Work update: we have had some brilliant meetings recently and I only hope that I have the time left to make the most of the opportunities that are apparent here. That is not the reason for this blog though; I want to tell you about my weekend.
Having spent a little of the last few years in the company of various A-C list celebrities and sports stars, I suppose I should not have been surprised to find myself hanging out with the Proflight Fly 5, including local rapper JK and singer Cactus, on Friday night at the Polo Grill in Lusaka. Of course, I was about as familiar with these local stars as I had been when meeting The Wanted or the cast of Eastenders last summer but what was a pleasant surprise was to discover how friendly and approachable they were; it seems the trappings of fame need not necessarily lead to an inflated opinion of oneself. Thank you Paul and Keira Langford-Johnson for inviting me along.
Saturday was then an opportunity to participate, as I have been every Saturday, in the Lusaka Hash House Harrier’s run. Having experienced a fabulous bush run (where my chronic fear of snakes and love of running were set in glorious juxtaposition) and a rather short suburban jog, this week was the opportunity to help celebrate Lusaka’s 100th birthday by completing an urban run taking in the sights, sounds, smells (in fact, every sensory experience) of this sprawling city. Highlights were undoubtedly the Freedom statue (to commemorate independence in 1964) and City Market (experienced as Zambia were busy winning the COSAFA cup on home soil up in the Copperbelt) but some of the other sights really reveal how recently development in Zambia has occurred and how poor the country remains. As I sit in a hotel lobby writing this post, the contrasts are also everywhere.
To top the weekend off, not forgetting the wonderful decision of SuperSport to offer free access to all their sporting channels on the same weekend as Root, Froome, Westwood et al were all excelling, one of my Zambian housemates, a site coordinator at Sport in Action, cooked a traditional Zambian meal last night featuring nshima, beans, cabbage, fish like whitebait and other local ingredients. Of course, it was food so I was always going to be in my element but I really did enjoy it and could get used to the local cuisine; I hope to bring a few ideas home with me to the UK in August. One thing I won’t be bringing back however is the local custom to eat without cutlery, preferring hands only instead. Whichever Brit, European or whoever invented cutlery (by which I mean a knife, fork and spoon and not, for instance, equally ridiculous implements such as chopsticks) did the world a huge favour and the quicker all nations realise the significance of this invention the better. Anyway, thank you very much Sammy for a lovely meal and I look forward to introducing you to roast beef and all the trimmings next weekend.
Right, back to work (rather randomly with the German Foreign Office for the next couple of hours)…
Sammy Thaimu: Hey, Thank you very much, Mark. This is so great to read your blog. You know what you are: a star… looking forward to a roasted beef meal this weekend…
Nicola Davidson: What a great post. Fantastic to hear you’re making the most of your time in Zambia (not that I would expect anything less) in the both the sporting and culinary arena. Don’t forget the Yorkshire pudding next weekend.
Posted in 2013
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