The day has finally come, the anticipation is at its highest, in just three days on Monday July 13, 2011 the Simmons family will finally touch down in Zambia!! I am overwhelmed with excitement about their arrival as it will have been 11 months since I have seen them. I can’t wait to show them Zambia, a country that I have fallen in love with and continue to discover and explore everyday. I will also be lucky enough to experience parts of Zambia, which I haven’t been able to see yet, including my first Safari in South Luwangwa national park in Eastern province. After our four-day Safari we will head to Kalaba, my village for two days of “roughing it” (AKA reality to me). My village is ecstatic about their arrival and has planned a huge celebration where I am pretty sure they are preparing enough food to feed my entire village. Finally we will head to beautiful Livingstone and Victoria Falls to relax and soak up one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
As my family's arrival continued to get closer I started to think about all of the differences in American and Zambian culture. I decided to compile a small list of “advice and adjustments” that they might find useful when coming to the “real Africa”. It is quite a funny list to the outsider’s eye so I thought I would share it with you all.
Lusaka/Arrival:
- Talking about the airport, I will be there to pick you up and it will be near impossible to miss me. There is one gate, one terminal, and customs, passport control; security and baggage claim are all within one room. Welcome to Zambia!
- The cab drivers will try and charge us a “muzungu” (foreigner/white person) price. Just smile and let my Bemba skills go to use. This is when they come in hand the most. They will most likely cut the price in half when they realize you aren’t their average tourists.
- Lusaka (the capital of Zambia) is not a realistic view of Zambia. Most compare it with South Africa as every store, restaurant and amenity is from South Africa. Nonetheless it has restaurants, which we lack in Mansa (my provincial capital) and obviously in the village. Therefore I will be really excited to eat food, which you are used to consuming everyday in America. Just let me get excited and chuckle silently to yourselves when I change my mind of what to order 10 times because I am overwhelmed by the amount of choices.
- The reason we are only staying in Lusaka for a day is because there is nothing to do there but eat and shop so if you want to “see the sites” we will have to just wait until we get on Safari.
Village Life:
- When we arrive EVERYONE in my village is going to stare at you constantly and probably won’t stop the entire time you are there. This is because of a few reasons. First, we are arriving in a taxi, which is probably the only car they have seen all day. Second, we are white and we are many (as they say here in Zamlish). It is already an event when I arrive alone from a weekend in Mansa on my bike but now there will be four white people which is basically like having the Beatles, Lady Gaga and Brangelina show up in your town at the same time.
- There will be kids around my hut constantly. Even if you don’t see them they are like the children of the corn (literally hiding in the maize fields) or trees or bushes. They might be scared at first but eventually they will come out to play and they will no doubt melt your hearts instantly.
- EVERYONE is going to want to greet you. In Zambian culture greeting someone is one of the most important and respectful gestures you can give. You greet people at every point in the day, morning, afternoon and evening. So we will work on your Bemba skills before you get here and they will think its amazing and hilarious if you even attempt to greet them in their own language.
- They are going to call you fat. This is not because you are fat. They call me fat, they call my friend fat who barely weighs over 100 pounds, this is because it is a compliment to call you fat. It literally translates in Bemba, as “you look good or healthy”. This is the result of living in a 3rd world country where malnutrition is a very real issue. To call someone fat means they have enough food to support themselves and their families, which is a rarity in the village.
- My hut is very small, very very small. We will make it work but it is going to be tight. Just think of it as family bonding time.
- My village and I have been waiting for your arrival ever since I moved there in September. So enjoy all of the beauty that is Zambia and is the African bush as it is a view of Africa that few people truly get.
I think that is it for now. I will be sure to write another blog when our wonderful vacation is over. I can’t wait for all of the stories, jokes, and amazing experiences we are going to have together. Mwende Bwino (Travel Safely) and see you so soon!
Love to all of you back in the states and thank you so much for being so supportive this past year. Knowing I have such a strong support system near and far is something I value dearly. Love and miss to all of you!
