Life continues

So, again I’ve managed to put a month between my last blog and my new one. Apologies.

I feel like blogging has become something that I need to feel inspired to do, by an actual event or something in my life here. And, unfortunately, while life is fantastic here, eventful is not really the word for it.

I like to think that by now I know Lusaka pretty well, and am getting a better idea of Zambia in general. I have still not done much traveling outside of the city (but may be going up north to Kitwe in the copper belt in a couple days as I write this). I’ve gotten to know a lot of great people here and feel like I have a good group of friends here.

Had a couple of adventures even. Went camping a while back up north at a place called Nsobe, which was a really cool campsite/ game reserve that was located right on a lake. it was great for getting to know people also as about 45 people went!

I've also been astonished by the amount of links to home I've made with people here. I've so far run into 3 Georgetown grads, one of whom lives 6 blocks from my house in DC, and one Georgetown professor (Prof. Taylor)! There are a lot of people who have either lived in or are soon to live in DC as well, which has made for good opportunities for me to tell people about the best places to eat (Which consist of Jetties, Surfside, and Vaces. Nowhere else).

The city is becoming warmer by the day. Summer is on its way here and the city has kind of blossomed. Streets that were previously brown and green now have bright bursts of purple from the jacaranda trees lining the road and the walls of houses have more and more colors on them as the flowers start to bloom.

I’ve also started to appreciate the things that I really take for granted at home. Here’s a quick list of those things from home that I really miss
1) DELI MEAT- we deal with some weird mystery meat here and anything beyond cooked chicken and tuna salad is looked at with extreme suspicion
2) THE DOLLAR- not thinking of everything in relation to the exchange rate
3) CUSTOMER SERVICE- it actually does not exist here
4) CELL PHONE PLANS- it may be infinitely more expensive than what we pay for phones here (buying talk time credit) but not looking at your declining credit amount every time you call or text someone is a definite plus
5) THE RADIO- even coming from DC, the home of America’s worst radio stations, having half decent DJs and music that sometimes consists of more than 4 songs repeated is nice

At the same time however, there’s a lot about this place that I’ve come to appreciate. Mainly the people and their general disposition towards life. Zambians are known as the friendly people of Africa, and the more easygoing ones too. Talking to people here is easy and fun. Many people who start talking to you on the street simply want to talk to you and be friendly. I’ve made a fantastic friend out of a cab driver named Ali here who picked me up off the side of the road one night, gave me his phone number and took me around the whole city the next day for next to nothing. Another friend, a mechanic who, along with Ali has been helping me to find a car- a ridiculously aggravating process here, has become a great person to talk to as well.

There are also little pieces of home that have managed to find their way to Zambia. A bagel place has opened a couple blocks from us- the first bagels in Lusaka. A wine bar is opening soon. There is a fantastic, brand new Mexican place here as well, that I love as they made NEW MEXICAN and south western food, which is like a little piece of home for me. And the biggest date to look forward to right now is a NEW YORK DELI. We are praying it includes real deli meat.

Anyway, Life in Lusaka is great. Apart from a few hiccups involving pick-pockets, life here has been pretty good. This is a short blog I suppose relative to my other ones, but I hope its enough of an update for everyone. I'll try to make them more regular as time goes on.

Hope everyone is doing well back home,
Hugs and kisses
Oliver