1. A pagne is traditional African cloth used mostly to make dresses but also table linens and so forth.
2. Malamba is Fang for sugar cane wine. Musungu is the Punu word for palm wine. Both are traditional beverages locally produced by villagers.
3. The original religion of the Ekang people, which Christian missionaries attempted to eradicate.
4. African drum carved out of wood.
5. Traditional loose-fitting African gown worn by both men and women.
6. Traditional African dress.
7. In the Fang language, this translates as “phantom knife.” It refers to a leaf whose edges are as sharp as a knife.
8. Schools in Gabon model the French educational system, so Ada’s grade level (cinquième) is equivalent to that of a seventh grader, and collège would be considered middle school.
9. Assok is a Fang village in the north of Gabon.
10. A traditional African game invented first by the Fang that requires keen mathematical skills to win. It is a board game somewhat similar to chess, whereby each opponent tries to conquer territory indicated by twenty or so holes scattered on a game board. Seeds are placed in the holes to signify that a “territory” has been taken by an opponent.
11. An atangatier is a tropical tree native to Central Africa that yields the fruit called atanga in Gabon, but the same fruit is called prune in Cameroon. The fruit is blue-purple and shaped like an avocado; this is surely to what Ada is referring in the novel as “blue dates.”
1. A Fang interjection showing surprise in a negative and/or serious situation.
2. Zom ayo is a plant with extremely bitter leaves that can be consumed as a vegetable or for medicinal purposes.
3. A nganga is a spiritual healer of sorts, someone capable of communicating with those from the beyond and who can therefore impart wisdom and knowledge.
4. The fête du mouton refers to the slaughtering of sheep in conjunction with the Muslim holiday, Eid El Kébir (also known as Eid al-Adha), a commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice. The holiday is declared in relation to the Muslim calendar, and therefore its exact date is announced only a very short time in advance.