First Weekend

Saturday, June 26, 2004

After a very long flight, I have finally settled a bit in the cottage that Casey set up. Man, I saw Casey’s house, and it’s friggin’ SWEET! The place is a huge, walled compound. Her dog reminds me of Emma, except he’s a black lab mix. Really nice dog, and it made me miss my own. Richard told me that Emma won’t go potty for him, and he gets frustrated with her. He thinks it’s b/c she misses me that she won’t go when she’s supposed to. He may be right, but I hope they both adapt. Anyway, Casey’s house is mostly tiled, not carpet. I might be able to stand it living with the cats. I may see about changing my mind about house sitting. Work is also really close to where she lives and I seem to live a bit further out.

Pet is the name of the lady who owns this place, and she lives next door. The cottage is small, but nicer than a hotel. She left me a bunch of drinks in the fridge as a welcome, and she seems super nice. When Casey left, though, and the door was closed to the cottage, I was hit with overwhelming sadness and loneliness. I’m really tired, though, so that could make my emotional reaction worse. I’m glad I brought toilet paper, though. The one here isn’t bad, but it’s not my Cottonelle. I can’t find any outlets either. Things are plugged in, but I can’t for the life of me determine where. I gotta find some outlets. Otherwise, my toothbrush will fail in a couple of days. We’ll see how I like it. I may end up at Casey’s, cat or no cat.

The plane ride was uneventful, but LONG. 22 hours of nonstop travel really blows. My feet hurt from the blood pooling no matter how much I moved around. I did sleep *some* but only a couple of hours. The neck pillow saved me. I did get some hassle at the airport, and got surprised by a $45 visa fee. It could be a problem that I’m on my personal passport. We’ll see. Then I had some lady hold me up and tell me I had to pay a deposit on my computer! Then I was forced to wait and wait for about 45 minutes until a supervisor noticed me and waived me through. All that drama for nothing. Luckily, the driver was waiting for me, and I got to Casey’s without problem. She took me to the grocery store, which was interesting.

Apparently, the water here is not safe anymore. The government ran out of money to pay for the chemicals to clean it. Someone needs to tell the CDC clinic this. I will have to live off bottled water. I’m exhausted, so I’ll stop here. I’m sure I’ll write more later.

Sunday, June 27, 2004

I went right to sleep after I shut off this computer last night. I slept until about 11am until Casey called to tell me that she’d pick me up for lunch in an hour. That forced me to get up, although I could have slept longer if allowed. The bed slept really well. It’s nice and firm, just like my mattress at home. Odd thing is that it is two twin beds shoved together. I have to sleep on or the other, or I’ll fall into a crack! Anyway, I slept well, which was nice.

The toilets down here don’t swirl the water as it goes down like at home. I’m so disappointed since I’d heard all about how water in the Southern Hemisphere swirls in the opposite direction. Here, the toilets just gush the water out; no swirling. Oh well. The flushing is OK, but it doesn’t get everything when you poop. I tried flushing three times before I just gave up. When I got back from lunch, though, the toilet was all clean. I’m not sure I want to know how the maid did it. I also discovered that I can’t dally in the shower. There’s a limited amount of water available, so in about 10-15 minutes, you better be done. Luckily, I was. The shower is nice and big, like mine at home as well. In fact, it may be a bit bigger.

Casey took me to this place called the Art Café for lunch. We ended up with 9 people at our table! It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet some folks. Eric Weisen was there, so I got to say hello to him. He just got a motorcycle while his car is trapped at some port in another part of Africa. He’s had a time of it logistically, but he seems to be fine. I gave him my appointed messages from AR. I think he’s about as tired of her as she is of him  But this is his first long term assignment overseas, so I think they should cut him some slack. Maybe I’m a softie; who knows.

I had the chicken parmesan which was called Polo “Milan”. The cheese was mixed in with the bread crumbs. It was very good. I also had something called “ginger beer” which is ginger ale. I finished with a lemon cake with lime syrup and a café latte. All that for about $10.

Speaking of money, the situation here is hysterical. The inflation is about 600%, so prices are astronomical. Just getting a few things at the grocery, I spent Zim$246,000. Yes, Zim$246,000. Keep in mind, though, that 1US Dollar = 6000 Zim Dollars. Still, when you have tabs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it really seems odd. I’ll also have to get used to Celsius rather than Fahrenheit. It’s very nice here. Sunny, dry, and in the 60s. Casey and the others had on jackets like it was cold. I’m in shorts and a T-shirt and it’s lovely.

I have unpacked, and that went well. I can lock up my wardrobe while I’m gone, so that is not a problem. I’ve also double locked my money. Poor Richard found out it would cost over $300 to send my little lockbox here, so I said forget it. With a key lock and a combo lock, it should discourage theft. I don’t think that Pet would have thieves on her staff, and the situation here is so bad with unemployment being about 80% that if you have a job, you do what you can to keep it. I feel secure, especially being behind a walled compound. I found out that is a relic of the colonist days when the black to white ratio led to hyper security measures. Everything here is walled, which isn’t bad. They have some very pretty walls. It’s the electric fence wiring or barbed wire that makes you look twice.

Harare is pretty high up in elevation too, which will prolong my jet lag. Casey said expect to be tired a lot the next few days. The elevation is just under 1 mile, so it’s like going to Denver. I don’t expect to get jet lagged past mid-week. 3-4 days is what it took when I went to Hawaii and London. They do have a movie theatre here, but I’d have to walk. It could be quite a hike too, so I’m not sure that will be happening. Eddie is the driver I’m likely to be hiring while I’m here. He’s picking me up at 8am tomorrow, which won’t be bad. Apparently, the secretary didn’t get my schedule ready, which annoyed Casey. So she is doing her best guestimate of when to get me there. Eddie is a driver she knows and he just had a baby, so she feels for him. That’s why she’s throwing my business his way  It’s weird not having a car, especially since you really need one here. It’s not like Europe where the public transportation could take you anywhere and everywhere you’d want to go. I didn’t miss a car while I was there, but I think I might miss it here. Of course, all the cars are stick shift and British in style. They drive on the other side of the road too, so it’s probably just as well. Also, it will prevent me from having to worry about the gas shortages.

It’s nice and quiet here, except for the barking of dogs. Everyone has a guard dog, although many are more noise than anything. But Casey tells me most people train their dogs to attack, which is sad. The dog here is a little min-pin who will bark, growl, etc until you bend down to pet him. Then he loves you  They are all outdoor dogs here too, another thing I hate to see. Apparently, Africans don’t like dogs that much, but they hate cats worse. It has something to do with superstition.

It’s still lonely here. I will have more time to myself than I thought. I miss Richard, and I miss my dogs. With all the dogs here, and with Casey’s dog being just like Emma in temperament, I especially miss my Jackson and Emma. I hope she is going to poop for Richard. I know how frustrating it can be when she refuses to go, but he really just has to be patient with her. If she thinks he’s angry for whatever reason, she won’t go. It took months for me to figure that out. Part of me is glad I don’t have a phone yet, b/c I’d be using it. Still, I wish I could hear a familiar voice. It’s so quiet here, and not having Richard to talk to makes is even quieter. That was what Richard was dreading about me being gone too. I understand now what he means.