Zamculture Notes
-A live, grown chicken costs only $2-3 in the village.
-It is culturally acceptable to pick your nose in public.
-ZAMTIME=anywhere within 2 hours of stated time...or more. One of my trainers put it best: "Americans have watches but never have time. Zambians don't have watches but have plenty of time." Fortunately for me, BakerTime and ZamTime are closely related ;-) so I'm ahead of the game on that one.
-Food consists of one main staple - nshima - made from maize, and has a conistency of something between rice and mashed potatoes. With this are any of unlimited 'relishes' that you scoop into your hand with the nshima. These are typically: cabbage; beans; pumpkin leaves; kapinta (tiny fish); and usually some type of meat.
-Two men walking amicably hand-in-hand: OKAY. A man and a woman walking hand in hand: NOT OKAY.
-GENDA! A wonderfully corrupted word. Men have their roles. Women have theirs. Genda.
-Beating your wife is often done "out of love."
posted by Ned @ 4:44 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Hey!
Nshima sounds like grits or polenta! Or the Zambian equivalent of Chinese jook (i.e., Chinese Soul food) :)
Ned, I'm glad you were placed in a country that has the same sense of time that you do...I wonder if Zamtime expands as you get further away from the urban centers...We'll have to wait for your posting when you're in your village for that, I suppose.
Now here's a question: Is playing Jenga a genda-specific game? That is, can women and men play? Only separately games? Only on separate teams? Or..O oops, there is no Jenga there for either genda.
Commenting in a timely fashion,
Grace (f.)
How about that genda-studies? When women from lesser-developed countries went to the international women's conference in Asia a few years ago, they were surprised to note that women from higher-developed countries were so concerned about issues like s/he language issues, whereas they were concerned about basic issues such as food, water, hygiene and spousal abuse. Shows you how diverse feminist issues are around the globe.
Truly,
Grace (f.)
Mommy Oatmeal! Thanks for the comment! How are the two bundles of joy coming along? Women here sling their kids onto their backs in tightly wrapped cloths. Never seen them do it with twins though... ;-) Maybe you could start a trend?!
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