#38 Random stuff that I thought or forgot or don't know where it came from.

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The tour guide on the last truck I was on was named Belinda.
When it was Thanksgiving and we were excited she asked what it was that Jesus did on that day. She also had never heard of Fidel Castro. When we passed a block of buildings that was being demolished and someone asked why this was happening she said "oh that, they are demolishing the buildings but I have no idea why" This was our tour leader; one reason I was ready to be done.
A bigger reason: Dodo. This is the name a older german woman on our tour chose to have people call her. A bird that is extinct partly because it is an idiot bird. The name fits!!! First day on the bus she sat right in the front of the truck of 22 next to the speaker and then asked to turn the music down. When she wanted it further down she grabbed my ipod and turned it off; if you know me then you know that she was a close to death as she could have been. She also takes pictures of EVERYTHING. If the pictures I post aren't enough I can get hers but it may take you the same number of days I traveled to look at the pictures since she spent every moment taking pictures. I don't dislike many people, she is an exception.

In Africa guys hold hands. If it is your brother, father or real good friends and you are walking then it is acceptable to hold hands; and I mean fingers interlocked. They are not gay and can't believe that anyone in the world would see it strange. They are just comfortable and it is a way of life. It is nice!!! When I get home I'm holding hands. Mike and Adam if you were in Africa no one would question you.

People in Africa have nice hair cuts all the time, it doesn't get scraggly. Not that they feel the need to always look their best but why not, to go to a barber and get a haircut is less than a buck. If haircuts were cheap like that in the US I would get a haircut every week or two, wouldn't you? I don't even shave while I'm here, it is cheaper to go and have them shave my scruff than to use up the razor.

I've gotten 3 proffesional massages since in africa. It's like $10 for an hour and it's well worth it for the money I was saving sleeping in tents. These women have some strong hands, makes me want one now.

When I was driving in South Africa we were stopped by a police check point. (Africa has so many check points on the roads, sometimes used to harass drivers until they give them a bribe, sometimes for real reasons.) This particular time we were stopped and asked if we had pork in the car. We told them we didn't and they were satisfied. They didn't want to check and weren't worried if we had bombs or guns in the car; but pork, it's out of the question.

I read a great book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.
I like the kid that the book is about, the page where he is talking to a shrink is my favorite page, if you read it keep that in mind. It is written from the perspective of an 8 yr old who lost his dad in 9/11. If you want to tell me some great books that you've read I'd be happy to know about them.

MAZUNGU
This is what people in africa yell when they see me. In their language it means white person. Some places it is very rare to see a white person so they can't help themselves and it just comes out. It is not meant to be a bad thing. The only bad part is when they see a mazungu they charge you more for anything than they would charge a local; bastards!!! I spend a lot of time trying to make people that do this feel bad, I don't think it works very well.

People I meet on the street and talk to for minutes, sometimes seconds ask me for my address in the US in case they come to visit. Fine, I give it to them. Then they give me their address and tell me to write them a letter, of course they don't have email and when I mention it they get disgusted which makes me feel bad; maybe I should write them two letters now. We all know I will lose the paper that the man I have known for 40 seconds has just handed me.

I like catching someone on the streets eye and smiling, they can't help but to smile back. (I'm sure they are thinking: why is that mazungu smiling at me, I better smile so he will go away).

A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give.
A smile takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it.
A smile creates happiness in a home, fosters goodwill in a business and is the counter sign of friendship.
A smile brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and is natures best antidote for trouble.
Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, but for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away.
Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as no one needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.