Posts Tagged ‘Mzungus’
Stamp your passport at my gate
Fifty percent of my current household is European. European men, to be exact. (Actually, with the exception of me, everyone who lives here at the moment is a man, and I am beginning to feel like something of the Central African Hostel Madame, if by ‘madame’ you understand ‘woman who cleans up the [...]
Getting to ‘goodbye’
The most ubiquitous characters in my daily strolls in Kigali are the veritable army that sells airtime. They wander the streets in yellow vests, with a stack of yellow cards they try to pawn at every turn. When you need more money to use your phone—and in this country, where call rates are [...]
Scratch “Plays well with others,” add “Scares little children”
20-21 March 2008, en route
It took two days to drive from Freetown, on the western coast of Africa, to Kailahun, in the extreme east of the country, not far from Liberia. The further we got from Freetown, the more and more excited people seemed to be to see white people. In Rwanda, [...]
How to stand out in Rwanda even more than you already do when you’re white
There are lots of great images and interesting language in Chimanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, so I don’t know what it says that this one has stuck with me. But ever since reading it a few months ago, I’ve never felt quite the same way about myself.
There’s this boy, Ugwu, who [...]
The contradictions of cleanliness
The first thing they tell you when you say something like, “I’m going to the middle of Africa,” is Don’t drink the water.
This is obvious, mostly, and there’s a whole host of good reasons why—last time I was here, there was a cholera outbreak linked to drinking water. Then there’s a whole category of [...]
Things whiny white people in Africa think about
Getting your luggage back, when you haven’t changed your clothes in a week, is like indulging in a shopping spree without spending a dime. Is it true? I really have two more pairs of shoes? I have…scarves? Skirts in so many colors I’m not sure I remember the names of them [...]
I am a freelance journalist and multimedia producer who covers human rights, Africa and foreign affairs. [