have a desk job.  It's also an example of how politically correct (uptight, you could also say) America is, where talking about someone gaining weight is a taboo subject. (Unless it's about K-Fed. Thanks for the In Touch Weekly, Barkers!)

 

For some PCVs, being called fat is more common than for others, and it can be used as small talk or even a pick-up line.  One male PCV, who came to Cameroon 6'4" and pushing 300 pounds and has since lost nearly 100, made a mutual Cameroonian acquaintance (okay, a really random acquaintance: the pool guy at a hotel in Garoua who always asks about le gros) sad when he saw Matt skinnier than the last time he saw him.  Cameroonian men will hit on une blanche and sweet talk her by telling her how fat she is, the Don Juans.  God forbid you be too skinny, how can you survive?

 

After dropping 15 pounds during the first few months here, I pretty much leveled off after the rainy season started and I stopped sweating 24/7.  I've also became more stationary at post because I wasn't going back-and-forth between the CARE office and my house, so I guess j'ai pris du poids un peu the last couple months.  That's when the compliments started.  First, a nurse I've worked with a couple times said he couldn't recognize me from afar because I'd gained so much weight. Umm, thanks, and I know how hard I am to spot around here.  My cleaning lady said I'd gained some weight (her and a neighbor also pointed out that a close-by PCV had gotten gros), as well as a bean lady in Garoua I go to maybe once every couple months.  I visited my homestay family in Pitoa for an hour or two to say hi, and one of my host uncle's said that Lagdo must be good because I've been eating well.  Oui, je mange bien a Lagdo. (My homestay dad also loved Matt, the big guy from my stage, and told me evertime he saw him walking around town because he was such a big dude.)

 

It's hard not to be offended, but I guess you have to take the comments in stride given the non-existence of political correctness (But, James, you are le blanc, that's why people call le blanc.) and the importance of being able to eat a lot.  Cameroonians just don't think twice about that kind of thing.  It's refreshing in a way that they aren't self-conscious about weight, but it is a little disconcerting when coming from a mixed-up place like America with gyms and health-related stores standing next to fast food restaurants and Pizza Huts.