What makes this place Africa?

- It’s beautiful people; full of joy and relaxed, but mostly slow in action, and never too precise (in for example appointments…).
- The fact that an x-ray of my ankle (don’t worry, I didn’t break it) in the local hospital costs you 260 kwacha (remember that you get 175 kwacha for just one euro).
- The twinkling stars, which seem to have colours inside them. The wonderful soft nights, with a clear sky and the little noises of bats, some birds and crickets.
- African English. Man, the way they pronounce some words…
- The dirt that seems to be everywhere; not only nut shells, rests of sugar cane and fruit, but also a lot of plastic junk. The local market here is loaded with Asian low quality stuff and I’ve seen two public garbage cans so far.
- The crazy respect a lot of people seem to have for mzungus, some people even bow down…
- Weather; 30 degrees in the shade, a sun that really knows the meaning of the word ‘burn’ and than the heavy rains, which soak you till your skin, in no time.
- The looking, staring. Always catching attention. As a mzungu you’re always being noticed. Also when it’s totally dark.
- The fact that they actually use a plastic glove filled with ice (smashed into acceptable pieces on the ground in front of your eyes) as a cooling bandage…
- A million ‘best friends’ I have, mostly guys.
- Traffic; cars, bikes and busses that even a Dutch student wouldn’t touch, are used daily, everywhere, for everything. Chickens are transported upside down hanging on a bike, the completely gone window of a minibus that’s replaced by duck tape, cars without lights and with doors, which fall out. Remember I didn’t even got started about the quality of the roads.
- Sleeping underneath a mosquito net.
- The colours… Such blue skies. Such, such red soil. Such black faces, with such white teeth. Such bright yellow, red or blue birds and than the huge butterflies. And the sweat, heavy smells in the garden.
- The yelling pastor Smint, from the church.
- Your feet; it’s impossible to keep them clean. I cannot say I step under the cold shower every day, but I wash my feet (almost) every night : )

As you can see I tried to sum up some characteristics, some facts, that will give you an image of the world I’m living in right now. I tried to think of the little crazy things that I might already be getting used to, but which are essential in creating the right picture.
I realise I failed, in creating the right picture, and that I will be failing in the future. But I’m gonna keep on trying. With words. With pictures.

Lotte