Greetings all!
Audrey insists I need to send out a final e-mail, and I think she's probably right. Truth is, though, I've been really enjoying the immediate and almost imperceptible slide back into life in New York - playing with my new computer, going on long walks around my neighborhood with friends, eating cupcakes, enjoying delay-free phone calls to my mom, catching up with Eugene.
Yet I've noticed Zambia stories creeping into my conversation a lot. Like when I'm putting sugar in my coffee, for instance. How can I not mention that Zambians add about three heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar to an average-sized cup of coffee or tea. A month or two in I was introduced to "zigoro", Zambians' favorite "energy drink", which is actually just sugar water! (ick!) Continuing the sugar theme, I introduced Deborah to wine while I was there and she asked, "is it sweet?" and I said, "not really," and she innocently asked, "can you add sugar to it?" And the finale to the sugar saga happened just before I left. Some Western friends and I tried this Zambian home-brew called "Shake shake" that comes in cardboard liter containers, like milk. I expected it to be like beer, but instead it was thick like a smoothie and tasted like sour milk. I talked about how gross it was with Deborah and she asked, you guessed it, "didn't you add sugar?" Ah, an answer that is so obvious to a Zambian and yet would never occur to me.
Ah. FYI, the corresponding cultural point in Western society is the fetish that white women have for chocolate. In Zambia it's not nearly so pronounced (yet.)
Also about plumbing and electricity. I'll be honest - given other peoples' experiences, I was pretty grateful not to have electricity. For one thing, it goes off all the time on a very variable basis, so it's not good to be too dependent. For another thing, stripped wires are ubiquitous, and the majority of electical appliances are "plugged in" to sockets using stripped wires rather than a plug - not very safe. Hot plates used for cooking routinely shock the cook. (The solution is to wear flip-flops when cooking. Of course.) And sometimes, to heat a bucket of water for bathing, those with electricity would - get this - just put their electric range - you know, that spiral thing - into the bucket of water when it was on!!
Plumbing too. Flush toilets are not all they're cracked up to be in Zambia. The problem is, rarely is the incoming water hooked up properly. So the toilets don't flush unless you manually pour a basin of water into the tank. Which, let's be honest, you usually wouldn't do unless ... well, there was a reason ... making what should be a rather private process into a hopelessly public one as you go fetch water in a basin from some faraway place. So all things considered it was just as well not to be bothered by flush toilets in my placement.
Given that I'm perfectly willing to give up electricity and plumbing, (considering the alternative, that is) you would expect that I would have come back with a radically altered view of material possessions. And yet I haven't. I still think the same things are wasteful as before - things you buy because they're advertised or ubiquitous but that don't actually afford you any pleasure. The main thing that puts me on my soapbox, then and now, is unused dining and living rooms. People use the kitchen and family room for everyday use, and when they have parties these rooms are too small to fit a crowd, and people naturally flock to the informal spaces anyway. How builders have managed to convince almost everyone except shoebox New Yorkers that they need these superfluous formal spaces is a mystery to me. It's probably more of a waste that even SUV's - think of all those walls, furniture, and utility bills, for really almost no enjoyment once the house is bought with starry-eyed visions of dinner parties! It's so important to really think about and understand yourself, and then go about buying things that make *you* happy, rather than things that are just well-advertised and/or ubiquitous.
Then again, there are a lot of things money can and should buy that Zambians can't get cause they don't have much. Good healthcare - fewer babies dying - is a really important one. Travel to satisfy wanderlust and see friends is another. And so is talk time - in Zambia calls are billed by the second and rarely last more than 20-30 seconds or so. Being able to really have a conversation with someone on the phone is a luxury that noticeably improves quality of life. So is being able to go out with a group of friends knowing you'll be able to split the bill without trouble - and having friends that are willing to go out in the first place - rather than, say, arriving by bike to your house with only a washcloth and no cash, so you have to feed them and give them some money when their bike (inevitably) breaks down. For example.
But money can't buy good weather, and I can't stress enough how blessed Zambia is in that department. When I left every day was bone-dry (it hasn't rained a drop since April, which is expected) and low 80's every day, with the occasional drifting cloud providing a spot of shade. In comparison New York is unbearably hot and muggy.
Anyways, I went to Zambia to really understand the whole poverty issue, and now I think I do. One of my friends said, "experience is knowledge; everything else is information" and that definitely applies to my understanding of the complex issue of having money versus not having it.
By the way, I think I also went to Zambia to figure out why the AIDS problem is so pronounced there and not here. I still don't know. I realized with a shock about two weeks before I left that my solid understanding of adolescent sexuality in Zambia does not, in fact, offer many clues as to why AIDS is so prevalent. You need to know something about adult sexuality, and there I have conjectures but many fewer (I think five) private interviews on which to base my conclusions. The problem may be a lot more cheating and use of prostitutes, occasioned not a little by the fact that zero foreplay leads to women not being that interested in sex, so men stray and women are sometimes even grateful. Or it could be a lot of untreated syphilis and gonorrhea, which up the transmission rates a lot. (I think if you have unprotected sex with someone infected with HIV there's still only about a 1% chance of transmission - any doctors out there with better information please e-mail me back.) Or it may be that very few women are comfortable saying "no condom, no sex" or insisting on seeing printed test results before having sex. Of course, I'm sure all of these are factors - but I tell you, the 1% transmission rate combined with a 50% infection rate in Nampundwe still seems like a really big mystery to me.
So that's it. I had an AMAZING time. I made great friends, enjoyed fantastic weather, soaked up lots of cool little cultural quirks, and didn't even get homesick until the end. When I think about the fact that it was just seven months - well, it's hard to see how I could possibly have used the time any better. I can't say enough good things about the SPW program (http://www.spw.org/) in particular for putting in place the framework that made it possible.
Oh yeah, and about pictures - I'll post some on my blog - but unlike Matt, all my pictures are of me and my Zambian friends! I truly had so much fun getting to know all my fellow volunteers and, especially, gossiping about them with Deborah - about which volunteer relationships were most likely to get married, the partnership that got kicked out for both proposing marriage to the same ninth-grader, who treated their partner like Cinderella, who had a bad reputation but was unexpectedly wonderful with a class of fifth-graders, whose hugs/style/smile/hands/sense of humor/dancing we most adored. Best of all, someone who shall remain unidentified had a totally illegal but highly-encouraged (by those in the know) affair with a student - named Lovemore!!! Yeah!!!
So, Harvard has a lot to live up to. And without further ado, my new contact information:
[removed]
This will be the last post (except for maybe some pictures) on http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com ...
Cheers!
~Summer
Wednesday, 8 August 2007
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Guest Post by Audrey
Hello everyone! Here is Summer's younger sister, Audrey. I am sure you will all be excited to hear that I have come across a picture of Deborah, and some pictures of Summer in her natural setting, namely: The Hut. And I also have a few pictures of other places in Nampundwe that Summer has mentioned in her stories.
Firstly, here is our elusive heroine, Deborah:
Deborah (and Eugene)
So next, would you like to know what Summer's lovely residence, what her stylish abode, what her superb and excellent domicile looks like?
Et voila! the Hut!
The Hut, as seen from outside
Within the Hut
The corner fondly referred to as 'the kitchen'
Summer and Sara enjoy the rustic ambiance
The 'facilities'
Also, here are some places in Nampundwe that Summer has mentioned earlier in this blog.
The neighboring dormitories
Inside the schoolhouse
All photos in this post courtesy of Matt P.
Firstly, here is our elusive heroine, Deborah:
Deborah (and Eugene)
So next, would you like to know what Summer's lovely residence, what her stylish abode, what her superb and excellent domicile looks like?
Et voila! the Hut!
The Hut, as seen from outside
Within the Hut
The corner fondly referred to as 'the kitchen'
Summer and Sara enjoy the rustic ambiance
The 'facilities'
Also, here are some places in Nampundwe that Summer has mentioned earlier in this blog.
The neighboring dormitories
Inside the schoolhouse
All photos in this post courtesy of Matt P.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Even more Zambia!
Hi everyone!!!
So I've been beavering away here in Zambia. I counted, and I actually manage to teach sex ed to about 1,000 students each week. Plus, I finished Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and - what was worse - Henry James' The Ambassadors. Which normally I wouldn't brag about, but it was such a slog that I feel I deserve some recognition. I've finished all of the fun, easy reading I brought with me and I'm on to the thicker material. (Eugene: the package has arrived, but the final stages of delivery are the opposite of logistically coordinated.)
Lately my experience - while continuing to be fun, relaxing, interesting and productive - has taken on a few more negative elements. Specifically, I'm homesick, and I miss Eugene and I can't wait to see my family (and all of you!). Also, I feel like the pace of learning new things has slowed. I already know how to cook nshima, hand-wash my clothes, and choose activities that work for classrooms of 60 10-year-olds. And finally, while I definitely think what I'm doing is productive and working, I'm not seeing what I would call a desperate situation. Sure, I live on less than $2 a day, like 45% of the world's population. But what they don't tell you is - the weather is terrific and the pace of life is relaxed and enjoyable. It's not really that big a deal.
Just as this opinion had crystallized, though, something very interesting happened. Deborah and I were talking about how she was mistreated by her stepmom when she was younger. (What happened sounded uncaring and uncomfortable, but it wasn't enough to get me really upset.) Always the pedagogic one, I asked Deborah what she thought about the fact that, as soon as she found a job after SPW, she, too, would be supporting people. Of course, I hoped to engender a conversation about how she would treat her dependents more kindly than her stepmom had treated her.
Silly me, thinking the question was theoretical. Deborah knows she'll be supporting people, and she knows who they are. I learned that Deborah's aunt supports five school-age children: her own son, Deborah's sister, and three cousins (two of whom are disabled, may I add - one is deaf and dumb and one is lame). She supports them by selling sex. Everyone knows what that means - she is not long for this world. May I add further that two of the cousins are disabled - one is deaf and dumb, the other is lame. Some days they eat, and some days they don't. I was appalled. There are so many things wrong with the story. Selling sex for money, AIDS, five dependents, disabilities ~ and my partner forced to assume this whole burden as soon as Chewe dies, which could be anytime. No other source of support on that side of the family is still alive.
*Then*, imagine this, a few days after I hear this story, aunt Chewe appears on our doorstep! We had just returned from an hour-long walk through the bush after teaching for a day at our extension school - we were exhausted - and we found her on our doorstep. I kept quiet while she and Deborah caught up, and even though I didn't understand the language she told the story in, I knew that her coming would not be good news. It turned out she had been evicted! There was too much back rent due on the single room the six of them share.
I thought about it. And I decided, here I am, with all of this money. Doesn't everyone deserve to have all their problems solved for them once in awhile - especially if you're a single mom supporting five kids, two of them disabled, by selling your body for sex?
And then... I didn't give her any money. Deborah never even asked - she's heard me turn down every single request for money I've gotten, and there have been tons. But this situation was different - or was it? I ended up convincing myself that, because I couldn't guarantee the money would be well used, and because I'm a "good person" enough already since I've donated seven months of my time to be here, and because I didn't want to get stuck supporting people forever - that it wasn't my responsibility to care financially for these people I don't know.
I think I may be wrong, right? Maybe I should just accept responsibility for these seven people for the next few-ish years? Or should I ask one of you, charming friends and family, to do it? Probably $200/month would do it - but commitment is essential, a windfall is no good.
So. Things are complicated as usual. As a foil to all of this real drama, I have the fascinating adventures of my fellow volunteers, who are struggling with juggling boyfriends, and the trouble they cause when ones you are no longer interested in show up on your doorstep, or you accidentally hook up with someone you don't care about in the presence of someone you do care about. Tee-hee, some things are the same all over the world, like the behavior of single 20-year-olds. =>
On the teaching side, we've been having some terrific classes. The syllabus says to do condom demonstrations to Grades 10-12, and only if the school agrees. I never asked the school what we were and were not allowed to do, and Deborah and I simply did condom demonstrations with every single class Grade 5 and up. Naturally, it was hilarious. We tossed around a water-filled condom and talked about how strong condoms are and how they have no holes. We blew them up like balloons. We discussed the importance of practicing before you put one on in front of a girl. We told students to steal them from their older brothers and sisters, and we guided them to the clinic that gives them away without questions, and away from the one that insists on an embarrassing consultation. This week, a few weeks later, we reviewed condoms and talked about the pill - available over the counter for 25 cents a month here!!! - but no one knows how to use it or that it's safe!! And we did a demo of the female condom - which I've never used before, but a well-informed doctor at the clinic says it feels nicer than using a male condom, but it makes plasticky noises during sex! Good stuff.
I'm coming home July 31. I can't wait.
These e-mails are posted on http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my charming and thoughtful sister, who also has her own blog (funny - with pictures!) about her adventures in Germany and South Africa at http://vorbild.blogspot.com. And Dulcy, my other sister with a blog (and a baby!) has her adventures in Turkey at http://www.ceng.metu.edu.tr/~ahmet/Dulcy/Blog/ (or via link from Audrey's blog.) The whole family - mom and Paul too - seem to be getting along well - at least as of a couple weeks ago ;)
Love to all,
Summer
So I've been beavering away here in Zambia. I counted, and I actually manage to teach sex ed to about 1,000 students each week. Plus, I finished Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and - what was worse - Henry James' The Ambassadors. Which normally I wouldn't brag about, but it was such a slog that I feel I deserve some recognition. I've finished all of the fun, easy reading I brought with me and I'm on to the thicker material. (Eugene: the package has arrived, but the final stages of delivery are the opposite of logistically coordinated.)
Lately my experience - while continuing to be fun, relaxing, interesting and productive - has taken on a few more negative elements. Specifically, I'm homesick, and I miss Eugene and I can't wait to see my family (and all of you!). Also, I feel like the pace of learning new things has slowed. I already know how to cook nshima, hand-wash my clothes, and choose activities that work for classrooms of 60 10-year-olds. And finally, while I definitely think what I'm doing is productive and working, I'm not seeing what I would call a desperate situation. Sure, I live on less than $2 a day, like 45% of the world's population. But what they don't tell you is - the weather is terrific and the pace of life is relaxed and enjoyable. It's not really that big a deal.
Just as this opinion had crystallized, though, something very interesting happened. Deborah and I were talking about how she was mistreated by her stepmom when she was younger. (What happened sounded uncaring and uncomfortable, but it wasn't enough to get me really upset.) Always the pedagogic one, I asked Deborah what she thought about the fact that, as soon as she found a job after SPW, she, too, would be supporting people. Of course, I hoped to engender a conversation about how she would treat her dependents more kindly than her stepmom had treated her.
Silly me, thinking the question was theoretical. Deborah knows she'll be supporting people, and she knows who they are. I learned that Deborah's aunt supports five school-age children: her own son, Deborah's sister, and three cousins (two of whom are disabled, may I add - one is deaf and dumb and one is lame). She supports them by selling sex. Everyone knows what that means - she is not long for this world. May I add further that two of the cousins are disabled - one is deaf and dumb, the other is lame. Some days they eat, and some days they don't. I was appalled. There are so many things wrong with the story. Selling sex for money, AIDS, five dependents, disabilities ~ and my partner forced to assume this whole burden as soon as Chewe dies, which could be anytime. No other source of support on that side of the family is still alive.
*Then*, imagine this, a few days after I hear this story, aunt Chewe appears on our doorstep! We had just returned from an hour-long walk through the bush after teaching for a day at our extension school - we were exhausted - and we found her on our doorstep. I kept quiet while she and Deborah caught up, and even though I didn't understand the language she told the story in, I knew that her coming would not be good news. It turned out she had been evicted! There was too much back rent due on the single room the six of them share.
I thought about it. And I decided, here I am, with all of this money. Doesn't everyone deserve to have all their problems solved for them once in awhile - especially if you're a single mom supporting five kids, two of them disabled, by selling your body for sex?
And then... I didn't give her any money. Deborah never even asked - she's heard me turn down every single request for money I've gotten, and there have been tons. But this situation was different - or was it? I ended up convincing myself that, because I couldn't guarantee the money would be well used, and because I'm a "good person" enough already since I've donated seven months of my time to be here, and because I didn't want to get stuck supporting people forever - that it wasn't my responsibility to care financially for these people I don't know.
I think I may be wrong, right? Maybe I should just accept responsibility for these seven people for the next few-ish years? Or should I ask one of you, charming friends and family, to do it? Probably $200/month would do it - but commitment is essential, a windfall is no good.
So. Things are complicated as usual. As a foil to all of this real drama, I have the fascinating adventures of my fellow volunteers, who are struggling with juggling boyfriends, and the trouble they cause when ones you are no longer interested in show up on your doorstep, or you accidentally hook up with someone you don't care about in the presence of someone you do care about. Tee-hee, some things are the same all over the world, like the behavior of single 20-year-olds. =>
On the teaching side, we've been having some terrific classes. The syllabus says to do condom demonstrations to Grades 10-12, and only if the school agrees. I never asked the school what we were and were not allowed to do, and Deborah and I simply did condom demonstrations with every single class Grade 5 and up. Naturally, it was hilarious. We tossed around a water-filled condom and talked about how strong condoms are and how they have no holes. We blew them up like balloons. We discussed the importance of practicing before you put one on in front of a girl. We told students to steal them from their older brothers and sisters, and we guided them to the clinic that gives them away without questions, and away from the one that insists on an embarrassing consultation. This week, a few weeks later, we reviewed condoms and talked about the pill - available over the counter for 25 cents a month here!!! - but no one knows how to use it or that it's safe!! And we did a demo of the female condom - which I've never used before, but a well-informed doctor at the clinic says it feels nicer than using a male condom, but it makes plasticky noises during sex! Good stuff.
I'm coming home July 31. I can't wait.
These e-mails are posted on http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my charming and thoughtful sister, who also has her own blog (funny - with pictures!) about her adventures in Germany and South Africa at http://vorbild.blogspot.com. And Dulcy, my other sister with a blog (and a baby!) has her adventures in Turkey at http://www.ceng.metu.edu.tr/~ahmet/Dulcy/Blog/ (or via link from Audrey's blog.) The whole family - mom and Paul too - seem to be getting along well - at least as of a couple weeks ago ;)
Love to all,
Summer
Friday, 4 May 2007
May update!
Hi everyone!
I've spent the last month on vacation, and what a rejuvenating experience it has been. I'm a little worried about going back to the grind on Monday.
My first vacation experience was a little unexpected: culture shock. I look down on people who claim to have culture shock - I regard it as amateurish and arrogant. Nevertheless, when I walked into the backpackers' hostel in Lusaka the night before picking up my friends from the airport, I was really surprised by my negative reaction. All those white people, drinking cold beers and eating food that wasn't nshima! I was like, people stay here and think this is Zambia?
Matt, Sara and Eugene were excellent guests. They ate nshima; they made appropriately flattering remarks about Zambians (so friendly; always want to talk to you but don't ask for money at the end of the conversation); we admired Victoria Falls together; we saw some wildlife. One of the highlights was almost running into two elephants on the way back from a gorge swing over Victoria Falls - they were maybe ten feet away, with big tusks. => Oh yeah, and we decided my hut in Nampundwe is definitely about 9-10 feet in diameter, definitely not twelve. And then five of us slept in it, with the lights on, of course.
Then we went on to Cape Town, South Africa. It was GREAT. We rented an incredibly swanky apartment with a pool (see pictures on Audrey's blog at http://vorbild.blogspot.com). The food was *amazing* - we discovered Namibian oysters; and I got hooked on Viennese hot chocolate, which is hot chocolate with whiskey - intensely alcoholic chocolate, I loved it!! We climbed Table Mountain, we went to see Robben Island, we visited my sister Audrey who is in school in South Africa, we ate out some more. We discovered a super-cool bar (unmarked up four flights of stairs, good decor and young crowd), in which Sara and I played a brief game of Truth or Dare and I successfully inserted myself between two people who were engaged in an intense conversation on a couch. I spent the last day reacquainting myself with a good bookstore. =>
Possibly the last week was the best, though. Four female SPW volunteers and I headed over to Lake Malawi. The lake is stunning, with warm, clear, deep water and little bright blue fishies that swim around your feet. It's surrounded by the mountains of the Great Rift Valley; and completely untouristed except, of course, for the ever-present backpackers hostels ($2/night). The company was great - we all get along, and we like nothing better than sitting for hours on a verandah over the lake and discussing all kinds of things - notably our discoveries of (you guessed it) previously unimagined sexual practices, like taking a certain drug to dry up your girlie parts, or masturbating with a cooking stick. Eeek!
This past week I've been in training. May I note, in a sort of broad, global context, how incredibly focused young single people are on the opposite sex. Three of the four of my Lake Malawi companions found bedmates - and we were there less than a week! And training with the other volunteers is just as hectic, with most people having at least two or three serious flirtations going on at once. It is quite remarkable to behold. In addition to adoring Eugene and having consistently wonderful times with him, I can't help but feel grateful that I have all this extra time on my hands thanks to not being so preoccupied with the process of finding a partner.
FYI - Congo plans were ditched due to logistical difficulties. Good thing, too, the country has been super-dangerous in the last couple of weeks, even in Lubumbashi which I had thought was safe. => Malawi was an inspired alternative.
I am leaving a lot out of this e-mail, but after realizing that after my last e-mail some people missed the fact that I'M GOING TO HARVARD!!! YAY!!! - anyways, after that I've decided that brevity (or bold face?) is the soul of comprehensibility.
Admin: Zambian numbers changed to include an additional digit, my number from the US is now [number removed]. My e-mails are posted at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my talented and lucky sister - Stellenbosch must be the most attractive university in the world, surrounded by mountains and wineries, and all the men there can dance.
Love to all,
Summer
I've spent the last month on vacation, and what a rejuvenating experience it has been. I'm a little worried about going back to the grind on Monday.
My first vacation experience was a little unexpected: culture shock. I look down on people who claim to have culture shock - I regard it as amateurish and arrogant. Nevertheless, when I walked into the backpackers' hostel in Lusaka the night before picking up my friends from the airport, I was really surprised by my negative reaction. All those white people, drinking cold beers and eating food that wasn't nshima! I was like, people stay here and think this is Zambia?
Matt, Sara and Eugene were excellent guests. They ate nshima; they made appropriately flattering remarks about Zambians (so friendly; always want to talk to you but don't ask for money at the end of the conversation); we admired Victoria Falls together; we saw some wildlife. One of the highlights was almost running into two elephants on the way back from a gorge swing over Victoria Falls - they were maybe ten feet away, with big tusks. => Oh yeah, and we decided my hut in Nampundwe is definitely about 9-10 feet in diameter, definitely not twelve. And then five of us slept in it, with the lights on, of course.
Then we went on to Cape Town, South Africa. It was GREAT. We rented an incredibly swanky apartment with a pool (see pictures on Audrey's blog at http://vorbild.blogspot.com). The food was *amazing* - we discovered Namibian oysters; and I got hooked on Viennese hot chocolate, which is hot chocolate with whiskey - intensely alcoholic chocolate, I loved it!! We climbed Table Mountain, we went to see Robben Island, we visited my sister Audrey who is in school in South Africa, we ate out some more. We discovered a super-cool bar (unmarked up four flights of stairs, good decor and young crowd), in which Sara and I played a brief game of Truth or Dare and I successfully inserted myself between two people who were engaged in an intense conversation on a couch. I spent the last day reacquainting myself with a good bookstore. =>
Possibly the last week was the best, though. Four female SPW volunteers and I headed over to Lake Malawi. The lake is stunning, with warm, clear, deep water and little bright blue fishies that swim around your feet. It's surrounded by the mountains of the Great Rift Valley; and completely untouristed except, of course, for the ever-present backpackers hostels ($2/night). The company was great - we all get along, and we like nothing better than sitting for hours on a verandah over the lake and discussing all kinds of things - notably our discoveries of (you guessed it) previously unimagined sexual practices, like taking a certain drug to dry up your girlie parts, or masturbating with a cooking stick. Eeek!
This past week I've been in training. May I note, in a sort of broad, global context, how incredibly focused young single people are on the opposite sex. Three of the four of my Lake Malawi companions found bedmates - and we were there less than a week! And training with the other volunteers is just as hectic, with most people having at least two or three serious flirtations going on at once. It is quite remarkable to behold. In addition to adoring Eugene and having consistently wonderful times with him, I can't help but feel grateful that I have all this extra time on my hands thanks to not being so preoccupied with the process of finding a partner.
FYI - Congo plans were ditched due to logistical difficulties. Good thing, too, the country has been super-dangerous in the last couple of weeks, even in Lubumbashi which I had thought was safe. => Malawi was an inspired alternative.
I am leaving a lot out of this e-mail, but after realizing that after my last e-mail some people missed the fact that I'M GOING TO HARVARD!!! YAY!!! - anyways, after that I've decided that brevity (or bold face?) is the soul of comprehensibility.
Admin: Zambian numbers changed to include an additional digit, my number from the US is now [number removed]. My e-mails are posted at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my talented and lucky sister - Stellenbosch must be the most attractive university in the world, surrounded by mountains and wineries, and all the men there can dance.
Love to all,
Summer
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Zambia in April
Hi, everyone!!!
Eugene and two of my best friends, Matt and Sara, are coming to visit me next week! My next e-mail will be full of travel exploits - we're visiting Victoria Falls, Zambia; going to Cape Town, South Africa; and the week after they leave I'll be heading to Lumumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (site of the bloodiest civil war recently - 3,000,000 died, even more than Darfur, I believe - conflict ended maybe 2-3 years ago but don't worry, it was in a different part of the country, plus I'm going with a friend who's Congolese and visiting his family.) But this time, my e-mail is full of anecdotes about money and sex, boring boring. =>
MONEY
So Matt booked a room at the Lusaka Hotel (aptly named, I know) for their first night in town, and Deborah and I stopped in today to have a look around. Deborah was entranced - the place has a water feature, and art on the walls, and upholstered chairs in the lobby. I was, uh, impressed by the place's swankiness by Zambian standards, but it's hard not to notice the flaws. As a small example, the aquarium was unbelievably dirty, and the linolieum was peeling. (The service was impeccable, by the way -- when I said a friend had booked a room for next week, they said "P________?" (<-Matt's last name) and they showed me the room we'll be staying in.) So, you guys, don't spoil the luxury for Deborah - you have to see the hotel through her eyes, please. (I hid my giggles - the juxtaposition of my impression of the place and Deborah's was just too funny.) That is, if I don't decide a backpackers place I know is a better bet. I'll let you know.
Another thing about money: when you come here (especially for Matt, Sara and Eugene), do not give away any money (or talk time, which is the same thing) to anyone. Everything you do will be expected of all white people. I have become experienced in telling everyone from strangers to close friends that no, I can't give them money, for any reason. And I don't overpay for anything. On the other hand, economic exchanges at the local market price are highly encouraged as promoting hard work and the local economy. I figure, since I travel quite a bit, eat out every so often, and patronize internet cafes, I'm doing my fair share to move American dollars into Zambia in a productive way.
SEX
At a teacher's workshop this week, we were practicing answering embarrassing questions professionally. One of the questions was, "can you get HIV from having oral sex?" The teachers asked the person answering the question for a definition of oral sex, and he said "oral sex is talking about sex." My God. So I've started asking my students, privately, "what is oral sex?" People who will openly admit that they had sex once when they were twelve will absolutely refuse to try to define oral sex. Most of them really don't know, or they've heard vaguely about blow jobs before (not the words but the concept), but no Zambian I've asked so far has ever had oral sex.
Let us all take a moment to be grateful for the quantity of ambient sexual knowledge in the United States, which enables us to have profoundly happier and more satisfying sexual relationships than would otherwise be possible.
By the way, in this case as in most others, I shun the "cultural" explanation for this difference in sexual practices in favor of a logical reason. To a much greater extent than sex, oral sex is a skill. It's pretty unlikely you're going to give good oral sex the first time around. If your partner has never had oral sex before either, then a couple is fairly likely to give up oral sex after a very limited number of tries. If, on the other hand, your partner has already had good oral sex (or has heard his/her friends or the media raving about good oral sex), they will have both the knowledge and the desire to coach their partners into developing the skill.
I tell you, ABC (abstain-be faithful-use a condom) is all over Zambia, but people are still having tons of unprotected sex. Why is no one promoting oral sex and masturbation, two practices that have the enormous advantages of (a) being sexually satisfying (b) avoiding HIV and (c) avoiding pregnancy? Well, now that I think of it, I am. => Like I've said before, one of the big advantages of it being my job to talk about sex is that it never gets boring... (Also provides a handy excuse for talking about sex: as in, I can't believe I'm writing to everyone on this list about these topics, but hey, it's my job! =>)
FYI, Jasmine, people masturbate here, but they feel guilty about it, worry it's unsafe, lack privacy, and don't do it very often. And homosexuality is illegal, but people know it exists elsewhere and tend to be curious, but also they're sure it's a sin - this is legally a Christian country. Polygamy, on the other hand, does exist in some places here. Also there's the super-bizarre process of "sexual cleansing," in which a widow has sex with her late husband's brother or cousin in order to avoid being haunted by the ghost of her husband. Fortunately, this unbelievably unsafe practice is now in most cases modified somewhat to present less of a risk of HIV transmission.
A GOOD STORY
So a couple of scary things have happened to me here, and since they make good stories I'm going to share them. Remember, though, my life here is basically blissful and totally safe - things similarly dangerous happen at home too, the dangers (like car accidents) are just more common at home so they seem less scary somehow.
Anyway, Deborah and I heard a noise one night as we were going to bed, and so I went to close the door (one of those sliding-lock things, and a persnickety one at that.) We climbed under our mosquito net, tucked it in, and then prepared to go to bed. All of a sudden Deborah sat straight up and said "Summer, there's a snake." Now, Deborah, like most Zambians, believes in witchcraft and had been pretty afraid at night for awhile, so I was like, "please, can't we just go to sleep?" I wasn't wearing glasses either, which didn't help matters. Anyway, she was right. The snake slithered over to the door and scratched its fangs against it (it wanted to get out) and then started slithering toward us - which is when I finally saw it. Recall our hut is about twelve feet in diameter - so it was pretty close already and coming right for us. Displaying, if I may say so, excellent presence of mind (and thanks to brother Paul for his years-long snake obsession that taught me this) I banged on the ground, and sure enough the snake didn't like the vibration so it went back and started slithering against the far wall. This was sort of an improvement, except our hut is round so it was still coming toward us, and plus we got a good look at the size of it - much bigger than we'd originally thought, maybe five feet. I gathered my courage and slid out from under the mosquito net and won a fierce but fortunately brief battle with the lock. I wasn't sure what to do next - wait for the snake to leave? - but fortunately Deborah did, and she flew past me and ran next door to the girl's dorm - I realized her excellent judgement in the matter and followed at speed.
It turns out what happens next is, the entire school wakes up, the head teacher sees you in your pyjamas on an adrenaline rush, and hordes of guys from the far-away boys dorm come over, and then they kill the snake!! They killed it in our hut!! And learned that it was a venemous cobra, by the way. Apparently it's typical to see the corpse of the thing after it dies to avoid being haunted, which Deborah did but I refused. As a result, Deborah is convinced the snake was six feet long and as big as my thigh, and I think that's a fish story but can't prove it. We slept at a nearby teacher's house that night, and the next morning had the pleasure of picking up our torn-apart house (finding a snake leads to a frenzied throwing about of property, it seems) and cleaning snake blood off everything. So gross. Also, we re-arranged our stuff so it's now impossible for a snake to hide along the perimeter of our hut, so don't worry, we're safe. (hee hee. I think I get a sick pleasure in tormenting those of you who think I'm really in a dangerous place.)
That's the story, I have some more but goodness I think this e-mail is already quite long enough as I'm sure you'll agree, so proceeding to the final bit of news...
HARVARD
I learned Wednesday that I've been accepted to Harvard Business School!!! Those of you (and there are many on this list) who have viewed my lifetime Harvard complex with bemused resignation can now switch to ... well, more bemused resignation. => Special thanks to my recommenders, Jonathan, Joe, and Ezra. Many thanks also to my friends at Fenway Partners, Marc for providing invaluable criticism of last year's application, and Clint for showing me around HBS. And a special hello to Nate - I'll be visiting you in August. =>
FIN
Each time I sent out a mass e-mail I get a few lovely e-mails from various people on this list - sometimes people I don't expect, which keeps me convinced that all of you breathlessly await my latest missives from this corner of the world. You guys are the best e-mail audience an adventurer could hope for, and I can't thank you enough. => As a reminder, all of these e-mails are posted online at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my talented and also globetrotting sister Audrey (who, by the way, is heading from Germany to South Africa on in 3 days, safe travels chica!)
I can't believe how long this has gotten - and to think when I started writing I was worried I wouldn't have anything to say!!
Love to all,
Summer
Eugene and two of my best friends, Matt and Sara, are coming to visit me next week! My next e-mail will be full of travel exploits - we're visiting Victoria Falls, Zambia; going to Cape Town, South Africa; and the week after they leave I'll be heading to Lumumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (site of the bloodiest civil war recently - 3,000,000 died, even more than Darfur, I believe - conflict ended maybe 2-3 years ago but don't worry, it was in a different part of the country, plus I'm going with a friend who's Congolese and visiting his family.) But this time, my e-mail is full of anecdotes about money and sex, boring boring. =>
MONEY
So Matt booked a room at the Lusaka Hotel (aptly named, I know) for their first night in town, and Deborah and I stopped in today to have a look around. Deborah was entranced - the place has a water feature, and art on the walls, and upholstered chairs in the lobby. I was, uh, impressed by the place's swankiness by Zambian standards, but it's hard not to notice the flaws. As a small example, the aquarium was unbelievably dirty, and the linolieum was peeling. (The service was impeccable, by the way -- when I said a friend had booked a room for next week, they said "P________?" (<-Matt's last name) and they showed me the room we'll be staying in.) So, you guys, don't spoil the luxury for Deborah - you have to see the hotel through her eyes, please. (I hid my giggles - the juxtaposition of my impression of the place and Deborah's was just too funny.) That is, if I don't decide a backpackers place I know is a better bet. I'll let you know.
Another thing about money: when you come here (especially for Matt, Sara and Eugene), do not give away any money (or talk time, which is the same thing) to anyone. Everything you do will be expected of all white people. I have become experienced in telling everyone from strangers to close friends that no, I can't give them money, for any reason. And I don't overpay for anything. On the other hand, economic exchanges at the local market price are highly encouraged as promoting hard work and the local economy. I figure, since I travel quite a bit, eat out every so often, and patronize internet cafes, I'm doing my fair share to move American dollars into Zambia in a productive way.
SEX
At a teacher's workshop this week, we were practicing answering embarrassing questions professionally. One of the questions was, "can you get HIV from having oral sex?" The teachers asked the person answering the question for a definition of oral sex, and he said "oral sex is talking about sex." My God. So I've started asking my students, privately, "what is oral sex?" People who will openly admit that they had sex once when they were twelve will absolutely refuse to try to define oral sex. Most of them really don't know, or they've heard vaguely about blow jobs before (not the words but the concept), but no Zambian I've asked so far has ever had oral sex.
Let us all take a moment to be grateful for the quantity of ambient sexual knowledge in the United States, which enables us to have profoundly happier and more satisfying sexual relationships than would otherwise be possible.
By the way, in this case as in most others, I shun the "cultural" explanation for this difference in sexual practices in favor of a logical reason. To a much greater extent than sex, oral sex is a skill. It's pretty unlikely you're going to give good oral sex the first time around. If your partner has never had oral sex before either, then a couple is fairly likely to give up oral sex after a very limited number of tries. If, on the other hand, your partner has already had good oral sex (or has heard his/her friends or the media raving about good oral sex), they will have both the knowledge and the desire to coach their partners into developing the skill.
I tell you, ABC (abstain-be faithful-use a condom) is all over Zambia, but people are still having tons of unprotected sex. Why is no one promoting oral sex and masturbation, two practices that have the enormous advantages of (a) being sexually satisfying (b) avoiding HIV and (c) avoiding pregnancy? Well, now that I think of it, I am. => Like I've said before, one of the big advantages of it being my job to talk about sex is that it never gets boring... (Also provides a handy excuse for talking about sex: as in, I can't believe I'm writing to everyone on this list about these topics, but hey, it's my job! =>)
FYI, Jasmine, people masturbate here, but they feel guilty about it, worry it's unsafe, lack privacy, and don't do it very often. And homosexuality is illegal, but people know it exists elsewhere and tend to be curious, but also they're sure it's a sin - this is legally a Christian country. Polygamy, on the other hand, does exist in some places here. Also there's the super-bizarre process of "sexual cleansing," in which a widow has sex with her late husband's brother or cousin in order to avoid being haunted by the ghost of her husband. Fortunately, this unbelievably unsafe practice is now in most cases modified somewhat to present less of a risk of HIV transmission.
A GOOD STORY
So a couple of scary things have happened to me here, and since they make good stories I'm going to share them. Remember, though, my life here is basically blissful and totally safe - things similarly dangerous happen at home too, the dangers (like car accidents) are just more common at home so they seem less scary somehow.
Anyway, Deborah and I heard a noise one night as we were going to bed, and so I went to close the door (one of those sliding-lock things, and a persnickety one at that.) We climbed under our mosquito net, tucked it in, and then prepared to go to bed. All of a sudden Deborah sat straight up and said "Summer, there's a snake." Now, Deborah, like most Zambians, believes in witchcraft and had been pretty afraid at night for awhile, so I was like, "please, can't we just go to sleep?" I wasn't wearing glasses either, which didn't help matters. Anyway, she was right. The snake slithered over to the door and scratched its fangs against it (it wanted to get out) and then started slithering toward us - which is when I finally saw it. Recall our hut is about twelve feet in diameter - so it was pretty close already and coming right for us. Displaying, if I may say so, excellent presence of mind (and thanks to brother Paul for his years-long snake obsession that taught me this) I banged on the ground, and sure enough the snake didn't like the vibration so it went back and started slithering against the far wall. This was sort of an improvement, except our hut is round so it was still coming toward us, and plus we got a good look at the size of it - much bigger than we'd originally thought, maybe five feet. I gathered my courage and slid out from under the mosquito net and won a fierce but fortunately brief battle with the lock. I wasn't sure what to do next - wait for the snake to leave? - but fortunately Deborah did, and she flew past me and ran next door to the girl's dorm - I realized her excellent judgement in the matter and followed at speed.
It turns out what happens next is, the entire school wakes up, the head teacher sees you in your pyjamas on an adrenaline rush, and hordes of guys from the far-away boys dorm come over, and then they kill the snake!! They killed it in our hut!! And learned that it was a venemous cobra, by the way. Apparently it's typical to see the corpse of the thing after it dies to avoid being haunted, which Deborah did but I refused. As a result, Deborah is convinced the snake was six feet long and as big as my thigh, and I think that's a fish story but can't prove it. We slept at a nearby teacher's house that night, and the next morning had the pleasure of picking up our torn-apart house (finding a snake leads to a frenzied throwing about of property, it seems) and cleaning snake blood off everything. So gross. Also, we re-arranged our stuff so it's now impossible for a snake to hide along the perimeter of our hut, so don't worry, we're safe. (hee hee. I think I get a sick pleasure in tormenting those of you who think I'm really in a dangerous place.)
That's the story, I have some more but goodness I think this e-mail is already quite long enough as I'm sure you'll agree, so proceeding to the final bit of news...
HARVARD
I learned Wednesday that I've been accepted to Harvard Business School!!! Those of you (and there are many on this list) who have viewed my lifetime Harvard complex with bemused resignation can now switch to ... well, more bemused resignation. => Special thanks to my recommenders, Jonathan, Joe, and Ezra. Many thanks also to my friends at Fenway Partners, Marc for providing invaluable criticism of last year's application, and Clint for showing me around HBS. And a special hello to Nate - I'll be visiting you in August. =>
FIN
Each time I sent out a mass e-mail I get a few lovely e-mails from various people on this list - sometimes people I don't expect, which keeps me convinced that all of you breathlessly await my latest missives from this corner of the world. You guys are the best e-mail audience an adventurer could hope for, and I can't thank you enough. => As a reminder, all of these e-mails are posted online at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my talented and also globetrotting sister Audrey (who, by the way, is heading from Germany to South Africa on in 3 days, safe travels chica!)
I can't believe how long this has gotten - and to think when I started writing I was worried I wouldn't have anything to say!!
Love to all,
Summer
Sunday, 18 March 2007
Zambia in March
Greetings all!
Zambia in March is magnificent. Everything is so beautiful here that I spend time thinking about it every day without even realizing it. We had an event day this past Monday, and in the afternoon there were sports tournaments. Envision an enormous blue sky; and under it, a bright green baobab tree, and under that, maybe fifty dark-skinned people of all ages sitting under the tree watching the game. You see a soccer ball arc through the sky and the players come into view from behind a building, running in tandem, one team wearing bright red jerseys and the other bright blue. The colors here are incredible. And what makes it even better is that everyone here is my friend, everyone knows me and I know everyone.
I've been learning more about the sex lives of Zambians. You will never guess. The most common sexual experience for young Zambians is that they had sex once, when they were very young (like 12), and it was no fun, so they've never repeated it. I ask people in private about their sex lives, and my latest streak is six people in a row having that exact same story!!! Six in a row!!! So far, I've managed to find only three people with what I would call a decent sex life (defined as: they've had sex three or more times, and they say it was fun.) Part of the problem is that people spend zero time getting to know each other before sex - there is no concept of the fact that you can see a girl naked and not have sex with her. So of course people's knowledge about their partners' preferences prior to sex is essential nil. This, combined with the super-young ages of the participants, does not lead to intimate, fun times in bed. I've asked a guy who's had a lot of sex if sex is fun, and he thought about it, and said he wasn't sure! And, I've asked another guy who had sex twice if sex was fun, and he said it was "f-n" and I clarified, "it was fine? or it was fun?" and it was fine, but not fun. EEEK!!! I come from the sex-should-be-safe-and-fun camp, and Zambians are having dangerous sex that's not even safe, just so they can brag to their little friends that they've "done it"!
Fortunately, I'm in an excellent position to fix the situation. I tell all of my kiddies, in class, that everything between boys and girls should be comfortable and fun, and if it's not, they should stop what they're doing and go back to something comfortable and fun. I talk about lots of things they've never heard about that are good things to do before you have sex: how to give a backrub, how to give verbal and non-verbal feedback to your partner about what you like, how to find a clitoris, that Americans have oral sex and aren't blind as a result, how to ask that a guy use a condom. And I tell them they have lots of time in their lives for sex, and sex will be more fun if they wait for a decent age, and to please tell their younger brothers and sisters.
I think I'm getting results. Take this case, of a good friend of mine who is twenty years old and has abstained her entire life - she has had exactly one kiss. She's smart, good-looking, mature, and has had boyfriends before - but had never heard before that you can do anything besides kissing and sex. She's now heard otherwise from me. She has a minor crush on a friend of ours. She visited him and another friend for a couple days - sleeping arrangements were such that the two of them ended up sharing a bed (but not sleeping together), they talked, they kissed, they gave each other massages. Basically, they had a *great time.* And their friends (who I had also subtly coached the week before) just kind of looked away and let them do their thing. The whole experience sounds so nice and normal to me - but I know this kind of comfortable, sexual-but-no-sex, boy-girl contact here is *extremely rare*. I'm proud as a mother hen for my part in making it possible. =>
Switching gears. I've been thinking, part of the problem about visiting Zambia is that it's not a country for tourists - there are no monuments, no shows, no walking tours. You really need someone who is here already to create an itinerary and show you around. And, here I am. So I'd like to take this opportunity to invite everyone on this list, your spouses, significant others, kids, friends and neighbors - anyone who can afford it, really - to Zambia for a week. I will show you a fantastic time and open your eyes to a totally different culture besides. We'll spend time in Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world that's in Zambia, and also visit my placement so you'll get a chance to meet a lot of cool Zambians and really see how people live. I may also invite some of my Zambian friends along as guides, to help negotiate travel, prices, and cooking, and to provide their own perspective on what you're seeing. Interesting ideas for a second week abound: sun-worshipping in Zanzibar and the Spice Islands, safaris in the Serengeti, or visits to Cape Town, Africa's prettiest city.
The best time is Sunday July 1 - Sunday July 8 in Zambia, with side trips before or after. The week might cost about $2,500 per person (broad brush) including about $1,500 for airfare. Let me know if you might be interested!!!
Remember, these letters are posted online at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com; comments are most welcome and I love the nice comments and e-mails I've been getting!! Thank you!!
All the best,
Summer
Zambia in March is magnificent. Everything is so beautiful here that I spend time thinking about it every day without even realizing it. We had an event day this past Monday, and in the afternoon there were sports tournaments. Envision an enormous blue sky; and under it, a bright green baobab tree, and under that, maybe fifty dark-skinned people of all ages sitting under the tree watching the game. You see a soccer ball arc through the sky and the players come into view from behind a building, running in tandem, one team wearing bright red jerseys and the other bright blue. The colors here are incredible. And what makes it even better is that everyone here is my friend, everyone knows me and I know everyone.
I've been learning more about the sex lives of Zambians. You will never guess. The most common sexual experience for young Zambians is that they had sex once, when they were very young (like 12), and it was no fun, so they've never repeated it. I ask people in private about their sex lives, and my latest streak is six people in a row having that exact same story!!! Six in a row!!! So far, I've managed to find only three people with what I would call a decent sex life (defined as: they've had sex three or more times, and they say it was fun.) Part of the problem is that people spend zero time getting to know each other before sex - there is no concept of the fact that you can see a girl naked and not have sex with her. So of course people's knowledge about their partners' preferences prior to sex is essential nil. This, combined with the super-young ages of the participants, does not lead to intimate, fun times in bed. I've asked a guy who's had a lot of sex if sex is fun, and he thought about it, and said he wasn't sure! And, I've asked another guy who had sex twice if sex was fun, and he said it was "f-n" and I clarified, "it was fine? or it was fun?" and it was fine, but not fun. EEEK!!! I come from the sex-should-be-safe-and-fun camp, and Zambians are having dangerous sex that's not even safe, just so they can brag to their little friends that they've "done it"!
Fortunately, I'm in an excellent position to fix the situation. I tell all of my kiddies, in class, that everything between boys and girls should be comfortable and fun, and if it's not, they should stop what they're doing and go back to something comfortable and fun. I talk about lots of things they've never heard about that are good things to do before you have sex: how to give a backrub, how to give verbal and non-verbal feedback to your partner about what you like, how to find a clitoris, that Americans have oral sex and aren't blind as a result, how to ask that a guy use a condom. And I tell them they have lots of time in their lives for sex, and sex will be more fun if they wait for a decent age, and to please tell their younger brothers and sisters.
I think I'm getting results. Take this case, of a good friend of mine who is twenty years old and has abstained her entire life - she has had exactly one kiss. She's smart, good-looking, mature, and has had boyfriends before - but had never heard before that you can do anything besides kissing and sex. She's now heard otherwise from me. She has a minor crush on a friend of ours. She visited him and another friend for a couple days - sleeping arrangements were such that the two of them ended up sharing a bed (but not sleeping together), they talked, they kissed, they gave each other massages. Basically, they had a *great time.* And their friends (who I had also subtly coached the week before) just kind of looked away and let them do their thing. The whole experience sounds so nice and normal to me - but I know this kind of comfortable, sexual-but-no-sex, boy-girl contact here is *extremely rare*. I'm proud as a mother hen for my part in making it possible. =>
Switching gears. I've been thinking, part of the problem about visiting Zambia is that it's not a country for tourists - there are no monuments, no shows, no walking tours. You really need someone who is here already to create an itinerary and show you around. And, here I am. So I'd like to take this opportunity to invite everyone on this list, your spouses, significant others, kids, friends and neighbors - anyone who can afford it, really - to Zambia for a week. I will show you a fantastic time and open your eyes to a totally different culture besides. We'll spend time in Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world that's in Zambia, and also visit my placement so you'll get a chance to meet a lot of cool Zambians and really see how people live. I may also invite some of my Zambian friends along as guides, to help negotiate travel, prices, and cooking, and to provide their own perspective on what you're seeing. Interesting ideas for a second week abound: sun-worshipping in Zanzibar and the Spice Islands, safaris in the Serengeti, or visits to Cape Town, Africa's prettiest city.
The best time is Sunday July 1 - Sunday July 8 in Zambia, with side trips before or after. The week might cost about $2,500 per person (broad brush) including about $1,500 for airfare. Let me know if you might be interested!!!
Remember, these letters are posted online at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com; comments are most welcome and I love the nice comments and e-mails I've been getting!! Thank you!!
All the best,
Summer
Friday, 23 February 2007
Email from Feb. 23
Hi everyone!!!
My sister Audrey has graciously posted my previous e-mails on a blog at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com - feel free to leave comments there! Hopefully within a day or two she'll post this e-mail as well.
TRAVELING TO ZAMBIA
I've been here awhile now, and I'm really starting to wonder why on earth more people are not visiting Zambia. This place is beautiful, safe, authentically African, English-speaking, with amazing weather, and unspeakably cheap. Even flights here aren't that expensive - you can get tickets from New York to Lusaka for about $1,500. Even though there are really few whites, people try hard to be polite and I get harassed less than I do walking around New York! (Admittedly, my no-nonsense New York-style walk does help with this.) For short trips, you just need to bring sunscreen (Coppertone oil-free is the best), Malarone (a no-side-effect daily malaria prophylactic that any doctor can prescribe), $100 for a tourist visa, a Visa card, the Bradt guidebook to Zambia, and that's it. Seriously, consider visiting at some point, you will love it here.
WHAT I'M UP TO
I'm teaching sex ed to 1,400 students, grades 5-12, each week. Imagine talking about private parts to a classroom of up to 90 tiny, giggly little 10-year-olds! Fortunately, talking about sex never gets old. Consider this gem: I was talking with the 11th grade boarding students, and I asked them, given the extremely limited space and privacy available, where exactly do Zambians have sex? They laughed, looked at each other, and then all agreed: Zambians have sex in trees!! =>
WHY IS ZAMBIA POOR?
Of course part of the reason I'm here is to develop my own opinion about why exactly Zambia is poor. The problem is a complicated one, but I think I've discovered a major contributing factor: pervasive bad management. Zambians tend to rely on exhortation: "Now really, I really want you to be here on time tomorrow" rather than the far more effective management tools of setting clear expectations, monitoring, and following up: "Tomorrow we will be taking attendance at 8 AM, please be on time, thank you!" I've seen this pattern repeated in a lot of contexts. The problem is not just within leadership at the top, but throughout management at all levels. It is, however, a mistake to think that bad management is somehow "cultural" and can't be changed: Zambians are rational people who know good ideas when they hear them - they do, however, need to learn better management skills on a large scale.
MORE ABOUT AIDS
Deborah and I have met a best friend! Her name is Chibeka, and we met her because she found out she was HIV positive the day we arrived in Nampundwe. We met her and talked with her - it's an understatement to say she was pretty down - what unbelievably bad news. Amazingly, though, she snapped back in a remarkably short time - maybe four days - and turns out to be a charming, funny, outgoing girl - and our new best friend, as I've said, plus an excellent baker who sometimes gives us buns and scones. The kicker: Chibeka got HIV because she was raped when she was about 10. She hasn't had sex since.
Chibeka's story illustrates the basic AIDS juxtaposition I keep noticing: (1) people are unbelievably resilient and (2) AIDS is horrible.
CONGRATULATIONS TO WINSTON!!
And finally, a big congratulations to Winston Hotels, which announced its going-private transaction yesterday! I worked on the transaction while at JF Capital Advisors and I'm thrilled to hear that things have been progressing successfully!!!
Love to all,
Summer
My sister Audrey has graciously posted my previous e-mails on a blog at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com - feel free to leave comments there! Hopefully within a day or two she'll post this e-mail as well.
TRAVELING TO ZAMBIA
I've been here awhile now, and I'm really starting to wonder why on earth more people are not visiting Zambia. This place is beautiful, safe, authentically African, English-speaking, with amazing weather, and unspeakably cheap. Even flights here aren't that expensive - you can get tickets from New York to Lusaka for about $1,500. Even though there are really few whites, people try hard to be polite and I get harassed less than I do walking around New York! (Admittedly, my no-nonsense New York-style walk does help with this.) For short trips, you just need to bring sunscreen (Coppertone oil-free is the best), Malarone (a no-side-effect daily malaria prophylactic that any doctor can prescribe), $100 for a tourist visa, a Visa card, the Bradt guidebook to Zambia, and that's it. Seriously, consider visiting at some point, you will love it here.
WHAT I'M UP TO
I'm teaching sex ed to 1,400 students, grades 5-12, each week. Imagine talking about private parts to a classroom of up to 90 tiny, giggly little 10-year-olds! Fortunately, talking about sex never gets old. Consider this gem: I was talking with the 11th grade boarding students, and I asked them, given the extremely limited space and privacy available, where exactly do Zambians have sex? They laughed, looked at each other, and then all agreed: Zambians have sex in trees!! =>
WHY IS ZAMBIA POOR?
Of course part of the reason I'm here is to develop my own opinion about why exactly Zambia is poor. The problem is a complicated one, but I think I've discovered a major contributing factor: pervasive bad management. Zambians tend to rely on exhortation: "Now really, I really want you to be here on time tomorrow" rather than the far more effective management tools of setting clear expectations, monitoring, and following up: "Tomorrow we will be taking attendance at 8 AM, please be on time, thank you!" I've seen this pattern repeated in a lot of contexts. The problem is not just within leadership at the top, but throughout management at all levels. It is, however, a mistake to think that bad management is somehow "cultural" and can't be changed: Zambians are rational people who know good ideas when they hear them - they do, however, need to learn better management skills on a large scale.
MORE ABOUT AIDS
Deborah and I have met a best friend! Her name is Chibeka, and we met her because she found out she was HIV positive the day we arrived in Nampundwe. We met her and talked with her - it's an understatement to say she was pretty down - what unbelievably bad news. Amazingly, though, she snapped back in a remarkably short time - maybe four days - and turns out to be a charming, funny, outgoing girl - and our new best friend, as I've said, plus an excellent baker who sometimes gives us buns and scones. The kicker: Chibeka got HIV because she was raped when she was about 10. She hasn't had sex since.
Chibeka's story illustrates the basic AIDS juxtaposition I keep noticing: (1) people are unbelievably resilient and (2) AIDS is horrible.
CONGRATULATIONS TO WINSTON!!
And finally, a big congratulations to Winston Hotels, which announced its going-private transaction yesterday! I worked on the transaction while at JF Capital Advisors and I'm thrilled to hear that things have been progressing successfully!!!
Love to all,
Summer
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