Dogumentary – Part 1

Part 1 – Sister Act/Akka Act

Akka (n.) – elder sister | My Akka (p.n. & n) – the bestest person on earth

Everyone loves to travel. At least this is what I assume. Just like everyone likes dogs. And if neither of these statements apply to you, you’re a psychopath. But it’s okay because I’ve heard that people who drink gin are psychopaths which makes me a psychopath so…let’s be friends?

My sister, myself and her dog, Homer, recently went on a cross-country road-trip from Toronto to Vancouver. It’s not an unusual thing to do. Many people do this for thrills, for practical reasons, to transport goods, to move…and that last reason is why we did. 

I moved to Toronto to be with my sister. We share a very special bond. One about having and giving and sharing and receiving.

On a serious note, we do. I mean if I moved across the continent to be with her, then we do. For those of you who don’t know, my sister is 10 years older than me. But we don’t feel that gap because well…she’s child-like. Ok no. She’s cool. Like if your sister is cool, multiply that by 10000000000000 and that’s my sister’s coolness. We understand each other, empathize and most importantly, agree to disagree. Which I think is very important in a relationship. Know where we stand on something. Communicate. I’m going off a tangent.

Because my sister is 10 years older than me, she went off to boarding school when I was really young. And when she did, it was during a time when the internet was new so we didn’t have the option to keep in touch regularly. If I remember correctly (and vaguely), she was allowed a phone call a month or so during which I heard her voice for a few seconds. But the one thing I remember and cherish dearly is the letters we wrote to each other. She would write diligently to our parents and me, one side for my parents and the other side for me. She would put so much love and care into creating birthday cards for us from scratch. Every holiday she came to visit, she would bring back so many chocolates for me and we’d munch on it all night while hearing her stories about school.

My sister has always been patient with me. I was not a terror, but I have done a few silly things. I remember scribbling on her Chemistry homework once. The night before. While she was getting ready to go to sleep. But she never got mad at me for that. I’m sure I’ve done other stupid things like this. But I don’t remember them because she never made a big deal out of them. See? SUPER COOL SISTER!

After high school, she decided to pursue architecture in India. Which mean another 5 years apart but by now, we were killing it at this long-distant bond that this was not going to be difficult. Especially with the internet stepping it up. And I make it sound worse than it was. All the years we spent apart, we met at least twice a year – one she visited and the other we would visit. We’ve traveled up and down so much that some of the cabin crew of Kenya Airways started to recognize us like we were their neighbours or something.

After she finished her course, she decided to work in Zambia while I was still studying there and these were some of our most memorable times. She would drive me to school, pick me up, and we’d come home and choreograph dances. For fun! We would party it up on the weekends with cheese sticks and Pepsi. And believe it or not, we would never argue. We had disagreements and in the moment we’d get irritated. And then we’d just start laughing because it’s funny.

I think a big change for us, as a family, was in 2006 when we moved from Chingola to Lusaka. Chingola was and still is home for me. And saying goodbye to that small town which was filled with so many memories, friends, family and love, was difficult. I remember we were moving around the time of my 14th birthday.

It was also around the time Chingola got its first cone ice cream spot, which was a small store at the corner of a road. But my sister and I went to try it out for my birthday. We got two cone ice creams and started to drive back when the tire got punctured. This is by far one of my favourite memories of us together. Me holding the ice cream cones while she’s fixing the tire while trying to savour her ice cream. And of course, both of us in fits of laughter while doing all this. It’s exactly what our dynamic is like. Crazy and fun even if we’re solving something serious.

And till today, we’re like that. I can write a whole book about us. But I’m going to end this post here for now. Part 2 will be more about my sister and our travel adventure. But for now, if you have a soul sister, related or otherwise, send them some love. Because you’re sure as hell lucky if you have someone half as awesome as my sister.