Funky Things You Discover While Living In Africa

From the style of this list I asume you are American. I have noticed the trait exhibited by many Americans to discuss Africa as if it were a single country.

But then the rest of us often speak of America as if it were one country, so I supose it's fair.

kk-
america is one country, just a fairly large one. And its just divided into states. Whereas africa is a contient, divided into countries.

Cold Drinks are so called in the US in larger black-skinned comunities as well: New Orleans, Atlanta, and the rest of the regional Southern US. And on the suject of mexican food: bring it there, girl, everyon needs tex-mex. A friend of mine moved to Croatia and asked himself this question to find a source of income: "What does Croatia not have?" I think you know the answer.

Well, not really. America is a continent complex containing North America and South America. North America has Canada, the USA and Mexico, whereas South America has Columbia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Venezuela, etc. THAT's America, not just the USA. What kk meant, was that we say America and think of just the USA, which it isn't. Did I get my point across or am I just talking too much?

America isn't a country. The United States of America is a country. North America is a continent. So is South America.

Yea, Americans.... again? We drive RIGHT in Nigeria, we call soda soft drink..., one brand of soft drink is called soda water or club soda though. We get excited when we see a white man because he will become a source of income if we can kidnap him... etc

Tomato Sauce in Africa comes in all shapes and flavours. The localy preferred on is All Gold, but i prefer Heinz. And since Heinz came onto the South African Market, more ppl are starting to refer to "Ketchup".

Coldrinks come in cans, right. Soda is in Africa Soda Water, such as those made by Schwepps. The cans are weighted at the bottom so that it doesn't tip over easily and it gives the can strength. It is also for packing purposes.

Our taxi's are different than America Taxi's. They are "minivan's" and they can take up to 20 ppl. It's very cheap and a good way to keep excess cars off the roads.

We have sour cream, we're just not so fond of it. Americans eat sour cream with everything.

Most SA households have rain spiders, geckos, chameleons and praying mantis in and around the house. They keep the house free from flies and other insects.

2 years for milk? No ways. But we do have a thing called "long life milk" which comes in aluminum lined cartons that can last for ages if not opened.

We don't give traffic cops peanuts, we give them biltong (beef jerky, just alot nicer and tastier).

A pie is a pie. In the UK it is also a pie. Dunno what you guys call it in america. The kind of pies you guys talk about we call tarts.

Sounds like you were in zambia or something. Cause where I'm from there is a lot of whites.

First question is did you go on a mission trip? Second thing is Africa is NOT one big, undiversified place that can be lumped together with silly generalities that you've mentioned. In fact it's VERY diverse and I can imagine if you traveled a little around in Africa, you'd find that out for yourself. Africa is NOT a country, it's a continent with MANY countries. The diversity carries beyond culture and race and ecology, etc. I'm pretty sure you'd find Africa regionally diverse just from going north south east or west and everywhere in between.
Third, The fact that you get excited to see white people disturbs me. Yes, you may identify with them based on color but knowing just a little about African history and white legacy of colonization, I don't know how excited I'd be to see white people in Africa.

i encourage you to be a little more critical and observe things BEYOND material culture when you go somewhere outside of the united states.

"America is NOT a Country, it's a Continent!

United States of America, yes, Its a Country.

Stacey - chill out! I live in Africa and still see the humour in this. Not everything has to be taken so seriously.

Christiaan - not Zambia! I'm here and there are plenty of whites, mostly South Africans actually :) (oh and quite a lot of deposed Zimbabwean farmers!)

Victor - just love your sense of humour man - lol

BTW - we give cops peanuts, biltong, cooldrinks AND lifts here! lol

Settle down people. The girl makes some pretty unique observations about a place that is new to her (and to many of us readers). Try not to get your knickers in a semantic wad.

I live in Africa ... South Africa to be more specific. Some things I do find funny ... others just kind of come off as harsh.

Like a pie ... don't knock it if you haven't tried it. Tis oh so yummy.

We actually don't pay the cops in peanuts darnit, you've got to buy them alcohol or give them money, and that is by no means peanuts *grin*

White people aren't all that rare, depending on where in Africa you've been, deep dark Africa perhaps.

I was sorry not to read that we have lions and elephants roaming our streets, that is so Africa, is it not?

Still gotta love our country & continent though!

i apologize if i offended anyone. i was only trying to give my friends at home a feel for where i am. i have been in both SA & Swaziland so i suppose i mixed the two & it was only my personal observations...
i am well aware that africa is a diverse continent just as the US is diverse as a nation - and that is what i find fun & interesting.

Lindsey,

You are so right! I was a missionary in the Congo and was dying for Mexican food. At least they had Indian food though!

Stacey -

You show many signs of the typical, quick-to-teach not to learn liberal that gets way too caught up in political correctness, often forgetting entirely the subject at hand. For you to bring up the issue of slavery on a college missionary's blog that solely has the purpose of informing her family, friends, and others of her experiences is nothing short of absurdity. Not exactly sure what you are trying to prove...

Lindsey-
Well done !
You blog is VERY impressive !
You will do exceptionally well as a teacher by the way.
Dieter Schmidt (Seattle Pretoria)

I loved your list Lindsey - sorry you felt PC pressured into changing the original!

Your description of a foreigners view of ANYWHERE in Africa was very funny and not so far off the mark - truly :)

It is a strange and dark continent and very different from America - that's part of its charm. I find American terminology equally confusing and amusing - I mean how can you call JAM jelly? And them mix it with peanut butter? EEEWWWWW - lol

Keep writing!

I read the posts again, and sincerely I couldnt help but laugh....Lindsey was just expressing her observations. We must not have Mexican food in Nigeria 'unlike CALI' because, there might not be enough patronage. I still think we in Africa are doing very well in our own way. In my part of Africa, even the mad men (lunatics) prefer the opposite sex (lunatics),lol lol. In other parts of the world like the U S of A even Bishops wants same sex marriages. Quo Vadis?

For someone coming from the US, of course they refer to the country as "America". It is only outside of the US (especially in Central and South America) that people get offended by US people calling themselves "Americans".

This list is great though! I would love to travel to Africa someday...I'm thinking the NW coastal countries.

Rallie, I agree it's weird that people from the US call themselves Americans, but there's really no English equivalent for Spanish words like "Estadounidense". Plus, technically, we are still Americans, even though that simply describes the continent we live on. I also want to visit Africa. My dad is from Ghana, so of course I'd have to go there, but I also have relatives who've been living in South Africa for a while and they make it seem really cool too.

Aw gee thats so cute! Looking at all the poor starving ignorant natives and wondering what Britney would make of it all, if she were in any condition to think rationally or well....at all for that matter.

Some of your points are not all correct.


"Ketchup doesn't exist, instead there is ‘tomato sauce' that is pink and tastes… very tomatoey"

Well, tomato sauce is just that, tomato sauce, in some cheap establisments you will get a ripp off of tomato sauce, but in general it's all natural.

"Milk has a two-year expiration date"

Yes it's UHT milk

"Plain Yogurt is the substitute for sour cream"

Try some with flavour ;-)


"You can get pulled over for having a dirty car"

Nope,it's not true

"You can get out of a ticket by giving the cop peanuts"

Yes you mean bribe money


"It is considered disrespectful to look an elder in the eyes when talking to them"

In some cultures, not in the entire Africa.

again, for everyone that has been commenting on this. It was simply some things that I experienced while i was there. So yes everything was true from my perspective at the time. we did get pulled over for having a dirty car, and we did get out of a ticket by giving the cop peanuts etc etc. I was just letting my friends and family back home hear about some of the things i was experiencing that i was not used to. glad u have enjoyed tearing it apart

Don't let those b-tards get you down. They just hate the idea that somebody went somewhere new and experienced the world through their own eyes :)
Your crazy/funky stories may not hold true for "all of Africa" but they are your experience. Its the same when you travel anywhere some things happen to you that are abnormal for the region, some things happen that are very normal for the region. As a traveler you get to experience everything!

Wow, Lindsey. It looks like this blog caused quite the controversy. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Hope you're having an absolutely knock-your-socks-off great time in Southern Africa! I lived there for 2 years as a young missionary back in the '80's. And as some have been very quick to point out, Africa is HUGE and diverse but I was able to go to 3 different countries and a couple of different "home lands" (pre-Apartheid days) and I loved all of them and found the majority of Africans I met to be absolutely wonderful.

There...how's that for generalizing?...but strictly in the best sense. Yes...some were black, some were white, some were coloured, some were something entirely else. Some were rural and traditional, some were urban and modern, but they were all Africans despite their differences.

And though I've not traveled the whole length of the continent, I can honestly say that Africa...and not just the tiny kindgom of Swaziland where I lived...has a very special place in my heart.

Even if Tex Mex wasn't readily available. ;)

They are wonderful people.

wow, way to continue the western trend of fetishizing a culture considered "foriegn" or "exotic" are you retarded? seriously?

Ha, Classic. This the joys of diversity.

Imagine tomato sauce tasting like tomatoes, I mean thats ridiculous.

Nice, entertaining read, well done.

Can I put this on my blog

Yes, some of the blog is silly and yes, lots of the responses are over the top, but the point has to be made. Africa is diverse and so is each individual country. I worked for 5 years in South Africa and as I got to know different groups I realised how unique each one was. For example, until I worked there I hadn't realised that the majority of Capetonians of colour, spoke Afrikaans. I had seen the language as that of the whites. I hadn't realised what an incrediblly vibrant gay culture exists in the Western Cape and Jo'Burg, while in many parts a really strong homophobic culture exists.

I began to understand how so many things contribute to the problems the country still has post-Mandela. I worked in schools and the kid who speaks isiXhosa at home but has to learn in English or Afrikaans at school will always face an uphill struggle.

Its great that American kids see something of what life is like outside the USA but the best thing that could happen is for rich whites to stop telling Africa how to solve their problems and just give them the resources. So shut up Bono and the like.