We were supposed to have a meeting at work at 2 pm. At 1.55, I was starting to feel a bit restless, and at 2 o'clock I asked from the people next door that weren't we supposed to have a meeting. They smiled at me and told that we'd have lunch first but the lunch wasn't ready yet. After perhaps ten minutes they called me to go to lunch with them. Around 3 pm we went to the office to wait for the meeting to start. Around 3.20, others arrived and we were able to actually start the meeting.
Waiting is the thing in Zambia that usually gets on mzungus nerves. ”I'll be there soon” usually means that you have to wait at least 20-30 minutes, and when somebody says 20 minutes you should at least double the time. This has taught me new aspects of myself: I have almost endless patience when it comes to waiting. I guess I should thank my brothers for this as they have very Zambian time concept.
There are some exceptions to my patience though: My 8 o'clock communication skills class is a nightmare. First, I have to get up very early to make it to work before 8, and then the students come very late. By 8.30 maybe a half of the students has arrived. It makes teaching next to impossible.
Patience isn't always such a good thing either. It took over 1,5 months from me to get my work permit. I'm sure that if I had had less patience, the process would've been faster.
I get annoyed with waiting also if it seems that I cannot make it home before it gets dark. That is one of the things that I've found most difficult to get used to: it's not safe to walk alone after dark. (This is not a general rule of Lusaka though, there are areas where also a white girl can walk safely in the evening, but Kamwala South is just too quiet.) I've had someone escort me when I've gone home as late as 8 o'clock in the evening. It's also annoying when I know that it means that my friend spends extra two hours traveling with minibuses just to make sure that I got home safely.
On more technical issues, I was thinking what would I choose if I could have one thing fixed here to make my life more comfortable. Would I choose running water, washing machine, indoor toilet, no power cuts, internet connection or something else? (Actually having reliable running water would fix most of the problems. For the moment, having an indoor toilet or a washing machine would be rather pointless when you cannot count on having water all the time.) In the end, I came to the conclusion that I would choose a functioning waste management system. At home, waste “management” means that we dump all the garbage across the road. At work, it's chucked in the backyard.
The lack of waste management annoys me in several ways. It means that there is trash just about everywhere. The trash is burnt regularly, and walking through the smoke that comes from burning plastic is not one of my favorite things to do. It makes me also feel guilty for everything I buy - particularly for bottled water - because I know where the empty bottles end up. It also feels like a personal insult for me as an engineer. This country has numerous problems that are really difficult to solve. However, waste management is plain logistics so it shouldn't be such a difficult problem to solve but it does require money.
Friday 23 April 2010
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Language matters
Zambia has over 70 languages. Nyanja is the main local language and also the language that the people around me both at home and at work speak. Thus Nyanja is the only local language of which I have learned any words. Nyanja is closely related to Chichewa, which is spoken in Malawi. English is the official language in Zambia and probably because of the large number of languages, it is also used a lot. For instance, all the street advertisement is in English. Most of the people speak English, and especially the ones, with whom I need to talk, speak fluent English. I am not particularly gifted when it comes to learning languages, so it has been difficult to try to find the motivation to learn Nyanja – especially because I know that I won't manage to get very far in only six months.
I know that it's polite to try to learn the local language and people often ask me whether I speak Nyanja. They also encourage me to learn more when they hear the few words that I know. That's why I decide regularly that I need to learn Nyanja and grab the Chichewa Intensive Course book that is in my office. Equally regularly, I get frustrated by just reading the first chapter: Instead of starting with the usual phrases like ”My name is Jill. What is your name?”, it starts with the ever-useful sentences such as ”He leaves the hoe here.” (”Usiya khasu pano.”) and ”We take the bow.” (”Titenga uta”). (The book is written by Rev. Fr. N. Salaun and it was first printed in 1969. It is targeted at missionaries working in Malawi and Zambia.)
I met an American volunteer in Malawi, who had stayed there only a little bit longer than I in Lusaka and who was able to have simple conversations in Chichewa. Thus, I have again decided that I need to learn Nyanja, but this time I am going to go and see whether I could find a bit more modern book from a book store. The unfortunate part is that even if I manage to learn some Nyanja there is always the next question: ”What about Bemba? Have you learned any Bemba?”.
I know that it's polite to try to learn the local language and people often ask me whether I speak Nyanja. They also encourage me to learn more when they hear the few words that I know. That's why I decide regularly that I need to learn Nyanja and grab the Chichewa Intensive Course book that is in my office. Equally regularly, I get frustrated by just reading the first chapter: Instead of starting with the usual phrases like ”My name is Jill. What is your name?”, it starts with the ever-useful sentences such as ”He leaves the hoe here.” (”Usiya khasu pano.”) and ”We take the bow.” (”Titenga uta”). (The book is written by Rev. Fr. N. Salaun and it was first printed in 1969. It is targeted at missionaries working in Malawi and Zambia.)
I met an American volunteer in Malawi, who had stayed there only a little bit longer than I in Lusaka and who was able to have simple conversations in Chichewa. Thus, I have again decided that I need to learn Nyanja, but this time I am going to go and see whether I could find a bit more modern book from a book store. The unfortunate part is that even if I manage to learn some Nyanja there is always the next question: ”What about Bemba? Have you learned any Bemba?”.
Tuesday 6 April 2010
Lusaka
“The capital of Zambia is a small city, part modern and part traditional African, where the dusty markets sit alongside very Soviet-looking high-rise blocks. Although Zambia is a fascinating country, Lusaka will never be a highlight for tourists. There are few notable buildings, monuments or other sights, but it does boast a lively ambiance and genuine African feel. The markets are good, there's a decent arts scene and the nightclubs throb at weekends. If you have to be in Lusaka for a few days (eg while waiting for yet another visa), you'll have no trouble passing the time pleasantly enough.”
That's how my Lonely Planet Southern Africa describes Lusaka. I find rather accurate though maybe a bit too positive. So what can you do when you find yourself spending six months in a city that is not particularly bad if you absolutely must stay there for few days?
The big problem in Lusaka is that it is not safe to walk alone after dark (at least for a white girl living in my area). As it takes from me about an hour to get home, and we knock off work at 17, it means that there isn't much time to do anything after work. Taxis exist of course, but they are not really known for their reliability, and they are not particularly cheap either. In practice, there is anyway very little spare time during the weekdays, because I go to sleep so early. I wake up around 6 in the morning (I know, no one who knows me will believe it.) so I'm usually in bed already before 22.
Otherwise for the entertainment, I would perhaps compare Lusaka with some great cosmopolitan cities, such as Riihimäki in Finland or Heidenheim in Germany. I am the wrong person to ask about nightlife anywhere, but it does exist in Lusaka. I've been in one nightclub, which was sort of a mix of a disco, a sport's bar and a fast-food restaurant, but I know other types of places exist as well. There are also pubs almost everywhere and apparently Zambian drinking culture resembles the Finnish one closely.
For weekends, there are some options. There are two malls north from the city close to each other. I had heard a lot about them and thus I was expecting see some reasonably fancy shopping centers. The reality was again something you might find in Riihimäki: Big supermarket, few restaurants, some clothing shops, a book shop and some other shops. The other one has a cinema, which is of course a plus. These malls are not very easy or fast to reach from Kamwala South, but luckily the selection is not that spectacular that I wouldn't be able to live without them. There is also a public swimming pool in Lusaka that I haven't visited. Last time when I heard someone mentioning that, they hadn't had any water for weeks. Otherwise, there are some sights in and around Lusaka: National Museum, Munda Wanga environmental park and Kalimba reptile park, where you can see crocodiles and snakes.
In case anybody has had any ideas how the life of a volunteer must be really exciting, I hope this blog post has successfully diminished them. (However, it doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a good idea to come and visit me here! Outside Lusaka, Zambia has many interesting places to see: Victoria Falls, all the national parks, Lake Kariba... Summer is anyway the best time to see the wildlife, so just start booking your flights! :-))
That's how my Lonely Planet Southern Africa describes Lusaka. I find rather accurate though maybe a bit too positive. So what can you do when you find yourself spending six months in a city that is not particularly bad if you absolutely must stay there for few days?
The big problem in Lusaka is that it is not safe to walk alone after dark (at least for a white girl living in my area). As it takes from me about an hour to get home, and we knock off work at 17, it means that there isn't much time to do anything after work. Taxis exist of course, but they are not really known for their reliability, and they are not particularly cheap either. In practice, there is anyway very little spare time during the weekdays, because I go to sleep so early. I wake up around 6 in the morning (I know, no one who knows me will believe it.) so I'm usually in bed already before 22.Otherwise for the entertainment, I would perhaps compare Lusaka with some great cosmopolitan cities, such as Riihimäki in Finland or Heidenheim in Germany. I am the wrong person to ask about nightlife anywhere, but it does exist in Lusaka. I've been in one nightclub, which was sort of a mix of a disco, a sport's bar and a fast-food restaurant, but I know other types of places exist as well. There are also pubs almost everywhere and apparently Zambian drinking culture resembles the Finnish one closely.
For weekends, there are some options. There are two malls north from the city close to each other. I had heard a lot about them and thus I was expecting see some reasonably fancy shopping centers. The reality was again something you might find in Riihimäki: Big supermarket, few restaurants, some clothing shops, a book shop and some other shops. The other one has a cinema, which is of course a plus. These malls are not very easy or fast to reach from Kamwala South, but luckily the selection is not that spectacular that I wouldn't be able to live without them. There is also a public swimming pool in Lusaka that I haven't visited. Last time when I heard someone mentioning that, they hadn't had any water for weeks. Otherwise, there are some sights in and around Lusaka: National Museum, Munda Wanga environmental park and Kalimba reptile park, where you can see crocodiles and snakes.
In case anybody has had any ideas how the life of a volunteer must be really exciting, I hope this blog post has successfully diminished them. (However, it doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a good idea to come and visit me here! Outside Lusaka, Zambia has many interesting places to see: Victoria Falls, all the national parks, Lake Kariba... Summer is anyway the best time to see the wildlife, so just start booking your flights! :-))
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