Zambian flavor

It's Monday! I still can't quite believe I'm home ...

I collected random thoughts and observations during my week -- here they are in no particular order ...

• First off, I had a chance to speak to Rick, and yes, the Zambian Cycling Assn. will accept donations of used kit. I know a few of you have asked. When I get back to the States, I will organize a kit drive, details to come. (NOTE: This is not a World Bicycle Relief initiative, this is something I want to do to help.)


• There are very few bugs here in Lusaka during the dry season, but even after a few rains, they start to come out of the ground -- literally! The first night I was here, we were freaked out by flying termites -- right at dusk, they come out in swarms, and then start dropping their wings and dying soon after. And although I didn't get a chance to try, I understand they're quite the delicacy, along with caterpillars! (For the termites, you just put out a bowl of water and they drown ... guys on the race scene fill their pockets with them as energy food on long training rides! This is not BS, by the way ... think of that with your next Clif Shot!)


• As noted, most everyone here has a cell phone. Ring tones are super-important, though, as phone etiquette here does not include announcing who it is when you call!


• Bemba is the predominant non-English language here. "Good morning/good day" is mulabwanji in the city and mukabwanji in the bush -- dialects here are prevalent, and it's fascinating to learn which English words have leeched into Bemba.


• Negotiation in the open markets is alive and well. I'm not very good at it, especially when you realize that you're negotiating for all of 50 cents. That makes me feel great, let me tell you.


• There is a large influx of Zimbabwean refugees here, and many of them are "employed" making the trinkets you see at market (or they are bought directly in Zim and passed off as Zambian). It's kind of like all the paint-by-numbers crap you see in Berlin or Paris -- here, you're better off heading out of the city and buying from the folks on the side of the road, who have obviously made their straw baskets themselves!

... more later ...