… to use a dirty pan because you are just going to make it
dirtier
… to eat only popcorn for dinner because the day was just
too hard already
… to wear whatever is clean or at least doesn’t smell, even
if it is a striped shirt with a floral skirt
… to only wash your hair once a week to save money on
shampoo, only to spend it on a weekly E20 cup of coffee
… to not leave your homestead for 5 days because you are
perfectly happy there
… to dream about America and curse Swaziland some days
… to become an airtime dealer at the end of the month
because you spent all your money already
… to skip the parts of your workout DVD that you don’t like
(cough, cough… the dreya roll)
… to watch more TV series here then you ever did in America
… to plan what you want to do after COS even if you still
have 8 months or 20 months left
... to sleep for 10 hours in a row, night after night
... to spend an extra 26 rand on a taxi just so you don't have to walk an extra 40 feet
... to replace your social life with a pet cat
... to feel no remorse when a rooster gets its head cut off
... to be s self proclaimed sommelier on PnP No name Box wine
... to say you are camping at Bombasos backpackers but never actually sleep outside
... to use your pee bucket in the middle of the day just because its 3 feet away and not across the yard
... to start excepting marriage proposals if the labola prices get high enough
... to think you are dying every day because 'Where There Is No Doctor' told you so
... to walk around with your lahiya or blanket tied around you and call it an outfit
"Africa is an addiction. Life here is so challenging that you feel you've done something really fine - really rewarding - just by surviving from one day to the next. There is so much that is new, exotic, and exciting, you feel like you are discovering unknown secrets to a lost world. But the last few weeks have just been a glorified adventure holiday. It is what you extract from all that raw material and make your own - that's what matters, that's your contribution."
- from "Into Africa" by Craig Packer
... to sleep for 10 hours in a row, night after night
... to spend an extra 26 rand on a taxi just so you don't have to walk an extra 40 feet
... to replace your social life with a pet cat
... to feel no remorse when a rooster gets its head cut off
... to be s self proclaimed sommelier on PnP No name Box wine
... to say you are camping at Bombasos backpackers but never actually sleep outside
... to use your pee bucket in the middle of the day just because its 3 feet away and not across the yard
... to start excepting marriage proposals if the labola prices get high enough
... to think you are dying every day because 'Where There Is No Doctor' told you so
... to walk around with your lahiya or blanket tied around you and call it an outfit
"Africa is an addiction. Life here is so challenging that you feel you've done something really fine - really rewarding - just by surviving from one day to the next. There is so much that is new, exotic, and exciting, you feel like you are discovering unknown secrets to a lost world. But the last few weeks have just been a glorified adventure holiday. It is what you extract from all that raw material and make your own - that's what matters, that's your contribution."
- from "Into Africa" by Craig Packer
