Zambia is made up of 73 ethnic groups. The main language spoken in the southeast is Tonga, but the national language in Zambia is actually English. So, I haven't learned many new words. English is the national language partly because there are so many languages spoken here. People here often speak eight or nine languages, but they can't know them all. Another reason English is the national language is because Zambia, like so many countries in Africa, has colonial history. I have learned that muzungu is the general term for a white westerner across many languages in South Africa. People call it at us as we go by.
The currency in Zambia is the kwacha, which is such a beautiful word. Before the kwacha, the currency in Zambia used to be the pound, just like England, because the British colonized Zambia. However, the people of Zambia decided they wanted their own African currency in the 1970s after gaining indepenednce in 1964.
A bottle of water costs about 45 kwacha, or $2.50 USD.
