Social activites

I have not been blogging about my social activities because there is not much to say. Lusaka, for a capital city, does not have much in terms of exciting, fun, or interesting activities. The expat community does not mingle much with the local Zambian community – not that I was expecting any different. So far I’ve involved myself in a few sport leagues and spend my weekends alternating between going out dancing, house parties, and quieter dinners at home.

There are a number of sport activities such as football, volleyball, squash, and yoga, which are good ways to spend some weekday evenings. With the exception of yoga, the evening usually ends with beers at a backpacker’s lodge. Recently, I have come across book clubs and drumming circles, if exercise is not your thing. There are also a number of clubs that scare me including the Ambassador’s wives club, which I take to mean the wives of ambassadors and high commissioners in Zambia. As if that social circle needs to be any more exclusive.

On weekends, there are a few clubs that have earned okay reviews. In my experience, the music is unpredictable and sometimes it does not get good until very late. Then there is the issue of what a French friend calls sticky men… i.e. ones that just won’t go away. Nonetheless, it is nice to spend the night dancing away. The house parties thrown by expats with big houses are okay as well. Some are more cliquey and pretentious than others, but there are always hypocritical development workers who claim to shun such parties, but actually welcome the break from “dealing with Zambia”.

Socializing for me has come to finding a balance between mzungu functions and actually spending time to make Zambian friends.