African toothbrush

It's really common to see people walking around chewing on sticks. For a long time, I just thought, "hmmm they're chewing on sticks the way sometimes at home when I'm walking through the field I chew on a weed." Which of course my American/South Dakotan explanation for all-things-African never suffices, so I finally asked and found out that these sticks are what people often use to clean their teeth (not to give you the impression that nobody brushes their teeth, because that isn't the case either). There's also a special "toothbrush" tree from which these sticks derive. And Jeremy has brought my attention to something he read in "Passion for Islam" by Carlyle Murphy that the prophet used to use a stick as a toothbrush and many people started emulating him. So as I discover more, I'll keep sharing. In the meantime, here's me doing my best to brush my teeth a la Afrique.