Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Why don't the Hausa cross the road?

There's one main road connecting Jimeta (where we live) in the north to Yola (where AUN is) in the south. I asked my driver a question today: why is it that the banana vendor, the bread vendor, the cassava vendor, the potato vendor, and every other food vendor is on the southbound side of the road and there are NONE on the north bound side? It would be much more convenient to pick up bananas on my way home from work, but the vendors are on the wrong side.

His answer was that the food is grown "in the bush" on that western side of the road. Then they bring the food here to the road. They don't want to cross because it is risky to cross such a busy road with no crosswalks or intersections while carrying their food.

Funny ... that's the same reason why I don't cross the road to them either.

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