Watch the Walk

Have you ever had someone tell you that you had food on your face? It might be slightly embarrassing, but I'm always grateful for the people who serve as my mirrors and help me out when unaware. But sometimes the person trying to fix your look gets it wrong. You think there's a story in this? Of course! After about a month of living on Clove Island, I was walking away from my house toward a teammate's house when a neighbor waved me over to her shop. This baby has also had black eyebrows drawn on her. "Come!" she yelled.  Well, that I understood. I came over to her. "Come closer"  -- uh, okay. I was a little closer to her than I was comfortable with, but it's not like I knew the culture yet, so maybe there was something I needed to learn. Nope, it was too close alright. Next thing I knew, she was drawing on my face! "Ah, you're so beautiful!" she exclaimed, and handed me a mirror. Know what she drew? BLACK EYEBROWS. And then she gifted m...

 I love driving, but for my 2.5 years on Clove Island I never got behind the wheel of a car. I got to experience a lot of other drivers. So, for your perusal, I present to you a few of the driving types on my African scene: 1) Classic taxi driver: this guy is young, energetic, likes to smoke, and drives fast. Heavy on the accelerator, heavy on the brakes, fuel economy isn't really his thing. What is his thing? Women. Passengers are often delayed as he stops and visits with his various girlfriends along the way. 2) Family man taxi driver: a little older, this guy will double as a "school bus" driver, filling the back of his car with 7 or 8 little kids (in addition to an adult passenger or two) whom he delivers to each of their homes. He can often be seen chewing out small children any time they do something he perceives as unsafe (hands out the window, moving around too much, exiting the car into traffic...). 3) Private car owner type 1: this person cares about their car, ...