Fear and Loathing in Lusaka…minus the Fear and Loathing.

On Friday, I made the big trip to Lusaka. We missed the bus we had planned to take, so we had to settle for less timely transport. The bus we boarded took 2 hours to load. Buses here don’t leave until every seat is full. While you wait, a preacher comes on to the bus and gives a sermon. The sermon usually ends with a blessing of the bus and a request for “donations”. If you get hungry or thirsty during the trip, have no fear! Vendors come on to the bus to sell you cookies, candy, water, Fanta and Nigerian movies! Nigeria has a big movie production industry, so big it is now called Nollywood. Nollywood films tend to be extraordinarily sexist and terribly violent. Most of the wardrobe and make-up choices would be right at home in an early 90’s R&B video. I’m sure they have plots, but I think that’s an afterthought…there seems to be a lot of yelling and crying. If anyone can recommend a legitimately good Nollywood film, I would love to see it. I won’t hold my breath.
The bus ride took 5 hours because we made several stops along the way. Luckily they entertained us with the aforementioned Nigerian cinema. My cousin Ruth was my travel companion on the journey. She was so quite the whole way, I wasn’t sure if she was happy about making the trip. It turns out she had only been to Lusaka once before, 6 years ago. It made me realize how localized her life is. I asked her if there was anyone she wanted to visit while we were in the big city. She told me she wanted to see her husband! I knew her husband had been away at school, but I had no idea he was in Lusaka. I asked her when she last saw him; TWO YEARS AGO! I was shocked and surprised because she didn’t even hint that she was looking forward to seeing him while in the city.
When we got off the bus, we met with another cousin named Farai. Farai is in his early 20’s and lives in Lusaka. He would prove to be an amazing tour guide and all round great guy. He was kind enough to take me to every fabric store in town in order to find what I needed. It took quite a few stops to locate what I needed, but in the end I found 40 metres of flannelette and 30 metres of poly duvet filler. Farai not only helped me find it, but hauled it all around town for me!
Now back to Ruth and her husband. We arranged to meet Justin (the husband) at the local post office. When we met him we were surprised to learn that he had just graduated in the same electricians’ course as Farai! They recognized each other from school. It truly is a small world.
Ruth and Justin reunited by shaking hands, you could tell they were very happy…but they are very reserved people. I thought we should celebrate with some dinner. We went to a local mall complex called Arcade. It was a modern outdoor shopping spot, complete with a movie theatre. I chose a restaurant called Mike’s. I checked the menu and saw that there was a good variety of foods to choose from. The Mike’s chain is from South Africa and is equivalent to a number of North American family restaurants. They offer salads, stir-fries, chicken, fish, steak and snails. You know the usual. I thought it would be nice for my cousins to try a new spot. How did it go, you ask? Well, let’s just say they would have preferred a traditional meal of nshima.
There are things we take for granted or assume. For instance, I thought everyone was comfortable operating a fork and knife. This is not the case. My cousins view cutlery with the same suspicion many westerners have for chopsticks. They would much rather use their hands. I told them it was okay to eat French fries with their hands, but I could tell it was still uncomfortable for them. At first, I felt a bit bad about taking them somewhere that made them uncomfortable but after thinking about it I realized something. It is a blessing for us to have a cultural exchange, even if some of the experiences are uncomfortable. I am not completely comfortable eating traditional Zambian food but doing so expands my world view.
After dinner, we parted ways with Farai and made our way to a guest house that was recommended to me by my friend Pasina. Since the married cousins hadn’t seen each other in 2 years, I thought it wise to rent them a room. It worked out well because I had plans to go out for drinks with Pasina. This meant I didn’t have to leave Ruth alone.
I met Pasina on the internet years ago, we bonded over being Zambians…there were so few Zambians on the social networking sites 7 years ago. This was our first real-life meeting, but it wasn’t awkward at all. We went to an Italian restaurant/bar called Portico. It seemed to be a hot spot for Zambia’s wealthier residents. The cocktail list had everything from mojitos to jaegerbombs. I had a couple of mojitos but no jaegerbombs. Some of Pasina’s friends came to meet us. There were two lovely sisters from the US and a couple of Zambians who had previously lived in the UK. It was fascinating to talk to them about life in Zambia from their perspective. The overall consensus was that Zambia is a place with great potential.
It was a great night, but all great nights come to an end. Pasina took me for a late night tour of the city in her car and dropped me off at guest house. She was kind enough to extend an invitation to her wedding next August. I really hope I can make it. I’m sure I will be itching to get back here by then!