hand holding

hand holding is a part of everyday life in zambia -- male, female, young, old, it doesn't matter. you'll be driving around town or in the grocery store and see two grown men in suits walking holding hands or with their arms around each other, and it is totally normal.

this was one aspect of zambian culture i was not ready for when first arriving. i remember my first couple weeks here we had dc's (development courses) which are 3 day refresher courses for our coaches. throughout the dc's the coaches constantly came up and would hold my hand as we walked or talked, come up behind me and put their arms on my shoulders so we were cheek to cheek, have me sit between their legs as we listened to lectures. whole trains would get going of everyone sitting on the ground between each others' legs and it was no big deal.

also, you get males and females, males and males, and females and females dancing all up on each other. shake shake shaking it. but they don't view it in a sexual way, it is just them dancing and having fun. a lot of times, when girls dance, they pull their shirts up so you can see the movement of their bodies better, and guys do the same with their pants/shorts. it seems a bit unnatural to me because when i'm dancing the last thing i want to do is lift my shirt up for all to see haha, but it's how things are done here.

males and females alike also tie chitenges (colorful patterned african fabrics) around their waists when dancing. i believe it is to draw attention to their hips when they dance, but i'm not 100% positive on that, i need to ask.

it is amazing to me that people of the same sex are so comfortable being affectionate towards each other and dancing with each other in zambia because it is illegal to be gay/lesbian in the country. there is a private scene for the gays/lesbians here, but it is very underground and never talked about. in malawi, one of the countries that border zambia, 2 men were put in jail just 6 months ago for being gay. they were initially sentenced to 14 years in prison until the president himself eventually pardoned them.

i wonder if that is a reason why same sex are affectionate towards each other....because no one assumes they are gay if they act that way. where as in america, if you showed that much affection to someone of the same gender, people may assume you were gay. who knows?!