What a week. Last Sunday I went to go see a crazy boxing match. Esther Phiri, the female middleweight world champion(who happens to be Zambian) took on Monika Valentinova Petrova, an 18 year old Bulgarian challenger. I've never seen boxing live so I didn't know that I was in for a sweaty five hours of people smacking and hugging each other. Before the main event there were a few fights including the Zambian Heavyweight championship bout. The place was packed to the gills with people lined up out the door trying to bribe the guards to get in. I had bought ringside seats (for about 15 bucks) and somehow we ended up in the VIP section on an elevated platform with cush seats right behind the Zambian Minister of Information. We were pretty much the only white people in there and I still don't know whether we were led to VIP merely because we were white or not. Anyway, the Heavyweight fight was hilarious; the champion didn't come out when he was called and then finaly showed up with a shit-eating grin on his face like he was untouchable. The contender easily beat him after much hugging and the crowd went nuts.

I didn't realize how long I would have to wait to see the girl's fight and I thought about leaving because I sweat through my shirt about four times, but I'm glad I didn't. The only thing that sucked was the ladies only fought 8 rounds, two minutes each. So it was short, but well worth it. Esther Phiri was immense and destroyed the Bulgarian. Monika just couldn't handle her. The minister's wife in front of us kept yelling "Genda, Genda," the cheer for the interesting brew of feminism here. She leaned back to us and shouted "Esther: she fights just like a man!" and my friend Jenny retorted, "Better than a man" but the comment was lost amidst the celebration.


On Wednesday I saw an incredible concert performed by the Guinean group Ba Cissoko. The cora is a traditional West African instrument in the guitar family. It's made out of a gourd though and sounds more like a banjo. Ba Cissoko has roots in tradition cora music but they have a very modern sound. There were cora two players, one electric bassist and an unbelievable percussionist. While certain reviews of the band have called the lead singer/cora player the "Jimi Hedrix of cora" actually the other cora player (pictured on the left) is the true virtuoso. Sometimes I thought he sounded like Bela fleck, other times like the Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez with all of his foot petals and effects. But always there was an afrobeat backbone to the rhythms that made dancing irresistible. Bottomline: this was the best music I've heard in six months! The Zambian live music scene is pitiful and disappointing. But to hear a quality concert again was truly a blessing. If you can get your hands on some Ba Cissoko please do so.

Finally my housemates were both away for the weekend and it made me realize how little time I spend alone: refreshing as all hell! Reminds me of the Loudon Wainwright song, "One Man Guy":

I'm a one man guy in the morning
Same in the afternoon
One man guy when the sun goes down
I whistle me a one man tune

One man guy a one man guy
Only kind of guy to be
I'm a one man guy
a one man guy
And that man... is me