excerpt from Mating by Norman Rush:
"In Africa, you want more, I think.
People get avid. This takes different forms in different people, but it shows up in some form in everybody who stays there any length of time. It can be sudden. I include myself.
Obviously I mean whites in Africa and not black Africans. The average black African has the opposite problem: he or she doesn't want enough. A whole profession called Rural Animation exists devoted to making villagers want more and work harder to get it. Africans are pretty ungreedy-- elites excepted, naturally. Elites are elites.
But in Africa you can see middleclass white people you know for a fact are highly normal turn overnight into chainsmokers or heavy drinkers or gourmets..."
I get by with a little help from my friends... Alexa and I have adopted a cake-a-day regimen and have made it a whole week from her packages. My weight is coming back, along with my greed. It's amazing how quickly you get used to things no matter how difficult the transition. In the village I'd gotten used to corn mush. Now, cake.
The villagers will probably always be satisfied with corn mush ("lacirre"). They don't have time-consuming fantasies of tacos and oreo milkshakes. Sometimes I envy them.
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