Highlights and lowlights this week

The ups

• Atkins coming home from a work trip with delicious coffee, and the purchase of a coffee plunger.
• Having my first shower (we bucket bath) since arriving here at my friend Sue's house. It was even hot! Thank you Sue. See below for the reason for this.
• Very few power cuts this week.
• Mr Bili, my friend, demonstrating some of his dance moves, which will be on show at the wedding. I promise to video because they are something else!
• Discovering delicious and affordable gelato at the mall.
• Rain! Zambia is in a drought, but this week we have had lots of rain, so everyone is relieved.

The lows

Only one really. Our water supply was off for three days. We still don't know why. By day three we had used up our stored supplies, so in desperation I begged a shower from Sue. Clouds have silver linings, because it was a divine shower.

Plan B

My original plans, as original plans tend to do, have changed, and I am now volunteering at a home for vulnerable girls, called Vision of Hope. This week, one of the activities we did was making flowers with the girls' names in the centre, and in each petal something about themselves.

Also lots of work on literacy, and me trying to remember to do algebraic fractions...

Shopping in Zambia part 2

Some things here are more expensive, or the same price (which feels expensive) as home, including flour and cocoa. Other things are heaps cheaper!

$1 NZ

Haloumi - $3 NZ

Beef. - $3 NZ

He he he

I did a talk at a local school about New Zealand. I asked them to write down any questions they had. I challenge Year 8s in Aotearoa to come up with such intelligent questions! (P.S. There were about 90 kids in the class).

Out and about

Here follows a snapshot of live (in the traffic) in Lusaka.

We think this is supposed to say "no racism". Boom is a brand of washing powder.

A changing world: note the sign for a new ute, Note the advertisement for miracles and the mosque minaret in the background.

Shoe repair stall

Roundabout carnage

k

It's not just the weather that is hot

Super-Steve got hot too. Too hot. Like steam coming out hot. So I pulled over. And these guys appeared and went to fetch me water and got me back on the road.

They all want New Zealand wives. Let me know if you are keen.

Maybe this is why there is not a strong reading culture here...

Found in the Year 8 classroom at the local school

Zambia is landlocked

At first glance, I thought this was about liposuction and botox. Actually full of some quite graphic images of how to patch people up after suffering from some nasty tropical diseases.

25 things you can buy at the traffic lights

Traffic can be a bit crazy here. Zambians (with some exceptions) don't do roundabouts. Dear Zambian motorists: if you are in the outside lane you must exit the roundabout! You cannot suddenly decide to cut across three lanes of traffic to go somewhere else. I spent 15 minutes at a roundabout today. But at least when stuck in traffic there are lots of things for sale by the street vendors who walk around between the stopped cars. For example, you can buy:

Umbrellas

Scrabble
3.       Snakes and ladders
4.       Lychees
5.       Grapes
6.       Okra
7.       Tomatoes
8.       World maps
9.       Trousers
10.   T-shirts
11.   Rolling pins
12.   Phone credit
13.   Washing baskets
14.   Washing powder
15.   Dog leads
16.   Phone chargers
17.   Newspapers
18.   Chips
19.   Water
20.   Windscreen wiper blades
21.   Chewing gum
22.   Windscreen shields
23.   Pies
24.   Timestables charts
25.   Sunglasses

Zambia hearts Wills and Kate

A tiring first day of school

The man in the suit

Mr Chanda on his first day of the school term. Mr Chanda, you are my hero.

We’re all speaking English but....part 2

• Here, when you do something silly like trip or drop something, everyone around goes ”oh sorry sorry” when actually it’s you who should be apologising for being clumsy! It’s sweet.
• This side = over here/at our place. That side = over there/at your place. E.g. “how are things that side?"
•  R/L  syndrome. Many people here, who have perfect English, occasionally swap their Rs and Ls. Apparently it’s contagious because recently I have caught myself saying both “there’s a ploblem with the tap” and “what is your favourite TV ploglamme.” My favourite one though is when an MC at an event exhorts everyone  to give someone “a big crap.”

Communication

Everyone here has a cellphone. Pretty much no-one has a landline, and never did.

But it works a bit differently to New Zealand. Here is how:

·         Don’t text. People pretty much don’t text. They call instead. It’s cheaper and more immediate.

·         You don’t always need a reason to call. People quite often call Atkins just to say hi. Even if it is in the middle of the night.... It’s quite sweet.

·         Atkins sometimes gets halfway through a phone conversation then I hear him say “who is this?” This always sends me into fits of giggles. How meaningful has the conversation been when no-one knows who they are talking to? Eventually he will ask and the conversation will continue. Apparently it’s not customary to introduce yourself on the phone (the receiver should know who you are) and it is rude to ask who is calling (you should already know). Flawless system!

·         Everyone has at least 2 numbers because different networks offer different rates and deals. Atkins has about 4 sim cards and is often swapping them from phone to phone.

My first playdough

Some preschoolers having their first ever play with playdough.

Electrician needed

The electrical arrangements in our house. This is very typical.

Lovely neighbours

I have already mentioned here that I think we have lost something beautiful in New Zealand with the demise, to a great degree, of neighbourliness. Today, I borrowed one neighbour’s broom and another helped us to get our brazier going. I entertained two of the neighbour’s children, and held the baby for another while she prepared food.

Then, best of all, Atkins and I fell asleep this afternoon after a morning of housework, which is much more physical here. Hand washing and rinsing a load of washing, carrying buckets of water, sweeping the yard etc.  We woke to the sound of torrential rain and ran to the door screaming “the washing!” I HATE hand washing (it rips up the skin on my fragile white hands) and couldn’t bear to have it ruined by mud being splashed up by the rain. We got outside and it was gone! Our neighbour then yelled out her window “Rachel, I have your washing inside. Don’t worry!”

Life is good.

Babysitting

Dear Reader

Please forgive me for some delay in updating. I have had a hectic few days having a special kind of fun involving spending long periods of time in Police stations, banks and government offices, and driving all over the city. We are nearly done now.

On the plus side, I now know Lusaka geography well. I have made some unexpected new friends (there are some Police officers who now want to come to my wedding) and some people have been very kind and helpful, including Regan (“after the American president”) who saves me a park outside the Immigration office in exchange for some money for washing my car each time I park. It’s very clean now. Life in places like this seems to bring out the very good and the very bad in people, sometimes the same person.

Thank goodness I have a sofa in the shade to come home to. (The getting home of which was another adventure – see photo!) Not to mention a really rather lovely fiancé. 

Some miscellaneous observations

1. Zambians have amazing butts.
2. It is a compliment to be told that you have gained [weight]. This takes a LOT of adjusting to!
3.  In public, men often hold hands, as to women, but you don’t often see a man-woman combination doing it. On this note, handshakes can go on a long time here. You can get to the end of a conversation and your hand is still clasped gently by your acquaintance. I quite like it. It’s cosy.

What's in a name?

Ever wondered what happened to all those names that have gone out of fashion in New Zealand?

Well they are going strong here, especially for the ladies. Here are some (all relatively young) people I have met:

Agnes, Doris, Margery, Violet, Margaret, Humphrey, Bertha, Eunice, Bernard, Constance, Edna, Gerald, Phyllis, Victor.

There are also some others that make me smile:

•          Mr Diego – the absolutely-not-Spanish-at-all property manager
•         Dave the Welder
•          Lucky the waiter
•          Memory the checkout-operator

Many Biblical names – Solomon, Abraham, Mercy, Moses, Emmanuel, Faith, Enoch (although no Jesuses like there are in South America!).

Some that I had never heard of – Gilsaint, Duffson, Prisca, Domister

As well as some beautiful Zambian names – Chilufya, Ipalo, Cholwe, Kalaba, Kayombo, Kakweji, Mwate.

And we got a new door

Once again, don't look OSH. (P.S. the welder's name is Dave....)

We made a shelf

We're bringing DIY to Zambia...... (don't look OSH)

Our improvised level

Check it out Home and Garden!

GHD?

This is what happens when you braid a white person's hair....

Turns out schoolboy graffiti is the same everywhere

More shopping in Zambia