15 Steps to living in Africa and my attempts to immerse myself into life here!
Step 1: DRESS LIKE A ZAMBIAN. A friend took me a couple weeks ago to pick out a chitenge and then take it to a tailor to have a traditional dress made. This week I picked up the finished product! Now I can dress like a Zambian woman!
Step 2: GET YOUR HAIR DONE. Plaiting of the hair. Now I look like an African (minus
the whole white skin thing). It only took seven packets of extensions and 8 hours of sitting! The biggest plus: I found extensions that matched my hair color almost perfectly! (In the packet they looked quite red, but I still don’t believe my hair is truly red…. Ha ha!)
Step 3: EAT THE FOOD. Eating of the nshima. How I’m beginning to truly love this white food and no longer caring about the using of my hand and no utensils. It was even served with fish on the day of my hair adventure and it was delish! However, I’m quite challenged to figure out how to eat fish with just one hand when it comes complete as you would find it in the water. Hmm…. But the fish was great and so was the veg! (I’ve learned my favorite green veg is called rape. Quite the name I think.) (Sorry, no picture of the food as of yet. I’ll try to remember next time.) And who could forget the avocados?!?!? Still trying to get into the whole mango thing though. Both of which are in season right now and are in abundance!
Step 4. LEARN THE LANGUAGE. Well, this one isn’t progressing that well, but I’m attempting it! I can now greet in Bemba, but my language teacher has become employed, so my lessons have ended. It was a start though and maybe will pick up sometime again in January! I’m really not a great student though. Shoulda remembered that one from my college days….
Words to be aware of:
Cishimu: Caterpillars (a common food here, so you must understand the Bemba, so you can very politely refuse the offer of this food)
Bowa: Mushrooms (another word to understand if you are like me and really do not care for mushrooms, which are growing like crazy here with all the rain)
Step 5. TRAVEL BY FOOTING. Or walking. The best way to get around! Ha! I’m starting to really appreciate walking and understanding what it means to “give you a push.” When a visitor is leaving, you “give them a push,” or rather, walk them back towards the direction they are headed. Oftentimes, this “push” requires that you walk them all the way home. Which if you are prepared for, really isn’t that big of a deal. Just more time to spend with them, find out where they live, meet their family, and then be welcomed into their home as well!
Step 6: ATTEND A YOUTH OVERNIGHT.
The Goal: Eat the most Chocolate with fork and knife after putting on sunglasses, chitenge, and scarf
- The Goal: blow up five balloons until they pop.
Oh the joy of spending Christmas Eve/Christmas morning with a group of other youth focused on giving praise to Jesus! We spent the n
ight in prayer, praise, eating, playing games, and many other activities typical in Africa. I even had the chance to introduce a few new games, including the consumption of chocolate!
Step 7: ATTEND A WOMEN’S CONFERENCE. What is being a part of any church without experiencing an all women’s meeting?!? While this meeting was held entirely in Bemba, I had a great time experiencing African culture and had moments of pure joy and awe listening to these women sing their hearts out to Jesus. It is such a treasure to be in room full of just women’s voices singing praise in a language I don’t know, but yet to the same God! The theme was “Unity is Power” and the study through the scriptures of the commandment of being unified was a sweet picture and great goal for this denomination and all churches in general. I was able to follow and learn, even though it was all in Bemba! In addition to the great learning, imagine a mouse running across the floor in a room of women in America. This is what happened when a lizard proceeded to enter the church and run across the floor, minus the screaming you would hear in the States!! (See picture for a slight glimpse of this awesome worship experience! Note the uniform: white dress shirt with the blue ECZ chitenge. They look so smart!)
Women from ECZ Churchs in Ndola and Luanshya.
Step 8: VISIT AN ORPHANAGE. Like I mentioned in my last newsletter, I have found an orphanage to make weekly visits to while I am in Zambia. Orphanages are quite common here, due to the sad devastation that HIV/AIDS is creating. Going to a place where babies will grow up with no parents and showing them love is one of the biggest blessings in my life. I cannot spend a day with them without being thankful for my own life and two incredible parents God has allowed me to have. I also leave every time full of joy and laughter as I think about the lessons I learn from the workers there and the babies themselves. The workers shower love on the babies, holding them and caring for them like their own children. The babies have such joy and their laughter is contagious. And who wouldn’t love to receive millions of hugs from little people!?!?
Step 9: GET SOAKED. As it is now rainy season, you never know when it might rain. I have learned the weather here is more temperamental than anything I’ve ever experienced. It can be blistering hot and humid and unbearable one minute, and within thirty seconds you can literally feel the weather change and the heavens open and the temperature drop ten or twenty degrees. Once you have experienced this and gotten soaked, then you start to be a bit more prepared and always carry an umbrella with you. Lesson learned!
Step 10: RIDE THE MINIBUS. Ok, this really isn’t that challenging, but it is quite the experience! Once you have ridden the bus once and figured out their routes (which in Ndola, are very simple), you get used to the concept and all nervousness leaves you. It’s quite a cheap way to travel if I’m not feeling up to walking. So far all trips I’ve made within Ndola are under 2000 kwacha, which is just under 50 cents. Just be prepared to crawl over seats and people getting in and out and sharing your personal space with others. In comparison with the mutatus in Kenya, the minibus in Zambia is a piece of cake! And riding the minibus beats playing a live version of Frogger by crossing the streets!!
Step 11: GO WITHOUT POWER. While I normally always have power, there are the few days where it will be out for awhile. Either from being turned off while they cut down trees, or from the prepaid meter running out of kwacha. So you learn to not open the fridge, and always have a towel ready for the defrosting that will occur! You also learn how to move about your house in the dark and to always have candles ready!!
Step 12: BECOME BEST FRIENDS WITH YOUR FRENCH PRESS. Ha ha! Only if you really love coffee or tea will this affect you! Thankfully, I now have a water kettle, so I don’t have to boil water on the stove anymore. And truly, my French press has really been an amazing gift, allowing me to not spend my kwacha on a coffee maker here, and still enjoy a cup of coffee each day! (Tip: try adding just a dollop of sweet and condensed milk to your coffee…..however, this is probably only really tasty if you live in Africa)
Step 13: WEAR SOCKS WITH FLIPFLOPS. While I don’t think I’ll be trying this one out, it is quite common to see men with socks on in addition to the flip flop. While it can be warm here, floors are often chilly, so wearing socks is often desirable (just beware of the super shiny, and therefore slick floors…you might break your neck!) Then when leaving the house, the choice comes down to what am I ok getting wet or muddy today?
Step 14: READ. A LOT. Since I live alone, I have had quite the numerous evenings to spend reading. Needless to say, I’ve read through a lot of books, both good and not so good since I’ve been here. I’ve also met a couple Zambian friends who share my passion for reading so we exchange books often, increasing my options for reading!
Step 15: LINE DRY YOUR CLOTHES. Yes, this is the most important thing about doing laundry here. You must line dry your clothes. The challenges you face with this task: 1. The tsetse fly from the mango trees. 2. The rain. Hang indoors or outdoors? How fast am I going to be able to move today if it starts to rain and my laundry is outside? Hmm….decisions, decisions!