This is Lusaka.

In America we tend to have a stereotype of what life in Africa is like.  Everyone lives in mud huts, eats bugs, wears a loin cloth, and hunts antelope for food.  Obviously this is a pretty archaic stereotype, and is only true for a minority of very remote tribes today.  During my time in Zambia, I hope to describe what life is like here in a way that can break down some of those stereotypes. 

Obviously, what I describe is simply what I see and experience in my brief time here in this small part of a very diverse continent. 

Lusaka (Loo-Sah-Kah) is the capitol city of Zambia.  African cities, in my experience, can be described by one word.  Chaos.  Mostly that feeling comes from the very busy traffic with people and livestock wandering through the streets.  Lusaka definitely had this feeling, however it was organized chaos.  Traffic lights and well thought out road patterns and signs help in the organization. 

Manda Hill is a strip mall. It holds many clothing stores with clothing styles fancier than I would ever buy. Most people in the city are wearing these styles.  The architecture of the mall is fancier than the one closest to my hometown.  And it is busy.  We were there at the beginning of the month, which made it busier.  Everyone is paid at the end of the month, hence the many consumers. 

Mugg & Bean is a favorite place to visit in the mall- it’s a coffee shop/restaurant chain based in South Africa which, in my opinion, puts Panera and Starbucks to shame.  Shoprite is the grocery store which I find comparable to Tops. Deli bar and ‘take-away’ meals included.  We buy a month’s groceries at a time because the nearest Shoprite to Jembo is a few hours away. 

Diversity.  I didn’t feel out of place in Lusaka with the many other ‘whites’, apparently mostly from European countries.  Muslims and Hindus were also a present minority. 

There are beggars. However, so far I have only seen ones with unspeakable physical deformities which would prevent them from finding a job. 

‘Arcades’ is another shopping plaza, housing the only movie theater in the country (that we know of). All the movies showing were American.  A second theater is in progress in Manda Hill, due to be opened June 2011- it’s on African time. Walking into the plaza we heard Owl City’s “Fireflies” blasting from a car radio, and then heard it again in the restaurant.  The restaurant had flat screen TVs on the walls, showing global sports events. 

There are high-rise buildings, not quite tall enough for me to think of them as sky scrapers- but 15 or so stories are a tall sign of progress.

There is a lot of Lusaka that we didn’t see in our short two day visit, so my first impression is simply that.  My first impression. 

Western influence is so prevalent in Lusaka that I felt like I hadn’t left home yet.  It puts a knot in my stomach to think of the ways the world looks to us as their example for what is the ‘in’ culture.  I heard it said more than once that, “If you want to put an end to AIDS in Africa, you need to live a life of purity yourself.” Yikes.  How is my lifestyle influencing the culture of our world? 

Some other sights just outside the city included a golf course (very dry this time of year), and a zoo… housing African animals!

This is Africa. This is Zambia.  This is Lusaka.