SATURDAY DECEMBER 22One of the things that most frustrates American children living in Africa is having their state-side friends ask them if they live in grass huts, ride to school on elephants, or hide from tigers at night. Don't Americans know that Africa has houses, that elephants are rare, and that tigers only live in India and Asia?
Though none of my students live in huts, and many urban Africans live in houses and apartment buildings, many, many other Africans do, in fact, live in huts. We passed hundreds of them on the way to and from our mountain vacation. Many, like the one shown here, offer items for sale to those driving by. In this case, it's charcoal, wrapped in grasses and bagged in pastel sacks, displayed under a huge, colorful mango tree. Perhaps more often, it's rice, potatoes, or pyramids of fresh fruit or vegetables. Sometimes it might be boldly patterned cloth, or recently butchered cows or goats.
In fact, the irregular intersection of manual labor and traditional products with technological sophistication is one of the earmarks of African life. Single A fisherman spends his morning in a small canoe, and brings his products to a market where vendors use hand-held calculators and cell phones. A shepherd guides his flock of sheep or goats across a divided highway. A street vendors hawk matches, CD players, and inflatable Santas side-by-side. Imams chant their calls to prayer not from the minarets themselves, but from tinny loudspeakers stuck at their tops (see photo--that's a speaker, not a bell). Africa is a living kaleidescope of change.
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