Frederick Pitts

Things Are Different in Africa: a Memoir of Dangers and Adventures in the Congo Frederick Pitts

**** (4 stars)-CurldUp.com"Strongly recommended reading, especially for armchair travelers wanting to know something about the culture and geography of far flung countries of the world."-Midwest Book Review"An excellent personal insight both into the complexities of Congolese culture and the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. [I] thoroughly recommend it."-SpikeMagazine.com"I highly recommend Things are Different in Africa. This is the most fascinating, informative chronicle of life on the [African] Continent I've ever read."-MyShelf.comMost Americans have never set foot on the African continent and have no true inkling of what day-to-day survival is like in that part of the world. Things Are Different in Africa is a true account of life in an equatorial village deep inside the Congo, where the author was immersed with the villagers for nearly a year. Explained in vivid detail are dangerous encounters with animals, risky skirmishes with robbers, dealings with crooked police officials and more. While the beauty of the Congo is vividly portrayed, it is the mysterious culture that will cause laughter, sometimes frustration and occasionally even anger. Toward the end, one is taken along for a motorcycle crash in the jungle 360 miles from medical care, and then drawn step by step deep into political unrest, violence in the cities, and evacuation to another country near the Sahara desert. Throughout this unique and often irreverent journey, one's senses are challenged. And he or she finishes with a far greater understanding of life in an obscure part of planet Earth.