more love

So, unlike my last grim little entry, I think this one will be a bit more upbeat. I woke up today smiling, avoided the bitterberry juice (ha), and couldn’t help but notice all the lovely things about living here. So here they are.

Things I love about Zambia…

- The rains. I’ve always loved the rain, but it’s particularly nice here because it lasts so long and puts you right to sleep at night.
- Talking to people while I walk to work. All sorts of people.
- How young men here wear sweater vests, even in the boiling heat.
- The clouds and sky line.
- The sincerely happy smiles you get when you attempt to speak nyanja.
- How walking on muddy paths requires many of the same skills required of walking on ice.
- How women carry things on their heads. All sorts of big, awkward, heavy things, and they always look so elegant.
- How, despite very difficult lives, people don’t really complain at all.
- How people say ‘sorry sorry’ when you do something foolish, like fall in the mud. And they actually do seem concerned/sympathetic.
- That I have so far managed to avoid eating caterpillars.
- How dark and richly brown peoples’ skin is. It’s very unusual (for me) and beautiful.
- That (Zambian) MacBrian is as much of a hypochondriac about malaria as I am.
- The tall grass. It’s so tall! It adds a sort of mystery to all short cut paths.
- The traditional, brightly coloured, often animal-patterned chatengeh (sp?) material.
- How much people love and take care of their families.
- That my office mate Chiluba is such a girl. She wears frilly, lacey tops and gets genuinely grossed out by bugs all the time :)
- The uniquely Zambian (British?) English: Knocking off (leaving work), give you a push (walk you part way), drink-y, lunch-y, talk-y (nyanja-English).
- How almost all vendors quote me a gazillion times too much all the time. E-way.
- How moms carry their babies tied to their back.
- How easily I can integrate ‘dolla dolla bill’ and ‘come under my umbrella, ella ella eh’ into conversation.
- How happy people are to help – if you’re lost, covered in mud, or just want to know where to buy shoes.
- How the hardest decision of my day is often whether to take the short cut through the muddy, grassy (somewhat unsafe) field, or take the super long and twisting less dirty road to work.
- How interested people are in snow (i.e. how it tastes).
- The snails. The snails here are huge and have really nice shells.
- How upset (for me) my coworkers get when I come to work covered in mud (on the ‘short cut days’)
- Nshima (the local corn meal staple dish). It’s so bland, but also kind of comforting.
- That I get hugs from my coworkers fairly regularly.
- The puppies they sell at the crossroad by Manda Hill. So cute, but also so sad.
- The dangerous but oh-so exciting and affordable mini-buses.

… I think that’s all for now!