Having now spent a little over three weeks here, it’s been amazing being a stranger in a strange land. And it’s fairly obvious to anyone I come across that I’m not from these parts. I’ve attracted everyone from very nice people who just want to say “Hi!”, some who have helped me when I was looking for some place in particular and a lot of “touts”, the nickname for people who only want to sell you something or get a handout.

While in Zanzibar, I was pegged twice as a German and once as a Pole. No one seemed to grasp that I’m American, probably because Americans don’t travel through these areas very often. In fact, my dear friends in Nungwi asked why Americans don’t come here, and the only thing I could think of is that Americans tend to be a little more narrowly focused when it comes to travel, unlike Europeans.

At one point in Zanzibar, a tout approached me and observed, “You have been to Africa before. I can tell by the way you walk.” Exactly what I have wanted to communicate. I was pleased to hear that.

i was walking through a bazaar in Zanzibar, the only muzungu (white person in Kiswahili) anywhere until I saw a white woman walking through the crowd coming the other way.  We both looked briefly at each other, cracked smirks at each other to say hello rare muzungu and continued on our respective ways.

Earlier today, I went to a shopping mall here in Lusaka to get a new Zambian SIM card for My mobile. Yes, a shopping mall – quite impressive:

One of the security guards was very friendly, shaking my hand and wanting to know where I’m from.  The people I have met during my travels thus far have been wonderfully hospitable and friendly.

Today has been a low-key day, getting acclimated to Zambia – booking my bus ticket to Livingstone for tomorrow, buying the SIM for my mobile and watching important futbol matches on the tele.

Liverpool beat Norwich with :30 left in extra time, and this after Norwich scored an equalizer 1:00 before that. An incredible game. Right now I’m watching the African Cup championships with Zambia leading Uganda 1-0 in the second half. Needless to say, it’s a fairly partisan crowd here. Go Zambia!!!!

With a minute and a half left in the game, we lost power here at the hostel. The crowd is on pins and needles as the score was still 1-0 with Uganda pressing. Update: Zambia won.

And they have a delicious shot available here at the hostel bar. It’s called a “Soweto Toilet”. The name aside, it’s quite good ?

My room has a mosquito net, just like every other room I’ve stayed in thus far, with the notable exception of Dar Es Salaam. I guess even the mosquitos don’t want to hang out there.

The nets are designed to cover the bed so that the risk of contracting malaria is reduced. Female mosquitos need human blood to fertilize their eggs, and they are much more active at night. There are a number of charitable organizations that work to make sure every person in Africa has a mosquito net over their bed at night. It’s relatively inexpensive, but the payoffs are immense.

193 million cases of malaria are reported in Africa alone every year. Of those, 400,000 people die from the malady. Malaria is actually a parasite, not a virus, and can lay dormant in its victims for up to a year after exposure. It is a great scourge on the African continent. One that has killed many, including David Livingstone, the famed African explorer.

Finally, tonight I met a group of about a dozen Japanese volunteers who are here in Lusaka to train for a two-year assignment for a Peace Corp-type organization in Japan . After their training, they will disperse to different parts of Africa to help local communities. Very nice kids.

And one of them, Masashi, is such an incredible sports fan, he was able to match my knowledge of baseball stadium  trivia nugget by trivia nugget. Amazing.  He will be visiting the US sometime after his Peace Corps work, and I’ll be sure to show him a few of my favorite ballparks.