Not much to report after two weeks, no safaris, no travel (at least for me), and only a slight amount of progress. After six weeks, the newness of the adventure has tapered off and I’ve settled into a bit of routine.
The days are generally full of office work: spreadsheets and emails. Occasionally I will have to drive to the Tata location where our bikes are assembled. The drive is actually where I’m having most of my fun. The wanton manner of the local drivers, the haphazard maintenance of the roads and numerous driving circles feel like home to me. I’m reminded of my days flying helicopters, flitting along through the night past trees and ridgelines. Here it’s bumpers and potholes that suddenly appear as obstacles and I love it! Last week Brian and I left for the drive across town in two different cars. I’m sure he thought I would find the drive difficult. Instead, when he finally arrived, I had been talking to our staff and peers at Tata for almost 10 minutes. He was actually incredulous that I beat him and wanted to know what special route I had taken. I told him sometimes there are more lanes than what is obvious.
Brian just returned today from Zimbabwe. He and Baldwin, our lead mechanic and former pro cyclist, were there for the last five days training the new assemblers. It’s good to see each of them. They are both genuinely good men. Baldwin is openly gregarious, always smiling and happy to see everyone. He is another reason I enjoy the trips to Tata, its always nice to spend some time chatting with him. Brian is equally friendly and sincere, but much more subdued. His has a wry sense of humor and enjoys seeing his jokes play across the face of his audience. Originally, they were supposed to stay another week to begin assembling the bicycles. But, the shipment has yet to arrive.
The shipment has been the largest task for me this week. I went so far as to load the container myself, not wanting to wait an extra day for the laborers at Tata to do the job at their own pace. I’m already large in comparison to most Zambians, after loading the truck Tuesday, the workers at the facility have taken to calling me ‘strong man’ (earlier my moniker was ‘big man’). But once loaded, it has been an additional two days to finally get the truck on the road with all the necessary paperwork. While I was dealing with logistics, Brian and Baldwin were putting together and training a team of assemblers. These men will not only accomplish this month’s work, but will also form the core of the company’s workforce when WBR starts a full time presence in Harare next year.
Once work is complete, my routine is mostly about food and fitness. It’s a little over a mile walk from the office to Dave’s house where I’m staying. The weather is pleasant and at that hour everyone is on the road heading home, so there are plenty of others on the walk. There is a grocer on the way; a one pound sirloin costs about $2. Once home I take a sunset run. Occasionally, there are locals running along the roadside, but I hesitate to call them runners/joggers. They are always in regular clothes and I cringe at the thought of running in those shoes. So the sight of the big mazungo (white man) jogging in shorts and t-shirt is unusual. I get many odd looks and jeers from passing buses and taxis. Even still, the faces are smiling and good-natured.
Once home I try to put some dinner together, but several times each week, the power will fail shortly after sunset, so I generally head out to find a restaurant. There are several very good places to eat here in Lusaka. Indian food is easy to find and owing to the large number of Indians working in Lusaka, the quality is great. A steak house near embassy row, the Italian place near the fairgrounds and a few more in the main market and life is actually quite comfortable here. Not the experience I assumed I would have here, but Ill take it just the same.
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