Friday evening at the office?

Finally it is quiet, finally I have time to answer emails and to do my private Internet stuff. Slowly I get used to be here, get to know how things work and how I have to proceed... and slowly I am as well less afraid (I am always afraid in the begining!)

Today, at lunch I went with the bike to closest place. It's 5 minutes with the car but with the bike its a little bit more: Up hill, against the wind and lunchtime-October-sun! Coming out of the premises I realise that somebody has taken the RTP posters I had put on the walls for the coaches (new office!). However, there is a good reason for it. Hurray, we have a big sign close to the street since today. As I said, step by step things are taking shape here. Since today, all off us have Internet, I even don't have to share a connection with Maria the communication coordinator anymore! Furthermore, we have again a network and a common server. Speaking about "main server": I have started to reorganise the folders and documents a little bit. (Michael! Does that reminds you something????!!!!) Today, finally everybody has access again as well to the mainserver and we can continue that effort. Not sure yet though if everybody is really using the network, or if everything is on their "personal" computer.

Anyhow, back to my trip at lunch time: I went to a "shopping place", where beside two petrol stations (BP is here too!) you find some fast food (pizza, burgers,...), some small food shops and some other shops (do not look too bad actually, will spend more time when I have changed house, and life 3m from the office). After a nice phone call from Azerbaijan (I love globalisation in those moments!), I went to get some burger (for my defence: at least it is not Mc Donald's or Burger King). Knowing that 2minutes means a lot more (Lesson learned in Azerbaijan!?) I sat down started reading a newspaper. Realising quickly that I was tooooo hungry to read, so I just started looking impatient. One of the waiters got very nervous and suddenly things went fast. The first time there, I have been waiting 20min! Today it was only 10min! As I said step by step... ;) Ok, enough expat blabla. Lets have some tourist blabla!

I am starting to know Lusaka a little bit better (takes time as I have no car and as I am working too much). If you come to Zambia, you get of course some typical Nysima (and you burn you fingers, hehe), but than we are going to all those places that I never went to in Baku. i.e having dinner at a Chinese place. Lovely! I was there yesterday. Sitting outside in a nice garten (mix of Safari and Chinese), nice food and not too expensive. (I know nothing special for the Geneva guys, nevertheless, we are going to have Chinese!)

Than, are you into Rumba dancing??? hehe, no choice on that! you will have to! and the Zambians are going to die when they see us"Musungis" (white people) dancing. Last weekend they had lots of fun watching me... (I hate it!!! Com'on I am not a that bad dancer!) However, it is great to watch others dancing here in general. Some people manage to let go completely...

Moreover, how do you like to go to the Church on Sunday? I have not been yet, but I am planning it. People are very religious here. Even our meetings starts (and often ends also) with a prayer. Unusual for me, but kind of nice as well.

Speaking about cultural differences: I am invited to a Kitchen party. That's some sort of a hen party, just different in the sense that it is not realy fun for the bride herself. She will not party, but just sit and show what a good girl she is, while all the woman (no man) around her bring lots of gifts (kitchen stuff) and go wild. The night before the Kitchen Party there is a party for the closer friends. Where girls teach girls all necessary stuff for being a good wife (what ever that means?!) and where everybody seems to get very drunk. Naive as I am, I asumed that the bride will at least have fun that evening. Well, my friend here was not so convinced about that. Seems that drunken (even close!) friends go wild and cross some borders... hm, I will see soon what that means. In addition, I was told (warned?) that they are going to make me dance to traditional music. Looks like it will not only be a hard time for the bride but as well for me the Musugi :)

It's past 7 hours, the house keeper (drunken???) just came to see why I am still working... seems he want me to go home, but he is as well a little bit worried about me going home with a bike. well, I do not want to sleep here and without bike tomorrow it will be more complicated to come back to work (Saturday?!?!). Yes, in the first week I would have taken a taxi, but now... its ok. there are no lights, but it's nearly better than during the day. As I know that a car is coming for sure because of the car's lights. During the day, when they miss me just for 20cm it is a lot more scary. hihi, don't worry. I am not in Baku and I am not in Geneva! It's just Lusaka!

ok, enough for today, I am dead tired. Too tired as well to read again through the text or to use the check spelling. Well, if you don't understand everything, just ask! and if you have read so far, it can't be too bad
:)

big hippo hug
mir