Kellogg Corps Cameroon: This is Africa (Random notes part three)

So there's a lot of things that happen here that don't really make sense, which is normally explained away by saying "well, this is Africa". For example, when I wanted to make sure there were seat belts in our vehicles, no cars had any and when I asked about it the reply was: "Well Joel, this is Africa, and most of the cars here don't have working seatbelts." It's been how a lot of things were described to me: lack of toilet paper in bathrooms; gaping holes in mosquito nets; why potatoes are individually chopped and peeled for french fries; etc. After a while you get kind of used to it, but the "this is Africa" (abbreviated TIA) starts to stick with you.

Okay more fun stuff:

In Cameroon, Andre invited his friends over to drink the Johnny Walker Blue, and they were gracious enough to show us a Cameroonian tradition. Before you start drinking, they pour out a small amount of the bottle for friends and ancestors who couldn't be there. They pour it out at the threshold of the doorway to invite in more good luck and success. So the origin of "pouring one out for my homies" actually does have roots in Africa. Who knew?
We got some Mzungu t-shirts at a flea market (Mzungu means white foreigner in Swahili)
You'd be amazed how fast you can get sick of "pit" toilets, which are latrine shacks with a hole in them. They're all over Tanzania, and I wish I could go back to the care free days of Cameroonian toilets without the seats.
Hippos are the most dangerous of all the African mammals (the mosquito is technically the most deadly of all animals), and are also apparently the most disgusting, as they tend to sleep in ponds and slow rivers during the day and their crap tends to accumulate near them. It's worse than you think, the smell and noise is horrendous.
Altitude sickness sucks. It also tends to ruin your immune system, as I have now contracted what I like to call Tanzanian Mountain Sickness because my cold just won't go away. As of the beginning of October, I was still battling my cold.
Checkpoints are really common around here. To get anywhere you need to go through checkpoints, often more than two or three. I think that's just really strange when you can drive across the US without ever being stopped.
Hakuna Matata actually does mean "no worries" in Swahili. You say it a ton around here, and I still always think of the Lion King.
In Cameroon, in order to get your attention, people will make a hiss or "psst" sound. However, sometimes it sounds more like they want to kiss you. In the end, it feels like you are in a national geographic episode of snake mating rituals.
Mosquito nets look kind of funny. It feels like you're trying to protect yourself from some scary monster by hiding underneath the covers. Only in this case, I guess it kind of works

So after spending nearly a month squating, apparently there's a toilet seat under the sink (of course, why didn't I look there?).