it's a mileage reducer

1. jamesism of the day:
i met james on the road a little ways away from the office this morning. this is what he had to say:
james: tamika, let me introduce you to zambian way of life. you see this [showing me a small piece of square cloth]?
me: yes james. what is it?
james: this is what we call "mileage reducer."
me: oh really. why's that?
[james bends down and wipes the dust off his shiny work shoes]
james: you see? the mileage is now reduced.

2. we saw a sign for "tse tse" fly control. tse tse flies are some of the main reasons it's been hard to introduce horses and western cattle into africa, they carry lots of diseases that those animals are really susceptible to. on the one hand, this has probably saved wildlife habitats and tribal lands indirectly because of the inability to expand livestock operations. on the other hand, expansion of farming land would probably make it more possible to provide food to more of africa, especially in drought-prone areas where it's hard to grow crops anyway...to tse tse or not to tse tse? that's the question...

3. mr. peri, who's the gate guard at the house i stay in lusaka, and who is a "proper bushman" according to the neighbors, jumped up from his little fire the other night when we walked in. he had on nothing but his boxers, and started saying loudly "madame! madame! good evening." he's normally pretty quiet by the way. i think he was drinking that kachaso. too funny.

going back to feira tomorrow, won't have much (read: any) internet access until the beginning of august. hope you're all having a great summer!