On fieldwork, it seems that some incidents will happen that make perfect sense at the time, yet are completely impossible to explain in a logical manner to a person who wasn’t there. In the village the other day, I sat on the veranda of one of the weekend homes of rich city dwellers, eating caviar and having a very serious conversation discussing the merits of different types of helicopter, and the traffic avoidance benefits they bring. I understand that this might not make any sense to you, but it seemed logical at the time.

However, all of my experiences pale in comparison with that of my friend J, who was working in East Africa when his car mysteriously broke down. He couldn’t find anything wrong with it, until he looked under the driver’s seat and found a dead porcupine, which he promptly threw away, and the car started working again. Recounting this story later, his audience were horrified by this. It was clear to them that the porcupine had been placed there to curse him and his car, and he should take the dead creature to a witchdoctor, who would de-curse everything. They were doubly shocked when they heard that he had thrown it away, as it means he couldn’t recover it, and he and his car would walk the earth forever cursed.

He sold the car, and apparently the new owner is mystified as to why a perfectly sound car seems to constantly be breaking down.