03/07/2008 - Update 1
thought I'd write a little bit of a travelog/ e-mail update on what's going on here, since as most of you know, I have come back to the dreaded Zimbabwe. I am home!
After a long flight from London to Cape Town, and then a connecting flight to Joburg, I arrived safe and sound and intact, and Carla picked me up from the airport. I'm afraid we just managed to scoff down some tuna salad with my grandma before we headed off for a bit of frolicking around Joburg. The evening was spent devouring glorious South African seafood at Melrose Arch, followed by a girls night at Carla's house with her sister, their flat mate, and another friend of theirs, some really cheap Swazi which was picked up at the Dolls House, a very kind of 1960's drive-in-and-be-served-at-the-car-window kind of place, which we then returned to, post-Swazi, for an incredible Horlicks milkshake!
As I type this, I am eating biltong (wonderful dried meat, a favourite of southern Africans, and a real delicacy in a country where you can hardly find any meat at all - I brought some in from South Africa), and so yes, this is the very odd occasion when this vegetarian is not even just slightly un-veggie, but completely carnivorous. No comments from the peanut gallery :)
I am waiting for the southern hemisphere stars to come out and as I glance out the window now, I am watching the African sun burn through the horizon. There is no place like home. I haven't been into town yet, so I am sure the scale of what's going on here hasn't hit me yet. I will go tomorrow. I managed to get away with 6 extra kilos on the plane today, and to hide my 15+ kilos of hand luggage!!! Indeed Gran hid away at the other end of the airport while I checked in my suitcase! I tried to tell the guy at the check-in counter that I had come from London where I was allowed 23 kilos plus they said an extra
couple of kilos was no biggie. He went on to inform me that this is not London! I did manage to get away without paying luckily though, and then snuck by him with my massive hand luggage.
I came loaded with tubes of toothpaste, bars of soap, pens, loaves of bread, kilos of butter, cheese, etc etc. At customs in Joburg, they told me that butter is not allowed through. I told them it's going to Zimbabwe, and they nodded me along, and everything went wonderfully.
The air hostess on SAA even gave me extra muffins and boxes of juice to bring home. As we soared into Bulawayo, the landscape is as dry as ever - my favoruite time of the year, and I tried to peer between the bare branches of the trees to see if I could spot any game. Unfortunately, all I managed was a few cows. I hadn't thought about it until a few hours ago, but this trip I will not to able to go out into the bush, as outside of the urban areas it is really not safe.
And my mom just informed me that the US government has issued a statement saying that they cannot be responsible for US citizens inside Zimbabwe, and particularly outside of the capital (which I am), and that they cannot be counted on for evacuations in emergency situations.
The embassies are starting to think about pulling out of the country, and as of today, the German company that was providing Zimbabwe with paper to print the exorbitant amounts of cash, have said that as a result of international pressure, they are no longer willing to do business with Zimbabwe. Today the exchange rate is approximately 25 billion to the US dollar. This changes every hour though, and I heard someone say that you can get as high as 90 billion to 1 today. I hadn't thought to come with smaller bills to only change small amounts at a time, but luckily I have been able to change 100 US dollars for 10 US dollar bills! The biggest bill in Zimbabwe is currently 50 billion Zimbabwe dollars... yes, 9 zero's, ZIM$ 50,000,000,000!!!
I returned luckily to electricity although yesterday there was a long power cut. However, there is no water in our part of the city. Apparently the pipes have gotten old, and they are having problems repairing them and getting the pipes, etc. Last time I was here, they didn't have the chemicals to treat the water. Finally, we have had our borehole hooked up to our pipes at home, so no more baths in a bucket, and no more washing my hair in a bucket! Luxury!!!
This morning, one of our closest family friends who had been suffering terribly from Alzheimer's finally passed away. He was the former mayor of Bulawayo way back in the day, and so today has marked the end of an era. So the evening was spent with his family... most of whom are relieved more than anything else, that he is no longer in agony. It was quite therapeutic sitting and listening to stories of the past, about him protecting his sons from lashings at Milton school in the 1970's, an all boys, very strict British colonial, school, that all the boys look back on with horror, and a twinkle in their eyes. And yet he was a disciplinarian in his own right... a Polish Jew who came from nothing and fought his way to the top in his day. It seemed that for his children in those days, the more rules that existed, the more rules there were to break. Of course some things are indeed universal for all children no matter where in the world, or in what era we live.
The nights this time of year are very cold. And although this is home, there is an air of instability that lurks, even in the place where it feels safest. Our neighbours to our left were broken into once in the past week, and the ones across the street were broken into twice in one night, over the past week too. We carry on, crossing our fingers and hoping for the best, and reading the international news, and wondering what next.
Indeed what next... Tomorrow I will go into town and explore a little bit, see what food I can source, what bartering there is to be done, and what adventure can be sought out of a place that is literally being held together by elastic bands and paper clips. Perhaps a little lacking in taste to seek adventure in a reality that causes misery to so many. However, when there is nothing available in your town, find a packet of cigarettes or a loaf of bread, and you will be able to understand that that feeling of success and satisfaction is so much more than just that. It is the feeling of true excitement, of pure elation. There is nothing quite like it.
So what next... more tomorrow hopefully (if we have power).
Until then,
Hamba kahle (go in peace)
- Gabi
