If you have been following the news lately, it should be no shocker that Zambia's President, Dr. Levy Mwanawasa suffered from a stroke and is undergoing treatment and recovering in a Paris hospital.
Through several discussions that I have had with locals over the past few days, the question of trustworthy sources in regards to the President's condition is at the forefront as well as who will lead the country over the next six months because once the President returns, hopefully in good health, he will be in no shape to bounce back to leading a nation.
Some Zambians I have spoken to comment that the news we are receiving via our print media regarding Mwanawasa's medical condition is sketchy - the only information source we have right now is the First lady who keeps saying the same thing over and over, at least from what we have been reading over here. A medical board has been suggested by many Zambians to investigate whether or not the country should jump ahead and put the Vice-President Bunda in charge (he is acting in charge for now), but nothing can be decided until Mwanawasa is alive and kicking again.
Sata, the Patriotic Front and no man's fan has been rising out of the dust much to the dismay of MMD supporters, but luckily Zambians seem to have good heads on their shoulders and would not let Sata take the reigns over the nation. The battle over trusting sources and looking for a future leader continues to dominate the newsroom at my office and seems to be a no-win debate with everyone's opinions scattered all over the map.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Slow it to a walk
This week has been high and low so far—I interviewed a fantastic woman yesterday with a colleague for the Woman of the Week column and have had a great time getting to prance around town with coworkers in the field and get used to waking up at 6 a.m. to catch a bus on my own (which I am finally confident enough to do) to get into town.
The crappy part is that I am homeless again—I'm not going into details, but our contract with the great house has been canceled and I am left scrambling for places to stay every few nights again, believe me this is the last situation I want to be in and am less than satisfied with the outcome of how this was handled.
So, it's back to square one. The only unfortunate thing about switching locations every three nights is that it's completely invading my positive mindframe and making it hard to focus on work because I have to plan ahead regarding where I am going to sleep which isn't fun. I really can't wait just to get settled already...
This upcoming weekend is the Agriculture and Commerce Show which is one of Lusaka's biggest deals of the year—I'll be attending at some point accompanying a fellow journalist from The Monitor see hundreds of vendors, livestock, hear some Zambian grooves and finally get to see some real "Zambian culture" outside of day to day life. Depending when I go, Sunday I am planning on taking off from the city with a CouchSurfing friend to see some rural areas and finally view more of what Zambia really is beyond the city limits.
Hopefully the next time I write I'll have a roof over my head and be a bit less stressed...
The crappy part is that I am homeless again—I'm not going into details, but our contract with the great house has been canceled and I am left scrambling for places to stay every few nights again, believe me this is the last situation I want to be in and am less than satisfied with the outcome of how this was handled.
So, it's back to square one. The only unfortunate thing about switching locations every three nights is that it's completely invading my positive mindframe and making it hard to focus on work because I have to plan ahead regarding where I am going to sleep which isn't fun. I really can't wait just to get settled already...
This upcoming weekend is the Agriculture and Commerce Show which is one of Lusaka's biggest deals of the year—I'll be attending at some point accompanying a fellow journalist from The Monitor see hundreds of vendors, livestock, hear some Zambian grooves and finally get to see some real "Zambian culture" outside of day to day life. Depending when I go, Sunday I am planning on taking off from the city with a CouchSurfing friend to see some rural areas and finally view more of what Zambia really is beyond the city limits.
Hopefully the next time I write I'll have a roof over my head and be a bit less stressed...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Field day
After a weekend of dealing with some food poisoning from mixing fish and chicken while eating a hotel-catered nshima lunch at a political meeting for The Monitor, I realized that my decision to mix both of these meats was probably not a great idea. I spent the night at Kuomboka Backpackers crashing on the floor in the room of two fellow JHR trainers cluctching my stomach. I've been feeling pretty wonky even today and amidst plenty of fairly sketchy bottled water and other street and fast food I have consumed, I am beyond anxious to move into my flat on Friday.
Luckily I am staying with a fantastic new friend, Ruby, whom is my guardian angel in this city - not only did she give us the digits of an affordable and safe taxi driver, but she's helped us get to know the city, entertain us with adventurous stories and make this place feel a bit more like home.
Friday was my first day out in the field and also my first marriage proposal. A colleague and I were making our way to the Chawama bus when a guy grabbed my shoulder and yelled, "be my wife!." He followed us into the bus shouting that he wanted to take me as his wife over and over and we eventually had the door shut on him. Now I know why my H&M fake wedding ring set comes in handy...
The first day out in the field was great - we attended a political meeting with a Patriotic Front MP and a mayor of a nearby town, Kitwe, overseeing development advocacy and its guidelines which had been created by a ministry and completely left out room for politicians to collaborate on it. The story comes out in tomorrow's issue which will not be on-line but we'll see if I can upload it.
Saturday night, some of the ladies and I went dancing at the Brown Frog and experienced Zambian nightlife for the first time. Despite our stalker fan club, we still managed to have a good time and I realized that Mosi when had too much becomes a bad tasting substitute for good beer. Or that could have been the nshima still talking to me in my insides...
Luckily I am staying with a fantastic new friend, Ruby, whom is my guardian angel in this city - not only did she give us the digits of an affordable and safe taxi driver, but she's helped us get to know the city, entertain us with adventurous stories and make this place feel a bit more like home.
Friday was my first day out in the field and also my first marriage proposal. A colleague and I were making our way to the Chawama bus when a guy grabbed my shoulder and yelled, "be my wife!." He followed us into the bus shouting that he wanted to take me as his wife over and over and we eventually had the door shut on him. Now I know why my H&M fake wedding ring set comes in handy...
The first day out in the field was great - we attended a political meeting with a Patriotic Front MP and a mayor of a nearby town, Kitwe, overseeing development advocacy and its guidelines which had been created by a ministry and completely left out room for politicians to collaborate on it. The story comes out in tomorrow's issue which will not be on-line but we'll see if I can upload it.
Saturday night, some of the ladies and I went dancing at the Brown Frog and experienced Zambian nightlife for the first time. Despite our stalker fan club, we still managed to have a good time and I realized that Mosi when had too much becomes a bad tasting substitute for good beer. Or that could have been the nshima still talking to me in my insides...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Mwaisani
For those of you who know me, I'm not much of a blogger so here is my attempt at keeping you all posted on my life in Lusaka, Zambia for the next seven months.
I've now been here for a week and just finished my first half day of work - I met with my editor, Ngande, and spoke with him about what he expects from me and how he wants me to fit in with the newsroom's scheme of things. The Monitor prints twice weekly, once on Tuesdays and Fridays. The newsroom is calmer on Wednesdays and Thursdays and busier on Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays (according to the designer that I just met). Everyone who works there seems to be really open, friendly and they were really welcoming. I'm going to be going on assignment with them over the next few weeks just to get a feel for how things work in the Zambian media before I dive into my workplan.
I have also found a fantastic flat which I will be sharing with three others from JHR and we'll be looking for one more roommate. The flat is in Olympia near one of the main malls, Manda Hill (which is apparently one of the hotspots on weekends, believe it or not) and comes with 4 bedrooms, a television room which we will turn into another bedroom, a living room, kitchen, enormous backyard and front entrance way with a stunning green garden. The landlady's family lives behind us with kids and we will be sharing the costs for a gardener and a guard. Rent comes to under $375 a person including everything and if we get a fifth person it will be even cheaper.
The past week has been both great and trying. The seven of us were staying far out of the city centre at a campground in chalets and finally got used to taking the minibus in to work (which I will have to write about in another post entirely). Last weekend I finally had the chance to meet some locals and NGO workers whom are all lovely and guided us with some insight into Lusaka lifestyle.
Cairo Road is the main business district in town and also the home of my office. During the day, it is chok-a-blok with taxi drivers trying to get your attention, business and commerce people, fast food joints and men selling everything from lollipops to belts. As I leave the packed and chaotic Kalima Tower minibus station and dodge traffic coming the opposite direction that I am used to, I arrive on Cairo Road, brushing past the shouts of 'my sista' and 'muzungu' trying to sell me anything under the sun.
Food has been interesting. Coming from a practically vegetarian lifestyle except for the occasional slip-up of chicken, I am eating meat every day - it's hard to be a veggie here because often when you go out to get food at a restaurant, nshima, the local dish of maize and veggies plus meat, won't have many options available. I look forward to cooking for myself once I get into my flat so I can finally save some cash and not live on just nshima, meat pies, and filtered coffee.
What has tickled my fancy is AppleMax (a type of apple juice that is lightly carbonated) and Mosi, the Zambian beer which is a lager. I also finally got the chance to visit Soweto Market, a thrift and vintage junkie's dream. My purchase for the day was a decadent pair of mauve ballet flats which are a half size to small but I will wear with pride nonetheless.
I'm off for now as I am about to bunk in with a Zambian couchsurfer for the next few days until I get my house. Ciao for now!
I've now been here for a week and just finished my first half day of work - I met with my editor, Ngande, and spoke with him about what he expects from me and how he wants me to fit in with the newsroom's scheme of things. The Monitor prints twice weekly, once on Tuesdays and Fridays. The newsroom is calmer on Wednesdays and Thursdays and busier on Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays (according to the designer that I just met). Everyone who works there seems to be really open, friendly and they were really welcoming. I'm going to be going on assignment with them over the next few weeks just to get a feel for how things work in the Zambian media before I dive into my workplan.
I have also found a fantastic flat which I will be sharing with three others from JHR and we'll be looking for one more roommate. The flat is in Olympia near one of the main malls, Manda Hill (which is apparently one of the hotspots on weekends, believe it or not) and comes with 4 bedrooms, a television room which we will turn into another bedroom, a living room, kitchen, enormous backyard and front entrance way with a stunning green garden. The landlady's family lives behind us with kids and we will be sharing the costs for a gardener and a guard. Rent comes to under $375 a person including everything and if we get a fifth person it will be even cheaper.
The past week has been both great and trying. The seven of us were staying far out of the city centre at a campground in chalets and finally got used to taking the minibus in to work (which I will have to write about in another post entirely). Last weekend I finally had the chance to meet some locals and NGO workers whom are all lovely and guided us with some insight into Lusaka lifestyle.
Cairo Road is the main business district in town and also the home of my office. During the day, it is chok-a-blok with taxi drivers trying to get your attention, business and commerce people, fast food joints and men selling everything from lollipops to belts. As I leave the packed and chaotic Kalima Tower minibus station and dodge traffic coming the opposite direction that I am used to, I arrive on Cairo Road, brushing past the shouts of 'my sista' and 'muzungu' trying to sell me anything under the sun.
Food has been interesting. Coming from a practically vegetarian lifestyle except for the occasional slip-up of chicken, I am eating meat every day - it's hard to be a veggie here because often when you go out to get food at a restaurant, nshima, the local dish of maize and veggies plus meat, won't have many options available. I look forward to cooking for myself once I get into my flat so I can finally save some cash and not live on just nshima, meat pies, and filtered coffee.
What has tickled my fancy is AppleMax (a type of apple juice that is lightly carbonated) and Mosi, the Zambian beer which is a lager. I also finally got the chance to visit Soweto Market, a thrift and vintage junkie's dream. My purchase for the day was a decadent pair of mauve ballet flats which are a half size to small but I will wear with pride nonetheless.
I'm off for now as I am about to bunk in with a Zambian couchsurfer for the next few days until I get my house. Ciao for now!
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