My way to work and home

When I leave work, I walk first along Los Angeles road. The road is filled with people trying to sell something. The products range from clothes and shoes to pots and pans, toothbrushes and tootpaste and any sort of foodstuffs. I hear plenty of shouts around me and if someone greets me, I usually try to greet them back. I walk to the city market, where I have to ask which minibus goes to Chawama. There are no signs on the buses, so asking is the only way. Now, the people there already recognize me, and direct me to the right bus.

I get on the right minibus and then we wait for the minibus to fill. This means four persons for each row that are actually meant for three. However, I've never seen anyone saying that the minibus is so full that they don't take anyone anymore; instead, there is always room for one. Having no timetable might sound bad, but for someone, who regularly misses the bus she is targetting and thus waits the maximum time, it is usually pretty good arrangement.

While we are waiting, there are usually people coming to sell all kinds of things from the minibus windows. Selling drinks or snacks I can understand, but sometimes the things are plain odd, like combs, toothbrushes or toys. Usually the bus fills reasonably quickly, as there are a lot of people travelling to the direction of Chawama. However, during the rush hour there are a lot of minibuses leaving at the same time, so sometimes we have to wait for a long time just to get out from the city market and to proceed the first kilometer.

After the minibus leaves, we pay 3000 kwachas (~50 cents) to the conductor. As also the aisle has seats, the conductor cannot move so other passengers pass the money on. I get off at Snow White. (There is a butchery named Snow White there. No, I don't have an idea either why anybody would name a butchery Snow White.) The bus continues further to Chawama market and to John Howard.

From Snow White, I walk through Kuku market. First the road is really busy but little by little there are fewer stalls and there is more room to walk. Then I walk through some yards along a smaller path. Here in these houses, there are usually some kids who greet me daily. Sometimes there is a big choir yelling "How are you?". On a good day, I greet them all back but on a bad day I have energy only for the first few. Then I walk a short way along a railway line, and turn left to walk through a maize field. Now, the field is flooded, so I have to walk a bit further to go around it. Then, I'm in Kamwala South, so it's only a short way to home. The whole way takes about an hour, depending on the traffic. I could probably walk the whole way to work in the same time.

In the beginning, I was very worried whether I'd find my way, but luckily there are some unforgettable landmarks.

To go to work, the procedure is the same. The bus leaves from Snow White, and also from there, there are buses going to different places in the city center, but I always take a big bus that brings me to Soweto market. The big buses are more comfortable: they have seats for four people in a row and only four people are actually expected to sit there. Well, except for the back row, there are always five people, and of course if there are more people coming to bus, then it is five in a row... For some reason, the price in this direction is only 2000 kwachas.

Travelling with minibuses is full of surprises: perhaps the biggest possible one happened earlier this week: the (big) minibus left from Snow White even before it was full. I had gone to almost empty minibus, and for a reason unknown to me, the driver didn't wait it to fill, but instead we collected people on the way to city center. Some surprises are maybe not that surprising: Once the minibus broke down. Luckily, pretty soon another empty minibus came and picked us up.