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The Presence of Asia on a Jet
Monday, October 08, 2007
The Presence of Asia on a Jet
Bangkok, Thailand Southeast Asia
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com



This is a photo of the Kenya Airlines toilet on way to Bangkok, Thailand, if you look close you will see footprints on the toilet seat.

Culture cannot be erased, thqt is my comment on cleanliness of India doctors, or African doctors. Here is the proof in the pudding, a person has squatted on top of the toilet, they refused to adapt, and the footprints is the proof. Culture does not disappear just because you are in a modern appendage.

The same flight a Mali man spit four times on the floor of the plane.

- I am what I am, and that is all I am. -
Poppye the Sailor Man.

I wish we could erase our past, erase our culture, the truth it is imprinted on our souls with indelible ink. Do not for a second think an immigrant left home and did not bring with them their culture, they will change the new one. But their Mom will not be left behind, the person will behave as he or she did when they were young, I do not care what the textbook taught them, they will obey their culture first.

This is real, no games, no santized politically correct crapola.

The Presence of Asia on a Jet

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 8:37 PM   1 comments
Making a Record of a Culture
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Making a Record of a Culture
Bangkok, Thailand Southeast Asia
Monday, October 8, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

There is a timeline in cultures, there is a spot, where a culture can say, this was our time, and this was our culture. Shortly after World War II there was a uplift in the USA, the I can do it culture of the USA was taking hold, as the USA realized it was now the Alpha Male of the planet Earth, and now we are in the epic of little dog nipping at our heals. There was a time, when we said, we are this…it changes, it must.

I enjoy culture, and I am not sure if many Anthropologists are recording cultures. I think there is real time and there is history of culture. I read about cultures and think,
- That was true maybe 50 years ago, that is history, not today. -

INFORMATION LAG

There is somewhere between 10-100 years of lag time between what a person is reading about, and what is real. I am told by the read-too-much, and do-too-little intellects on the planet.
- Andy, you know they do this, or they do that. -

I think,
- Yes, they did about 50 years ago, and you have read a lot, please go outside and look around, please. -

Reading is good, but real time, real truth is, well, it is the reality and there is a big difference between some offbeat study done 10 years ago and what is today, a culture can change 100 percent in 10 years. The basic culture stays the same, but the window dressing is different, then it is difficult to see the underlying culture, a normal first time person is overwhelmed by the first impressions.

I sometimes start on these big aspirations of explaining a country, or even a place, I think, I will explain Khao San Road, how to get a hotel, how to make your way, and then I think, this will all change, within six months the rules will be different.

However, some cultures will be glossed over, given new clothes and covered by the modern world within the next 20 years. There are cultures that will 95 percent give up their traditions and adopt the TV culture, the Radio, the Music, the outside world will be too tempting and their children will become parts of the global planet, Adios Amigo.

Everyone thinks stereotypes are bad, I think stereotypes are good, the archetypes of a culture is the general explanation of the culture, to generally give an overview of how the culture works. The problem here lies in the comparison, to see a culture, a person has to see. To see how a culture is unique, to see how a culture is similar, a person needs to see social behaviors, and be able to compare. The planet is big, too big, there are too many cultures, the overview is hard to grasp. How can we compare 251 countries, I do not know them.

I see people defining cultures according to recent history, in Peru, there is the culture of Cocaine, or the Coca leaves, this was just a small leaf they chewed on, now it has taken a status of this is our culture, when in reality, it is just a great way to make money that happened in the last 50 years, before that it was a leaf.

There are parts of the culture that goes on and on, like the potato, or how to farm on the side of a mountain, semi-boring, but longer in existence.

The overview snapshots, the explanations of a culture is an interesting challenge, I think of trying to explain things, like,
- What is Thai Style? -

There is a style to the way a Thai person does something, the in-group calls it Thai Style, hard to explain, but when you hang around Thailand, you eventually say,
- Thai Style. -

Not hippie style, but real Thai Style, like the way a girl walks, the way a house was built, the way of sitting, this is Thailand, it is uniquely Thai, it was not a colony, there is no overlays, and no templates set on top of Thailand.

I do strive or reach for the edges of the earth, to find the places where nobody has put a template of culture on top of the ages old culture, this is not easy to find, but fun to find, and record in time, something to remember before we put a cell phone in their hands.

I think I am dreaming now of the video, a video can explain massive amounts of small behaviors by just watching, and words have limits.

Making a Record of a Culture

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 7:30 PM   0 comments
Stealing Trump Cards in Africa
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Stealing Trump Cards in Africa
Bamako, Mali, West Africa
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

An American is socially trained to believe all people are equal, and now with over 200 years of training, only a very minute percentage of Americans realize how the rest of the world works. Generally as simple as I can envision, the way of the world is,
- Might make right -

While as President Lincoln said,
- Right makes might -
- Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it. -

Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president.
Address at Cooper Union, New York

As my travel years pass, idle thoughts slowly turn change from confusion into clarity. With time passing, I accept the need to be ever vigilant of new social rules being applied in new cultures, however at the end of the day, the smell is always the same, might means right. If a person has the power, they have the right to do as they wish, and the people under are afraid of the people above.

As an American traveling in West Africa there is a glitch in the system, because we represent as Paul Theroux so astutely stated,
- Money-on-Two-Legs-
http://peacecorpswriters.org/pages/2003/0303/303talkthero4.html

The best trump card is money, however difficult to steal, so with the an American and I suspect with the Europeans it is continually flapping of their jaws that we should naively follow them down some scammy road to loosen the money from our pockets. There is a never-ending set of extra cost if you start to pay, if you do not, then you do not. There also the poor me connected, and you should feel sorry for me, as the person answers a call now on his Mobile Phone.

Africa is prone to Marxism because it makes common sense when you have little knowledge of the world or history.

- the history of society is a history of class struggle in which the ruling class uses religion and other traditions and institutions, as well as its economic power, to reinforce its domination over the working classes. -
Karl Marx as explained in Encyclopedia Encarta.

The nations of the normal world are run by good old boy clubs, a family, a group, a monarchy, or something concerning a gun. In the end, the leaders have the money habit, and cannot stop.

- Once one has got the money habit, it is extremely difficult to kick it. -
Godfrey Golzen (1930 - )
British business writer.
Smart Moves, "The Money Junkies" (co-written with Andrew Garner)

Once a person has more than adequate amounts of money, people in general develop an unquenchable thirst for more money. I do not believe this quote or adhere to the fatalistic conceptions of the world, however there is some validity to the idea that the rich get richer.

- The rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer; and the vessel of the state is driven between the Scylla and Charybdis of anarchy and despotism. -

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
English poet. A Defence of Poetry

The poor do not get poorer, they remain the same, and the rich do appear to have a never-ending increase in money, and power, until the next Military Coup as so keenly demonstrated recently in Military Coup in Thailand when they ousted Thaksin.

Thaksin I believe was great for the country of Thailand, his direction, however skewed encouraged business grow, which in turn provides jobs, and with a job, a person is happy. Another example of creation of great wealth is Bill Gates and Microsoft, I believe selling good products at a good price; however do so well his company will forever be under attack.

The way West Africa works in my opinion, as they sit in the bottom of the barrel is might make right, with the religion and rich forever keeping the poor at status quo, unheard, uneducated and even if they do get an education there is no jobs, their best option is to leave, which probably make the leaders of the moment happy.

Might Make Right

Might is not right, therefore in the rules of might, to steal a trump card, to use a trump card is allowable in the rules of Trump Card Nations. If a religion can get an upper hand, if a politician can buy his way around, if a Chief, a Family, a Patriarchal some good old boys club can all agree on how to steal trump cards they can progress.

I used to believe that freedom of the press and the now unstoppable reach of the press would expose the depraved nature of leaders and the population would revolt. However, in a might is right situation, they only use this trump card as a way to put themselves in power.
- Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. -
The Who with Roger Daltrey a rock musician.

It is very hard to collect taxes from poor people, mostly they bosses get money from import-export duty and aid sent from nations, and my guess is 80 percent goes in a pocket of someone.

I was lying in a dorm bed in the Voyager Hostel in Panama around January 1, 2000, so about seven years ago when a young Israeli man said to me a comment that had entrenched itself in my brain.
- Send them Televisions they will self-destruct. -

I do not believe they will self-destruct, however a checks and balance is implemented with the Television and Cell Phone. The leaders of nation trying to collect money have discovered they can make themselves extremely rich if they promote the television and cell phone, similar to a the lottery a voluntary tax.

Extracting money from people is easier done when voluntary, the normal ways are:

- Sales of Purified water because the government keeps it bad.
- Lottery
- Gambling or Casinos

The leaders continue with the levy of no way to calculate import-export duty, a toll gate as you enter and leave any city, the walk into an large business that has to pay or go out of business, it is hard to put a poor person out of business. Then the extortion of money from all the rich natural resource, like oil, diamonds, uranium, etc.

Thaksin in Thailand made a major portion of his wealth from his cell phone company; he understood how the world works. Africa is learning the same, and the powers that be are adopting a free trade, capitalistic system that work, however probably the eventually demise of the good old boy system and trump card system.

Selling of information is not a great way to keep your people stupid, and for sure, a stupid person is easier to abuse.

Football, Music Television, Soap Operas, Cartoons, and Slap Stick Comedy is saleable as a voluntary tax. Oops, I forgot BEER.

Religion, Forced payment of taxes, Bribes, etc. just do not compete well when a young person desire to go watch television, better to sell a television and extract money on the cable access. The poorest of person will buy a cell phone, so right down to the bottom they government is able to collect money for their habit of money. A person will buy a cell phone, a television or a motorcycle before they would fix their house. Often the confusion with poverty, I am not poor, I think along lines of practical and healthy, however I am not bored, I do spend 24/7 bored out of my brain, I can read, I am mobile, I can leave, however if you are bored, a TV is great.

The capitalistic system provides the opportunity whereby a person with a good idea can sell it.

The selling of Beer, Cell Phones and Televisions with the resulting residual fee of Direct-broadcast satellites is profitable for leaders of nation. However, I truly believe they will eventually put tyranny out of business, as is a difficult sale.

There is no need to send them televisions and cell phones the nations of Africa are buying as fast as they can. This is good because I think they will stop stealing trump cards or extorting and understand earning money is easier when voluntarily paid.

Stealing Trump Cards in Africa

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 9:13 AM   0 comments
Mash Tourism Sign in Yeji Ghana
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Mash Tourism Sign in Yeji Ghana
Bolgatanga or Bolga, Ghana West Africa
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

This is a sign located on a “circulaire” at the bottom of the hill, the last circle road exchange before you go to the Lake Volta to enter a boat to travel to Makongo or other villages and cities by boat.

This is like the circle at the Mound in Angola, Indiana.



I call this a M.A.S.H. sign; I robbed this from the show M.A.S.H television show from the USA, one of my staple reruns. It shows the distance to various locations and point I hope to towards the city.

Tamale 155 Km
Dakar 2000 Km
Accra 507 Km
Beposo 55 Km
Capetown 5118 Km
Bangkok 10999 Km
Mekka 4618 Km

Yeji is close to the edge of bottom of cultural development. Hmm, I really do not like that way of explaining. Maybe more correct would to say Yeji is close to the bottom of the Consumer Cultures, they use and consume less of the products made from natural resources, and live more self sustainable existences.

The Lake Volta people live simple self-sustainable life, a permaculture whereby they work maybe the least, and have the least consumer luxury products. They use what they need, not what they want.

Therefore, this sign located near locations of the representation of the being of culture is great. It is a demonstration they are aware they are not alone; this is a sign that is the opposite of being insulated, in and area of the planet that is very insulated, not aware of the outside world.

Now, often an African person may know more about Europe, the USA, or other Western countries than they would know about the next country over, or even their own. They watch TV, the discovery channel, listen to BBC radio, hear statistics about the Western World, and never hear that Ghana has about 23 Million people, and they do not see maps of Ghana on TV, they seem maps of the USA or Europe, and less of Ghana.

Tourist Information

I like these signs a lot; I thank Ghana for thinking about me, helping me to remember where I came from and allowing me to know more or less, how far I am from home. This sign does not have any USA cities, nonetheless it a step in the right direction on tourism. It is similar to a restaurant selling Pizza; this almost is a universal sign,
- We have Western Style food. -

I sometimes need a piece of Pizza.

I enjoy when a restaurant says, we have a tourist menu, which also means the prices are five times higher at gouge the profits levels. I more or less avoid Pizza signs, and learn to eat the local foods.



This is a boat that carries people across the lake, about 10 Kilometers from Yeji to Mekongo and you could also go to many villages along the lake. Note, going to tribal type villages and living with the locals can be very dangerous in isolated tribal areas. The superstitions of the villages can go amok if someone says or believes you came to do something. In some areas of the world, they believe the foreigners or couples are coming to steal their children. I am not sure that applies here, they often try to give me their children to take to the USA. Superstitious and mystical behavior or saying the religion told me to do this is the danger.

This is why Yeji is one of the great exchange points of the planet, the point where consumer cultures can meet with self-sustaining cultures safely. The surrounding or on the banks of the Lake Volta are close, and day trips by walking or small boat would allow a person to get close to the edge or to the beginning of cultures. The point where we all started, our roots, who we are at core.

Mash Tourism Sign in Yeji Ghana

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 6:47 AM   0 comments
World Development Timeline
Monday, August 20, 2007
World Development Timeline
Accra, Ghana West Africa
Monday, August 20, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

It would be easier to understand cultures if there were colored identifiers on a continuum of different issues of a culture, because various aspects of a culture develop at different speeds.
Example: Telephone, Roads, Water,

I think Accra has some water and sewer problems, I was told about two months ago by people coming from Ghana to Togo that there were water shortages. I was reading in my Encyclopedia Encarta about water and it said about the USA.

1950s
- Rapid growth of industry, increased population, and rising per-capita demand created a national water shortage in the U.S. in the 1950s. -

There are timelines of development of cultures. I many what we think as underdeveloped countries the cell phone business is more developed than in the USA.

Accra, Ghana is a big two million people and Lome, Togo is about 750,000, therefore Accra is close to two or three times larger than Lome, Togo.

I would say Accra is experiencing many of the growing pains of the Water supply the USA experienced in the 50s, a more or less snapshot of problems of the 50s in the USA. I am not sure how the sewer systems compares, the storm sewers are being used as waste disposal, however the construction seems good or better than most countries.

The USA solved most of their water problems and I am sure Accra and the world will solve them also, I am not worried about whether they can solve water problems. It is he saying there is no problem, when there is a problem that is a problem, or when there is, constant harping of there is a problem, when there is not problem. Normally the water in West Africa seems safer to me than most of the world because there are few people. Accra does make me nervous, a big city in Africa and I start drinking the bag water.

There is probably this somewhere, they are just hiding it...

World Development Timeline

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 9:38 AM   0 comments
Privilege
Privilege
Accra, Ghana West Africa
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I study culture, I observe people, and I muddle in the homes and minds of peoples lives. Why, because I have the privilege, not the right to do so, and I use this opportunity.

They call the USA, the land of opportunity. People from the USA are often the least aware of the opportunities they have because they live in a word of assumption, they assume they have opportunities.

I despise the words King, Queen, Chief, and First Class, because they my parent were jealous of the Boss. In my family confusion, I learned jealous anger at the King, and anyone going First Class, because I was not able to go First Class.

There is a social contract made, and agreed up, those without the privilege will respect those with special privileges. The person in First Class must be respected by the Second Class; however, the First Class has the privilege to not respect the lower class.

The contract is agreed, sustained and held dear by the hopes and dreams of the Lower Class, as they hope to one day become First Class so they have the privilege to look down upon the Lower Class.

To make you a slave, I give you something for nothing, sometimes I can barter with privileges, giving some special privileges in exchange for your agreement and enforcement of this social contract.

The perpetuation of special privileges is enforced by respect for the Queen and King who did not earn the respect.

I have the opportunity and privilege to day to reserve my respect for only those people who earn it.

There are many small conflicts in the world, nothing major, just a lot of annoying arguments.

In a free country, in a free world, no person has God given right to be leader.

I get very suspicious when a person wants to give me a gift, or some special privilege. What do you want in return? I do not give, although I hope to make opportunities. Giving seems to enslave, the makers of opportunities frees people.

Privilege

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 9:06 AM   0 comments
Marabout Does Not Work on Me
Monday, August 13, 2007
Marabout Does Not Work on Me
Lome, Togo West Africa
Monday, August 13, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

Marabout n'a pas effet sur moi.

Marabout does not have effect on me.

For what it is worth, a Togolese friend said this to me the other night, sort of an afterthought for her. Marabout is something related to Voodoo, however not Voodoo, more or less powers of Sorcery and Magic, or the dark side.

I think I maybe should feel comforted or relaxed a relief to know that the dark side of Africa does not work on me. The person said it with such clarity, more or less,

- Andy, this magic does not work on you, and you know that. -

I was intrigued, not so interested in my status, because she was right, it does not work on me. I wanted to know who the powers of Africa works on, more or less she says all the African people, then said if a white person goes…

I am going to interpret this less literal so it may make sense.

If you accept the temptation go towards the Marabout, and then it will work on you. More or less the more you pay attention the more it works.

I suppose many a person has their children come home from Africa, or India and other places talking too much. As for me, I know and I have been told.

Marabout n'a pas effet sur moi.
Marabout does not have effect on me.

Voodoo…

Contrary to how you would interpret my words, I do believe what you give power to does have power over you, real or unreal. Nevertheless, for me, I am free and clear.

Marabout Does Not Work on Me

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 8:54 AM   0 comments
West Africa I Crossed the Line
Thursday, August 09, 2007
West Africa I Crossed the Line
Lome, Togo West Africa
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

A French Expatriate who has lived in West Africa for 27 years asked me a question. About two months ago, a German man who has lived here for about 20 years asked me a question.

The question scared me, and more I hear this type of question, the more afraid I become. I went back to the French Expat and reaffirmed that this is the question he asked, because I was hoping it would go away, it did not, I understood him correctly.

The same question is asked everywhere in the world, and it does not scare me, it just annoys me. I would say, there are reasonable questions to ask a normal man, and there are unreasonable questions.

There are unreasonable questions asked daily in West Africa. One example is the question by girls here in Togo,
- Buy me a Cell Phone? -

A very good example of unreasonable questions asked in many countries. I walk into a restaurant, the person hands me the menu, then immediately asked,
- What do you want to order? -

The question,
- Give me money. -

This is easy, reasonable, and implies reason, if you are stupid enough; I want you to give me money. The buy me a cell phone question could be this way, however I really think it is more on the side of unreasonable.

The annoying question by the waiter is more difficult. He or she is a human, this implies that they know we think, read, and reason. Therefore when I am handed a menu to read, the person giving me the menu has to give me time to read it, this is reasonable.

I do continue with the server, and say,
- No, I do not know, I must read the menu. -

The person continues to stand there, and I must say,
- Go over there and stand please. -

To answer or even to start to answer the question about what I want to eat is unreasonable and if I tried to answer, I would say,
- Only crazy people ask crazy questions. -

This is the essence of a dysfunctional person; they see unreasonable situations and questions as normal. While a reasonable person, who is more functional would consider these questions as non-functional questions. There is just no way to make this question function; it is an unreasonable question, not possible to answer.

Well, what happened the other day, the French man asked me a question that was impossible to answer, except for me to say,
- This question is impossible, it is crazy question. -

The German Expat started to ask the same type of questions, and I realized this was not a French and German person; I was talking with people who became the West African culture.

I titled this Blog post,
- West Africa I Crossed the Line -

Not the French guy, or the German guy, but me. I crossed the line. If I am to remain sane, I need to have more sane people around me, or I will eventually become West African and start to ask unreasonable questions.

I keep thinking about the lack of reasoning of an Anonymous post and the serendipity, (my new pet word) of the comment about crazy.

I said in the post,
- I am trying to rent a home in Lome to use as a resting house for weary travelers. -

There was sort of off topic comment, I allowed because there was a thread of sense, because I did say I wanted to start a resting house.

COMMENT BY READER
- why make a guest house there ? To house travelers with malaria ? No repeat business bad business model
come on Andy are you losing your mind ? -

I was laughing as I read the comment; I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I instantly started to reply to the comment, then stopped myself, and thought, no, I had better think, maybe I am crazy, and then one crazy person will be answering another crazy person. However, after some time to think, I again know I am still sane, and the comment is has some semblance of reasoning, however typical of a person who does make money.

MY ANSWER TO COMMENT,
I will answer,

On the question,
- come on Andy are you losing your mind ? -

I would answer:

YES,
I am losing my mind, I am positive I am losing my mind, I am 100 percent sure I am slowly losing my mind. I am not crazy today, however I can see I am starting to how some signs of becoming crazy.

Now, I am a recovering Alcoholic, I am not a cured Alcoholic, I am a crazy person in remission.

I am not in remission from drinking of alcohol, I am in remission of the crazy dysfunctional thinking, whereby my symptoms were made evident by the way I drank alcohol.

YES, I am 100 percent sure I am slowly losing my mind here in West Africa, only crazy people listen to the people here.

Therefore, the comment was acutely relevant, serendipitously correct, and hysterically accurate. He or she said something succinctly poignant to my mental condition today by accident. Then making it even funnier was it was then preceded by another totally crazy and unreasonable comment that emulates why I know I am going crazy. I actually considered it to maybe make sense.

Crazy people listen to other crazy people and think it sounds sane.

THINK… If a French guy and a German guy say crazy comments to me and I try to find reason in them, by deductive reasoning a person could say, I am crazy. Trust me, I do tell a waiter with a menu I have not read, he or she is crazy.

Just say No.
I just told the German man, NO
I told the French man, NO yesterday.

I am now down to a team of one, Me against all of West Africa.

Now, the French guy did say a very smart comment, mixed up with some insane comments. He was telling me when a person comes to Africa to do business; they get a partner, a local partner to help them.

I have said many times, Africa does everything wrong for tourist, there is nothing done right here in West Africa. Example, in one of the least favorite tourist destinations on the planet, they make the most Visa rules to come and see it. Nigeria, study what you need to get a Visa to Nigeria, there is nothing about it that says, come to Nigeria to visit, be a tourist. The place everyone wants to leave, is the most difficult to enter.

People come to Togo, go, and eat in French Restaurants that cost the same as France. I have now seen and understand the terms Colonialism and the “Ugly American.”



This is a photo of why people come to Africa, India and all the places on a continuum between the USA civilized and Africa uncivilized.

The people who want more relaxed and safer trips go to Europe or for the average American; they go and travel around the USA.

People travel to primitive uncivilized places to see this, trust me, I came to see if there is girls walking around topless or bare breasted and I am sad Marcus did not see them, he spent too much time avoiding Africa.

Crazy or Primitive
Sane or Civilized
Fun or Crazy
Sane or Insane
Adventure is primitive behavior.

Primitive and un-civilized people are superstitious, unpredictable and irrational, the make random bad decisions, they are unreasonable.

If a person enters a culture, they become that culture, they are not an island, and they become the people they accept as friends. If I make Africa my friend, I will become Primitive or what people normally call crazy, I should not cross the line and make them my friends. I need to bring people to Africa to change Africa.

To not leave the smart people hanging,
1. There is no repeat business at a guesthouse, there are referrals and everyone would refer a guesthouse that is fun, in the middle of crazy stuff.
2. A white person can rent a room for 20-50 US dollars to another white person. One room will pay the cost of renting a home. I would plan on renting 90 percent below market rate.
3. Malaria, yes people that need help, weary travelers, people that need to go to a place whereby they are safe, sound, and can learn how to travel in Africa.

The person who commented thinks business is doing something that makes people happy, business is selling or giving a service that is needed, that is a business model.

On a second phase of his comment, I read it and realized the person was saying this, why do a business in a place that is not fun. Then he or she wrapped it in this Business Model crap, I was fully aware that they was saying one thing and meaning something else, a totally dysfunctional crazy comment, and this person would fit right into Africa.

Therefore, I was again laughing, as I am not sure I am happy here, so in a very stupid very serendipitously and not clear manner, this person said comments that were accurate, but had no idea why. This is Africa, nothing makes senses, but then again, they give you what you want. The sign is on the beach, and everywhere you look, you see people pissing.

I am crossing the line, I want to avoid African people, I crossed the line, I am making long checklist of ways to avoid talking with African people and really, it is easy, I can just leave.

Note, I was scared of the French and German person comments because only a crazy person would listen to these crazy comments.

The comment was on this link:
http://www.hobotraveler.com/2007/08/importance-of-french-spelling.html

West Africa I Crossed the Line

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 6:33 AM   4 comments
Africa Cultural Anthropology Research
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Africa Cultural Anthropology Research
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I am slowly making videos here in Togo, West Africa. I like Culture, however I have discovered the making of videos instills in me a need to be very accurate with words, titles and captions.
The explaining of one subject by video requires more research to explain the whole story than a normal photo. There is a beginning, middle and end, and this story takes longer than a normal Blog post.

I find I am assembling a large puzzle and have to do Cultural Anthropology Research to finish the puzzle.

I sit and think, how does a University Professor research here in Africa, this is an uncontrollable environment and it took me years to develop the skills I possess. I just do not see the average University Professor who comes to Africa to do Cultural Anthropology Research is ready for task. They would need to live here for one-two years before they would could develop the skill sets required to collect information adequately.

I am tapping into the internet from on site locations, and if I am missing a piece of the puzzle, I can go to the internet and my sphere of influence and friends and tap quickly into sources of knowledge.

These thoughts are enigmatic, because if a person comes to Africa, collects a lot of data, fact, information and photos, etc and returns to the USA or Europe to compile the information into a story. What happens when they forget, did not collect, lost some data. Do they return to Africa or do they just make up their own pieces to the puzzle.

I am finding to collect all the pieces for a five-minute video daunting, and I know I have the skills need to do the job.

Africa Cultural Anthropology Research

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 1:12 PM   0 comments
Mockery
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mockery
Lome, Togo West Africa
Monday, July 23, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

Moquerie in French and Mockery in English.

Easy to ignore in Asia where I do not understand any words, and annoying in Africa where I understand half.

There is something primitive about being mocked, somehow, someway language has stopped working and primal value systems take over.

Jealousy and Mockery are brother and sister, and sarcasm is a cousin, and the bully is the father, with gossip the wife.

Mockery is a form of communication that is done with an audience of peers. It requires the recipient to either be naïve, confused, or incapable of understanding the language, culture, or mannerisms of the other people involved. It is a form of cultural abuse.

A cultural delicacy to be observed, but is not to be eaten.

Mockery

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:41 AM   0 comments
What is Heaven and Hell
Monday, July 23, 2007
What is Heaven and Hell
Lome, Togo West Africa
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

The Gas Engine of the Electrical Generator did not start easily the other day here in Lome, Togo. The owner of the home brings over this 16-year-old boy to help me start the motor. There is no electrical start on this small gas powered engine; I need to pull the starter cord. The boy jump in, I think to myself, what the Hell, let him pull the cord a few times.

I truly believe he has never pulled the starter cord to a gas-powered engine before, he does not hold the motor in place with either his hand or foot and it goes jumping across the pavement. He goes to pull it again, in the same manner, I grab him, push him to the side, and say,
- Pas necessaires enfants! -
Or in English
- Not necessary Children! -

I soon discovered I had forgotten to unplug the appliances inside the room, and the load on the generator was causing the problem. I took the load off the motor and it starts.

I have now been dwelling on my lack of confidence in the ability of African people to work on Mechanical devices. Sometimes, I go up in an airplane and pray to myself the Mechanic on the ground was a German, not from the country I just leaving.

I am told I should not stereotype people, I think often of this Joke told to me by a French girl when I was on tour in Tibet.

Heaven and Hell in Europe

What's the definition of Heaven?
French chef
British police
German mechanic
Italian lover ...
... and a Swiss who runs everything

What's the definition of Hell?
British chef
German police
French mechanic
Swiss lover ...
... and an Italian who runs every thing.

What is Heaven and Hell

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 10:25 AM   0 comments
Intercultural Competence
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Intercultural Competence
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

Good fun as the Brits say, I have been having good fun reading about a new combination of words I have discovered in the Wikipedia.org online Encyclopedia.

- Intercultural Competence -
- Emotional Competence -

I am thinking to myself, why do I feel that reading these pages is good fun?

I believe I am about a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, I would rate myself a 9 for Intercultural Competence.

Why?
I travel to places where other travelers avoid, then I leave alive with all my possessions not paying unfair tribute to the locals.

This is not a good subject for me to write about in a public forum as the best way to explain Intercultural Competence is to explain how a person behaves incompetent or prove they are incompetent. A great way to illicit hate mail…. Hehehe

With humor and a chuckle, I read the articles below in the Wiki and tried to separate wild opinions from good solid statements. The Wiki strives to verify, cite, reference and source the information in the Encyclopedia, and overall they do an excellent job of this, it is a profound interaction.

I chuckle and laugh, and I will keep my mouth closed.

I will say as instruction,
- Stay home, and if you disagree, then I again I will say, you need to stay home, then if disobey my advice, I will say, I hope you enjoy the travel. -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_competence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_competence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

Intercultural Competence

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:05 AM   0 comments
How to Avoid Being the Ugly American
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
How to Avoid Being the Ugly American
Lome, Togo West Africa
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I was surfing around and stumbled upon some over-zealous pages trying to explain about something silly, and not a problem unless you make it a problem.

How to avoid being the Ugly American?

I was laughing to myself, this is really easy,
- Do not talk to Europeans or Americans and you will be loved. -

Can you imagine telling a French guy to stop acting French.
Can you imagine telling an African person to not act African.

This just is not politically correct, I doubt you would do it, it is bad manners.
Why would you allow someone to insult you.

What everyone wants is you, an American to stop acting American, and act European or whatever country they are from, come on, this is a silly suggestion.

Be a good fief, obey, they know they must obey, and they want to say no, this is all about power, not about this silly story of being Ugly, most Asian think all white people are American, and we do look the same to them.

I never apologize for being American, the greatest way to ask for huge problems is to act weak in a world full of abusive cultures. Then again, I do not sit around a listen to people insult my country, just is not a good mannered person, and to be avoided.

How to Avoid Being the Ugly American

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 12:26 PM   4 comments
Africa is Doomed
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Africa is Doomed
Lome Togo West Africa
Saturday, June 2, 2007
by Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I would think, many people would say yes, or agree.

I am learning to how to love listen to Volunteers in Africa, as they explain their experiences and their projects. I now see there is an epidemic in Africa of “Confirmation Bias.” The volunteers, ONG, NGO, and other project workers, the well intended ones tell me stories, and I try to be kind, yet I am thinking, where in the world did they come up with that one, and I think, they read about West Africa before they came, now they have found what they read.

Confirmation Bias:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

QUOTE:
In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs. It is a type of cognitive bias and represents an error of inductive inference, or as a form of selection bias toward confirmation of the hypothesis under study or disconfirmation of an alternative hypothesis.

Confirmation bias is an area of interest in the teaching of critical thinking as the skill is misused when rigorous critical scrutiny is applied to evidence supporting a preconceived idea but not to evidence challenging the same preconception.
STOP QUOTE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

Decision-making and behavioral biases
Many of these biases are studied for how they affect belief formation and business decisions and scientific research.

Bandwagon effect — the tendency to do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same. Related to groupthink, herd behaviour, and manias.
Bias blind spot — the tendency not to compensate for one's own cognitive biases.
Choice-supportive bias — the tendency to remember one's choices as better than they actually were.
Confirmation bias — the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.
Congruence bias — the tendency to test hypotheses exclusively through direct testing, in contrast to tests of possible alternative hypotheses.
Contrast effect — the enhancement or diminishment of a weight or other measurement when compared with recently observed contrasting object.
Déformation professionnelle — the tendency to look at things according to the conventions of one's own profession, forgetting any broader point of view.
Endowment effect — "the fact that people often demand much more to give up an object than they would be willing to pay to acquire it".
Focusing effect — prediction bias occurring when people place too much importance on one aspect of an event; causes error in accurately predicting the utility of a future outcome.
Hyperbolic discounting — the tendency for people to have a stronger preference for more immediate payoffs relative to later payoffs, the closer to the present both payoffs are.
Illusion of control — the tendency for human beings to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes that they clearly cannot.
Impact bias — the tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of the impact of future feeling states.
Information bias — the tendency to seek information even when it cannot affect action.
Loss aversion — "the disutility of giving up an object is greater than the utility associated with acquiring it".[2] (see also sunk cost effects and Endowment effect).
Neglect of probability — the tendency to completely disregard probability when making a decision under uncertainty.
Mere exposure effect — the tendency for people to express undue liking for things merely because they are familiar with them.
Omission bias — The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse, or less moral, than equally harmful omissions (inactions).
Outcome bias — the tendency to judge a decision by its eventual outcome instead of based on the quality of the decision at the time it was made.
Planning fallacy — the tendency to underestimate task-completion times.
Post-purchase rationalization — the tendency to persuade oneself through rational argument that a purchase was a good value.
Pseudocertainty effect — the tendency to make risk-averse choices if the expected outcome is positive, but make risk-seeking choices to avoid negative outcomes.
Reactance - the urge to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do out of a need to reassert a perceived attempt to constrain your freedom of choice.
Selective perception — the tendency for expectations to affect perception.
Status quo bias — the tendency for people to like things to stay relatively the same (see also Loss aversion and Endowment effect).
Von Restorff effect — the tendency for an item that "stands out like a sore thumb" to be more likely to be remembered than other items.
Zero-risk bias — preference for reducing a small risk to zero over a greater reduction in a larger risk.

NOTE: Africa is not doomed, it is actually in great shape.

Africa is Doomed

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:10 AM   0 comments
Africa Sanctions the White Man
Monday, May 28, 2007
Africa Sanctions the White Man
Lome, Togo West Africa
Monday, May 28, 2007
by Andy of HoboTraveler.com
I am trying to think, how to explain what I do not understand, yet this is the reason to write, to take confusion and transform to clarity.

I think I have discovered by reading about culture in Wikipedia.org the word to remember in Africa.

Sanctions
There is this common aspect of West Africa that I have continually felt, heard, and received from man of the people of Cote d Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Niger, I do not know the other countries.

There is a continual desire by the locals to enforce some sanctions on me, or to bring me into the norm of how they expect me to behave.

Common ones and problem ones:

1. If I ask for a gift of Cadeau you should give.
2. IF I say Va or come, you should come.

The sanction imposed I have learned if, I do not obey is:
- Mockery au Moquerie -

This behavior in the USA is similar as when one child is making fun of another. In the British culture, they often enjoy and continue into adult by a method called.
- Taking the Piss. -

It means to wind up a another person, to make them a little mad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_the_piss

The sanction of mockery imposed daily by people in West Africa is interesting and intriguing, I semi-think the more education and power a person has, the more they do this mocking behavior. It is like a biting action of a big dog to a little dog.

The main problem is a group mockery, and group mocking that takes place can lead to a group hysteria, and violence. There is a desire for the whites to give money or cower.

A common sanction in small tribal village of the world is to throw rocks and stones, the mockery are difficult, especially if you do not understand the language. I have found, they do not want to be mocked or to have me do it better than them. I tend to ignore too well, but then again, I have had training in India, and for sure a person who has traveled in India and shut off another person fast or will go crazy.

CULTURE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

Quote from Wikipedia.org

Key components of culture
Values
Norms
Institutions
Artifacts

Values comprise ideas about what in life seems important. They guide the rest of the culture. Norms consist of expectations of how people will behave in various situations. Each culture has methods, called sanctions, of enforcing its norms. Sanctions vary with the importance of the norm; norms that a society enforces formally have the status of laws. Institutions are the structures of a society within which values and norms are transmitted. Artifacts—things, or aspects of material culture—derive from a culture's values and norms.

Quote from Wikipedia.org

Africa Sanctions the White Man

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 7:49 AM   0 comments
Commonality of Values
Friday, May 18, 2007
Commonality of Values
Lome, Togo West Africa
Friday, May 18, 2007
by Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I walked in the TV room of the Hotel Galion, here in Lome, Togo.
http://www.hotel-galion.com
I semi-disagree with their prices, but he French are my Sister and we do have Commonality of Values.

There were these three Chinese guys, speaking very loud and watching CNN, where George Bush and Tony Blair was talking at a press conference in the USA

I have never noticed how loud they can be, but I suppose true, the Koreans, and Japanese are segregated on floors in Bangkok so they do not make so much noise as to annoy the other guest.

The Chinese were Watching CNN and sharing the Commonality of Values of mine, not that I trust CNN, but it is Free Press, so what can I say, better they lie and be free than the other choices.

I walked up close to the TV, and listened to Tony, what an amazing man; he can dig deep and touch the pivotal truths, the bottom lines of life. Tony is speaking of the Commonality of Values shared by the USA and the UK and why we must always be friends. Personally, I refer to the UK as my brother, my mean older brother, but nonetheless always my brother.

He also talked of loyalty and the need to remember not to just desert friends when the friend is involved in issue of political problems.

I do see that George W. Bush and Tony Blair will be two of the most famous, and popular, well known and well spoken of leaders of this age, only history will prove me right. They both sacrifice for the love of their people; they gave up the ability to be love by their people, and short-term admiration by the people. They both became hated men to hold to their ideals and the Commonality of Values shared by both. The did the right thing for their people at the cost of their short-term polls and public approval ratings. It was stirring to listen to Tony explain this, how easy it is to pretend you are not a friend when the friend, although doing the good deed, will make you also look bad if you say, this is my freind, even though you know your friend is right.

There is,
your way,
my way,
and the right way.

Politicians seem to often add, the way that gets them the highest public approval rating. I did not hire the President of the USA with a vote to make me happy; I hired him to do the right way. I would personally Thank President Bush and Tony for holding the path. I voted for them and I am responsible for what the do.

Commonality of Values

This is such a pivotal use of words, this is why I was in the TV room of the Hotel Galion, and I came to find some Commonality of Values.

I have realized as I travel Africa, there am a vacuum here, the values of mine, and are different from West Africa. Many are the same, the Christian part of the lower ocean part of West Africa is almost he same, and essentially the common person in the Islamic areas is the same. There is very few Backpacker Ghettos or Centers of the Backpacker Universe, more French Expat communes.

The big divergence between the my values and Africa is this I am King attitude of Males or leaders, and then how they use this systematically, legally, religiously and in the nuclear family against the women. I would say also Racism is rampant between ethnic groups.

Nevertheless, core they are about the same, then we have some serious Commonality of Values problems, but they will come around.

The USA and Europe, Canada, Aussies and New Zealand are so close culturally it is almost impossible for me to say they are different, they are annoyingly the same. East Europe has some big moral issues and drink too much; however, the whole EU is the same culture and has this Commonality of Values with the USA, etc. One reason I do not visit much, like traveling in the USA, and I cannot understand them because they speak a different language, but eat Pizza the same.

There are some core values shared like in the Western Countries:

Not to kill people
Not to beat your wife
Sex with children is taboo
Women are equal
All Races are equal
Capitalism
The Beatles - Music Group
The police are safe and will protect you.
Women can drive cars
Inter-religious dating in possible and they do not kill you if you do.

The countries above share these Commonality of Values, and then you have countries that celebrate the suicide bombers, or the countries where women are just property. 80 percent of the planet, the most dangerous person you can meet is a Policeman.

The camera, interactive internet, TV and creating a great globalization or Common Values. The best thing about TV, it creates global values, look dear, that man treats his wife with respect.

Thanks Tony, a great speech, send me a copy, I think I need to keep is close.

Commonality of Values

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:44 AM   4 comments
Primitive and Uncivilized
Monday, May 14, 2007
Primitive and Uncivilized
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Monday, May 14, 2007
by Andy of HoboTraveler.com

The world pays for a tour to natural, untouched by modern man areas of the planet. Then are angry when the are not modern and civilized.

Then, when another person travels to a place that is uncivilized and primitive, the persons who goes is required to ignore what they see, and report back that the people behave civilized, polite, and held the same value of human life as a modern culture. This is a pandemic mental illness of dysfunctional behavior in the modern world.

This dysfunctional desire of University researchers and the News Media of the world has created a body of non-intellectual and ignorant, close-minded social stigmas for any person who tell the truth. There only prejudices are held in high esteem by their colleges, and wow, this is dysfunctional. What you see is what you see.

I keep thinking about a quote in an article in the Encarta Encyclopedia explaining the topic of culture.

QUOTES from Encarta Encyclopedia topic of Culture, this is all online, I believe. The whole article is here.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561730/Culture.html

The specific link or quote is here:
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561730_4/Culture.html

This quote under this section of the page;
B 1 Kinship and Family

-All people in bands generally respect each other as equals, though children must show increased respect for their elders. The eldest group members often earn special recognition for their knowledge. Men and women in bands also commonly regard each other as equals. -

- Bands consist of nomadic (not settled) groups of fewer than a hundred, mostly related people.-
This statement,
- All people in bands generally respect each other as equals.-

This statement is some type of some extremely moderns societies failure to accept and believe they are more advance. Somehow the world has derived this universal idea that that is pandemic dysfunctional in thinking.

The modern consume world is safer the less develop places on the planet, are safer, while less develop are the most dangerous, un-equal, racist, violent societies on the planet, and I would believe the society of band would be the worst representative of an equal society on the planet, an maybe Norway as HDI says is number one.

Bands of people are built around extreme capitalist cultural behavior standards, or a quid pro quo, you either give me something, and I give you something back or I will hurt you. The concept of giving or receiving without some return on the investment is violently enforced, not benevolently. Then if one member of the group is extremely large or physically, bodily, strong and powerful they can demand un-fare tribute or to receive and not give back.

If Bands were civilized, and the levels above, nobody would be Afraid of Africa, Amazon, Borneo or all the on the end of the planet locations. Contrary to any dysfunctional pandemic in nature mental and social agreements, the less developed people are not more respectful on about any level of behavior.

The strong rule, not by brains, although for sure brains can slowly beat brawn, but ask the opinion of a nerd…

There is nothing wrong with being uncivilized and primitive, it is ok, I come from Indiana, I am a Hoosier, many people from the East Coast think all person in Indiana are less cultured or less sophisticated, every person lives within their own sphere, it is only possible to learn what the sphere offers. To expect a person to know outside the sphere or to think a primitive person from Indiana is stupid is ignoracne, the nuture did not give the opportunity, the brain is the same.

The person who thinks I am stupid because my Grammar is bad, has the same type of dysfuntional problems. Brains has nothing to do with Grammar, one is nurture, the other is nature.

Wikipedia.org ideas on cultures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultures

UnCivilized, Primitive, Modern, Civilized, Togo, Culture,

Primitive and Uncivilized

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:09 AM   0 comments
Togo Body Talk
Friday, May 04, 2007
Togo Body Talk
Togo West Africa
Wednesday, May 2, 2007

My body talks, I think the language of body talk here in Togo iis about a 90-10 ratio. What I say with words has about a 10 percent value and what I say with my body has a 90 percent. When the Togo people talk to me, they talk with their bodies.

I think the USA is about a 60-40 ratio, 60 percent with body and 40 percent with words, and words can totally over ride the body language. I trust body talk more than words. Here in Togo, words cannot override body language easily, unless accompanied by a lot of jumping and waving or body language.

When I walk by a Togo or West Africa person I say to them.
- I am Yeebow of White Man.

They holler at me.
- IF I turn my head

The are in control, if I do not turn my head, I am in control, If when they call, I listen and go over, they are in control.

I am spending a lot of time in negotiations, fun and hilarious to me, but intriguing as can be also, how to learn to talk 100 percent with my body language, and to remember not to use words.

I love to play, and this is play, I can tease, joke, flirt and control with my body language, or allow control. I like to allow a tour guide to control, it just makes sense. I do not allow a Taxi driver to control my life or destiny.

I normally try to listen to the Hotel staff more than others, and I put the guidebooks at the very top of my list of who I listen too. But that is not body talk.

Hmm, maybe I listen to me, the big I, myself first.

Body talk is fun, but I have to remember and remind myself to talk with my body, my eyes, and say what I want to say. I also have to remember these are big men, I try to remember to not tell to many bif one to go and F 93 k themselves with body language.

I also have to be careful with women, they follow me to the room, as I was not putting as much value on body talk as them.

I remember now, what I said… to the girl in the market with my body and actions, it was very clear, she saw my eyes.

Body Talk, Languages, Culture, Culture West Africa, Togo,

Togo Body Talk

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:49 AM   0 comments
One Dominant Female
Saturday, April 28, 2007
One Dominant Female
Atakpame, Togo West Africa

I learn who Andy is, by observing my reflection in the reactions and behavior of the people I meet.

I often say,
- I am just a Dollar Sign. -

When I enter a room, the people in the room react in many ways, when I talk, they answer in many ways. Every action it reciprocated by a reaction.

I can see who I am; by the way, they interact with me.

Living in the same house, the same city, the same neighborhood, and going to the same job, one slowly decreases the number of new people that enter into their lives. Some people may never meet a new person and shake their hand, or say hello in a whole month.

Reverse this; my life is in many ways an ever-increasing number of new faces, friends, neutrals and enemies. I travel slow, and travel into the cultures of people, often you will read about trekking, mountains, breathtaking view, and blue seas. This is not people; this is nature and is beautiful.

Going to the mountain is good, live up on a mountain or alone in a room and you are either going to learn to love the person in the room or find a way to avoid, stay busy, drink, constant travel, movement, anything to not think.

In the still, in the stillness is where I am, I can only find me in the stillness and quiet of doing nothing.

I thought this was where I learn about me, I also now realize, who I am is reflected in every face, eyes, and reaction of each person I meet.

About 10 minutes ago, I had another African experience, and it is a vulnerable moment in time. There are these reactions, moments and situations that I have not been socialized in my culture to understand.

It is similar to Dian Fossy going and living with the Gorillas, a person has to take great care and learn the rules. A 400-pound Silverback, Dominant Male could be dangerous. However, I suspect what I would feel is dominated, controlled and watched.

About 15 minutes ago, I was standing around, making a cheese sandwich with these eight small pats from a round container of Vache Qui Rit Cheese. The women are in the courtyard, many today, there is three extra younger girls. There are three levels. The lower, temporary girls who are young and quiet. The two reception girls who do all the cooking or eating in the hotel. Then the Dominant Female, who more or less frowns down people and eats.

I was introducing myself, probably on hindsight, establishing my territory, and introducing the three new ones to me. I then try to get the one reception girl to focus.
- I want take a photo of …
- La Pate Belly -

Pate is a type of traditional food made of corn flour, and high in calories, a complete swim the English channel in a bowl meal, and eaten often, sort of the rice of Africa, that and Fufu.

I start to leave the Dominant Female area of domination, I am saying, I am going to go make my cheese sandwich.

This women is, as best I can tell, and I do not care, is the owner or the main manager of the hotel, she is bad Karma or Mojo to me, nothing about light being inside her soul, I feel the dark.

The Dominant Female, I do not know her name says,
- Give me a wedge of cheese. -

There are eight in the pack, and easy to say yes, I say,
- No -
Quick, fast, no thought, just a no.

The whole group starts jumping around, like the monolith in Arthur C Clarks Movie, 2001 A Space Odyssey. They are jumping, making noise, strange observation of people, and speaking a language, I rather understood.

Then, I walk out.

I walk back in the area, to again focus on the Pate issue, I want a photo of her big belly full of Pate and the future of her body. I can make a blog title - The Pate Belly -

The Second Dominant Female says, and this time in ENGLISH.
- The Mom wants a piece of cheese. -
I say,
- I know - both in English and in French, then I say,
- Pas -
In French and a No in English.

There was not a caesura, no delay, no thinking, go to jail, do not pass go. I am 100 percent clear on this; I do not give this women tokens, tributes and especially a Cadeau or Gift.

They all start jumping around again, I am sure if she did not like money I pay for rent, then you could say I was using a machete to cut the path to a quick departure. I try to say to the girls, I give to people that give to me, I help those who help me.

Dominant Female territory, strange how I just ignore it.

When I walked into my room to start typing this, I thought, this a very strange culture. I am supposed to give tribute and respect to a person that I do not respect. Then her little soldiers all try to induce me give her respect and tribute of cheese. I think, this is very different, there is top down hierarchy and the ones below respect the one above, even though the one above treats them like dogs. I see this every day, very strange, and very common in West Africa, the manager, the Gerer, the Police can talk in a way, that could in a way be closer to a caste system and tribes and religions have this.

I saw who I was by their reactions; it was a very clear view.

One Dominant Female

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 2:46 PM   8 comments
Walk a Mile in my Shoes
Walk a Mile in my Shoes
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Friday, April 27, 2007

I enjoy learning about cultures.

The only way possible to learn about a culture, or situation or a problem or to understand both the good and the bad you need to,
- Walk a mile in their shoes. -

Entering into a culture, changes the culture, therefore.

I need to be immersed into a culture, until my presence become so normal, they resume normal social and personal behaviors.

Dian Fosse and the movie called Gorillas in the Mist semi discusses and explains with animals, what in a way needs to be done more with humans.

Dian went and somewhat lived with the Gorillas of Africa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Dian_Fossey

WEB Designer

Any way I shake it, my job is to be a web designer. I want to have all 6 billion people on the planet get on my page. The goal is to attract all of them. China, about 2 billion and I would guess I get close to zero readers.

I need to immerse myself in their cultures to understand what they need. I am in Africa, the internet is exceptionally bad. I tried to allow a girl to access her Yahoo.fr email account, the email box was so strange, I could not even figure out the in box, because the French over complicated it. The girls did not have a clue.

When each page takes about 3 minutes to open, when to write one email cost a days wages, this is what I need to empathizes with or the person who is part of the 6 million or the 5.5 Billion.

One of the best things that every could have happened to my site is for me to use this extremely slow GPRS internet connection. I am forced to empathize with my readers in China, India, Nigeria, or Togo, and in Russia and all of South America, Central America, etc, 85 percent of the planet.

I see a great value in having one click to go to a page, simple fast loading and I know for sure the index of HoboTraveler.com is very bad and too slow.

I am culturally immersed in the internet culture of the world OUTside the USA, and the GPRS keeps me slow, I cannot pay my way around to a faster connection here in West Africa, I must accept a slow connection.

Cultural Immersion

To walk a mile in my shoes, to have empathy, not sympathy for others.

I want to feel what they feel or do not feel, I want to feel and know their world, this is not easy. I have to let go of the money, I have to say, I will not use the money in my pocket.

I think about going back up on the Danyi Plateau, then to live in a village with no electricity and get down to base level. I wonder what percentage of the population of the planet does not have electricity.

The HDI Human Development Index says that 49 percent of Togo has a water situation as this.

“Population without sustainable access to an improved water source.”

Improved, I think the should be asking, what percentage have acceptable drinking water. If you really think, living there or anywhere means the water is someone acceptable. In addition, if it rains, they can get water, so somewhere the essential truth is, where does is not rain?

Ok, I suppose it is a good idea to say, and educate people to the idea that they should not drink from the ditch; people do need to be told.

Immersion in a culture.

There are many signs in Togo and Benin on condoms; it is close to impossible to not have a sign. In my room, number 102 in the l’Amities hotel in Atakpame is a very graphic and detailed explanation in French on how to put on and use a condom.

Yesterday, I sat down with Bernadette to do my flirt, she is reading a bible. I look close, this is not French. In my cultural arrogance, I had minimized the value of Ewe or Mina or this local language to the point I thought they only read French and spoke Mina or Ewe. Here as a bible in the Ewe language.

By being on the fringes long enough, I learned a small lesson about the culture, Mina or Ewe is a written language.

I come back to my room and think, WHY, why is this condom thing only in French, and why are all the big signs on the road only in French. I am going to press this issue; I am going to find out why they are not in Mina ALSO.

If you are trying to stop AIDS, it is really pretty easy, you say to a person in your language.
- YOU will get AIDS or SIDA if the sperm enters your body, you need to use a Condom. -

The average person here, does not read French for crap, I need to learn if they can read Mina. I was talking last night with a girl that works in a bank, she spoke excellent French, she said something about them studying Mina in school.

Fringe Immersion tells me, children below the age of school age do not speak any French.

I am trying to get in touch with the observations, I discovered a long time ago, that to earn money, I needed to understand the boss, the job, or how I made money.

It took me a couple of years to know in the business of Real Estate or and Estate Agent to understand one small USA principle. That from 9:00 to 11:00 on Monday morning, I needed 100 percent to be available by phone to answer calls. I would find close to 90 percent of my clients in this time frame.

What happens is this, there are many ads placed in the Sunday paper. On Monday the person goes to work, and when the boss is gone, they start to call all the advertisements. Simple and easy to figure out, Sunday is their day off, they waited until they are paid to work, to then make calls.

There is a big time right after the dinner, when a person sits down to read the paper, they will pick up the phone and call.

Therefore, I needed to be available to answer the calls on Monday morning and between 6 and 8 at night. Simple.

There is some sort of reasoning, I am trying to put my finger on, there is an ability of some people to access the essential obstacle or identify the one factor or variable that starts the whole game.

In problem solving, I must find the one essential factor around which all other variables, assumptions and questions revolve.

I would say, if I am in a place where it rains, I could generally have safe drinking water, short of living next to a steel foundry.

I find that a candle is a very good, cheap source of light, I can carry in my backpack and use quickly. If in a stable place, kerosene lanterns are cheaper and easier to use.

I find that a Coca Cola bottle is better than any bottle or gear bottle I can purchase.

I find that screens on windows are much better than mosquito nets.

I find that sleeping outside is cooler than sleeping in a room.

If you do not have sex or use injection needles for drugs, it is very difficult to get AIDS.

The more I identify these simple chunked down concepts when I am approaching the solving of a problem, the quicker I solve a problem.

I want to be cooler in the afternoons in West Africa.
A. Come in the rainy season.
B. Go and read a book outside under a big tree with a wind.
C. Store electricity in batteries and have a fan that runs off the batteries to use when there is no electricity.
D. Open the door to my room

I think option not utilized by me, but utilized by man travelers is to go get drunk and be too drunk to notice. Hehehe

I notice the man sweeps the courtyard at 4:30 in the morning, maybe Africa and the tropical world needs to only have the third shift of work.

I do think somehow to relate to a culture and to understand, I need to be immersed and walk a mile in the shoes of my readers. If I want to know how to make a great web page, I need to surf and use the pages the way my readers do. I am making this website HoboHideout.com and I hope to have every hotel in the world on the site. Why, because I want to use the site, I want to know every hotel in Badou, Togo, I want to know every hotel, room, Auberge or place to sleep between here Atakpame and Badou, I want to have a choice. It is just too easy to find a room on Khao San Road, Bangkok.

I also want to find a cheap room in London, and there is an extreme need to find cheap rooms in Paris.

I am immersed in the travel culture, I want to go to Paris, but I am not going to pay over 25 Euros per night for room and I am not going to live with a bunch of drunken idiots in a dorm and call it fun.

Immersion, Culture Immersion, Culture, Culture West Africa, Research,

Walk a Mile in my Shoes

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 4:54 AM   1 comments
Hidden Treasure of Atakpame Togo
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Hidden Treasure of Atakpame Togo
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

I was trying to teach both Michael and Mawuli in Kpalime the term,
- Babe Alert -

I have discovered though, no matter how old they are, the age is always 19, I am not sure, why 19 is chosen age to tell me, it must be the age of preference for men of Togo. They can be 15 and say they are 19; they can be 30 and say they are 19



Hmm, primal intensity.

I did not talk to these girls, I think they are the Kittle people as Michael calls them, I finally figured how he meant Cattle.



This is a Musulman Girl, her name is Mawa or something like that and she is 19, spoken by hand signals. Her and this other girl was doing the follow me around the market game. I do not know, I suppose she is Akposso or what not.

Musulman means she is an Islamic Girl, I am not positive, but she has the look with the scarf on her head and a small tattoo on her forehead. It is somewhat intriguing how when it comes to normal people, they generally do not care what religion they are, then you slap a parent or a Mullah or some Priest, and suddenly everything goes from simple to complicated. I am never too sure about religions, Christians, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, etc, the all are looking for a fight.

I had a Musulman girl in Lome; more or less tell me the rules she had to abide by, and how to go around them.

Note, the Bananas here in Atakpame have taken a two-degree better quality jump; there must be bananas in the area. I found this great location for a Chambre de Passage there for 1500 CFA. This is down the hill from the Marche or big market towards Amlame. This is where I met the girls and took their photos before jumping on a moto and going to the market. The banana girls caught up with me and started the tailing of me around the market, funny and fun.

The location of the Chambre de Passage was good, the cell phone did not work and the interior was no fan bad.



Photos of the path leading to the Chambre de Passage and where all these girls were walking from, or coming from, I am paying close attention to girls carrying water or goods from the bush. I remember the Auberge USA in Natingou, Benin and how there was a constant stream of culture passing. I suspect this Chambre de Passage would be the same, but the no-fan thing is getting to me. Atakpame is only about 300 meters above sea level, it is not that cool.

The road leading up to the city from Amlame, to Atakpame is great, then the market is great, and everything after that is downhill in Atakpame so far. I cannot find a hotel that is within walking distance worth a darn in Atakpame, I am in a great Hotel for 3000 CFA called the l’Amitie Auberge, but miles from the center of the Atakpame village. It is in a new highway stretch, I do not like to live on the newer highway stretches, I like the Centreville. I think I will head for the cooler mountains tomorrow.

Togo Girls, Meeting Girls, Togo, Togo Hotels, Culture West Africa, Culture,

Hidden Treasure of Atakpame Togo

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posted by Andy HoboTraveler.com @ 3:13 PM   0 comments
Cultural Stages of Togo Homes
Cultural Stages of Togo Homes
Amlame, Togo West Africa
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

All photos were taken in the Village of Danyi Apeyeme, Togo West Africa, on the Danyi Plateau, about 50 Kilometers North and West of Kpalime.



I would observe and think this home is very old. Take a very close look and you will see a wooden water container with a lid, I am 95 percent, sure, it is not to make Fufu as they look about the same. Cooking is done under the eave of the home. There is the absolute minimal amount of home. The roof is grass. No screens, I am not sure about the bars on the windows, maybe there is not window. I have observed home with a series of 3 to 10 single entrance doors in some countries. I am thinking to make the most amount of air, you need this type of construction, and you want the whole wall to open. I think having doors all the way around the home would give the most amount of ventilation, and then have screens on the door openings. Then only use one for ingress, egress. The problem with a building is air, but it protects you from the elements, animals not so good on mosquitoes.

This photo taken in Danyi, Apeyeme is on the way down to the river, behind the small market where they drink that brew of alcohol.



This home has a steel roof, the wall are still clay adobe, yet hey have made a plaster effect. The water is collected by a gutter into a 55-gallon steel container. The building to the right I the kitchen, now under roof and safe from rain. The window have wood shutter, behind the shutter are bard made of rebar used inside concrete slabs to make strong.

Between the kitchens are the shower and the toilet. I took photos of this toilet, a unique, but very practical and pragmatic design. I think I will post it.

Danyi Apeyeme, Togo West Africa
Home Stay coordinates - Michel and Jane are the Owners
Saturday, April 21, 2007
07 degrees 12.203 North
000 degrees 41.452 East
795 Meters of altitude above sea level




This is not the most modern here, by a long shot; there are luxury homes that would make any USA person jealous. Complete with servants, living quarters and a gardener, I always say, you can tell how rich a person is… Do they have a bodyguard?

Ok, this home is probably concreted; the bars are now on the ou