CITIES SMELL, BUT EACH HAS ITS OWN PARTICULAR AROMA

Cities smell. This is normal. And...

 Each has its own scent. Just like the legendary Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, wrote at the beginning of “Anna Karenina” (a novel published 1873). “All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Mkokoteni pusher - Magomeni, Dar es Salaam, 2009.

First time I arrived in Dar es Salaam in 1970, aged fifteen, I recall the smell of the sea salt and water. Nothing else. These days Dar stinks of dust, smoke and car fumes. The sea salt and fish can only be found closer to the beaches of Kigamboni, Jangwani, Kunduchi, etc. These palm trees (below) are hard to find in the mid city today.

 City smells tell you something about inhabitants and their activities. When I first set foot in Copenhagen in 1984 I recall the pleasant aroma of bread, cakes and alcohol.

HOW MISTREATMENT OF “WAZEE” DEMONSTRATES A VANISHING TRADITION AMONGST RICH SOCIETIES

While in Africa the issue of age is sacred; in most developed countries it is considered “just a number”, if we may paraphrase a common Mzungu expression. To demonstrate a growing cultural trend many celebrities are nowadays applying anti aging substances such as Botox treatment and creams to look younger.

Botulinum Toxin is a potent neuro toxin which may affect and even poison nerve cells. In past twenty years Botox or Dysport, (its commercial name) has been used cosmetically.  When you look at the faces of some celebrities who have taken these very expensive treatments you sense their smile is no longer natural; their facial muscles have been altered.

In December 2009, former Miss Argentina, Solange Magnano died due to a “gluteoplasty” procedure to change her buttocks. Early this year a 20 year old black British student died after receiving silicone injections to enlarge her buttocks.
The whole Botox phenomenon is connected to age psychology.

Presenter, Miriam O'Reilly who won £150,000 against age discrimination, pic by Roland Hoskins.
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