Things that I've learnt so far in Zambia

Having been here now for 4 weeks I've seen and heard a few things that would just never happen in the UK. So here's my findings of slightly abnormal to downright terrifying things I've witnessed in Zambia so far:

• It is not uncommon to see goats travelling on the back of bikes by being strapped to them.

• G. Rutherford seems to be the most well known man in Zambia, other than the President, and you can see massive billboards for his advertising company everywhere. Like actually everywhere. There's a roundabout near us that pretty much has his adverts the whole way around the roundabout. He is EVERYWHERE

• Chickens can be seen either wandering the streets or in massive cages, either on the back of trucks or by the side of the road.

• Minibuses will drive along the road and just pick up people on the side of the road, but they don't seem to have a limit of how many people can get in.

• On the same line as that one I've seen several trucks with open backs that are just full of people standing up. I'm sure if the truck had to do a sharp turn for some reason that some of those people would be in danger of falling out.

• Speedbumps. I cannot put into words how frustrating these things are here. First of all, there are just plonked anywhere, there is absolutely no need for the majority of them and in some places you just have three in a row on a completely clear stretch of road. It makes no sense!

• Driving in the dark is not something I'd recommend in the slightest. There are no street lights as far I have seen and people not only drive more stupidly because the police aren't out but they will also just walk out in the middle of the road, sometimes not looking where they are going. It's a disaster waiting to happen. 

• If you are white you are going to be stared at. Also little children will either be really shy around you or they will want to stroke or touch your skin and hair whenever they can. The amount of times I had little children stroking me at Greater Joy on Thursday was ridiculous. Also the word for white person in Bemba is muzungu which is something I've heard a lot since I've been here!

• Bemba is hard. I'm just putting it out there, these kids can speak Bemba and also bits of English and I'm highly impressed by that. It's nothing like English most of the time so I just can't really get my head round it. 

• Drivers are crazy here. They don't have road rage in the same way the British have it nailed down to a fine art but the way the drive is enough to drive me to road rage and I'm just a passenger. When I've mentioned this to someone here they've said that you can often notice a drunk driver as they are the ones driving straight and not weaving in and out of lanes!

• Some people hold phones the wrong way round when answering calls. I'm slightly confused by this as surely the way phones are designed is so that you hear better if you hold it the right way round. 

So, that's a few of the things I've noticed in my first 4 weeks here. They really have flown by!!

Hope you're all enjoying the wet weather as much as me.

xxx