I figured out that one of the ways Zambian guys sometimes try to gain your favor is by sending you airtime. That means getting prepaid calling minutes and sending them to you through their phone. You can also buy them in a form of a slip of paper in the street. There are Airtel, MTN and Zamtel agents everywhere, even on the traffic circles (more locally correct is roundabouts), trying to sell you slips with 1000, 5000, 10 000 or more thousand kwatcha for your phone. But the method of sending a small "token of goodwill" is a popular technique among guys trying to earn the ladies' favor.
I met a guy at our office, Godfrey, who works at the municipal water management office in the same building. I think he figured that I was alone and so he came to make small talk with the stranger he saw coming to Cobaco every day. We talked, and I let him know quite clearly that I am "taken" and that I didn't come to Zambia to find a husband. In my naive kindness I gave him my number anyway, just so we can stay friends. However obvious it may seem to the reader, back then I didn't understand that giving an older man (he was in his 30s) your phone number means expressing your interest in more than just a friendship. Maybe it works that way everywhere. But oh well, I just like making friends too much.
Long story short, Godfrey ended up sending me airtime two or three times. It was interesting since Zambian girls around me would get airtime sent to them from their boyfriends or very good friends (airtime is expensive as everything for Kabananans), not from men they talked to once and only for five minutes. These airtime gifts were also accompanied by sending texts and calling me late at night (I refused to pick up), and by trying to make long conversations on phone about things I didn't really want to chat about. I sent him a respectful yet sobering text asking him to kindly stop "courting" me, and that's where the story ended. A similar story happened the first week of my stay with a certain Mr Kakana, who stopped by the road offering to give me a lift (yet again, in my ignorant willingness to "be friends" I gave him my phone number). That time wasn't accompanied by sending me airtime, but the late night calls (which I didn't answer either) happened nevertheless.
Simply, I found out that giving out my phone number just to anyone is not the smartest choice. Unless I want free airtime and creepy calls at night.
I met a guy at our office, Godfrey, who works at the municipal water management office in the same building. I think he figured that I was alone and so he came to make small talk with the stranger he saw coming to Cobaco every day. We talked, and I let him know quite clearly that I am "taken" and that I didn't come to Zambia to find a husband. In my naive kindness I gave him my number anyway, just so we can stay friends. However obvious it may seem to the reader, back then I didn't understand that giving an older man (he was in his 30s) your phone number means expressing your interest in more than just a friendship. Maybe it works that way everywhere. But oh well, I just like making friends too much.
Long story short, Godfrey ended up sending me airtime two or three times. It was interesting since Zambian girls around me would get airtime sent to them from their boyfriends or very good friends (airtime is expensive as everything for Kabananans), not from men they talked to once and only for five minutes. These airtime gifts were also accompanied by sending texts and calling me late at night (I refused to pick up), and by trying to make long conversations on phone about things I didn't really want to chat about. I sent him a respectful yet sobering text asking him to kindly stop "courting" me, and that's where the story ended. A similar story happened the first week of my stay with a certain Mr Kakana, who stopped by the road offering to give me a lift (yet again, in my ignorant willingness to "be friends" I gave him my phone number). That time wasn't accompanied by sending me airtime, but the late night calls (which I didn't answer either) happened nevertheless.
Simply, I found out that giving out my phone number just to anyone is not the smartest choice. Unless I want free airtime and creepy calls at night.
No comments:
Post a Comment