
Culture clash
Just follow your nose? The sense of smell tends to be undervalued in the West but has a high status in many other cultures:
SMELL THE BABY
The Serer-Ndut people in Senegal believe in reincarnation and that a child’s scent reveals which ancestor has been reborn. The matter is settled if there’s a resemblance.
ACKNOWLEDGE THE NOSE
“How is your nose” is the common greeting used by the Ongee people. Smell is the prime sense for the Andaman islanders in Southeast Asia, and their calendar is dictated by the blossoming periods of certain flowers.
LISTEN TO THE FLOWERS
Smell? Hearing? For the Dogon in Mali these two senses overlap, with language having an odor and flowers a sound. They love the sound/scent of onions, which both sexes rub over their bodies.