Christmas Day

I have been home all day, haven't dared venture outside because of sheer laziness and my fear of fire works. I have a headache. Must I blame it on the world?

I never went to Mayela last night. I changed my mind after seeing the number of police patrol vehicles on the roads last night - I intended to drink and drive (non toxic I mean!)

Speaking of police cars, I marvel at the numbers of new vehicles that have been deployed on the roads and yet, the police never have transport when you need assistance. Typical.

A good friend asked to drop by this afternoon and I dread the knock on the door that will pluck me out of my sudden love for decadence (as if!)

I hope you all have had a fantastic holiday and are spending whatever is left of it with your family and friends.

Did I mention that am writing s book? Below an extract;

Taonga reached for her friends hand and for a fraction of a second, her friend hesitated. After what appeared like ages, Mwamba put her hand in Taonga's and as their fingers interlocked, Mwamba felt a surge of warmth flash through her.

In that moment, she wondered if she was existing in a dream, in a scene stolen from one of those exaggerated western sitcoms that her grandmother had warned her about and she shivered.

'This is Africa.' She thought. 'Zambia and I, an 18 year old Bemba girl from Mporokoso.'
She turned and stared into Taonga's beautiful brown eyes and her heart skipped a beat.
She was in unfamiliar territory but it felt so right. She understood that these feelings were illegal, un Zambian, un African but in that moment, she couldn't care much about the consequences...

It was Mwamba's first semester at the University of Zambia, Great East campus in Lusaka.

The Eve... Zambian Style

Yesterday, I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I thought, until a strong wind blew in a gecko from my window sill and I said to myself, alright, is this my cue to move?

Today, I woke up early like any productive Zambian but failed dismally to produce anything tangible. I spent the better part of my day driving around the city with little or no success.

First, it was my quest to get to the little shoprite store in Chilenje where I'd hoped to grab some detergents and soap but lo and behold, I found an entire mass of what I estimated could be 10,000 human bodies squashed in the hot little store buying God knows what! And all I had wanted was a bar of chick, a box of boom and the ever effective carbolic lifebuoy

I quickly left Chilenje in the hope of dashing into multi choice - Kabulonga to pay for my DSTV subscription which, by the way, I last paid for exactly a year ago! And here I was, debating the value of parting with my hard earned 350 pin on a couple of B rated movie channels. I got to 'Multi-Choice' to find hoards of people queuing up to pay for subscription or purchase some decoder on the current Christmas promotion that this ineffective but exorbitant company is running.

I made a quick u-turn and wondered what the fuss was all about... why all these queues? I asked myself? Well, it's Christmas eve, I thought, but what the hell? Must people over stretch their already stretched budgets to create some semblance of a blissful illusion on a day that falls only once a year?

Like any Zambian, I appreciate the symbolic meaning of Christmas, seriously, I do. I do not claim any authority on the christian faith, but I do not think Christ would appreciate such unending excesses in a nation that is already gripped in a quagmire of poverty. What a memorial!!

But then again, Zambians are famed for such excesses!! If only we could turn up for voting in such droves and keep as much as we spend in our savers accounts - maybe we could be a prosperous nation one day! But what do we do? we shop in Game Stores, Shoprite, Spar etc (owned by South Africans), Melissa ( Greeks) drink at Portico (Italians) Times Cafe, 101 (Greeks) Rhapsody's, O'Hagans (South Africans) ... need I say more??

Tonight, am going to Mayela Bar in Kalingalinga, at least it's owned and managed by Zambians! I will be sipping on my Mosi (well, kinda brewed in Zambia) and I will be grooving to Shansha, Chipute... Zambian made...

I guess Zambianisation gets the better of me all the time! And despite all the nonsense, I love my country. Tomorrow morning, I will kill (literally) my hangover with Nshima with pupwe and village chicken. Location - Kabwata Market!!

Happy Holidays

I am Blessed

Everything and Nothing
More and less
Might and definite

Been sitting here in the December heat wondering why I am not feeling christmassy. Gee, its been a while since I last got that feeling...
What does it mean? Does it mean anything at all?
Right now my face book post reads, 'I am Blessed', to be honest with you - right now, I feel so privileged to be alive and well, sitting on my couch, doors and windows open, winds blowing in... I am as chilled as a cold beer that has just been pulled out of an ice drum at your average organised Zambian Kitchen Party...

This is my first blog as me, I have blogged under anonymous names that are only referred to; and known in my deeper, darker circles supposedly written by my alter egos... I am no Sasha Fierce but I try...

I guess its now time for my friends and relatives to see the real me... what really lurks underneath my calm exterior? Can't tell... I, like any other human subscribe to the descriptions; fluid, changing, dynamic...
As this blog climaxes, I will pose the question to my kith and kin - still love me??

I have been raised in Zambia,baptised in Zambia, educated in Zambia, lost my virginity in Zambia, and have since birth been breathing in this wholesome Zambian air. I love my country, I think its one of the most wonderful places any one would want to live. Zambians are warm and have this unquantifiable generosity of spirit that engulfs you with each breath that you take.
The weather is fantastic in its extremes, the sweltering heat of summer and the bone chilling winters... awesome! Honest, we only have two seasons - rainy and dry!

I don't see myself living any where else... I have a wonderful family and a circle of the most generous friends that any girl can ever hope for ... what else can I say except reiterate the cliche - "I am Blessed"

What is blessed you might ask? for me, being blessed simply means; being able to realise and know that everything that I am , every journey that I have undertaken from my birth, every circumstance that I have been through has lead me to this same exact spot where I am - here. sitting on my living room couch and musing about nothingness.

My passion for humanity makes me abhor any form of injustice... I am a soul on a journey with a guaranteed destination that resembles something out of a Belgian chocolate box. Need I say more?? Indeed, I am Blessed

" I am on a journey less travelled because few have known it for what it is"