September 30th, 2014 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
There’s no cheese in Cameroon and I’m already sorely missing this food. I told my host family that I think it’s bizarre that cheese is not part of the Cameroonian cuisine as the French colonized the country and cheese is so big in France that the French eat it every single day.
When I watch TV with my host family, I frequently see a commercial for Leclerc, a big box store that is exactly like Wal-Mart and found everywhere in France. So, I asked my host family where I can find that big box store so that I could maybe find some cheese and other western world goodies that I miss and need.
They told me that Leclerc doesn’t exist in Cameroon. WHAT? Then how come there are commercials for that store? They explained to me that almost everything they get on TV is directly from France. In other words, they’re watching television as if they are in France and all commercials that are aired are targeted towards the French viewers. However, there are a few channels that are directly from Cameroon.
That doesn’t make sense. Are companies wasting money by showing commercials to an audience who have no access to buying their products.
I learned to ignore the commercials on the television.
However, my host family told me that I can find Casino, another French big box store, and a few other big box stores in the capital cities in Cameroon.
