Things I didn't know until I went to Africa.

"when you recall your short stay in the highlands of east Africa, you will be surprised to have a feeling of living in the air for a while ... at such a high place, you can breathe smoothly and feel calm and relaxed. On the highland, you wake up in the morning and think: I am here, this is where I should be. -Danish writer Karen? Before Blitzen's Out of Africa came to Kenya, when he talked about Africa, poverty, disease, mosquitoes, war and so on flashed through his mind. If you have to say yes, only the great migration of animals you have seen in the animal kingdom will happen. Five years ago, I set out with this understanding. Five years later, I want to write about Africa as I see it.

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African time = not on time. I have a deep understanding of African unpunctuality. For example, at 9: 30 am, the other party didn't arrive. When calling, the reply is always "half an hour", but he may not come until the afternoon. In Africa, everything takes a long time, and the waiting time should be reserved for the simplest things. Ugandan writer Beyetke described two seasons in Africa in his Song of Lavino: "The rainy season means working, sowing, weeding and harvesting in the fields, which means getting up before dawn, and the dry season means happiness, dancing, hunting and chasing women." You see, nothing needs to be accurate to the minute. There are many reasons why Africans are not punctual, such as poor roads and heavy traffic; There are few business opportunities, even if you meet on time, you may not get the order; Working by the hour pays low, being late won't bring great losses, and so on. But the most important thing is the deep-rooted African concept: "Africa is not in a hurry! Nothing is urgent in Africa. )"

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Walking in the street will get robbed. Before I came to Africa, I knew Nairobi was also called Nai Robbery, and I also remembered a passage I read in the book: How did you know that you had arrived in Nairobi? That is, you put your hand out of the window and then take it back. The watch is missing, so congratulations, you have arrived in Nairobi. It doesn't sound terrible, but the actual experience will still leave a shadow. After several colleagues were robbed of their mobile phones on their way home, I was cautious and hardly took out my mobile phone when I went out on the street. Except when taking a taxi. I once asked Uber to wait for the bus on the roadside. I wanted to see where the driver was, so I took out my mobile phone. A motorcycle passed by, so I quickly brushed past. I wonder why the main road is so wide and I am still stuck on the side of the road. Soon the man sitting behind the motorcycle reached for my mobile phone. Fortunately, he held it tightly and didn't get it. But his take-for-granted expression, not malicious speech after success, still scared my legs. Fortunately, when Uber arrived, I quickly got on the bus and closed the door before I dared to think about what happened. After going out, there will be nothing valuable except the mobile phone. I will put two or three thousand shillings in my pocket as "life-saving money". If there are footsteps behind me, I will turn around and let him go ahead. With the courage of a "life-saving money", the number of times to go out has gradually increased. In the past few years, in order to make up for the losses caused by inflation in Kenya, I will bring an extra 1000 shilling.

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Africans and chocolate I have heard a saying: Africans don't eat chocolate because they bite their chocolate-colored fingers. I remember this racist joke, suggesting that Africans are dark and stupid. 20 16 when I first came to Kenya, there was a driver in the company who was a local. He sits in the car and paints in his spare time. Of course, he has no colored lead, only a short pencil tip. I thought he was a very interesting person, so I lent him colored pencils and colored lead books. He is very careful. He always puts it in a bag to protect it. Perhaps out of gratitude, he kept telling me that he would give me a gift. Although I know he is in financial difficulties, I think what can be called a "gift" should be more formal. He mentioned it several times, but never gave it to me. I gradually forgot about it. It was not until the day before Christmas that he stuffed me with two pieces of chocolate that I remembered that it was what he called a "gift". Because it has been put in your pocket for a long time, the chocolate has softened a little, and you can feel it through the wrapping paper. This is the simplest but saddest gift I have ever received. A joke that we forget after listening to it may also be the most precious thing in the eyes of others.

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Prices in Africa are really not cheap, because many daily necessities related to African life depend on imports, which leads to extremely high local prices. When I first opened Kenya, I didn't adapt to the local prices. In the supermarket, a bottle of Head & Shoulders shampoo costs about 70 yuan, three plastic hangers need 20 yuan, and a water cup needs 60 yuan. You need to prepare daily necessities when you first come. Every time I went to the supermarket, I took 65438+100000 shillings. It took me a while to compare them before I chose something less expensive. There was a time when I wanted a small folding table as a bed, but I couldn't buy it locally. My local friend found a carpenter who can make a custom wooden table to make it for me. It took a month for a long time. When you reach it, you can still feel the moisture of the wood just cut from the forest, and the surface is coated with a pungent paint. It took more than two months to make do. This small table is worth 3000 shillings (about 200 yuan RMB).

But tropical fruits in Africa are really cheap, a banana 10 shilling, avocado, papaya, jackfruit, passion fruit and tree eggplant are all very expensive, and it is easy to realize fruit freedom.

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African braids are African dirty braids seen on wig TV, but almost all of them are wigs. Although Africans have different nationalities, their hair quality is relatively consistent, and each strand of hair grows in a tiny spiral way. This kind of hair is hard to keep long, and it is not as easy to set as straight hair. For the sake of beauty, Africans have a long tradition of braiding hair. African braids include "spine braids" that cling to the scalp, straight braids that hang down and "dirty braids" that are hooked with crochets. These basic braids are combined and processed in different ways, forming various African hairstyles. In barbershops in Africa, needles and wigs are more important than scissors and scissors, and braiding hair is an important job for hairdressers. African women will spend a lot of money on wigs, and no matter how much money they earn every month, they will set aside a sum of money to change their hair styles. A Kenyan female friend has a relatively stable job with a good income, so she changes her hair style more frequently than others, almost once a week, and the longest is no more than two weeks. And there are many patterns, although they have been changing around various wigs and braids.

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There are many children begging for food in the street.

Once I met a child begging for change to buy food at the gate of the supermarket. Once in front of the west gate, a child sat on the ground and reached out to me. Because the taxi is coming, I have no time to give him anything. But after waiting for a while, the car turned at the intersection ahead, so I had time to bring him something to eat. I handed him a cup of yogurt and a bag of bread. He couldn't reach it, so he began to move beside me with his hand. I found that his leg was disabled. That moment made me sad and ashamed of my condescending gesture of giving alms. Although I haven't seen the child every time since, when I buy things in the supermarket or eat at KFC, I always think of the child who brought him a food specially. Give it to him if you can touch it, and give it to other vagrants if you can't.

I met a schoolgirl at the gate of Naivas. She wants change for a school uniform. It is said that Kenya's basic education is free, but students must buy their own English school uniforms, without which they are not allowed to attend classes.

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Vendors stand in the driveway selling things. Standing in the driveway selling things may be characteristic of Kenya. When there is a traffic jam, the peddler of small business asks if he wants anything from car to car. Some sell fruits, some sell toys, masks, snacks, newspapers, flowers, cats and dogs, car mats and oil paintings. Once, they came across a small goldfish sold in a glass fish tank, which was owned by both large and small businesses. Sometimes when we stop, several children rush to clean the glass and ask for money after cleaning. This rag is dirtier than car glass.

On the way from Navasha to Nairobi, most of the fish just salvaged from the lake were sold. I wonder if the fish that can't be sold will become their dinner.

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Police stop your car-nine times out of ten foreigners who want to make mistakes are "walking wallets" in the eyes of local police. Whatever the problem is, stop the inspection first. If there is a problem, there are legitimate reasons to scare you and take you to the police station and court, but most people are unwilling to take the time to solve it because of busy work or various reasons, so it is a trivial matter to tip based on the idea of spending money to solve the problem. The police also grasped the psychology that most people don't want to waste time, so it's easy to earn extra money. Sometimes he looks around and finds nothing wrong, and he won't let the car go at once. He will ask the driver to lower the window and have a complaining chat, such as missing breakfast or lunch. Can you give some money to buy a cup of coffee? At this time, you can bargain, give it or not. Sometimes my English is poor, but I can help you. Once I went out with a friend whose English was not good enough and was stopped by the police. Policeman: I'll fine you. Friend: I'm fine. Thank you, goodbye. And drive away. . . .

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The rearview mirror is the easiest thing to be stolen while driving, which is much easier than stealing a car. Every time there is a traffic jam, everyone near your car may pull down the rearview mirror and run away quickly. Many times, you can only watch him operate, because the window has not been put down, and he has succeeded. The speed is only an instant.

Why not wait for the bus with the window open? Because you will be robbed of your mobile phone if you leave the window open. "Don't open the window when playing with your mobile phone" is almost the common sense of China people in Kenya. It's unlucky that the rearview mirror was knocked off. What's more, the policemen you meet along the way will be fined several times for "no rearview mirror". According to local friends, Volvo, Honda, BMW, Ford and Hyundai parts are unlikely to be stolen, so the demand for their parts on the black market is very low. Toyota, Isuzu, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and other auto parts are in great demand and easy to sell at high prices, so they are easily targeted. Not only the rearview mirror, but any parts that can be dug out of the car may be stolen. In order to prevent theft, many people will engrave the license plate number on their windows and rearview mirrors, so that thieves can't sell it if they steal it.

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The Inner Mongolia Railway was aided by China, and the first Nairobi-Mombasa railway was opened in 1902, when it was under British rule. During the following 100 years, including the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC), no new railways were built. The Inner Mongolia Railway is a Class I standard of China National Railway, with a design speed of 120km/h, a one-way operation time of 5 hours and a total length of 480km. It is the first railway built since Kenyan independence and the first overseas all-China standard railway. Some difficulties have been experienced in the process of railway construction, because a project in Kenya has to go through various standards of environmental assessment projects, which were formulated by Europe or the United States. These EIA projects not only increase detours and costs, but also increase the difficulty and time limit. The EIA agency only cares about whether the mother fox can feed her three little foxes. As for whether the human mother in Nairobi can support her three children, it is a matter for human protection organizations. It is great and fair to appoint someone to take charge. How did China overcome the harsh EIA standards and more demanding environmentalists? The Monnet Railway needs to pass through Kenya's Tsavo National Park and Nairobi National Park. The former is the largest wildlife reserve in Kenya, and the latter is the only real wildlife park in the world, with a variety of wildlife resources. Kenyans themselves love animals very much. When they meet the killed animals, they will bury them in time. When China workers first arrived in Mombasa, they found a feather or an animal bone on the road, but they were told by Kenyans that they couldn't pick it up because the local laws didn't allow it. Therefore, if the construction of the Inner Mongolia Railway really threatens wildlife, not only the western countries will talk about it, but also the Kenyan people will not. In order to protect the normal migration of animals, our country refers to the accident cases of trains colliding with wild animals from 2007 to 20 12, counts the crossing points of animals, and finally determines the location and number of animal passages that should be reserved on the Inner Mongolia Railway. At the same time, guide facilities are set up to guide animals to cross the line safely. Isolation fences are set on both sides of the line to prevent animals from climbing over and reduce the probability of collision between animals and trains. Culvert-type animal passage is set in the depression to facilitate zebra and other animals to drink water. In the section of Chawo National Park rich in wildlife resources, nine large animal passages have been built, including six large bridge animal passages and three culvert animal passages. The clear height of the bridge-type animal passage is above 6.5 meters, far exceeding the average clear height of 5 meters of the ordinary elevated bridge, which is enough for elephants, giraffes and other large animals to pass through. The longest Chawo Bridge is more than 2 kilometers long, that is, a 2-kilometer-long viaduct is set up to let all kinds of animals pass freely.

In addition, considering the drinking habits of ordinary small animals, the project appropriately extends the approach bridge across the river along the Chawo River to increase the bridge height; More than 0/00 culverts/kloc have been set in low-lying places such as Xiaohegou.

Even the project needs a lot of earthwork, and it needs to dig holes to borrow soil. The construction company chose the soil borrowing address in a remote area far away from the animal protection area to reduce the impact on wild animals. Don't dig too deep when borrowing soil, so as not to accumulate a lot of rain in rainy season, and the wild animals who come to drink water accidentally fall and drown. After the completion of the railway, it was opened to traffic on May 3rd120th17th. I saw many videos of the Inner Mongolia Railway on Youtube, and sometimes I paid special attention to the comment area. Kenyan locals are very excited and proud of their country. Most people in China praise "Long live China-Friendship", and the western media has always been a "debt trap"; The local media and most Kenyans have deliberately ignored "China", and their basic attitude is "We are awesome in Kenya and welcome tourists from all over the world to play", which seems to be caused by them. However, many Africans in other countries envy Kenya and welcome China to build railways for them. The influence of the Inner Mongolia Railway on Kenya is very obvious. The $3.8 billion diplomatic bill has brought the largest infrastructure project since the founding of Kenya. The Inner Mongolia Railway has created more than 30,000 local jobs and trained railway engineering and operation management talents. Only the Inner Mongolia Railway and related infrastructure projects have increased Kenya's GDP growth rate by 2%. Our goal is not only the stars and the sea, but also every kilometer under our feet. Every step we take is the only way to realize the dream of a great country. 20 18 took a train once, and the service was all in Chinese. At the station, a manager from China is training local staff. When the train passes a section of Chawo Park, giraffes can be seen in the distance.

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Finally, whenever a friend asks me what Africa is really like, I think the best answer is: this is not what I expected. Different from Africa seen by the media and others. These rough or rough descriptions are not really Africa. When I wandered the streets of Nairobi, ate a local meal in an unknown shop and shared a piece of bread with street children, I also found my love for this city. Although Africa is still "dirty and poor", it has also become the hometown where I put my soul. Many people I know in China returned to China because of their children's school or work, but after a while, they chose to go back to Africa. They come here for many reasons. Some people like lively fireworks and open grasslands, some like running cheetahs and lazy elephants, and some like the suitable climate and spring-like weather all year round. I like it here, because life is the freedom I want.