Interview with a Volunteer (cont.)
Q: What is the food like?
A: Depends who’s cooking! Me: an experiment that occasionally turns out to be edible. Or pasta. Mel: an experiment that always turns out to be gourmet and delicious – she’s an Aussie with an Italian grandmother, so the ‘barbies’ and lasagne are particularly tasty! A Zambian: nshima and ‘relish’ (usually a meat stew with tomato sauce, and vegetable such as rape), or ‘chicken n’ chips’. A restaurant: I eat out about once every two weeks, usually at one of the many fabulous Indian restaurants where I enjoy braving new and unpronounceable dishes that are always divine (when not painfully spicy!).
Almost any ingredient is available in Lusaka, at a price, so we have the opportunity to make most anything we want. And if you feel like splurging there are a few fancy restaurants where the words “bed of mâche” and “saffron-infused” might appear on the menu (although, having never been, that is pure speculation).
Q: What is the music like?
A: There are many different types of Zambian music, and Zambians listen to music from many different parts of Africa. I don’t have a radio, so I only get a chance to hear it when I am in a taxi, which is not often, or at someone’s house. Most of the Zambians I know are very into Gospel music, which is much more modern than one might imagine. And, as in any other country on the planet, there is no shortage of international music, including Enrique Iglesias, Westlife, Daddy Yankee, and our national hero, Celine Dion.
Personally, however, I will always equate “Zambian music” to singing! I don’t hear it as often as I would like – on Sundays in Church, at events such as kitchen parties, at the prison, and occasionally on the street – but every time I hear Zambians singing it makes me tingle from head to toe. The unrehearsed harmonies never cease to astound me – it’s like they all attend some pre-birth singing academy. And the sounds and rhythms are so quintessentially African. It’s pure joy to listen to.
Q: What are the markets like?
A: For those of you that have visited a market in a developing country, you will have a good idea of what the markets are like here. For those of you that haven’t, the atmosphere is difficult to describe. Lusaka has three main markets in and around the city centre. The most “posh” is City Market, a covered market in a structure built by the government, complete with security stations! The aisles are jam-packed with stalls selling everything from used shoes, dried fish, football jerseys, food, photocopying, pirated CDs and DVDs, hand-tailored suits, and various unrecognisably fly-covered parts of cows and chickens. Soweto is a market immediately behind City Market, which I only went to for the first time last week because I was dissuaded by everyone I know warning me how dangerous it is (Sam was stabbed in the throat there…). It’s a more informal open-air maze of wobbly stands made of wood, tin and cardboard, and concrete structures that form narrow alleyways (which double as rivers when it rains). There are quite a few “restaurants” (charcoal BBQs made out of paint cans and not much more) so wandering around involves passing through a lot of makeshift kitchens. The atmosphere is more intense, and people’s stares tend to drop straight from your face to your pockets, but it’s still an interesting and exciting place, and Zambians are always up for a laugh if you manage to keep your sense of humour. Finally, Kamwala is a combination of stores, owned almost exclusively by the city’s Middle Eastern and Indian population, and Soweto-style stands. There are also workshop areas where they make furniture and metal pots, pans, baths and ‘braiis’ (BBQs). It’s a labyrinth and I almost always get lost, unless I am with Sam, who can zip through at lightening speed with his eyes closed. I get hassled a lot in the markets here, which can be frustrating, but it’s all part of the experience.
And of course the streets of Lusaka moonlight as a market – boys pound the pavement of Cairo Rd. offering belts, shoes, pants, DVDs, jewellery, perfume, and all sorts of other items I can’t ever imagine wanting to buy on my way down the street. At streetlights (called ‘robots’) there are always people selling newspapers, pineapples, globes, ManU bath towels, cell phone holsters, puppies, live turkeys and all sorts of other items I can’t ever imagine wanting to buy while waiting for the light to turn green... And of course, the streets are lined with women sitting behind baskets of fruits and vegetables or carrying them around on their heads.
Q: What is the weather like?
A: Generally, fabulous! It is summer now, the hottest and wettest time of the year. Days tend to be a combination of bright blue skies and scorching sunshine, and torrential downpours that cool everything off. After the rains, huge marshmallow castles of cloud appear as the sky opens up and returns to its standard bright blue. I quite like the system, except for the mud and puddles, I hate that part…
A: Depends who’s cooking! Me: an experiment that occasionally turns out to be edible. Or pasta. Mel: an experiment that always turns out to be gourmet and delicious – she’s an Aussie with an Italian grandmother, so the ‘barbies’ and lasagne are particularly tasty! A Zambian: nshima and ‘relish’ (usually a meat stew with tomato sauce, and vegetable such as rape), or ‘chicken n’ chips’. A restaurant: I eat out about once every two weeks, usually at one of the many fabulous Indian restaurants where I enjoy braving new and unpronounceable dishes that are always divine (when not painfully spicy!).
Almost any ingredient is available in Lusaka, at a price, so we have the opportunity to make most anything we want. And if you feel like splurging there are a few fancy restaurants where the words “bed of mâche” and “saffron-infused” might appear on the menu (although, having never been, that is pure speculation).
Q: What is the music like?
A: There are many different types of Zambian music, and Zambians listen to music from many different parts of Africa. I don’t have a radio, so I only get a chance to hear it when I am in a taxi, which is not often, or at someone’s house. Most of the Zambians I know are very into Gospel music, which is much more modern than one might imagine. And, as in any other country on the planet, there is no shortage of international music, including Enrique Iglesias, Westlife, Daddy Yankee, and our national hero, Celine Dion.
Personally, however, I will always equate “Zambian music” to singing! I don’t hear it as often as I would like – on Sundays in Church, at events such as kitchen parties, at the prison, and occasionally on the street – but every time I hear Zambians singing it makes me tingle from head to toe. The unrehearsed harmonies never cease to astound me – it’s like they all attend some pre-birth singing academy. And the sounds and rhythms are so quintessentially African. It’s pure joy to listen to.
Q: What are the markets like?
A: For those of you that have visited a market in a developing country, you will have a good idea of what the markets are like here. For those of you that haven’t, the atmosphere is difficult to describe. Lusaka has three main markets in and around the city centre. The most “posh” is City Market, a covered market in a structure built by the government, complete with security stations! The aisles are jam-packed with stalls selling everything from used shoes, dried fish, football jerseys, food, photocopying, pirated CDs and DVDs, hand-tailored suits, and various unrecognisably fly-covered parts of cows and chickens. Soweto is a market immediately behind City Market, which I only went to for the first time last week because I was dissuaded by everyone I know warning me how dangerous it is (Sam was stabbed in the throat there…). It’s a more informal open-air maze of wobbly stands made of wood, tin and cardboard, and concrete structures that form narrow alleyways (which double as rivers when it rains). There are quite a few “restaurants” (charcoal BBQs made out of paint cans and not much more) so wandering around involves passing through a lot of makeshift kitchens. The atmosphere is more intense, and people’s stares tend to drop straight from your face to your pockets, but it’s still an interesting and exciting place, and Zambians are always up for a laugh if you manage to keep your sense of humour. Finally, Kamwala is a combination of stores, owned almost exclusively by the city’s Middle Eastern and Indian population, and Soweto-style stands. There are also workshop areas where they make furniture and metal pots, pans, baths and ‘braiis’ (BBQs). It’s a labyrinth and I almost always get lost, unless I am with Sam, who can zip through at lightening speed with his eyes closed. I get hassled a lot in the markets here, which can be frustrating, but it’s all part of the experience.
And of course the streets of Lusaka moonlight as a market – boys pound the pavement of Cairo Rd. offering belts, shoes, pants, DVDs, jewellery, perfume, and all sorts of other items I can’t ever imagine wanting to buy on my way down the street. At streetlights (called ‘robots’) there are always people selling newspapers, pineapples, globes, ManU bath towels, cell phone holsters, puppies, live turkeys and all sorts of other items I can’t ever imagine wanting to buy while waiting for the light to turn green... And of course, the streets are lined with women sitting behind baskets of fruits and vegetables or carrying them around on their heads.
Q: What is the weather like?
A: Generally, fabulous! It is summer now, the hottest and wettest time of the year. Days tend to be a combination of bright blue skies and scorching sunshine, and torrential downpours that cool everything off. After the rains, huge marshmallow castles of cloud appear as the sky opens up and returns to its standard bright blue. I quite like the system, except for the mud and puddles, I hate that part…
posted by ash at 9:19 AM
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