Outdoor Market and Indoor Malls

Sunday I woke up to rain. Ate a leisurely breakfast before taking a taxi out to an outdoor craft market set up the Arcades shopping complex. The primary clientele at the outdoor market was ex-patriots and tourists like myself. So very different from the other outdoor markets I have visited in Africa. The vendors were very quiet, no aggressive sales techniques but lacking the vitality of other markets. But it was at this market that I bought Ms. Bunny, a wooden carving. I am quite fond of Ms. Bunny.

In addition to going to the craft market I spent hours at the two malls in the area. At the Arcades shopping complex there was a movie complex, large bookstore, many restaurants, and a grocery store. The bookstore, Planet Books, was large and filled with all types of books: cookbooks, self-help, fiction, travel, etc. A bookstore for the ex-patriot and tourists of Lusaka, very different from Book World on Cairo Road.

From Arcades, I walked down to the Manda Hill Mall. Having made arrangements with my river to be picked up at 3 PM, I was to spend the next three hours walking through the mall for three hours. And it was interesting, a true United Nations of ex-patriots as well as Zambians buying all the things people normally buy at malls. I spent my time looking at the grocery store and eating at Subway (same but different). It wasn't my plan to eat but I had time to fill! My total take-home from the shopping trip included one can of smoked mussels, sweet roll, candy bought from a sidewalk vendor and my new friend, Ms. Bunny.

Things to do on a rainy Sunday evening in your hotel room in Lusaka-- take self-portraits of self with Ms. Bunny, work on blog, listen to Heart of Darkness, watch Gandhi on ipod, write to friends and family on FaceBook, correspond with ALA colleagues via email. Regret that you brought only one book (Poisonwood Bible, finished) and that you forgot your knitting.