Running late....

Time flies. Especially this week went really fast. I am enjoying the sun and African beers and spend my days either with doing sports or researching my thesis topic. I am getting use to the fact that everything takes a bit longer and time is something that you do not own; it rather owns you. This week was more or less marked by some refreshing rains and some movement in our house. 

Marten was supposed to move to his host family on Tuesday. He did so but decided to move back to where I stay after spending only one night with the family. The conditions did not meet his expectations and so we are “roommates” again. In order to celebrate that we went out for some burgers and beers on Wednesday at the new pub/restaurant that opened up down the street just a couple of days ago. It turned out to become one of our favorite spots to watch football and have a bite.  

Work treats me well. I learn a lot about pedagogical methods that one can apply in order to spread the message of the organization and teach life skills. I have a lot of fun seeing the kids run on the fields and watching them pass the ball to me. Especially the smaller ones are really excited about getting out of the classrooms or the homes and join for sportive activities. It is hard to imagine what these 45 minutes mean to them…. but when you see them laughing and joining the activities until exhaustion, I start to appreciate a right that I always took for granted. Every person’s right to be active in sport activities in order to improve health as well as social competencies and life skills.  

At the same time I find more and more organizations and scholars dealing with the subject. It provided me with crucial information and encourages me to continue with my topic of interest.

On Thursday we were told by Vivian that they (Andy and her) would leave town for good by tomorrow. Funny enough that we met them at the pub across the street while watching Europe League. We joined them for a couple of beers and the evening turned out to be a sentimental one. Many tears by Andy and Vivian made us belief that the new beginning in a new town was not the first choice solution. It is due to job and family that they leave Lusaka and move to the Eastern Province. I hope I will see them again one day and I was glad that I got the chance to thank them for all the support and interesting insights they provided me with during my first weeks in Zambia.

Further highlights of the week:

Dinner on Friday at an Italian restaurant that made me want to marry it. Pizza was so good that I was close to ordering 15 of them to take with me. No electricity shut down this time, but a similar terrifying ride back in the cab through the “real” suburbs of Lusaka. It was supposed to be a shortcut….well it wasn’t! and if it was a shortcut then I could have passed on that one.

Esther Phiri won her fight. She is boxing and argued to be one of the best female boxers in the world. It seems to be Zambian’s year of sports. Let’s see what they can do in the Olympics….even though I don’t know if we are sending any athletes.

Clouds. A real highlight this week. Haven’t seen so many of them so far. But when they show up they allow me to cool down a bit.

School competition in athletics on Saturday. Great pictures, great athletes and great atmosphere. I learned some traditional dance moves (which made the majority laugh). People run fast here in Zambia….and they do so until they faint. I was wondering what this big dark “plane” was serving for until I saw two teachers carrying the first 2 girls to it in order to provide them with water and first aid. After seeing that I did not feel like running ….not at all!

I conducted my first interviews with some girls and a peer leader at my organization. It was more a testing of my questions and to learn from the (many) mistakes one can do in conducting interviews. It was fun though. I figured that people are still very shy when talking to me about their thoughts and I consider taking local help into account.

Sasha (our 3 month old dog) ate another one of my socks…I have to buy new pairs very soon if she continues to eat them up. 

Three Swedish guys joined the house for a few days until they get to their own apartment. It was great to talk Swedish again. Marten and I took them to Woodland’s (a mall) in order to introduce them to the neighborhood, and help them with everything they needed. It was funny since I saw myself arriving a month ago asking the same questions and buying the same sort of food. Now it was us who were asked to introduce them to Zambia.

Thanks to everybody who found time to Skype with me this week. I enjoy sharing my stories and listen to yours and hope that we see each other soon.  I am heading for Livingstone on Wednesday and will report from my vacation with Natasha and Philip when I get back on Sunday! Have a great week everybody!

Joe/Mulenga