Livingstone: Advanced Zambia

Livingstone: Advanced Zambia.
March 8
Today was a maintenance day.  I spent too much of it working on geek things, but I need to do those things too.  When I left the hotel, it was for supplies to keep me alive in my hotel cave.

It is National Women’s Day and a business holiday.  There were many women out in the town today wearing similar dresses.  The colors everywhere were great.

I have realized how developed and Advanced Zambia is compared to Tanzania and Uganda.  It is way further ahead.  The vehicles, the supermarkets, the fast food chains (not that this is a good thing)…

And there are no motorcycles here.

Like none.

I find it really strange.  My friend I met on the bus from Tanzania to Zambia was not kidding.  Everyone drives a car here.

Well, maybe the washed roads of Zambia are not so advanced.

It was a supermarket-lunch day, as they have delis here, and that is something I have not had a lot of in the past three months.  The food is a better quality here.  I feel like I am heading to more modern civilization as I am heading further south and I have mixed feelings about that.  Sure, it was nice to eat ice-cream in a fancy shop today, but things are getting plastic in the ways of business-chains.  Everything seems cleaner and shinier, but the personality of things disappears with that.

[su_quote] I also grow weary of being cold and not giving away money to people with four limbs [/su_quote]

As I was walking down the street, a guy approached me and said hello.  I just nodded at him as he was acting like he knew me which I assumed meant he was a tout.  Then the guy asked, “You do not recognize me do you?”  I confirmed that I did not.  He said, “I am the Banana Boy!”

Awesome!  It was the guy I have bought bananas from every morning since I got here.  It was true I did not recognize him without a cart parked in front of him.  It is funny how that works.

Massive mushroom vending.

I grow weary of people asking me for money, but I also grow weary of being cold and not giving away money to people with four limbs.  So, today I bought a bag of samosas and gave one to each child I walked past in the street who had his hand out.  Do I do it to help society or do I do it to sooth my morals questioning my morals?

That is debatable…

But it sure make kids smile and that was nice to see.  I know they do not get to keep the money they get, but I do see them eating the food I give them.

When I went for air-time to recharge the credit on my phone, I was moving along the sidewalk.  A plastic bag surprised me out of the corner of my eye and for some unknown reason my mind went “snake” and I jumped in a startle during my walk.  A local man was walking my way and he really enjoyed that a plastic bag had just scared the heck out of a white man.  I was laughing at him laughing at me. He high-fived me as we walked past each other.