I've noticed that my posts over the last couple months have either been
about work or being sick. I felt the need to write this one to
assure you that there are good and fun things happening here too.
Bat Migration, Round 2
On a warm late October morning six friends and I wedged ourselves into a
rented Pajero and set off in search of bats. Of course, no trip up Great North
Road would be complete without the customary visit to Fig Tree Café; a little
oasis of coffee and baked goods for the bleary eyed traveler. A second extended
pit stop later on, this time to locate black-market fuel, left us with only
just enough time once reaching Kasanka to speedily pitch our tents before we booked
it over to bat headquarters. Seeing them for a second time let me appreciate even more the unique sight in front of me that evening, and again early the
next morning against a sunrise backdrop. The bats even put on a special pre-dawn Halloween show for us,
flying in near cliché pattern across a brilliantly lit moon complete with
halo.
(Low flying bats)
Elephant Orphanage
One of Lusaka’s special places, the Elephant Orphanage Project is located close to
the city just off the main southbound road. It’s a growing project modeled on larger ones, such as in Nairobi, which is currently focusing on increasing their capacity and improving the site's facilities. At the moment they house about half a dozen
orphaned elephants at their Lusaka site. Their stories are all moving, each having
been rescued when their parents were killed or when they were nearly killed
themselves. Watching them romping around their boma, play fighting, tackling
one another, and struggling dramatically to climb out of their mud pit, it was hard not to feel a sense of camaraderie with these surprisingly human
creatures.
(Sneak attack does not go as planned)
Market exploration
I’m seriously considering writing a guidebook to the markets
of Lusaka. It’s a good idea, I know, don’t steal it. Over the past few months,
on both workdays and weekends, I’m constantly being shown new places or stumbling on
them after taking a wrong turn. In that time I’ve seen the range of our city’s
commerce hubs. There’s City Market, where cow hearts sit across the aisle from
hand tailored dresses, and your shopping has less to do with your taste and
more to do with the flow of the crowd around you. Then there’s the Zambian Art and Design show, which sits at the other extreme, where the parking lot is crammed with
SUVs, and expats and Zambians alike come to select Christmas gifts from beautifully
made pieces. Deciding which to visit is sometimes less about what you want to
buy and more about what you want for lunch. It may sound dubious to those of
you at home, but it’s a viable weekend pastime here and there's always something new to discover.
Graduation
Last Saturday was the first time I’ve been able to attend
a graduation ceremony for KF students. This occasion marked the first of our students
to graduate from Chalo Trust School. The ceremony, though stifled by muggy weather, was well run and had great musical interludes. The graduates, sweltering in their
attire, looked more than ready in both the figurative and physical sense to
shed their gowns and embark onto the next stage of their lives. The most
inspiring moment of the day came from KF’s own Mr. Mukena, whose impassioned speech urged the new alumnae not to wait for handouts, but rather to take their future
into their own hands, to put themselves out there, intern, volunteer, and refuse
to take no for an answer until they begin realizing their dreams.
(Justin, KF Class of '12, with his mother at graduation)
And how could I leave out Thanksgiving dinner, which is becoming a great tradition in my life here. This year, two dozen people brought almost as many dishes, making it a feast of spectacular proportions. The spread featured all the standards plus some bonuses like pork belly, homemade bread, and butternut soup. One long communal table set with candles and construction paper hand turkeys really made it feel like the family dinner many of us were missing back home. By the end of the night I was plenty full, and plenty thankful.
Let me close with the last, perhaps greatest, development of
the past months. I’ve been introduced to what could be the most spectacular
doughnuts ever to be deep fried and sugared, right here in Lusaka. Perhaps I’ll
look back on this post, shake my head and note, sadly, that this was the beginning of my downfall. I think it’s probably in my best interest to embark on another
weekend adventure soon, if only to break what is fast becoming a tasty weekend
ritual.
