I'm a One-Cow Wife

Another Story about Nelson Chimbila, my Zambian friend. :)

 

     I met Nelson, as I said in the last post, at Teen Missions bootcamp last summer. I was leading the Hong Kong team and he was leading the Zambia Drill team. Nelson is a Zambian native, but speaks English quite well. However, he still thinks like an African.

     Once, before a leaders' meeting, I asked Nelson if he was married - he doesn't wear a wedding ring (maybe that's a Western thing?). "Oh yes!" he exclaimed, "Let me show you a picture of my wife!" He pulled out a picture of him, his wife, and their little girl. His wife is significantly taller than him - a good thing, I'm told. Nelson's wife is a very beautiful and when I said so, he beamed and said, "Oh yes, very, very beautiful! She's very fat, isn't she?" smiling the whole time. I guess my face showed how surprised I was that he said that! I mean, I guess she would have been considered overweight by American standards, but I really thought she was beautiful anyway. He laughed at me and said, "Oh, you Americans, you think skinny is beautiful! Ha! Not in Africa! In Africa we like our women very fat!" Then he proceeded to explain to me how his wife was quite expensive and he had to pay FIVE COWS for her, "because she's very fat and beautiful." Yes, he bought his wife. With cows. Apparently five cows is a lot for a wife. Nelson then looked at me in a sort of pitying way and announced,

 

 

"You're a one cow wife. Too skinny."

 

 

And I couldn't help it - I laughed. So now you know . . . I'm a one-cow wife. Cheap, in Africa:)

 

 

 

Leah