Settling In

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Last night, Richard called me! I had hoped he would, but I got sleepy around 9pm and kind of drifted off. The phone tried to ring twice, and at one point, it was a wrong number. Richard finally got through, and he said it took about 20 minutes of trying before he got through. The phone system here sucks big time. It’s a roll of the dice whether or not it will work at all. Apparently, my mom was trying to call too, but she could never get through. Unfortunately, she didn’t deal with it well. She’s very unhappy with her life right now, and not being able to reach me kind of pushed her over the edge. I had to write her a harsh email back to hopefully snap her out of it. I hope she won’t give up trying to reach me. It takes patience, but eventually you do get through. People forget I’m in a 3rd world country. Well, low 2nd maybe, but quickly becoming 3rd world. Things don’t work here the way they are supposed to. Email here is slow as molasses, but I just suffer through it. There is nothing I can do about it, so why worry?

Anyway, talking to Richard was wonderful. I really do miss him, but it helped to talk to him last night. I slept well, and got up with my alarm at 7am. Showering at night is the thing to do here. Too much competition for water in the morning. I can have a nice, hot shower at night, no problem. It also saves time in the morning getting ready. Today I was a bit rushed b/c my breakfast was at 7:30am and Eddie came at 7:45am. I had to choke down part of my breakfast. So I’ve asked for my breakfast at 7:20am so I can eat it without rushing.

While eating breakfast, I watched the local news. These newscasts trip me out. They are SO unprofessional, but so serious about it. It reminds me of a middle or high school production. They obviously don’t have teleprompters b/c the anchors read the news looking down. Today, they talked about the Zimbabwe football (soccer) team losing “gallantly” to Kenya, who are by far the best team in the South African regional. But while talking about this game, they showed a rugby match. I’m not sure if I missed something or not. Does Rugby have a world cup? Then they went into this lifestyle discussion of what to do about aggressive drivers. All these tips, including, “Please do remember to put away your ego” were designed to make driving safe in Zimbabwe! It was quite funny.

Today was a rather long day. Followed Casey about some more, went to the US Embassy for my security briefing, and then spent the afternoon on email. The US Embassy was a huge disappointment. It’s in downtown Harare in this ugly building. I thought it would be something like the estates you see for other Embassies, like the one for the Netherlands. Talk about a nice embassy! But no, the US has this crappy building from the early 70s in downtown Harare. It was difficult to get in, and the briefing was nothing I didn’t already know. The deputy security chief who talked to me was abrupt and kind of rude. He relaxed as the talk went on, but Casey told me that he’s just miserable here. All he’s ever done since he arrived is complain that Harare sucks, nothing to do, etc. I’d wonder why he was in the foreign service with that attitude.

Saw some Marines, and Casey is right…they’re BABIES. These guys are barely old enough to drink, if they’re that old. I felt like such a troll. Still, even in the tan uniforms, they were a sight  It looks like they might cancel the BBQ at the Marine House this Saturday since not enough people have RSVPed. I hope it’s not cancelled, but if it is, I’m doubly glad that the Ambassador invited me to the official party on Friday. I got my embossed invite today at the embassy. Very cool! I know Casey says it’s boring, but I’m looking forward to it.

We ate lunch at a Thai restaurant. Very good. Casey showed me a shop that sells little knick knacks. The Zimbabwean people have a real artistic bent, and sculpture is their specialty. They have little items really cheap that people back home (some reading this journal, I’m sure) would love. I’ll wait a bit before I buy anything. I’d like to know if I can ship stuff back to the USA or not before I go buying a bunch of stuff.

In the afternoon, Casey had some major projects to work on, so she sent me to an empty office to do email. I was in the section chief’s empty office, and he eventually came in. He went on and on about doing more than just administrative stuff. He talked about surveillance, monitoring, microplanning, campaigns, etc. He then kind of dogged Casey and said she’d missed the boat on all this, and refused to be anything other than an administrative officer. For me, this was a golden opportunity to learn it all and really affect the program, etc. I have no idea what he wants me to get into, but I’m pretty easy-going. He just needs to understand I’m not an epidemiologist or a physician and I don’t have any desire to be those things! If he asks me to act in ways that I’m not trained, he’ll not be happy with the results. I’ll try, but I doubt he’ll be pleased. Anyway, I thought it was odd that he’d complain about Casey behind her back to me. I’m not sure what to think about it. There was also a comment that whatever I see/hear about WHO while on assignment, I’m to keep here and not report to CDC. I can play that game, but I’m the one who’s going to decide how it ends. My allegiance is to the American taxpayer and the CDC, not Bush or WHO.

I got a huge dent in my email, and I was able to upload the pictures I took of the cottage online. I provided a link in the journal for anyone to see. Mike commented that my place wasn’t bad, but it was too small, and I needed to take over Casey’s massive home. I think I’m going to stay. He has a point, but Pet and her family depend on this income for their family’s well being. What they will make off me during my stay (paid for by the government) will have them set for the year. They are also very good to me, and so I don’t think I’ll back out. If it was my personal money, I might do otherwise, but as Leo told me, part of going overseas is a responsibility to add to the local economy. Same with my driver, Eddie. What I’ll pay him over my time here will help support his young family for a while. So, small or not, I’ll stay. It’s still bigger than a hotel room would be.

I met Pet’s brother this afternoon when I came home. At first, I thought it was her husband, Morris, because they do kind of look alike. But then her son called him “uncle”, so I put it together. I had tea and biscuits with him. Pet came home and had more tea. Then she asked me to eat with the family. They had Chicken curry with rice, vegetables, and salad. The veggies were sautéed snow peas and broccoli. I think she put garlic in them, but they were good! It was a very nice dinner, and I got to know the family better. They are really neat people. I explained the Electoral College to them and how Bush is President despite the fact that Gore got more votes in 2000. They think it’s bizarre, and I don’t blame them. I told them about my political involvement at home, and they thought it was interesting. They don’t know too much about the US and asked many questions. They also explained a bit about Zimbabwe, the education system (which Richard would have LOVED to talk about), and the troubles they’ve had. Apparently, the government came down with a new decree today that any (white) person caught without valid ID and passport can be jailed for up to a month, no questions asked. I put “white” in quotations because apparently, this edict will only be used against white Zimbabweans. Mugabe’s goal, apparently, is to drive away all the whites from Zimbabwe so that the nation can be “pure”. So sad….