To be a woman
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Liv
29 Oktober 2017 | Zambia, Lusaka
We were not planning on our first blog to be feminist of any kind, but never have we felt so female as we have felt in the last couple of days. Don´t worry, it is not going to be a manifest against men.
After a very comfortable flight and a long wait, we arrived in Lusaka last wednesday. Even though our luggage was packed with miscellaneous lab equipment, we could pass without any trouble. Our local professor mister Shindano kindly picked us up and brought us to our new home: an address-less, cute little appartment in the neigbourhood Avondale. Our neighbours comprise among other things a very cute little girl (we are planning to befriend her) and 20 chickens. Our roommate for the weekends is Siatwiinda, a phd-student that we met in Wageningen some months ago.
So, here our first confrontation with our gender arrised. Our roommate strongly advised us not to walk or drive out with just the two of us at night without any local company. This is also where we get confused, since expats are telling us it should be fine. CONFUSION.
Day 2 brought us to Mulungushi University in Kabwe, where Siatwiinda is a lecturer in environmental sciences. We met at least 50 people and got to taste a lot of the local goodness: Nshima (the local staple food, cooked out of maize), tender chicken, brown beans and extremely tiny tiny eggplants. More to snacks: we are being stuffed here. Everywhere we visit, the hostess (women cook!) provides us with a lovely meal, better than Christmas. The only thing we are not too fond of is the "Gouda". Sorry, it's just not Gouda. :-)
The next morning we have a cooking date with miss Emily Patience. She is indeed very patient. This power-housewife raised 5 children, owns a small chicken farm, has a maize field, sows dresses and produces munkoyo (the maize drink that we do research on), this all even though her husband is also working. She wants to be independent. She also taught us a lot about Zambian traditions. The one that stuck to us most, is the ritual that women go through before they get married. Part of that ritual is a so-called "kitchenparty". It comprises dancing, eating, drinking and a lot (A LOT) of kitchen-related-presents for the bride. Yes, women cook.
On the way back we hear about an even more interesting tradition; married partners are supposed to shave each other. If your lover comes home shaved, and you were not the shaver, you know something went wrong. Maybe an interesting tradition we should try out on our partners?
A last little something that reminded us where we stand, even if it was meant like that or not... Yesterday the car broke down. After some hours of waiting the mechanics came by. Meanwhile they were repairing, we got the task to prepare them food. We do not mind in any way, but it is an eye-opener for sure. To all dutch men: try it out and see how long it takes till yóu are prepared.
We can continue endlessly, but now we are going to the church to attend a sunday-service.
Yours truly,
Mzungu and mzungu
After a very comfortable flight and a long wait, we arrived in Lusaka last wednesday. Even though our luggage was packed with miscellaneous lab equipment, we could pass without any trouble. Our local professor mister Shindano kindly picked us up and brought us to our new home: an address-less, cute little appartment in the neigbourhood Avondale. Our neighbours comprise among other things a very cute little girl (we are planning to befriend her) and 20 chickens. Our roommate for the weekends is Siatwiinda, a phd-student that we met in Wageningen some months ago.
So, here our first confrontation with our gender arrised. Our roommate strongly advised us not to walk or drive out with just the two of us at night without any local company. This is also where we get confused, since expats are telling us it should be fine. CONFUSION.
Day 2 brought us to Mulungushi University in Kabwe, where Siatwiinda is a lecturer in environmental sciences. We met at least 50 people and got to taste a lot of the local goodness: Nshima (the local staple food, cooked out of maize), tender chicken, brown beans and extremely tiny tiny eggplants. More to snacks: we are being stuffed here. Everywhere we visit, the hostess (women cook!) provides us with a lovely meal, better than Christmas. The only thing we are not too fond of is the "Gouda". Sorry, it's just not Gouda. :-)
The next morning we have a cooking date with miss Emily Patience. She is indeed very patient. This power-housewife raised 5 children, owns a small chicken farm, has a maize field, sows dresses and produces munkoyo (the maize drink that we do research on), this all even though her husband is also working. She wants to be independent. She also taught us a lot about Zambian traditions. The one that stuck to us most, is the ritual that women go through before they get married. Part of that ritual is a so-called "kitchenparty". It comprises dancing, eating, drinking and a lot (A LOT) of kitchen-related-presents for the bride. Yes, women cook.
On the way back we hear about an even more interesting tradition; married partners are supposed to shave each other. If your lover comes home shaved, and you were not the shaver, you know something went wrong. Maybe an interesting tradition we should try out on our partners?
A last little something that reminded us where we stand, even if it was meant like that or not... Yesterday the car broke down. After some hours of waiting the mechanics came by. Meanwhile they were repairing, we got the task to prepare them food. We do not mind in any way, but it is an eye-opener for sure. To all dutch men: try it out and see how long it takes till yóu are prepared.
We can continue endlessly, but now we are going to the church to attend a sunday-service.
Yours truly,
Mzungu and mzungu
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