T.I.A as Leonardo DiCaprio once said.
T.I.A. This Is Africa. It’s the phrase to sum up the lackadaisical attitude of Africans to things we would pay more attention to at home. To be fair, I was expecting to write this blog earlier. But things have improved a little over the past few years. But the TIA blindness still make me smile….
My first homestay in Uganda (the one I had to move out of after my hostess was arrested for murder!) had an interesting door set-up. Like many African homes, it had a metal gate with a flyscreen attached as well as a wooden outer door. Nice to be able to leave the door open in the evening whilst not letting the mosquitos in. Not so great when you wanted to go to bed. Because the metal gate was right in front of the door lock. No amount of wiggling the key could get it to the right angle once the inner door was closed. A westerner would care that someone could come and watch them sleep. But to an African, such niceties do not seem to matter.
Dodgy electrical engineering is a wide-spread African phenomenon. More often than not in the bathroom. Exposed wires hang out from plug sockets. Electric shower heaters are in the shower. Never mind that that would be dangerous in a normal room. No-one seems to care that water and electricity don’t mix. Health and safety is the privilege of westerners. Oh well, mind the fingers!
Interior decorating is another thing that seems to be ignored. Hotels invest in a ‘nice’ bathroom. Vertical striped tiles line the walls. Except one. That’s horizontal. How does nobody notice that?!
My pet hate is bad grammar so the shop signs are more frustrating than amusing. Mis-spelling? Missed a letter out? Who cares?! Just ignore it. Or perhaps write it in with an insert arrow. No-one will notice. Not sure how the sign makers make any money when they make so many mistakes but the shop owners don’t seem to send them back for rectification. You could excuse this in countries with low literacy rates but some countries have high levels of English. And lots of spilling mistikes….
Menus are another African quirk. Tourist restaurants list out all their culinary delights. Some have menus ten pages long. But only three things on the actual menu! The cafe I went to for lunch most days in Malawi had a relatively modest menu. Only three vegetarian options. The first time I had nsima and beans. The second time a toasted cheese sandwich. After that they only had chips. For two months. So why show me a menu claiming you have beans and cheese sandwiches?!
T.I.A.