Monday 26 July 2010

Some cultural differences

There are many aspects in Zambian culture that I still don't properly understand. One of them is that people are both extremely polite and extremely rude. Nobody wants to tell unpleasant truths, so instead they tell white lies. For instance, there is this guy who often comes to see me at our home (I mentioned how I met him in this blog post. He's starting to annoy me quite a bit but I can't tell that to him because it wouldn't be polite.). He came by several times during the weekend when I was in South Luangwa, and at some point he asked for my number. Obviously, I've instructed my family not to give my number to anyone. In that case, I probably would've told that he should ask the phone number from me when he sees me next time. Instead of that, they claimed that I had changed my number and that they didn't have it – which seems to me like a rather absurd story. Similarly, I've also tried different approaches to declining to give my number and white lies seem to work best. Some guys have simply refused to understand what it means when I say that I don't give my number to strangers.

Then there is the other side of the coin: people are often very rude, at least from a Finnish perspective. A good example of the rudeness was a situation that happened at work. I was supposed to supervise a computer exam for the students. When I went to the computer class, there was a middle-aged man using one of the computers. I told him politely that we are having an exam there and that we need also that computer. He told me that someone had told him that no-one is using the computers at that time and that he was writing some important document for KYP. I tried to be extremely polite and apologized for the misunderstanding but there was no way that he would leave the computer. He told me that he needed it only for a short time, which was in the end 1,5 hours. You might imagine how furious I was because organizing the computer exams is difficult enough even when we can use all the computers. In a situation like this, middle-aged men can be as rude as they want whereas everyone else is expected to accommodate to their needs and be friendly and polite.

(It was also a good lesson for me: even though everything always works out in the end here, it might still be better to plan properly. I'm so used to it now that nothing works as planned that my enthusiasm towards planning has declined and sometimes it has perhaps forced other people to accommodate too much because of my requirements.)

One of the stereotypes about Africa is the communality. It is true, at least here in Zambia. Also that has positive and negative effects from my point of view. It means that basically anyone feels that they have the right to come and talk to me and ask what am I doing here. I understand the curiosity and it's fine with me but it gets a bit tiring sometimes – especially when the discussion turns into my phone number. The positive side is that there are people ready to protect me. When someone has started insulting me, someone else has usually defended me. Or when someone started following me home from the Chawama market, I could just ask some boys to help me and they talked with the guy and I got rid of him.

One of the things that amazed me for a very long time was how nobody seemed to have any money saved for the rainy day. I've since understood that there are actual reasons for that (I know there are probably more of them than the ones that I mention here.). First, the inflation rate in this country is still around 10%, and historically it has been a lot higher. Therefore, it's best to invest the money immediately. Besides that, there are also cultural reasons: If you have money, someone will come to you and ask to borrow it. Because of the requirement to be polite, it is really hard to refuse. And it might be about a sick child or something similar, so you would feel really guilty refusing to lend the money. For the same reason, it is usually possible to borrow money if you really need it. Getting the money back is more difficult, so it's best if you've invested the money so that you cannot lend it to anyone.

So what happens when somebody receives money: Is it all just splurged? A part of it undoubtedly is, and I can understand that. However, a share of it is usually invested. For instance, my family has a fairly big house, that has a small flat separately, where there are tenants. They are also building another small house to the plot. So whenever there is extra money, it is used to buy building materials. That's very common here, and it works as a sort of insurance as well. If everything goes wrong, they can still rely on having they own house and receiving some rent from the tenants.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Anu , Thanks for the detailed list of costs in lusaka., am planning to arrive in a few weeks, could u tell something about finding an accommodation. Am looking for a 2-3 Bedroom house / flat for 400 - 600 usd , thanks in advance

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  2. Hey Anu great insights, it is always nice to get constructive feedback on how visitors view us.

    BTW KJ we have an online classified site www.goleka.com that you can post and view houses for rent in Zambia. We look forward to welcoming you to Zambia.

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  3. Hi,
    Sorry for the delay in answering to you KJ. Unfortunately, I can't help you much since I haven't rented a house myself. I know only that the local newspapers have adverts. You should ask for local advice when searching for a place. The areas vary quite a lot in respect of safety and water and power cuts. Also, the traffic in Lusaka is bad, so you'll want to consider carefully the areas you need to reach.

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  4. Hei,
    Reading you your blog makes me have issues with you on a number of points,but then I need to be polite and keep them out of a public forum like this.
    I was groomed and brought up in Lusaka but educated in Helsinki so I have an insight in both cultures,I am now thinking how best to respond to your posts without developing issues with you.

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  5. Hi,
    Thanks for your comment, and I'm sorry that you are upset with my blog! I understand that there is probably a lot criticize from a Zambian perspective and I hope that you keep in mind that the point of this blog was to write (mostly to my friends) about my experiences - both good and bad - in Lusaka.

    I spent there only six months, so I do not claim to have any thorough understanding of the Zambian culture. If I read now some of the things that I wrote when I arrived there, I wouldn't necessarily even agree with myself. But that's the nature of blogging, I think.

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