So, today is my 3 month anniversary of living in Lusaka. Crazy, huh? Coincidently, I just finished a ridiculously long e-mail that my mother requested I write so that she could forward it to my relatives. I normally don't like posting things on this blog that are related to my job or are very candid, but I think that it's indicitive of what my experience has been here. So, I'd like to share.
I want to add the caveat that I do not want to become one of those people who is always going on about all of their travels and how they have such an enlightened perspective on life. I really hope I don't come across like that. It's like....'dood, you spent 3 weeks eating pot brownies in Amsterdam. That doesn't make me want to hear what you think is wrong with the world.' With that being said, it's been an interesting 3 months.
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I have absolutely great news for everyone who gets to read the ‘Mark gives an excessively long life update’ e-mail. I am 100% committed to avoiding any of the lame clichés everyone seems to use when reflecting on their time spent in a new place: ‘I can’t believe 3 months have already passed’ or ‘It seems like it’s been so much longer than 3 months’. I always hated those. So, it feels like it’s been 3 months and I’ve got plenty of stuff to talk about.
The main thing I hope to stress in this note is that life in Lusaka is nowhere close to being as bad as one may imagine it. I think the easiest way to begin illustrating this concept is by discussing my diet. I came in with this preconception that I would have to sacrificing most of the things I enjoyed and be resigned to eat nuts, vegetables, and questionable meats for the next few years of my life. These thoughts quickly left when a 10 minute search in one of the several South African chain grocery stores resulted in a coveted bottle of ranch dressing. Some of my favorite, unexpected discoveries at the grocery store include: Kellog’s Frosted Flakes, Kool-Aid Mix, and Old El Paso Taco Mix. Unfortunately, though, the cost of transporting these goods from say, South Africa, to Lusaka is passed onto the consumer. The above-referenced items cost the equivalent of $6, $10, and $9.50. Seriously, though, who cares? I’ve already implemented a Tacooo Tuesday tradition here in Zambia and I never would have dreamed about that.
The second way to reinforce my argument that life isn’t all that bad is by discussing my job. I don’t think I can stress enough just how much I love what I am doing here. I always anticipated that my first few years out of graduate school would be spent doing some of the less ‘sexy’ aspect of data analysis. (Yes, this is hinting at the idea that I find certain aspects of doing statistics as ‘sexy’. Yes, I realize that this makes me extremely lame. This really shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone). I assumed this would involve a lot of data cleaning or preparation of quality control reports and very little addressing of scientific questions which statistics. This assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’m actually already in the finishing stages of an analysis that looks at the association between a woman’s choice of contraceptives and the rate of her disease progression. The work is fascinating both statistically and scientifically (side note: for my former UW classmates, I’m trying a Fleming triangle with my fingers right now.) On top of all of that, I really feel like there is a nobleness in this cause. Work is phenomenal.
I’m sure a lot of people are curious about living arrangements, so I want to reassure everyone that I am NOT living in a hut. It’s pretty much the opposite, actually. The majority of houses here are on decent sized plots of land with a perimeter entirely surrounded with a wall and electric fences. This implies that you have a gate to drive into your property and thus also implies that you hire a guard at all times. However, we don’t really have a guard. I live in a relatively nice 3 bedroom apartment. We do have a gate, a door with 3 different locks, and windows that are completely barred. Let’s just hope nothing catches on fire… Unfortunately, one of my roommates is a University of Illinois graduate student (M-I-Z! Z-O-U!). The cost of living in terms of housing is surprisingly expensive here in Lusaka (probably the result of so many expatriates coming into the country and snatching all of the housing in proximity to where they work), but the good news is we’ve found a safe place within walking distance of work for well under $500 each.
There are daily struggles associated with living here. Power just barely passes as reliable. We normally don’t have an issue with electricity, but I tend to get anxious when we have storms. Water, on the other hand, is really not cool. It’s pretty much a given that I won’t be drinking anything straight out of the faucet. Everything is on a boil order. This still doesn’t remove the massive amounts of calcium out of the drinking water we boil, but I prefer to just not think about that. Water is normally shut off by the city between 9 p.m and 6 a.m., so you’ve got to use foresight when making daily decisions. Water pressure and water temperature are an absolute disaster at my place. Taking a warm shower is pretty much an afterthought. It is either freezing or boiling hot. The good news, though, is I FINALLY get to bathe myself for the first time since 3rd grade. If we are putting together a list of things I took for granted in the states, it’s the ability to rinse out all of my shampoo.
I could write a book on Zambian transportation. It’s probably the most fascinating thing for me. It really makes me realize how much I took for granted the infrastructure we have in the states. Despite the fact that pretty much everyone walks here and that the rainy season (Nov-March) makes everything muddy, sidewalks simply don’t exist. You are forced to walk along side the road as cars speedily navigate the pothole-ridden roads. Street lights? Ha! Traffic Lights? What?
Considering no automobiles are manufactured in the country and there are high tariff fees for importing them, cars are very expensive here. Gas is about $7.50 a gallon right now. There is, however, a plethora of taxis to transport you around the city. Ahh, I love taxis. They rarely have any idea where anything is and you have to negotiate your own price. They’re fantastic.
The social life of Zambia is also going well. The expatriate community here is extremely strong. This shouldn’t be terribly surprising considering the similarity of everyone’s situation. Regardless, it’s nice. The company I work for has an internship program with a 1 year duration. So, every year there is between 7-10 new people around my age with various backgrounds. Several of them have become my core group of friends. The types of social activities aren’t as extensive as they are in the states, but there are numerous nightclubs, a movie theater, and a bowling alley. I had anticipated that loneliness would have been one of the more difficult aspects of life here, but that’s not really the case.
So, yeah. I think I’ve made a convincing argument that life isn’t all that bad here. With that being said, I’d like to make a list of everything I miss about living in the states:
Grocery stores that are open past 10 p.m.
Not having to iron all of my clothes
Wendy’s Dollar Menu
Meaningless college basketball games on ESPN2
Drying clothes with a machine
Big city skylines
Cell phones that aren’t set at the loudest setting humanly possible
Boy Meets World reruns on the Disney Channel at 2 a.m.
I’ve tried to keep this e-mail light-hearted and entertaining, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least a few serious comments about African life. Living a day-to-day life here really puts me through a gauntlet of emotions. I frequently have these moments of guilt when I think about the economic disparity; when I eat a lunch that costs more than what someone makes in a day, when I refuse to pay an additional 10 cents to someone who makes their living selling bananas in the street, or when I start to complain about how my housemaid never makes sure my clothes are dry even though we pay her $12.50 once a week for an entire day’s work. At the same time, it’s inspiring how positive the majority of the Zambians remain despite their daily struggles. You might assume that there would be some resentment on their part, but it’s simply not there. It’s amazing. I feel both welcome and safe here and I didn’t really anticipate feeling that way.
So, yeah. Life in Zambia is going well. I’m going to go rest my hands now….
The main thing I hope to stress in this note is that life in Lusaka is nowhere close to being as bad as one may imagine it. I think the easiest way to begin illustrating this concept is by discussing my diet. I came in with this preconception that I would have to sacrificing most of the things I enjoyed and be resigned to eat nuts, vegetables, and questionable meats for the next few years of my life. These thoughts quickly left when a 10 minute search in one of the several South African chain grocery stores resulted in a coveted bottle of ranch dressing. Some of my favorite, unexpected discoveries at the grocery store include: Kellog’s Frosted Flakes, Kool-Aid Mix, and Old El Paso Taco Mix. Unfortunately, though, the cost of transporting these goods from say, South Africa, to Lusaka is passed onto the consumer. The above-referenced items cost the equivalent of $6, $10, and $9.50. Seriously, though, who cares? I’ve already implemented a Tacooo Tuesday tradition here in Zambia and I never would have dreamed about that.
The second way to reinforce my argument that life isn’t all that bad is by discussing my job. I don’t think I can stress enough just how much I love what I am doing here. I always anticipated that my first few years out of graduate school would be spent doing some of the less ‘sexy’ aspect of data analysis. (Yes, this is hinting at the idea that I find certain aspects of doing statistics as ‘sexy’. Yes, I realize that this makes me extremely lame. This really shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone). I assumed this would involve a lot of data cleaning or preparation of quality control reports and very little addressing of scientific questions which statistics. This assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’m actually already in the finishing stages of an analysis that looks at the association between a woman’s choice of contraceptives and the rate of her disease progression. The work is fascinating both statistically and scientifically (side note: for my former UW classmates, I’m trying a Fleming triangle with my fingers right now.) On top of all of that, I really feel like there is a nobleness in this cause. Work is phenomenal.
I’m sure a lot of people are curious about living arrangements, so I want to reassure everyone that I am NOT living in a hut. It’s pretty much the opposite, actually. The majority of houses here are on decent sized plots of land with a perimeter entirely surrounded with a wall and electric fences. This implies that you have a gate to drive into your property and thus also implies that you hire a guard at all times. However, we don’t really have a guard. I live in a relatively nice 3 bedroom apartment. We do have a gate, a door with 3 different locks, and windows that are completely barred. Let’s just hope nothing catches on fire… Unfortunately, one of my roommates is a University of Illinois graduate student (M-I-Z! Z-O-U!). The cost of living in terms of housing is surprisingly expensive here in Lusaka (probably the result of so many expatriates coming into the country and snatching all of the housing in proximity to where they work), but the good news is we’ve found a safe place within walking distance of work for well under $500 each.
There are daily struggles associated with living here. Power just barely passes as reliable. We normally don’t have an issue with electricity, but I tend to get anxious when we have storms. Water, on the other hand, is really not cool. It’s pretty much a given that I won’t be drinking anything straight out of the faucet. Everything is on a boil order. This still doesn’t remove the massive amounts of calcium out of the drinking water we boil, but I prefer to just not think about that. Water is normally shut off by the city between 9 p.m and 6 a.m., so you’ve got to use foresight when making daily decisions. Water pressure and water temperature are an absolute disaster at my place. Taking a warm shower is pretty much an afterthought. It is either freezing or boiling hot. The good news, though, is I FINALLY get to bathe myself for the first time since 3rd grade. If we are putting together a list of things I took for granted in the states, it’s the ability to rinse out all of my shampoo.
I could write a book on Zambian transportation. It’s probably the most fascinating thing for me. It really makes me realize how much I took for granted the infrastructure we have in the states. Despite the fact that pretty much everyone walks here and that the rainy season (Nov-March) makes everything muddy, sidewalks simply don’t exist. You are forced to walk along side the road as cars speedily navigate the pothole-ridden roads. Street lights? Ha! Traffic Lights? What?
Considering no automobiles are manufactured in the country and there are high tariff fees for importing them, cars are very expensive here. Gas is about $7.50 a gallon right now. There is, however, a plethora of taxis to transport you around the city. Ahh, I love taxis. They rarely have any idea where anything is and you have to negotiate your own price. They’re fantastic.
The social life of Zambia is also going well. The expatriate community here is extremely strong. This shouldn’t be terribly surprising considering the similarity of everyone’s situation. Regardless, it’s nice. The company I work for has an internship program with a 1 year duration. So, every year there is between 7-10 new people around my age with various backgrounds. Several of them have become my core group of friends. The types of social activities aren’t as extensive as they are in the states, but there are numerous nightclubs, a movie theater, and a bowling alley. I had anticipated that loneliness would have been one of the more difficult aspects of life here, but that’s not really the case.
So, yeah. I think I’ve made a convincing argument that life isn’t all that bad here. With that being said, I’d like to make a list of everything I miss about living in the states:
Grocery stores that are open past 10 p.m.
Not having to iron all of my clothes
Wendy’s Dollar Menu
Meaningless college basketball games on ESPN2
Drying clothes with a machine
Big city skylines
Cell phones that aren’t set at the loudest setting humanly possible
Boy Meets World reruns on the Disney Channel at 2 a.m.
I’ve tried to keep this e-mail light-hearted and entertaining, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least a few serious comments about African life. Living a day-to-day life here really puts me through a gauntlet of emotions. I frequently have these moments of guilt when I think about the economic disparity; when I eat a lunch that costs more than what someone makes in a day, when I refuse to pay an additional 10 cents to someone who makes their living selling bananas in the street, or when I start to complain about how my housemaid never makes sure my clothes are dry even though we pay her $12.50 once a week for an entire day’s work. At the same time, it’s inspiring how positive the majority of the Zambians remain despite their daily struggles. You might assume that there would be some resentment on their part, but it’s simply not there. It’s amazing. I feel both welcome and safe here and I didn’t really anticipate feeling that way.
So, yeah. Life in Zambia is going well. I’m going to go rest my hands now….
1 comment:
ahh...I was reading the list of things you miss about America when a Wendy's commercial came on during a timeout of the Oklahoma State v. Oral Roberts game I'm watching on ESPN2.
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