The more intimate the contact, the fewer handshakes – that’s what I was used to. Here, things are different. We often see people holding each other’s hands: two cleaners in the mall when one asks the other a question, or two pastors before the church service starts.
One day, shortly after we arrived in Zambia, I was in my office when a man stopped by. ‘How are you?’ he asked. I got up and greeted him with the African handshake: a handshake, then moving the palm up to hook thumbs, then down again for another handshake. ‘Are you getting used to the Zambian weather?’ he asked. ‘It’s nice and warm,’ I said, ‘It’s very different from the Netherlands.’ ‘How is the weather there?’ ‘Well, my parents just sent me a picture of the snow in their garden.’ The man laughs with surprise and shakes my hand again. ‘How are you settling in?’ I tell him that it’s strange that it’s almost Christmas and everything is green when I’m used to a cold Christmas with bare trees. He takes my hand again. After a few more words he says goodbye w ith a final handshake.
A brief conversation – not even five minutes – but we touched each other four times. And it felt good! It made feel like my words touched him and it brought us closer together. Let’s stay in touch!
Awesome wonder 