Off like a herd of turtles!

 Well, it might be an exaggeration to say that we are off to a turtle-ish start, but it is taking us longer than I thought it would to get situated and get going on research. That being said, I realistically knew that I wouldn’t waltz in a start interviewing on day two or three. The first thing I am anxious to sort out is getting my mobile configured so that I can get emails to my phone. The day we tried to set it up, the battery died right in the middle of it! We are hoping to get back to Airtel today to get that sorted. Also, the latest technology-rage is portable modems so that you can have internet-connection almost anywhere! To a non-techie like myself, this sounds pretty sci-fi….but we are going to try to get one. We used Rod’s while he was here and it is pretty slick! We’ll see how successful we are at finding one of those. What a crazy difference from when I was here a decade ago and Mr. Beel would spend hours and hours trying to connect to the internet to send and receive messages. 

Cell phones and internet connections are not the only changes that amaze me. Lusaka does not even look like its former-self! Construction sites around every corner, growing suburbs, an amazing number of cars jamming streets full, shopping malls and women wearing jeans/pants. So very different! I am told though that outside the city remains basically the same as before – with the exception of regular cell phone use in small towns and in the bush. The contrast between rich and poor is striking.

This morning we walked to the office that my research is affiliated with. I met some incredibly kind and knowledgeable people. I am looking forward to working with them – I can learn much from their experience and expertise. Tomorrow I will meet with my main person and then hopefully schedule some interviews! We shall see…..

The location of our guesthouse is really quite perfect. It is a about 20 minutes from the office, 5 minutes from groceries and a nice café, and 25 minute walk from a grocery store that sells soy milk (!!) and another café that even sells soy lattes!  I think there might be something wrong with me: everywhere I go, I scout out coffee/cafe options. My line to Matthew is that “my happiness is relative to my proximity to coffee.” A little over the top perhaps, but true to a certain degree because I continue the same scouting pattern wherever I roam.

I love the heat. I say that now, because it is a few degrees cooler today with a beautiful breeze, but really I do love the heat. I’m pretty sure that my body is programmed to live in the sub-tropics. It just feels right. Heat makes some people grouchy, but for me it is cold that does that. It just makes me growly! I love walking on dusty sidewalks too. And it feels good to wash my dirty feet several times a day. So refreshing! Walking in the city is different though, because you don’t greet everyone along the way. I am used to saying “morning, morning, morning….” as I pass people on journey – but here you only get the occasional greeting. I suppose this is just a classic symptom of urbanization: lack of a sense of community. It is to be expected I suppose.

One of my favourite pastimes as I walk along is to note the unique names of shops or to giggle at the shops that are called Zam______. For example, Zambeef, Zamloaf, Zamtel, etc. And one particularly clever marketing campaign for Airtel ends several phrases with “Be Zambitious!” Catchy, eh?  Another fun game is to randomly add Zam- as a prefix to my words as I go about my day.  You should try it - it is Zamtastic!

Well, I think that is quite enough from me for today. Can you tell that I haven’t quite got over the jet-lag thing? I am not a good sleeper at the best of times, but this being  wide awake at 2 or 3 am has got to stop soon! It is out of control. I wake up and I’m ready to go for the day – I usually fall asleep again around 5 or 6am – and that’s with Chamomile tea. Sheesh.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! Much love, from Kabulonga!