A little jargon for ya

Here’s some Zambian (British influenced) lingo for you.
Crisps: Potato Chips
Biscuits: cookies or crackers
The Boot: the trunk of your car
Dodgy: dishonest or unreliable (ex: That car looks dodgy)
Proper: (of a person) good looking; satisfactory or correctly (ex: the bartender made me a proper drink); thoroughly (ex: I was fooled good and proper)
Smart: clean, neat, well-dressed (ex: Dress smart for the meeting.)
Another thing I’ve found myself doing, which I picked up from talking to people here, is ending all sentences with a question. Example: The weather here is quite nice. Yeah?

I moved into Chachacha Backpackers on Sunday night. It’s a nice hostel with patrons from all over the world, mostly those who are backpacking through Africa. I have my own room, which is quite expensive $25/day. I also pay 2000kw for every 10 min. of Internet usage. Today the exchange rate is 1 US Dollar = 3,627.00 Zambian Kwacha (kw). The exchange rate changes daily but usually stays between 3600kw-3800kw to 1 US dollar. The hostel also provides food, but naturally, for a cost.

I’ve been very lucky that I’ve made a couple friends who have cars. But soon I will have to start taking a taxi. There are two kinds of taxis here: Metered and unmetered. The metered taxis are registered taxis and are usually much more expensive. The unmetered taxis are unmarked and you can negotiate the price, but generally are pretty dodgy. I’ve been put in contact with an unmetered taxi driver, Isaac, who drives another American girl around that I’ve met. I’ve called him for a ride this afternoon and it will be my first experience with haggling a price. I’ll let you all know how I do. I often feel guilty about talking down a price when I know that I’d pay way more in the US, and because the person who made the item or providing the service is living in extreme poverty. I went to a craft market yesterday and bought a pair of earrings for 5000kw ($1.38). It is those people who are already wealthy that are charging ridiculous prices (e.g., the Zambian government, foreign business owners).

I went to the main UNZA (this isn’t the campus that I’ll be taking classes and working at) campus to try and register today. You’ve probably already guessed that I didn’t get anything done. In the States, we’re used to registering and paying for classes through some sort of online system. An information packet or orientation system is in place to learn the system. In Zambia, you just ask lots of questions. So, I showed up on campus this afternoon and asked the gate guards where I needed to go. They sent me to the School of Mines to register. But that wasn’t the correct place and the people at the school of Mines sent me to an Administration building. The administration building wasn’t the right place so they sent me to the Veterinary School of Medicine. That wasn’t correct so they sent me to the Education Building where the office of graduate studies is. By the way, there are no signs on this campus and it’s very spread out. Sweaty and dehydrated, I finally found the correct office. It was stuffy and crowded with people also waiting to register. I finally get someone to answer my questions and the lady who is supposed to register me won’t be back in her office for who knows how long. I’ve made an appointment to meet with her at 9AM tomorrow, but I have to keep in mind this place is laid-back. It might not happen tomorrow. So for now, I’m gonna belly up to the Chachacha bar and hang out with some traveling foreigners. Pass me a Mosi please!

Captions: First Picture: An organized or pick-up game of rugby or football can be seen in many open green spaces. Picture 2: This little boy’s name is Charley Bruce. He was hanging out with his parents at a bar that a couple friends and I went to for happy hour this past weekend. I love babies!