I have come to the realization that not everyone who reads this blog does so for the sole intention of being entertained. Apparently, some people are actually interested in bigger picture issues like quality of life, housing, and transportation as opposed to trivial topics like what I wore for Zamoween. Because I do not want any of my six readers to lose interest and stop visiting the site, I figure I will try my hardest to dedicate this blog to serious, relevant topics.
Because I’ve been here for over a month now and I am starting to lose perspective on what exactly is different between the states and Zambia or what is noteworthy, I’ll try to answer a few directed questions.
1.) Have I found a place to live?
As of right now, I am still living in the company housing. This implies that I share a flat (I guess an alternative description for a 1 story house) with 2 other people. Our setup is pretty sweet in comparison to how most people (even ex-pats) live in Zambia. I personally have my own room and my own bathroom with hot water showers. In the flat, there is a cable television via satellite but no internet access. We have housekeeping come Monday through Friday which means there are no dishes or laundry to do. There are a total of 4 flats in the area where I live and we all share a common gate which is guarded by security 24 hours a day. Again, life is good here which is why I haven’t been terribly motivated to move out. I actually have found more permanent housing with another temporary company employee and a Peace Corp worker. The place will be in closer proximity to my place of work, but I have been told that hot showers may not be a reality. There, we will have housekeeping come once a week which means I can still avoid laundry but won’t be able to escape doing dishes. The reason why I haven’t moved in was that I had yet to purchase a mattress/ bed frame to sleep on. Actually, I haven’t moved because I like warm showers and free rent, but whatever. Technicalities. Rent isn’t as bad as I imagined it would be (about $375 US because our currency is getting destroyed. Did anyone else hear that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US? Thank goodness I’m not living there. I don’t think I could mentally handle living in a country with an inferior currency to Canada. It was devastating enough when I was in Victoria and the exchange rate was 1.06:1) , but maybe that’s because I am not staying in the most luxurious place.
2.) Do I walk to work?
Transportation is going to be the next dilemma I face in Zambia now that housing has been settled. Because the place where I am currently staying is not within walking distance of work, the company sends a driver every morning to pick me up and then drops me off at night. While the immediate reaction may be one of ‘That’s ridiculously awesome’ (and I won’t deny it’s pretty sweet having someone drive you), it does have its drawbacks. If anyone knoes me at all, they knoe I am not a huge fan of being on other people’s schedules. This means I can’t get to work early or stay late to finish things (or maybe just browse the internet). When I move to my new place, I will be within walking distance of work so that will be nice…temporarily. I say temporarily because the rainy season is about to start and the city is about to become a giant mudbath. Even someone as stubborn as I am will probably get sick of walking in the rain and having muddy shoes the entire day.
This ultimately implies that I am going to have to buy a car. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not looking forward to this process. First off, transportation has inflated prices in comparison to the states. For example, I just saw a listing for a 1991 SUV with 110k+ miles…..for $7,000 US. My over-analytical mind just starts racing when I start thinking about all of the issues that may arise with a car that old or how much should I spend on a car or how much depreciation I should expect and decide if it is worth it.
Quick side note. It probably will be worth it if this current trend of getting destroyed by cab drivers continues. This weekend, I took a cab to buy my mattress, had the driver stuff the mattress in the back of his 4 door sedan, and had him drive me home. It was maybe 5 miles each way. I paid him 125,000 kwacha and he tried to make me feel guilty about underpaying him. Later that night, I took another 5 mile cab drive to a Halloween party and the driver told me I owed him 80,000 kwacha….and then had the audacity to ask me for my phone number so that we could discuss world issues together. Yeah, dood, you just ripped me off; let’s get together tomorrow for coffee!!! I spent like $50+ U.S. in cabs this weekend alone.
So, yeah. I’ll prolly get a car soon. First, I need to get over my hesitation about investing that much money in a POS and then actually save enough for the lump sum payment (shockingly, they don’t have financing here in Zambian automotive sales).
Before I finish this blog, I want to take this opportunity to address my brother in public. Answering my request for questions, he sent me a link to a news story about 68 Namibian villages who got sick after eating a Dead Dog.
In response to the question, I want to make a request that Mike die in a grease fire. How is it that a guy who has admitted to only read three books in his life (My teacher is an Alien, Jurassic Park, and DaVinci Code) is now reading articles about world news? How does a guy who received a (fake) degree in Communications even knoe that Namibia is an African country? Are we sure I wasn’t adopted?
I also want to give a quick shoutout to Siobhan, for discovering the absolute greatest link of the past week with the ‘Jake Plummer is a professional handball player now’ story. That link had to be absolutely demoralizing for Tim, who just 18 months ago decided that he would stake the most important challenge of the year (Mark v. Tim NFL playoff picks) on that man as opposed to a guy who had a winning record of 455-3 since grade school in a game where the winner advanced to the super bowl. Tough loss Tim. How could you have possibly predicted Plummer would fail to come through in the clutch?
Okay. That’s all. Sorry for the boring read. Your reward? Zamoween pics tomorrow!!!1!!
Because I’ve been here for over a month now and I am starting to lose perspective on what exactly is different between the states and Zambia or what is noteworthy, I’ll try to answer a few directed questions.
1.) Have I found a place to live?
As of right now, I am still living in the company housing. This implies that I share a flat (I guess an alternative description for a 1 story house) with 2 other people. Our setup is pretty sweet in comparison to how most people (even ex-pats) live in Zambia. I personally have my own room and my own bathroom with hot water showers. In the flat, there is a cable television via satellite but no internet access. We have housekeeping come Monday through Friday which means there are no dishes or laundry to do. There are a total of 4 flats in the area where I live and we all share a common gate which is guarded by security 24 hours a day. Again, life is good here which is why I haven’t been terribly motivated to move out. I actually have found more permanent housing with another temporary company employee and a Peace Corp worker. The place will be in closer proximity to my place of work, but I have been told that hot showers may not be a reality. There, we will have housekeeping come once a week which means I can still avoid laundry but won’t be able to escape doing dishes. The reason why I haven’t moved in was that I had yet to purchase a mattress/ bed frame to sleep on. Actually, I haven’t moved because I like warm showers and free rent, but whatever. Technicalities. Rent isn’t as bad as I imagined it would be (about $375 US because our currency is getting destroyed. Did anyone else hear that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US? Thank goodness I’m not living there. I don’t think I could mentally handle living in a country with an inferior currency to Canada. It was devastating enough when I was in Victoria and the exchange rate was 1.06:1) , but maybe that’s because I am not staying in the most luxurious place.
2.) Do I walk to work?
Transportation is going to be the next dilemma I face in Zambia now that housing has been settled. Because the place where I am currently staying is not within walking distance of work, the company sends a driver every morning to pick me up and then drops me off at night. While the immediate reaction may be one of ‘That’s ridiculously awesome’ (and I won’t deny it’s pretty sweet having someone drive you), it does have its drawbacks. If anyone knoes me at all, they knoe I am not a huge fan of being on other people’s schedules. This means I can’t get to work early or stay late to finish things (or maybe just browse the internet). When I move to my new place, I will be within walking distance of work so that will be nice…temporarily. I say temporarily because the rainy season is about to start and the city is about to become a giant mudbath. Even someone as stubborn as I am will probably get sick of walking in the rain and having muddy shoes the entire day.
This ultimately implies that I am going to have to buy a car. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not looking forward to this process. First off, transportation has inflated prices in comparison to the states. For example, I just saw a listing for a 1991 SUV with 110k+ miles…..for $7,000 US. My over-analytical mind just starts racing when I start thinking about all of the issues that may arise with a car that old or how much should I spend on a car or how much depreciation I should expect and decide if it is worth it.
Quick side note. It probably will be worth it if this current trend of getting destroyed by cab drivers continues. This weekend, I took a cab to buy my mattress, had the driver stuff the mattress in the back of his 4 door sedan, and had him drive me home. It was maybe 5 miles each way. I paid him 125,000 kwacha and he tried to make me feel guilty about underpaying him. Later that night, I took another 5 mile cab drive to a Halloween party and the driver told me I owed him 80,000 kwacha….and then had the audacity to ask me for my phone number so that we could discuss world issues together. Yeah, dood, you just ripped me off; let’s get together tomorrow for coffee!!! I spent like $50+ U.S. in cabs this weekend alone.
So, yeah. I’ll prolly get a car soon. First, I need to get over my hesitation about investing that much money in a POS and then actually save enough for the lump sum payment (shockingly, they don’t have financing here in Zambian automotive sales).
Before I finish this blog, I want to take this opportunity to address my brother in public. Answering my request for questions, he sent me a link to a news story about 68 Namibian villages who got sick after eating a Dead Dog.
In response to the question, I want to make a request that Mike die in a grease fire. How is it that a guy who has admitted to only read three books in his life (My teacher is an Alien, Jurassic Park, and DaVinci Code) is now reading articles about world news? How does a guy who received a (fake) degree in Communications even knoe that Namibia is an African country? Are we sure I wasn’t adopted?
I also want to give a quick shoutout to Siobhan, for discovering the absolute greatest link of the past week with the ‘Jake Plummer is a professional handball player now’ story. That link had to be absolutely demoralizing for Tim, who just 18 months ago decided that he would stake the most important challenge of the year (Mark v. Tim NFL playoff picks) on that man as opposed to a guy who had a winning record of 455-3 since grade school in a game where the winner advanced to the super bowl. Tough loss Tim. How could you have possibly predicted Plummer would fail to come through in the clutch?
Okay. That’s all. Sorry for the boring read. Your reward? Zamoween pics tomorrow!!!1!!
1 comment:
Douche! I hate you! I can't believe what you said about me in your blog. You are sooooo incorrect. I have 4 books under my belt. Well 4 with an asterisk. Don't forget The Incredible Journey that I had to read for class in fifth grade. Remember I sat there while you read it out loud to me. It counts.
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