Out of Lusaka

Dear Friends, I'm sorry for the long period between posts - there have been a few nights this past week where I thought the evening would be perfectly spent writing a blog post, but unfortuntely we have had a bit of a problem connecting to the internet at home, and work has blocked blogspot (but strangely not facebook).

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Recently, I have been beginning to think that there is nothing to Zambia beyond the cement walls, dusty roads and occassional fields full of brown tall grass in Lusaka. It is not an all together unpleasant place to live, but it has certainly not matched the natural beauty of my homes in Monduli and Nyabyeya. Lucky for me (or at least my impression of Zambia), this past few days have given me the chance to explore the country a bit.

Thursday morning started of normally enough, working on a few projects and trying to figure out how to stretch them or who to talk with to come up with enough work for our full 9 and a half our workday. Around 5 of 11 our boss came to our desks for a quick meeting, then said he was headed out for the rest of the afternoon to Kabwe. In a moment of hope, I asked "could we come too?" Yep. We're leaving in 5 minutes. No problem! And so, we packed our bags, waited another half our until our driver could be located, and started heading north.

Kabwe is about an hour and a half north of Lusaka. It is the provincial capital of the Central Province (one of the 9 in Zambia). We were headed up there to check on the work being done on a large house that will soon be the 8th of our provincial offices. Work is behind schedule, and our job was to impress the contracters with how soon we wanted it done, and see if we couldn't get the to pick up the pace.

Leaving Lusaka, I was struck by how much of the city I have yet to see. With my daily walks to work and morning runs from home, and weekly excursions to friends houses, grocery stores, and evenings out, there are certain parts of the city that I have become accustomed too. Most of them are in sections of the city that are home to the ex-pats or wealthy Zambians, and thus are thus walled off by cement fences reaching 10 feet high with shards of glass or electric wire at the top. As you walk or run down a street, you find it takes on a bit of a tunnel appearance, a paved (or not) street, with brown sand on the side serving as a sidewalk, and brown grass that eventually turns into a brownish-gry cement wall. Some of the walls are painted to look like billboards, with advertisements for everything from cell phones, computer equiptment, or vacuums.

On our way out of the city to Kabwe, the cement tunnels turned to rivers of color as we left the expat sections of town and arrived on streets that are populated by the 1.5 million Zambians who live in Lusaka. We stayed on the main road, which appeared to be the western end of a city in and of itself. Lining the street were cement and sometimes mud houses, with small yards fenced in with stick and shrubs. In their small yards were men and women; sitting in groups, cooking, or washing clothes. There were children playing, dogs and chickens pecking about for scraps of food, and lines of hanging clothes. Every few houses there was a dirt road - sometimes wide, sometimes narrow, leading into what seemed like an endless city. And unlike the streets that I frequently travel, where there is a steady, but narrow stream of people, these streets were full of people walking - in every direction and every color.

My time is up, but more natural beauty (and pictures) to come. Thanks for reading.

Friends

At this point, I think I can say that I have travelled quite a bit - sometimes with friends, but often independantly. Both have their pro's and con's - travelling independantly means that you see and do what you want; you have to immerse yourself in culture and make new friends. Still, it can be exhausting and lonely. Travelling with friends can be great - you get to share a common experience with people you already know and love, but it can also be tiring and lead to frustration and tension, as the burden of spending 24 hours with someone takes its toll.

I think I have the best of both worlds here in Zambia. In my apartment I have my own space, my own life. I am here in Lusaka for long enough to join activities and make new friends. And yet, I am lucky enough to get to share that with friends from home - people I already know and who's company makes me smile, laugh, relax and feel at home.


thanks to Elena for the photo credit on this one!


Over the course of the past week, my friends Elena in Kate arrived from various other parts of Africa where they have been working/doing research since the end of spring semester. It has been wonderful to continue to explore Lusaka with both of them. I am sad they will only be here with me for the next 5 weeks or so, but excited to have that time! Within the next few days, 5 more BU students will be arriving to begin work for BU's Center for International Health and Development Zambia. Although they will not all be working in Lusaka, I am excited for the chance to visit friends from time to time. Safe travels, and see you soon!

Routines

Last Sunday, I had the perfect blog post planned out in my mind. All I needed was the photo to complement it, and then, it would be ready to see the light of the internet blogosphere. But fate intervened and since Sunday night our apartment has been without internet. Yesterday, after a long discussion with the landlord, the internet has returned, however the orignial blog post concept no longer feels appropriate. This morning as I sat absently in front of my computer, nothing came to me.

And then, as I stood over the stove, pouring eggs over the vegetables I had prepared for breakfast, I realized how quickly all of this has become. I find it rather remarkable how quickly something completely new and different can become familiar and comfortable. I now walk around my neighborhood of Lusaka knowing the streets, and if I get lost on a run I know which direction I should point myself in order to find home. I can recognize the sound of the landlords car revving at the gate, or the vuvezelas signaling soccer matches at the nearby fields. Portico's has quickly become a favorite location for meeting friends to watch world cup games, and I can always tell you who is playing and at what time.

Some things I am still discovering and learning, like which direction to walk in to find the nearest purple vested hawker selling airtime for my phone, or where I can find a small vegatable stand nearby my apartment. I am still busy finding activities and making new friends. Work, too, is a new adventure, and my days are busy with meetings and reading documentation to try to understand the scope of work, structure and goals of the organization. These, too, I'm sure will soon be familiar.