The mail, part two

In case you read the last post, I got a package recently. I don’t want to give the impression that I was ungrateful. On the contrary, I was quite happy to recieve it, and the ordeal simply made getting it so much better. What did I request my parents to send me ? Exactly what I requested : Businessweek, underwear, and processed meat products.

Why did I ask for these things, you may be wondering ? Don’t I have enough to eat, read, and wear ? Are things really that bad ? Well, no, not exactly.

While Africa may be the third world, that doesn’t mean that there is any lack of consumables flooding the market. As in the US much of what hits the shelves comes direct from China. Endless brik-a-brak is sold on the streets and in small shops for cheaper than in the US. The high end in office and home goods is dutifully furnished. There are also a few Western-style supermarkets in the capital and a very good food store in the city close to where I live. Pretty much anything you want you can get, but there is one caveat.

The economics of shopping for higher-end products here are simple : take the American price and multiply by two. The economics of volunteers’ budgets is simple as well : take an American salary and divide by ten. All this means that, psychologically speaking, buying a can of shaving cream will run you about 70 dollars. Spending two dollars on a box of apple juice feels like blowing twenty bucks in the States.

This being a primarily Muslim country also means that pork products are lacking. Even in the high-end supermarkets in Dakar one can hardly find anything worth buying. True, I can buy deli ham for fifteen dollars a pound, but I can also buy fifty bean sandwiches for that price.

For those inclined to pay such amounts, I applaud you. The typical volunteer (myself included), however, is a cheap bastard whose thrift is brought out by the circumstances. Conversely, they are frequently in debt, unable to resist the occasional spending binge (i.e. buyng what is completely normal in the US). Plus, they drink... That is where Mom and Dad step in to fill the gap.

While there are many meaningful things that one can send a volunteer, there are also many unuseful things that one can send. Unuseful items are those that are easily available locally, usually for a tenth the price in the states (before shipping). What tops that list ? Cashews. Second ? Peanuts. Other items include soft drink mixes, toothpaste, cigarettes, and normal clothes. Used clothes from the West are sold by the kilo to resalers, and one can buy a T-shirt for roughly fifty cents. It is not unusual to see kids sporting shirts from Abraham Lincoln Middle School’s D.A.R.E. program or the Jones family reunion. With the other products, multinational corporations learned a while ago what everyone wants and how to sell it.

Other products are definitely attainable and are comparable to those you would find in America. Every white-person store seems to sell the same bizarre selection of French canned items with labels that look like they haven’t been changed in fifty years. The most common items are : tuna, rabbit pate, ravioli, green beans, canned hot dogs, and saurkraut.

So what to send ? Something somewhat expensive, not readily available, and light.
The most cost-effective thing that one can send, hands down, is beef jerky.