Living in Africa is not easy. A good deal of that difficulty comes from the fact that it's unfamiliar; from navigating the bus routes and roadways in a place where there are no street names and everything is in a different language to navigating the claustrophobic and dirty markets while constantly saying "No, thank you" and "No, sorry" to the peddlers and street children vying for attention.
There are difficulties specific to us mzungus - mainly derived from this widespread logic: 1. We are rich. 2. Therefore, ripping us off is ok. Most of the time it's fairly harmless, because I am rich compared to most Rwandans, and don't mind that people in the market inflate their prices, or that taxi drivers never seem to have exact change, so they end up with a little more than the agreed upon price. The more egregious examples are more trying, and more difficult to brush aside. Such as the lunch buffet near work raising its price by 50% when I come in, and insisting that that's always been the price, or our Akagera guide lying to us about the cost of transport home that we needed to pay him, inflating the originally agreed-upon price five-fold. Or our housekeeper over the summer, who was found to be grossly overcharging us for food while feeding herself and her family from the food that she did buy.
There's also institutionalized ripping-off, practiced by the businesses geared mainly toward expats. These are the giant supermarkets that sell goods in a style that appeals to Westerners with the bright lights, fully stocked shelves, and fixed prices. These carry absurdly expensive, usually imported goods of low quality (usually from China). The handle of the food storage bucket I bought broke off after a week of light use. The banks charge high fees to get money from my bank account back home, and put the money through several (poor) exchange rates before you get it.
All of this put together makes day-to-day life more difficult. It's terrible to go around doubting the honesty/intentions of everyone around me; I've already found myself mumbling 'no, sorry' when spoken to on the street and then turning and finding someone simply saying hello.
So I'm looking forward to being back in the land of plenty in 9+ months. Until then, I suppose I'll learn some Kinyarwanda and get real familiar with what prices are supposed to be.
While there is no real justification for ripping off anyone i could easily sympathize if Africans are distrustful of white people. You've got a good opportunity to help people realize that not all white people are in Africa just to get the best deal, make money, or see elephants.
ReplyDeleteIt is kinda sad to think that when traveling to Africa we think about safaris and lions before we even think about a visiting to experience a different culture.