Night on the Town
BY CYNDI GREENING, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA _ We've been in Zambia for two weeks now. For those back in the U.S., it may seem like we've been gone a long time but time has raced for us. Trying to get a film shot in a foreign country in less than a month gobbles time.
In spite of our strenuous schedule, we are getting to see a bit of Lusaka. Our filming locations move us about the city quite a bit. When I was reading about Zambia before I left Arizona, I read that there were 800,000 people in the city. Phoenix has about a population of about a million and is the national capital so I thought Lusaka would have a similar feel and rhythm to Phoenix but it doesn't.
My childhood hometown of Chippewa Falls has a population of only 12,500. The college that I teach at has more than twice as many students as my hometown. Currently, there are more than 28,000 students as Mesa Community College. I was surprised to discover that Lusaka feels more like Chippewa than Phoenix. Much more. It's a bit more spread out than Chippewa.
There are very few "robots" in the city. In Zambia, a "robot" is a traffic light. I've only seen five or six so far. They use turnabouts and stop signs for what little traffic control there is. Traffic can get quite congested on the main roads at certain times of day. It reminds me of when the Northern Wisconsin State Fair comes to Chippewa. Clogged roads and lots of excitable people.
Another way that Lusaka has a small town feel is our lack of anonymity. Everyone seems to know what we're doing. Every time we make a request or leave the compound, there are a whole bunch of phone calls made to ensure that we will be happy and safe. Then, when we get out into the community, people come up to us to tell us that they've heard about our project or they've seen us on television. No doubt, their ability to recognize us is enhanced by the size of our group and that we're all Americans.
Last night, we went to a restaurant and a dance club for fun. I thought the crew needed to have some time to chill out and be silly together. The restaurant had karaoke. Jared, Heath and Edgar were the only ones brave enough to sing in front of the group. Watching Edgar perform Michael Jackson's BILLIE JEAN in a wig, hat and shades was priceless. Then, we went to a Congolese dance club. Nearly everyone danced. At the end of the night, everyone was laughing. It was great for us.