Every weekend, my roommate, Laura and I have explored the town by foot (of course). We just get on Cairo Rd and ask people where something is located. Not only are the pedestrians happy to stop and tell us, they often want to walk and show us. I love Zambians.
One of our first outings was to the local market of Kumwala. It was a maze of shacks with mud streets. The Saturday we went, it had just rained and every path was flooded. There is very little drainage in the city and it rains hard here so Lusaka streets flood regularly. Anyway, back at the market, the word "plague" came to mind and we couldn't wait to get out of there as we clung to the high ground. I have since gone back when it was dry and explored. We bought linoleum flooring, Christmas decorations, sewing supplies, dry fish for catfood, and "Cheeky Chili" which were so much more available there than in the supermarkets.
I have had three occasions where a stranger has touched my skin in passing like they were just checking out what I was made of. That surprised me because I had never experienced that in the rural areas where I might have expected to be the oddity. Very recently, I lost my wallet on Cairo road. Peace Corps security officer took me to the police station to make a report and then to the bank to get a new bank card. The next day I got a call from Peace Corps that a stranger had driven over there to return the card and ID papers. Somehow the wallet and cash went missing (surprise! but the important stuff was returned across town.
I spent two afternoons tracking down the store that supplies satellite TV. I had planned to subscribe over the holidays if it was affordable. It isn't. I was told that our TV was ready for the service but it wasn't. The converter box needs to be upgraded and the channels we wanted to watch were of course only in the most expensive package. So now we are watching movies that Laura has on her computer's hard drive. I still get a thrill over having electricity 24-7.
We have continued to have a good experience living in our 3 story apartment building which faces an identical building, separated by front lawns and sidewalk. The children make happy noises on the front yard all day long. The ice cream man peddles his bicycle freezer daily up the sidewalk ringing a cow bell. There were 3 weeks of fireworks which was annoying but it stopped at a reasonable hour at night. We learned more about the history of the buildings, too. They were built by the African National Foundation (ANF) for anti-apartheid South Africans to work from. This explains why my 84 year old landlady is a South African Chieftainess (Zulu) and why our front door reads African Heritage House. Because of the dangers of becoming targets of violence, names of ownership or occupancy were never written down so most people stayed rent-free and ownership disputes had to go to court on a case-by-case basis. The original occupants knew one another and had lawn parties on Friday nights. The flats have since been rented to strangers such as Peace Corps. (smiley) We are having some difficulties with bill payment. I moved in on Dec 2nd but Peace Corps couldn't pay until the 26rd so I scraped together half of the quarter's rent because I wanted to move in right away. I paid the remainder on Dec. 26th. The landlady was not happy to say the least. On the 30th we got a 2 day shut-off notice for our water. I had given the landlady the money already so I sent the bill to her and talked by phone. On the 30th she left a rose bouquet and cake inside our apartment with a card. Two days later, our water was shut off so I paid it and sent her a text because she was planning a holiday visit to South Africa. Luckily they reconnected the water the same day so nothing was lost but an extra K100,000 and time off of work. Other than those issues which hopefully we can sort out by the next payment due, we love the furniture, kitchen, bath, etc and wouldn't think of moving. Cleopatra, our African Queen Cat came to live with us toward the end of December. By that time, we had all the mosquito screens on the windows so she could be an indoor cat for a week of acclimatization. She was calm and happy from the start. Luckily her real owner had her fixed so I don't have to do the kitten routine. The cockroach population has also receded partly due to her, I think, and the other part to cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We know they can always run back and forth between apartments so will probably never be totally rid of them.
Now that I live in Lusaka I am expecting--and getting--a lot of Peace Corps Volunteer visitors. So is Laura. Hers are from Eastern Province and mine from Northern so we are becoming acquainted with a lot of new folks. Some are passing through for vacation. Others actually want to visit. On Jan 2 I had 4 camped out in the living room (tent, couch and floor) and one on the spare bed in my room. They were happy to have a free bed for the night. They are expected to help with food and drink but that is all. I kind of like cooking still. I made cakes, cookies, biscotti and bread in the little oven. The volunteers are so appreciative of anything. They are low maintenance visitors.
Is the cheeky chili for flavor? I remember we had to buy a bottle of chili sauce while we traveled thru Tanzania and Malawi because the food was soooo bland. I know first hand that the Zambian food is the same but I cannot imagine you cooking Nshima!
ReplyDeleteYes, you described it correctly: the food cooked locally is devoid of most spices except salt and garlic. Nshima is very bland because it is cooked without salt. Cheeky Chilli (with 2 ll's) is a staple. It comes in little bottles so is handy for the purse. It has added that extra zip to many meals. At home we add it to pasta, egg, and meat.
ReplyDelete