Thursday, December 16, 2010

life costs thousands of Kwacha in Lusaka

1pin= 1,000 Kwacha
4,700pin= $1

250,000 Kwacha will buy you….
The basic Nokia phone with flashlight

2pin500 and a 10minute walk will get you from our house to the arcades shopping mall in a blue and white van steamy with the bulk of 16 people, in about fifteen minutes

9pin is an hour at the Internet café if you use your own computer
11pin if you use their machine. From now on if the Internet café does not bring coffee to your table, it is not an Internet café, but more of an Internet hot spot.

3pin500 is a bottle of sparkling water SPAR brand

90pin will get you from Lusaka Intercity bus to Livingstone on the Mahzandu Family bus service, the nicest of the buses. You can also take the post bus for 70pin and it is faster and empty, but only runs twice a week when it has mail to deliver. We know this for next time.

30-40pin should get you from Arcades shopping mall in a registered cab at night to our house, provided you bargain well.

15pin is a movie ticket Mon-Thurs; it jumps to 30pin on the weekends

3pin500 will get Nora from our house to the Millennium, pronounced Merrenium bus station in town where she can then walk to the clinic for work.

2pin500 gets mom to UNZA (University of Zambia) and she has to scale the iron scaffolding/highway passover twice a day.

7pin gets you a liter of yogurt or 15pin when you need a Greek yogurt splurge.

40 minutes and at least three calf deep puddle crossings can bring Lebo and Bill to the Tiny Tim Farm if you get lucky and pick the road with the least flooding.

2hours in the boardroom at the Theological University College can upload four pictures and one video for the moowag blog page.

-Lebo

3 comments:

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  2. Great post, Lebo! This is exactly the kind of perspective that shows the reality that is your experience. Thanks for sharing! Hi to all :).

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  3. Lebo, any chance of getting some of those white pumpkin seeds back to the homestead? Either with you once upon a time or maybe in an easter card sent to Kristy Quinn Moore at 8089 Ridge Rd, lake Shore MN 56468. What would it hurt? Kristy in jail for a day or two?

    timmy

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