Zero points if you don't believe.

Lusaka has been great to me. People are friendly and nice and extremely hospitable and humble. Pollution has to be at a minimum being although I'm living in a capital city. The weather is awesome, I love it! There are nice places to visit too although I've been only been to a few due to the unbelievable cost! =C

Over the weekend, my colleague invited me for a poetry slam here in Lusaka called Bittersweet. I've been to a few open mics/poetry slams in Malaysia and I am all up for any artsy event, so I was quick to say yes! We arrived at the Mulungushi Conference Center (I've been here once before for a friend's friend's wedding) only to discover like a whole bunch of people who seemed to be regulars with "Bittersweet" and "Please Don't Snap" T-Shirts. It was a nice cozy room with really good acoustics. We didn't wait long for the event to start. When it finally did, I was BLOWN AWAY with the talent that was there , on stage that night. The precision in what they said, their expressions, the poetry and the passion! There were also amazing singers, so young and just the most amazing voices accompanied with no music...I enjoyed that more than anything else that night.

It's been almost a year I've been in Lusaka, so by now I was used to the Jesus/Christian themed everything wherever I went. I told myself I'll concentrate on the deliverance of it all and that was what I did for the first 5 people that spoke about Jesus, being reborn, being saved, being loved.

People gave them standing ovations! Everyone stood from their chairs and oh no one clapped, too mainstream I think?...everyone snapped (their fingers)!

I'm no poet. I'm not a writer either. The most passionate I've been writing are on my blog and on Facebook. As I sat there watching these amazing young people recite their poems, what got me thinking was the passion that oozed from every single one of them , from their poems. They felt this deep connection with their religion/Jesus, sooo deep , something which of course I can't possibly fathom. Before taking the plunge to a full non-faith life, I never was very religious to begin with. But hey, I was cool with this. In a country with such a high unemployment and poverty rate, where people come from backgrounds of having no hope, of in fact a worst culture of voodoo and "black magic"...it's comforting that they have found hope, many have denounced such habits and feel loved and loved themselves. I was also happy to hear almost all of them condemn the churches for their greed in getting "donations" from the poor (If you want to open a church and make money, come to Africa. New churches sprout like mushrooms here). Almost all of them spoke about loving themselves too, which was awesome!

It was great till it neared the ending and a few people came up on stage and by now the atmosphere was getting more tense. People were fired up. The next act started off with condemnation of politicians, and I thought to myself, YES! I am going to love this. Then it slowly changed, they started condemning the women liberation movement. They called them "ungrateful". They questioned women who seek equality because they claim we were not made to be equal and that we should "shut up" and not be "stupid". The level of snaps around the room grew louder! Then they moved on to homophobia (of course this only seemed logical, Lusaka is way more homophobic than KL I think) calling homosexuals "fags" and asking why God would have made a man's seed full of life if it were to be wasted. MORE SNAPS! Then the final slash to my already beaten down consciousness, evolution. Scientists were filling our heads with lies they said, that there is no way we could have "come from monkeys" while still having monkeys around and that science had no explanation of how everything began. This was the final bit, everyone rose from their seats and snapped their fingers so hard and loud and were screaming in support!

Here we are again: from love and hope, to ending with hate. This was it. I wanted to go home. It was the end, thankfully for me. But at that moment, I felt completely alone. I looked around me and everyone was hugging each other patting each other on the back for the good job they've done. My colleague left with more hatred, more conviction for his hatred of the "gay kind" and the "believers of evolution"... I guess that included me.

I woke up the next morning to yet another whatsapp message he sent me on all the famous people who spoke openly about their atheism or made some joke about Jesus and then all died painful deaths. This has become almost routine for me, messages saying I'll be going to hell for sure. I take no offence to someone having so much faith in a God, I do however take offence when your faith promotes hatred towards others and you finding the need to condemn me and other people every chance you get. I might now need to  search for the holiest people who all died horrible deaths too , I'll probably include a message like "How you die has nothing to do with how religious/unreligous you are. Now let's spend some time and think about how we have trivialised and used people's horrible deaths (which must have left plenty of people around them sad and devastated) to prove a ridiculous point. "

My closest friends here are my colleagues. I spend the most time with them and share the most with them. Obviously I did not tell anyone I was an atheist when they asked me, but this grew harder and harder to conceal. While it was easy to say I'm Hindu when people asked me (which they always do within 5 minutes of meeting me; What are you?) It was impossible to support someone, or be in agreement with someone who openly condemned homosexuals or supported the very common act here of spying into houses with more than one male resident so they could report them to the police if they were up to "no good". It was also impossible to stand by and listen as people spoke about women and their duties in societies and in families that must be given priority before education or any other choice a woman makes. Also, the crazy support of tearing "skimpy" clothes off of women to teach them a lesson.

So some time back, my colleague and I had the talk...of religion, women and gay-ism. I was honest about my opinions and he seemed respectful of it. He ended it by saying "The greatest gift I can offer a friend, someone I love is the gift of Christ, so here *he handed me a glass of water* take this if you want to be saved because it's inevitable that you won't go to heaven if you don't believe in Christ." I was disappointed that he chose to say this even after knowing me and the goodness within and although I was pretty thirsty, I chuckled and said "No Thanks!" but since then, his quest of showing me the light has not ceased. I am constantly invited to go to church although I've said I have no interest in going to one (unless they had an authentic African choir singing) and the "righteous" whatsapp messages and then the constant comments of something chauvinistic and absurd every now and then just to see me react.

In the past year, I've learnt to conceal my true self. Well, re-learnt. It feels like being back in school: when saying you supported women's rights and were an atheist was taboo. I spent a few years breaking out of that and finally found great people (regardless of gender/religion) to surround myself with and I got to be who I was.

Being in Lusaka has taken me back to THAT time, so many years ago. It must be hard for the non-religious people who live here, more so if you're alone.  I never thought I'd say this but I especially miss being the atheist/feminist person I was/am in Malaysia, also not being hounded/provoked every other day just for a reaction.

Living cheap in Lusaka

So I think I may have finally figured out how to live cheap here! The bulk of my expenses now are on chocolate milk shakes, eating out, CAKES! and all these small snacks that i just cant resist especially on weekends.

So if you ever find yourself in Lusaka, then these may help you out:

1) Meat is expensive! Like reallly expensive and I never buy meat unless it's on sale and the good news is that meat often go on sale BUT i recently found out that the sales in the grocery stores here don't last even for a few days, it might only be just for that one day. So if you go to a store and find sausages, polony or bacon on sale; get it! And then just keep it and use it when you want to. I did that just a few days back, and now my lunch for the whole of October is settled, and I only spent slight less than RM 20 on it!

2) CAKES are expensive! The bakeries here trample over bakeries in Malaysia in a HEARTBEAT! Every single bakery I've been too has been awesome! The cookies and cakes and pies are all so fresh and tasty and truly home made. But the normal price for a cake in bakery would cost 20,000 K which is about 4 USD which is about RM12. Now that's a little too much for me. Recently, I've found that Pick N Pay, a supermarket all over Lusaka, kinda like the Giant in Malaysia sells big pieces of cakes as well in their bakery and for a fraction of the price which is 4,950 K which is slightly less than RM 3 and if you go at the right time; usually on weekdays at night; you would find these nice slices of chocolate cake with raspberry jam which are absolutely yummy! But every now and then if you wanted to go for pieces of cakes which are slightly more pricey with better variety then the bakery at Kabulonga Shopping Centre has tonnes of really amazing cakes and also Mint Cafe in Arcades Shopping Mall.

3) Milkshakes are like Milo here. Hardly any shop/cafe/restaurant sells hot chocolate or iced chocolate. Coffee is huge here. So anyway if you wanted something chocolatey; milkshakes are the way to go! I've been trying out milkshakes all over Lusaka to see which is the best. Now, I've been following the Lonely Planet's guide to discovering Lusaka in trying restaurants and cafes and also going to nice parks. It's been good so far; all the restaurants I've tried based on lonely planet has been nice and all the parks I've been to based on Lonely Planet has also been nice! But they got it wrong with the milkshakes! They suggested this small cafe in Arcades Shopping Mall called La Mimosa. I tried the milkshake there but not only was it expensive; 17,000 K but it was also so not chocolatey. The best milkshake so far in my opinion is the chocolate milkshake served at Sandy's Creation (a garden/park) for 15, 000 K. If you want something cheaper; then the milkshake at Steers (the McD of Zambia) is not too bad for 11, 000 K.

4) Chicken Shwarma's are the best bargain yet. These are like kebabs in these Lebanese bread kinda wraps but the nicest thing about this meal is that although it's cheap; it's soooo filling! They stuff it with cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, FRENCH FRIES, 3 different types of sauces and lots of grilled chicken meat (they are not selfish with the portions). The local restaurants sell this for 10, 000 K.

5) Always the biggest dilemma for me is when someone invites me to dinner around here. Sometimes I don't mind spending that minimum 50, 000 K on a meal just to try it out, but some days I want to save that money for something much better over the weekend. Now in Malaysia, mamaks are cheap. Well you should be able to assume that you don't get anything close to a mamak here, well at least not when another foreigner invites you out for dinner. You'd probably end up in a fancy foreigners-only restaurant where Indian food, Chinese food, Korean food and Zambian dishes are just so unreasonably priced. So the best thing to do is order Tea. It's so far the best value; only 6, 000 K and you get a whole pot, not just a glass as opposed to ordering coffee or Coke (which both costs more than tea). They usually serve this local brand called Five Roses tea with fresh milk and brown sugar, and it usually lasts me throughout the dinner.

6)  Veggies! Veggies are important. I need them anyway ever since I've been trying to cut down on my chicken meat, I've been trying to eat more vegetables. The only problem with vegetables are that they're harder to cook into tasting yummy, meat is easy! Also cause every month or so, my Korean doctor neighbours strangles a dog by the swing at the back of my apartment; in celebration of the month end I suppose but whatever the reason and however much I cant stand the thought of a poor dog suffocating to death and then being chopped up and grilled and eaten; that's not much worse or better in fact than the processed chicken meat we get from the store. At least they catch and kill their own meat. So with all of these reasons; veggies are now even more important!

Okay so, veggies are best bought straight from farms here which is totally amazing because it doesn't get any fresher than that. The best farm I've been to so far is Sugarbush Farm run by some white people. Their prices are very reasonable and they give you a whole big bag of each vege that you get. I bought from them once but it's really not practical if you're cooking for one so nowadays i buy veges from the other local markets around Lusaka. I just went for one called the Dutch Reformed Church Saturday Market that happens every last Saturday of the month. It's filled with veges, fruits, arts and crafts and glorious FOOD! I mostly sat down there and kept eating all kinds of things for the 2 hours, but on my way out I bought some fresh carrots, tomatoes and onions for a good price and they're fresh and they were sold by the locals!

Some other markets you can get fresh veges and spices are : Soweto Market, Tuesday Market and Thursday Market. It's like the pasar malam here just that they only sell stuff up to 6pm. This place goes dead at 6pm; after 6pm it's only the fancy foreigners that are out and about eating their fancy dinners at the fancy candle lit restaurants.

It's good to support the locals, so veges and fruits and all you could even buy them from the roadside vendors that sell pretty nice and fresh stuff if you spent some time looking.

7) Nshima (pronounced sheema) ! I can't stand beef, and I don't need to get hooked on another meat thank you very much but living here completely not eating beef is going to be a challenge so I've eaten my share of beef here. They seem to find requests of changing the beef to chicken somewhat rather strange. So anyway, the local cuisine here is Nshima. Now it's really not all that awesome; it's just a softer version of Idli and then they eat it with beef stew and some vegetable relish. If you need to try this, Pick N Pay sells it at a very cheap price (8,000 K). The portion is not that big but hey for a taste it would suffice. Now. for the real deal; I've found this awesome place nearby my place that has a Nshima buffet. They open every weekday from 1230 to 230pm but the food is usually only ready at about 130pm. It will cost you 30, 000 K but you get three scoops of Nshima (too much for me!) and then you get to choose your veges and from three different main dishes (village chicken, beef stew and fish). It's called Heritage Trails and it has my name written on it one of these days for lunch!

That's about all the cheap things I've discovered here. My hunt will continue for cheaper cheaper things!

Is the grass greener in Zambia?

Not particularly. It is comparing job opportunities because I get to work as a physio here with a decent salary as compared to Malaysia.

But the hard unavoidable truth is that even with the salary, and the nice secure saved up life I would be coming back to in 2 years; being alone almost makes it all not worthwhile! I've come to learn quite a lot about myself living alone, away from all securities and familiar faces and places; I'm no good alone!

Maybe life is no life at all; with no one to share it with all the time all day everyday and being poor is way better when you're surrounded by just LOVE! I can remember all the awesome times I've had with my family and friends, it was when we were all broke talking about life and making jokes with the cheapest cup of tea in the cheapest mamak stall or a public park...and just laughing really hard!

The highlight of my days are coming home and skyping with my family back home; just some interaction talking about my day listening to their day! Thankfully my job serves me well as I do talk and listen to stories when I treat patients; but nothing like home i suppose.

Zambia has certainly been an experience; totally unexpected one that is. I pictured local Africans walking around in colourful festive clothing and street parties with loads of dancing and drum beating every other day and instead I am faced with what seems like a totally Westernised culture everything from clothing to restaurants to shopping malls. Ah, it's saddening really. The locals live in shacks beside the roads and the rich foreigners in ridiculously priced private home that employs these locals as maids or drivers or guards.


Its hard to imagine any local worker earning minimum wage which is about 700,000 Kwacha ( 140 USD) living comfortably in this city of Lusaka, where everything and I mean EVERYTHING is at least 2 to 3 times more than it is priced there in Malaysia. I was talking to the nice lady that comes to clean the Physiotherapy centre and as well as my temporary home, Carol and she walks for an hour every day to the hospital and back home just to save on transport money cause even the crappy van buses here are expensive and those are the cheapest, most dangerous way to get around town. She has 3 children, whom all go to government schools because they're free but very badly equipped with teaching aids as well as qualified teachers. She earns 700,00 K and with deductions for NAPSA (the EPF equivalent here) earns 500 000 K and support her children and herself and lives with her mother and her siblings in a small flat. She says buying rice, cooking oil and some beans takes up most of her money already which I can totally imagine being true as I faced a similar situation heading to the grocery store last weekend to pick up some stuff to cook. As I emptied my shopping cart for the cashier to scan, not even 1/3 through my cart, the bill reached 100 000 K and I only had 100 000 K in my wallet. I had to ask her to stop scanning more items, put my cart aside,pay for the items that she has already scanned , run to an ATM and withdraw some money and come back and pay for the remaining cart.

The problem according to Abraham, the hospital's driver that tells me where to get really cheap local food knowing i'm a hobo and teaches me all the easy routes to places I wanna visit, started about 10 years back when all of a sudden there was a surge of foreigners coming into the country and prices of all things went up double-fold and more. All the prices of groceries and everything else  was priced according to the US dollar so a bottle of coke only costs about 1.5 USD but thats about 7000 K and about RM 4.50 for what costs RM 2 back in Malaysia. I am just not used to the prices here and will NEVER be! But foreigners find it all to be really cheap comparing the prices here and from where they came from, so it's all good.


Ah and it's the typical shitty cycle of all foreigners treating the locals like servants and lower class people, making them the help and nothing more; no opportunities for the local to build businesses or to make extra earnings; nothing. I'm probably the most hobo foreigner here because I refuse to eat in those fancy fine dining places I can find anywhere else in the world and would never spend so much for food I can get on the streets of Malaysia for far much less anyway. So I'm on a mission:


1) To buy local produce and fruits and vegetables from the roadside vendors

2) To volunteer my time to any local NGOs or voluntary organisations that may need extra hands! (I've found one; a patient of mine runs a local school for the children of underprivileged mothers!)

3) To show almost all other foreigner here that it IS possible to be nice and civil and friendly to the locals, and still be treated with respect and get things done as this is a two way process!


Africa I'm sure is beautiful and it's people even more so; if it wasn't for all the crazy money making advantage taking foreign employers here. Everyone complains about how laid back the local Zambians are; maybe it's just us who's overworked hyper senses cant rest knowing we're not making money every single second of the day. It's so tiresome this whole money making business, how everything is a business; healthcare and education even.

It's about time we took a step back and assess where all that money making has lead us to; to a lifestyle only adaptable for the absolute rich expats ; a widening rich and poor barrier and where the average person is not able to live off her monthly salary and buying groceries from the cheapest grocery store in the city is still ridiculously priced.