You Know You Have Lived In Africa When....

...it doesn't seem right to pay the asking price on anything in a store. If you can't barter for it, it's not worth having.
...you find all the non-white people on campus so you can be a minority again.
...you call everyone older than you uncle or aunt.
...you'd rather be barefoot.
...every softdrink is coca cola or fanta.
...black outs for a week are nothing new to you.
...no running water for a day is just another ordinary thing
...50 degrees is cold, but 100 degrees isn't hot.
...you can do your monthly shopping on the pavement.
...four cars are driving parallel to each other on a one-lane road doesn't seem wrong.
...the smell of freshly rained on mud paths is comforting.
...being an hour late equals being "on time"
...you eat sugar cane as a snack.
...you can bribe a cop and get away with it!
...you have an over whelming urge to wash all your salad in milton (bleach)
...you know that the police isn't always the safest place to go when you're in trouble.
...cramming 7 passangers in a 4 passenger taxi is really not a big deal.
...you know never to question what you're eating (even if it does taste good), cuz sometimes you just don't want to know.
...you invite people for a get together at 7 and they all come at 9.
...everyone in your country plays soccer.
...you have showered under the rain.
...you have to think what race your friends are because you don't notice or care.
...someone riding their bike down the road with corrugated iron strapped width wise across the back of the bike and its taking up more than half of the road is not unusual.
...you know what true hospitality and generosity is...when those who have almost nothing still welcome you in with open arms and are willing to share everything they have with you - even though they barely know you!
...someone asks you how much your sister costs.
...you unwrap all your gifts carefully, so that you can reuse the wrapper.
...more than 90% of the DVDs in your home are illegal copies.
...you find it completely natural to have burglar-bars outside your windows
...you bought your cellphone through your car window
...chicken is a luxury
...you are not surprised when there is a herds of cows and goats walking down the street
...every white thing you own has permently turned a curious shade of brown
...you dream about Africa - a lot.
....you think of giving up trying to convince people of what it´s really like - even though they really do try, they often just don´t understand.
...you learn quickly that pedestrians DO NOT have the right-of-way
...you know that an umbrella is useless during the rainy season and simply accept the fact that you'll be wet for 6 months... and really don't mind either
...people bump into the car in front, check out the damage, hand over some money (maybe!) and then drive off!
...you are able to smell of the coming of the first rain signaling the end of the dry season.
...tears well up in your eyes as you read this list, either wishing that you were back in Africa or glad that you are still there.


Although I often tell my students, "just because it is on the internet, does not mean it is true!" I will have to admit, this (which I found on the internet) is most definitely TRUE! Much of it must have been experienced to be understood. I am sure there is SO much more that could be added...but this is a good start!