So I've been hesitant to describe Libreville and Gabon, mostly because I don' t understand it and I don't want to judge them or think that the way they do things is bad/good or wrong/right. I'm also afraid to point out just the "negative" things about the culture.
In Libreville people throw their trash on the sides of the roads. The trash collection systems do not have the capacity to handle the amount of trash that the city produces.
There was a "self-employed" man filling in a pot hole in the road the other day. When we stopped at the corner he asked us for a "toll", we gave him some change to encourage the repair of the roads.
When you go to someone's house they serve you on their best - no paper plates for guests.
When you go to a church for the first time you have to stand up and introduce yourself... Tim introduced me to the church I would be working (called pronounced "rowjay" not like the "J" in jay bird, but like the sound of a "J" - "juh") with and they applauded - made me feel welcomed and excited to be there.
Every substantial house has a wall around it, just like Honduras.
Guys pee in the streets and I've even seen a guy squatting over the ditch. I'm not sure if Libreville has a sewage system, actually I think most of the concrete ditches on the side of the streets run into the ocean. When I made face about swimming in that same ocean, Alace said to consider it "building up your immune system".
Roads are horrible here... here's a video of a road in Coco Beach, but it is actually better than the road to the church in Libreville that I will be attending.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLZS4JmnTLM
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