Holiday Weekend Update

Friday - August 6, 2004

Miracle of miracles, the Internet came back today at 8:30am!!! Of course, it's slow, because everyone and their dog is trying to get online and catch up on all sorts of things. The email ended up getting clogged and delivery was delayed. I managed to get messages out to friends and family that I was back online. The nice thing is that I had several friends who emailed me to make sure that I was OK since my daily postings on LiveJournal suddenly just stopped. I had some trouble updating from the website, so I had to download a free client that would update for me. That finally worked, so I put up a whole week of entries at once.

I also contacted the Off 2Africa people based here in Harare and asked about a trip to Vic Falls for next weekend, which will be my last one in Africa. It actually worked out! I got a round trip flight (in business class b/c that was all that was available) and lodging at a B&B for $100 a night. I also set up a sunset cruise, a morning walking tour of the falls and an "authentic" African village, and a PM game drive. The nice thing is that all these activities will pick me up and drop me off at the B&B. According to the Lonely Planet book on Zimbabwe, the Amadeus B&B where I will stay is a nice, mid-range facility. Hey, as long as the toilet and shower works, I'm good. I'll fly out next Friday morning and return on Sunday. Robert never got back to me about next Friday, so I am taking that silence as acquiescence. He got back to me on other things, and he is now in Uganda if the plane tickets I saw on his desk are right. He won't be returning until after I'm gone. I guess it's a good thing that he decided to take leave while I was still here; hopefully, it means he has confidence in me that I'll be OK without him here. Anyway, my trip cost about $650, which isn't too bad, and it leaves me with enough money to pay Pet and Eddie for the rest of my visit.

After getting my trip situated and paid for, I went to the gym and had a pretty good workout. I like going mid-afternoon with no one there. After the gym, I went home to rest a bit before going to the Marine house to see Shrek 2. Eddie put something on his bill to me this week that I had not noticed before and which, quite frankly, kind of pissed me off. He included "waiting charges" for when we went to the grocery and other places, including the ticket agency. I'd heard that he sometimes did that, but it didn't sit well with me. I know I should have challenged him, but I didn't. It wasn't important enough for me to fight about. But don't think I'll forget it.

I went to the Marine House, had a drink, and watched Shrek 2. It was quite funny, and I don't know why Richard hated it as much as he did. It wasn't as funny to me as the first one, but I still really enjoyed it. After the movie, we were still having drinks at the marine's bar. One thing that amazes me about Zimbabweans that I've met is their capacity for generosity. I barely had to pay for any drinks on my own. People will buy a round for everyone when their drink is empty. I think I bought my own drink twice over the course of the night, and I always had a drink in my hand. I stuck with rum and coke because the beer here sours on my stomach after 2-3.

We went to Origins, which is the hip, mostly white dance place in Borrowdale. It was the one that was closed on a Saturday night a couple of weeks ago when we ended up at Vogue with the pregnant, drinking, and smoking teenagers. The club was pretty cool. It reminded me of Fahrenheit in Richmond. I had a pretty nice time, the crowd was much more attractive than at Vogue. Sebastian, the kind of creepy white Zimbabwean who hangs out with embassy staff, was there. He was high on something I think, and drunk, which is not a pretty combination. He started getting belligerent about my sexuality. I'm not sure if someone said something to him or not, but the way he asked me, "Are you a fag?" made me extremely uncomfortable. I refused to answer, and then I denied it. I felt it was safer for me to say no. The odd thing was that this started with him grabbing at my crotch when I sat on a stool to see if I was hard. I thought, "What the hell?!?" Then he rubbed my thigh and asked if I liked it. I said no, and he took Leslie's hand (a friend of Anne Marie's) and rubbed my thigh with it, asking again if I liked it. Then he caught sight of someone at the bar and asked that guy if he was fag, and then said that he would beat his faggot ass. Luckily, at this point, Trent rescued me and had me follow him to the dance floor and away from whatever was going on with Sebastian. I'm not sure what to make of the guy. No one seems to know what he does, or how he can just travel all over. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a drug connection of some sort.

Anne Marie took me home, and I accidentally swiped her CDs. She had asked me to hold on to them, and I forgot I had them until I was at my cabin door. I called Richard, and we were able to talk a little bit before I went to sleep. He filled out my absentee ballot for me over the phone, which is good since the election is on Tuesday.

Saturday - August 7, 2004

I slept in, and it was nice. The day was quite warm and sunny. I called Eric Weisen at 10:30am, and asked about the international book fair, which he had asked me to do. He said that he'd be around by 1pm to pick me up for the fair. I had toyed with the idea of calling Eddie to take me, but I remembered his "waiting fees" and decided against it. If I could find a free ride, I would. This is my punishment for his bullshit charges. I know it's passive aggressive, but I don't care. It satisfies me, and it makes my point. Eddie may not realize it, but I do and that's what matters.

Eric's a weird guy. We went and picked up a colleague of his that works on malaria issues for the South ICP. He's from Mozambique, but I can't tell if he's African or a descendant of the Portuguese colonizers. He could be either, but his head was shaved, so I didn't know. We went to the book fair, and it was LAME. Over half the stalls were empty, even though the fair lasted until Sunday. They mostly had education-related books and some issue related literature. I did find a couple of education books about administration and social studies that I bought for Richard. I thought he'd get a kick out of reading about African theories of education. We were there maybe an hour and a half, and then left.

At this point, Eric wanted further adventures. He suggested that we got see some cave paintings that are apparently 2 hours out of Harare. Luckily, his friend talked him out of it, but Eric would not dissuaded from his adventure. He suggested we go to a cheetah park and a snake farm. So out of town we went. I got to see some of the southern suburbs, and they are squalid. They have these high-density suburbs where houses are rammed together. In the US, it's like the cluster homes you see, except our cluster homes are at least big. These are tiny houses rammed together in a fashion that is quite claustrophobic. Then there was housing for the poor. I can't even begin to describe what these looked like. They are settlements built on repossessed white owned farms, about the size of the shanties that Pet's staff lives in. They don't have running water, electricity, or any other amenities. Many of them are built out of sticks or mud with thatched roofing. It makes the US public housing look luxurious, and I'm horrified that anyone has to live like that.

We eventually made it to a lake outside of town, where there was allegedly a game park. After paying $15K Zim per person to get in, we saw nothing. No animals at all. Turns out, if you want to see animals, you have to pay for a guide. What a racket. We drove all over the park and saw nothing. At this "Isle of Remembrance", we stopped. It looked like a ruin of some sort, and I'm not sure what the place was supposed to remember. Eric hopped out of the car, b/c he wanted to explore the area. Of course, we had all sorts of signs saying not to get out of the car. Eric didn't care. He was in sandals and shorts, and running around in really tall grass. His friend mentioned snakes, and Eric just shrugged it off. He apparently does this sort of thing often, and it's just bizarre and a bit immature like he is some sort of teenager who feels invincible.

Then there is matter of his accent. This boy is American, born in NYC, and raised in Boston to what I imagine could be immigrant parents. Still, I have known plenty of children of immigrants who had American accents, although they might have a foreign one at home with family. He spent only two years in Ghana before coming to Atlanta and eventually landing the job in Zimbabwe through my office. Yet, he speaks like he's some kind of native African for whom English is a 2nd language. Richard says he must be faking it, but I'm not so sure. His accent has grown thicker too since he arrived in April. I'm not sure how you could permanently lose an American accent and adopt a West African one in two years. Just another example of his bizarre personality.

After we got back from the "game park" that had no animals, we went to pick up this native Zimbabwean who apparently takes short term contracts with NGOs on the continent and moves from one place to another. At this guy's townhouse, which was a wreck, they met some Angolan girls who the Mozambique guy started cat calling from the car in Portuguese. The girls ignored them, and he went on and on about how big their butts were, "like a map of Africa". Then he told us that girls in Angola often have lots of facial and chest hair. There's a fun fact I could have done without.

We went back to the Mozambique guy's house and drank some and ate cheese. They went on about girls, fucking girls, and gambling. Eric mentioned that he totally has yellow fever that cannot be cured. In the gay community, we call that being a rice queen, in that he loves Asian girls. I surprised to hear that, as I assumed (and I'm apparently not alone in this thought) that Eric is gay. That has been why I've been hesitant to just "hang out" for fear that he'd try to make a move. That's a place I just would not want to go. Well, after Eric announced that Shona was pretty easy to learn if you had the time, the Mozambique guy said he preferred the "pillow method" of learning. I wondered how in the hell I was going to escape this, when Eric got a mysterious phone call and excused himself. Then he came back and said he had something to do and would be back later. He totally made it seem like he had a booty call. I asked to be taken home, and I was told I was welcome to stay, and I begged off citing my weekly phone calls to family. Anything to get out of there!

After getting back home, I fixed some dinner, and watched CNN. The ladies had closed up the house, so I couldn't set the satellite TV on anything else. I finished the Alexander Hamilton biography, which was fascinating, and then went to sleep early.

Sunday - August 8, 2004

Anne Marie called this morning around 10 to see if I wanted to go with her to the game park she volunteers at and to have something to eat. I agreed, and she picked me up about 11:30am. I managed to get a shower, which was nice, especially since I had managed to get one just the other day as well.

We went out of town to the game park, which is a small place and white owned. It also has significant white clientele. This park is also a refuge and conservatory. It has the largest leopard in captivity in the world, and he is a site. Anne Marie knows most of the animals, they came to her when she called. I got to pet a hyena, a lion, and a parrot. It was pretty cool. I had a great tour, and Anne Marie and I had a nice time talking too. She would be such a cool friend to have back home. She and Amy don't want me to go, but unfortunately, I don't share the sentiment. I'm getting to the point I really am ready to come home to my family, to Richard, to my friends, and my job at CDC. I will miss them, though, and I hope to stay in touch. It can never hurt to have friends the world over.
We watched the feeding of the animals at 4pm too. It's kind of gruesome, but they butcher a horse for the animals. They really don't like cows, since cows aren't typical African fare. Horses, however, are good for them and they like the meat. They use all the horse too. Not a part is wasted, and it's all consumed. The lions went into a holding cage while they placed the meat out. They paced in sync, ready for the meal. They went to their separate corners and tore into the meat. It was interesting to watch.

Anne Marie brought me back, and I had some dinner, and went to bed early. My mom called, and I talked to her a while. When I hung up, I was wide awake. I read some more in the Newsweeks that Yinka loaned me until I dropped off around 1am.

Monday - August 9, 2004

The gate bell rang at 7:45am. I just knew it was Eddie and that he forgot I didn't go to work today. I went to the gate with my bed head going wild. I opened the gate and told Eddie he had forgotten that I didn't work today. I worked tomorrow, but not today. He admitted he forgot. He hasn't driven me anywhere since Friday, which means his fee will be much less this week. Considering his bill with "waiting fees" cost me $132, he can get over it. I've also decided to not to go the gym this week, so he'll only have $70K charges on Tues, Wed, Thurs, and a one-way airport ride on Friday. He certainly won't get another $132 out of me this week.

It was nice today, but not warm enough to swim unfortunately. I had breakfast, and went into the house to watch TV while they cleaned my cabin. I set up the TV schedule for the rest of the day and pretty much decided to be lazy. Reading Newsweek and watching TV…what better way to spend a holiday? Also, it's considered ill advised for white people to be out on this holiday since it is a celebration of the defeat of the colonialists (read white people) in 1980. The people apparently drink, a LOT, and it can be dangerous to be a white person out on the town, especially at night. I figure that's all I need to know. I have no problem staying on Pet's property where it's perfectly safe.

The power went out right in the middle of cooking dinner! Very inopportune moment, but luckily, the "Mince Mate" (known as "Hamburger Helper" in the US) was over half done with the recommended cooking time, and by leaving it on the stove, I was able to finish cooking it as the coils cooled and the mix kept cooking. The power was down for about an hour before coming back. I had to refix the TV schedule for the evening.

I found myself getting sleepy around 8pm, which is extremely early for me. I ended up dozing off until Richard called me around midnight. I had a nice chat with him, and then watched the end of "Waiting to Exhale" before going back to sleep.