Tuesday - May 23, 2006
Good news is that the diarrhea seems to be gone. It has been replaced, however, with rock hard constipation. What gives? How do you go from 6 liquid explosions in one day to totally stopped up the next? I suppose I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I'd much rather have constipation than diarrhea any day.
On to brighter topics...sort of. Land reform has been a big topic in the media around here. It's not just Zimbabwe, but Southern Africa in particular. I saw a piece on South Africa's land reform on the continent's version of "60 Minutes" called "Carte Blanche". In yesterday's paper, it mentioned that Namibia's deputy land minister was in town to find out how Zimbabwe conducted its "successful" land reform. Namibia wants to have about 9 million hectacres taken away from white people and given to landless blacks. They've got a "willing seller, willing buyer" program, but so far, that's netted only 1/10 of the country's goal. So now, they are looking at land seizure a la Zimbabwe where they'd use armed gangs to threaten, beat, destroy, and even kill white people who won't abandon their land. In South Africa, it's going a little more slowly. They have a system where blacks make claims against certain properties, and if those properties had the blacks forced off them after 1913 (not sure why South Africa chose that date), then the land will be forfeit and given to the claimants. Allegedly, if the blacks were forced off the land prior to 1913, then too bad for them. Here's the kicker, though. One of the white families owns a farm whose title history clearly shows that the first deed was established in 1911, yet the government is trying to seize the property anyway. We'll see if the courts will intervene. Another black farmer bought his farm in 1999, but it turns out that originally, the farm was taken from the native blacks in 1923, which makes it eligible for forfeiture. In the process, though, this black farmer will lose everything. Doesn't seem right, does it?
I find the whole notion of land reform troubling. On the one hand, Europe did wrong Africa and rape it of its resources while keeping the native Africans poor and illiterate. There is no denying that the white settlers took the best land for themselves and relegated to crappy land not fit for agriculture. The question is how do you correct this historical wrong while being fair to everybody? After all, when you have a family who has been in Africa for over 100 years, they're pretty much native. That may be the American in me talking, but I don't think skin color can or should determine whether you're a "legitimate" citizen of a country. Yet in Africa, that precisely IS the test. Cynthia McKinney must be proud as she's well known to have skin color tests herself. Also, there is something wrong with the theory of "corruption of the blood" where you punish someone for what their ancestors did. It's very much a similiar theory to reparations in America. I have never owned slaves, nor advocated for owning slaves. My ancestors did live in slave states, but they were poor enough that I doubt they ever could afford slaves. Therefore, how can you punish me with a tax assessment just because I'm a white person? It's ridiculous. Plus, not all white people have ancestors who were in the US pre-1865, and even in the south, it was only the elite who had slaves. Poor whites liked slavery because it gave them a sense of superiority to someone, but that was just ignorance. Anyway, it's as ridiculous to charge all white people a "slavery assessment" for reparations to all black people (not all of whom had ancestors in bondage in America) in the USA as it is to seize the homes and property of white people in Africa because their ancestors were part of a system that abused the rights of black Africans.
In Zimbabwe, they've taken it a step further by nationalizing all land. No one owns any land in Zimbabwe anymore. They can only hold 99 year leases. In America, we know that people who don't own something are less likely to take care of it. Look at rental properties and public housing versus privately owned homes. People take care of something that is theirs. Also, what collateral is a farmer supposed to offer a bank for a loan to farm his land? He doesn't even own his farm! It's a stupid, stupid move...but they say it's the "African way" because Africans have always had collective ownership until the white man came along.
That may be the case; I don't know. But in today's world that doesn't make sense. The newspaper here also rails against "globalization", calling it some Western conspiracy of neo-colonialism to keep Africa poor. It seems that Africa wants it both ways. They want to have a protectionist regime where Western money flows in and creates some kind of utopia for its citizens while making the "West" (read white folks) pay for past sins. They want Western money, but no Western influence. They want to be isolated and wealthy. That boat has long sailed where such a system is possible. The world is getting smaller and more interconnected, and either Africa accepts that and moves forward or it doesn't, and ends up destroying its own economy like Zimbabwe has.
With regards to land reform, I'm at a loss for a fair solution. I feel strongly that people who currently own the land should not be punished for what their ancestors did. If the land has changed hands several times, I think it's lost. You can't just seize land from someone who bought it in good faith, whether they are black or white. What they could do is designate land as part of land reform, and grant them a life estate but make it clear that if they ever decide to sell, they must sell to the government at a pre-determined price. Failing a sale, upon death of the current owner, the property reverts to the government. At this point, land will be distributed in plots using a lottery system or something similar to the homesteading acts used to settle the western US. The key is that the lottery must be fair (and not given to croneys like in Zimbabwe) and have in its pool the decendants of the "rightful owners" of the land. Also, they must make use of the land within a set period of time. So many of the farms seized have laid in ruin, not only in Zimbabwe but also in South Africa where transfers of land have been completed. Land that was once fertile and productive becomes overgrown with weeds and producing nothing. That's a huge part of the problem here in Zimbabwe and why there are shortages of things like bread and sugar. If that means that you set up agricultural schools to teach blacks modern farming methods with internships on farms still owned by white people, so be it. There may be some resentment from the whites, but there should be ways around that. Perhaps the internships could be looked at as free labor for the farmer who will teach the interns how to properly run a farm. Most farms are run by a staff of people, and those staffs could be filled with agriculture college graduates. It would be slow, but the land reform would be accomplished without destroying the land or the people.
Anyway, it was another quiet day. I'm worried that my "product" here will disappoint, but if it does, so be it. I didn't create the mess that is record keeping here; I am just trying to make sense of it without going nuts. I only have a week left, thank God.
We had lunch at Doon Estates, which is this white-owned little shopping village that has some great food. Debra will be leaving on Thursday, and Casey is busy tomorrow, so this was her "adios" lunch. Debra will be back at the beginning of July, so they won't have to miss her too long.
The WHO bus came late again today, so I didn't get home until after 5pm. I found an envelope under my door with my bill-to-date from Meikles asking me to settle my charges even though I'm not checking out until June 1. I was kind of offended by the implication, but I went down and paid. The strange thing is that my bill was around $213 million Zim. But they only charged $100 M Zim on my credit card. Not sure what that is about. Luckily, they have the conversion rate on there, so if any funny business happens, I'll be ready. :) I then went to the internet cafe which was open until 8pm, and did some emailing and looking at MySpace. I wish I could have MySpace at WHO, but that would probably totally prevent me from getting any work done :) After that, I went to the steak place that Beth and I ate at last week and had a cheese burger. It was OK; I'm just getting sick of hotel food.
I have had more trouble getting to sleep. Even though I have both windows open, it's still kind of warm in the hotel room. I hope to get to sleep just after midnight when the Great British Menu goes off. The Welsh cook Bryn Williams is so friggin' HOT this week! He's as yummy as Marcus Wareing was last week. I did go to the BBC food site, and found out that we're getting the episodes a week after they air in Britain (Africa being behind the rest of the world...shocking, I know). So I already know that Bryn is going to beat the hot shot female chef they paired him with in the competition. I bet she will be PISSED when they judges choose Bryn over her. The way she's carried on about being a woman in a man's world (apparently female chefs are a novelty...it's always been women that I've known who could cook, not the men!), I wonder if she'll cry sexism. Ehh, it will be interesting to see the judges' reactions. Watching BBC Food all the time makes me wish I could live in England just for a few years. I don't see that happening though, but if an opportunity arose, I'd be tempted to take it.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part G
Monday - May 22, 2006
What I felt last night *was* an earthquake. In fact, it was two earthquakes back to back, epicentered about 115 km from Harare. They measured 3.9 and 4.0 on the Richter Scale. There was a huge earthquake of 7.5 magnitude in February in Mozambique, so people are thinking it's a sign of something. Some think that it could mean Mugabe is about to die. Others are saying that it's a sign of trouble to come for those who ignore God's commandments. I'd scoff, but you would hear the same crap in the USA about God's commandments and warnings of heavenly vengeance. I'm just glad I wasn't dreaming it or imaging the shaking.
It was another somewhat wasted day in the office. I found out that my application for MY OWN JOB was denied. Apparently, the fact I've been doing this job for 3 years obviously shows HR that I cannot do it properly. Stupid bitches! I'm in a series right now that is considered administrative. We want to move me to a job series that is programmatic. This will protect me from job cuts as well as being sucked up into a "Strategic Business Unit" by the reogranization of CDC. I fail to see how my resume is lacking unless they're angry that I don't have full essays explaining my jobs...something NO OTHER employer would expect. It royally pisses me off. I don't know anyone in HR, so I don't see how I could be on someone's shit list where they would try to screw me. Maybe it's series-discrimination, where they don't want to let me qualify for a programmatic series when I'm currently in an administrative one. Who knows? I'm sure Lyn and Leo can figure it out. It just annoys me to no end.
Today, what I had been dreading started....diarrhea. I think I have gone to the bathroom 6 times today alone. It's awful! And it doesn't smell too nice either, but it's strange. It's more like sour milk than anything. I know, TMI. But this happens nearly every time I come to Africa! Some damn parasite enters my gut and I have diarrhea for days or weeks. THe bad thing is that I think I'm out of Immodium. Usually, I'd take Immodium tablets, but I think I'm out, which is not good. The only plus side is that I might lose some weight if I have the runs for the next 10 days until I can get home and take some Immodium.
On the way home today, the WHO bus was involved in a minor accident. One of the Omnibuses that roams around Harare tried to drive in a lane that didn't exist, and then tried to force its ways past our bus, causing the two to collide and scrape against each other. These Omnibuses are dangerous. They are vans that are very old, and stuffed with as many people as possible. They are involved in wrecks all the time, and last week alone, 43 people died in accidents in Harare. So the result of this little accident was that the Omnibus lost its passenger side mirror, and then a shouting match ensued. I have no idea what was said because it was in Shona, but there's nothing more discomfiting than witnessing a shouting match in a language you don't understand. I prayed that no one would have a gun, and they didn't. That's one nice thing about Zimbabwe...only the government has guns. The population isn't prone to carrying weapons of any kind. Things got scary as the driver took down the license plate info of the Omnibus and said he was calling the police to file a report. That's when the people from the bus (there were 3 that somehow were linked with the driver) tried to force their way onto the bus. Well, at that point, I figured I was a block from the entrance to the Meikles, so I could walk. I gathered my things and got the hell out and walked back to the hotel.
I wasn't feeling well, which may be related to my diarrhea. I ended up having some dinner and falling asleep until my mom called around 10pm. Then I stayed up to watch the next episode of Great British Menu, and now it's time to call it a night.
What I felt last night *was* an earthquake. In fact, it was two earthquakes back to back, epicentered about 115 km from Harare. They measured 3.9 and 4.0 on the Richter Scale. There was a huge earthquake of 7.5 magnitude in February in Mozambique, so people are thinking it's a sign of something. Some think that it could mean Mugabe is about to die. Others are saying that it's a sign of trouble to come for those who ignore God's commandments. I'd scoff, but you would hear the same crap in the USA about God's commandments and warnings of heavenly vengeance. I'm just glad I wasn't dreaming it or imaging the shaking.
It was another somewhat wasted day in the office. I found out that my application for MY OWN JOB was denied. Apparently, the fact I've been doing this job for 3 years obviously shows HR that I cannot do it properly. Stupid bitches! I'm in a series right now that is considered administrative. We want to move me to a job series that is programmatic. This will protect me from job cuts as well as being sucked up into a "Strategic Business Unit" by the reogranization of CDC. I fail to see how my resume is lacking unless they're angry that I don't have full essays explaining my jobs...something NO OTHER employer would expect. It royally pisses me off. I don't know anyone in HR, so I don't see how I could be on someone's shit list where they would try to screw me. Maybe it's series-discrimination, where they don't want to let me qualify for a programmatic series when I'm currently in an administrative one. Who knows? I'm sure Lyn and Leo can figure it out. It just annoys me to no end.
Today, what I had been dreading started....diarrhea. I think I have gone to the bathroom 6 times today alone. It's awful! And it doesn't smell too nice either, but it's strange. It's more like sour milk than anything. I know, TMI. But this happens nearly every time I come to Africa! Some damn parasite enters my gut and I have diarrhea for days or weeks. THe bad thing is that I think I'm out of Immodium. Usually, I'd take Immodium tablets, but I think I'm out, which is not good. The only plus side is that I might lose some weight if I have the runs for the next 10 days until I can get home and take some Immodium.
On the way home today, the WHO bus was involved in a minor accident. One of the Omnibuses that roams around Harare tried to drive in a lane that didn't exist, and then tried to force its ways past our bus, causing the two to collide and scrape against each other. These Omnibuses are dangerous. They are vans that are very old, and stuffed with as many people as possible. They are involved in wrecks all the time, and last week alone, 43 people died in accidents in Harare. So the result of this little accident was that the Omnibus lost its passenger side mirror, and then a shouting match ensued. I have no idea what was said because it was in Shona, but there's nothing more discomfiting than witnessing a shouting match in a language you don't understand. I prayed that no one would have a gun, and they didn't. That's one nice thing about Zimbabwe...only the government has guns. The population isn't prone to carrying weapons of any kind. Things got scary as the driver took down the license plate info of the Omnibus and said he was calling the police to file a report. That's when the people from the bus (there were 3 that somehow were linked with the driver) tried to force their way onto the bus. Well, at that point, I figured I was a block from the entrance to the Meikles, so I could walk. I gathered my things and got the hell out and walked back to the hotel.
I wasn't feeling well, which may be related to my diarrhea. I ended up having some dinner and falling asleep until my mom called around 10pm. Then I stayed up to watch the next episode of Great British Menu, and now it's time to call it a night.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part F
Friday, May 19 – Sunday May 21, 2006
One thing I love about working at WHO is the tradition of knocking off early on Fridays. The vans take off at 2:15pm, which makes the day seem that much faster, even though it’s only 2 hours early. I think it’s to give people a chance to do some errands since by the time you get home during the rest of the week, shops are getting ready to close. I didn’t get much done at all at work. I’m going to have to step it over the next week so that I have something to show for my time here.
After work, I went to the shopping mall next door to the Meikles, and discovered a little grocery where I was able to get fresh lemonade, biltong (kind of like beef jerky but much better tasting), and Sparletta which is a green crème soda that I love. I came back to my room and took a nice, long nap. I awoke in time to go downstairs for dinner where I proceeded to eat well, but spent entirely too much money. I then watched TV the rest of the night. I got hooked on two movies that kept me up entirely too late. The first was about this guy who invented the Gong Show, the Newlywed Game, and the Dating Game who also was a hit man for the CIA. Very weird show, but quite entertaining. I then watched Warm Springs, the movie about Roosevelt’s battle with polio which was filmed in Georgia. Having been to the real Warm Springs and the Little White House, it was fun to watch the film. Polio really almost defeated him, but it’s a good thing it didn’t, because I can’t imagine what would have happened during the depression and WWII without FDR to lead us through it.
Considering I went to bed around 3am, it shouldn’t be a shock that I slept until nearly 2pm. I called Eddie to make sure he’d pick me up at 8pm for the party. I then went to a little cybercafe that I had noticed on Friday just below the Meikles’ gardens. The price was really good (less than $1 US/hr) and I was able to do email, post my journal on MySpace, and make plans for a vacation in Miami.
I haven’t been to a beach for years, and neither has my mom, and so I had looked into a beach vacation over the week of July 4. The question was where to go. Mom doesn’t have a passport, that restricts us to the USA. One place I haven’t been on the East Coast is Miami. So I managed to book a trip to Miami, South Beach for July 1-7. Staying at a nice Marriott, which will help me knock out the nights I need to keep my silver status with them. The Marriott is on the beach itself in the heart of trendy South Beach. I wanted to use my SkyMiles to get my mom down to Miami, but the website wouldn’t let me. I had to get Daniel to impersonate me with Delta to finalize the deal, but I believe it was done. Mom had to call me to get my Delta pin number and she was talking to me and Daniel at the same time. It was kind of funny. At the end of the call, she thanked me for doing this because she hadn’t had anything to look forward to until now. I’m not sure what she meant by that, but it was a creepy depressive comment. I know she cycles up and down quite a bit…I just wish she could be consistently happy. Most of all, I hope she never kills herself like my dad did.
The party was pretty low key. I forgot how nice the suburbs are where all the diplomatic corps lives. The margaritas were great, and when those ran out, I switched to tequila sunrises. The finger food was great too. We had pixie sticks, sweet tarts, pop rocks, and other 80s candy. The music was classic 80s too. I got to hang out with the diplomatic community which is always nice. I talked politics with a Swede who had a creepy resemblance to Bill Clinton. Also met this guy who’s obviously from a wealthy family because even though he’s French and Swiss, he had a British nanny and talks like he was raised in the House of Windsor. Very hot looking guy, but also quite aware of that fact and seems a bit full of himself. I’m not sure what he’s doing with the International Committee of the Red Cross, but that’s his job. There was also a Norwegian couple who are here teaching on a cultural exchange. They probably had the best 80s outfit, and it was perfectly matched. The husband was hot, but alas, he was straight and married. Ran into folks I’ve met before from various embassies. Many of them are getting ready to leave over the next several months. It’s that time for people to go on to new assignments, as it’s been about 2 years since I first came to Zimbabwe. My Canadian friend is going to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Swedish Bill Clinton guy is moving to Berlin to take a university position and be with his fiancé. I am sure the new people will be just as lovely, but it’s sad that just about everyone I know will be gone should I return in November for the TFI report preparations.
Eddie came back at 11:30pm, which was fine by me. I came back to the hotel and went straight to bed, waking around 10am to read the paper for a bit before dozing off again. One strange thing happened when I was reading the paper. I heard chanting outside, which is never a good sign in Africa. I looked out my window toward Africa Unity square, and saw a small march taking place. I couldn’t tell what it was for, and it was pretty brief. It was odd though. Turns out it was part of an international “March for Hungry Kids” that was taking place across the world yesterday. The Harare turnout was pitiful though, especially considering how many hungry children there are in the country. I got up at 1pm, got some lunch, and went up to the pool. I was going to go by the internet café again, but it was closed because it was Sunday.
I went up to the roof where the pool is. I put on some sunscreen, got some water, and read my book by the pool. The pool water was a bit cold to swim in, and the breeze was enough to keep me from getting too hot. There was an interesting group of men waiting for someone to come by to pick them up and take them somewhere. Two were Albanian, and they were talking about the languages the knew, etc. One guy bragged that he’s involved with Cirque du Soleil somehow. The men were all beat with the ugly stick, and the way they went back and forth between 5 different languages was obnoxious. It was like they were showing off for my benefit.
I stayed there until 4:30pm when I came back down, took a bath, and relaxed a bit. I tried to do some work, but the plug by the desk is different from the plug adapter I have. I cannot seem to find my other adapters, and I went through everything. There’s no telling how I lost them. It kind of pisses me off, though. Now I’ll have to do double time at the office, because working from bed sucks, which is the only way I can use my computer and have it plugged in. The battery doesn’t last long enough to do serious work. I am now watching Ocean’s 12 which is interesting. I will go to bed after the movie is over. Another week begins.
I had to come back and write an addendum after a strange occurrence around midnight. I was trying to go to sleep in my too-warm room when I felt the building shake. It sounded like I was right next to the train tracks as a train was coming by. Neither is the case with the Meikles. My bed definitely shook for about 10 seconds before it abruptly stopped. A few minutes later, the power briefly went off. I wonder if we had an earthquake?
One thing I love about working at WHO is the tradition of knocking off early on Fridays. The vans take off at 2:15pm, which makes the day seem that much faster, even though it’s only 2 hours early. I think it’s to give people a chance to do some errands since by the time you get home during the rest of the week, shops are getting ready to close. I didn’t get much done at all at work. I’m going to have to step it over the next week so that I have something to show for my time here.
After work, I went to the shopping mall next door to the Meikles, and discovered a little grocery where I was able to get fresh lemonade, biltong (kind of like beef jerky but much better tasting), and Sparletta which is a green crème soda that I love. I came back to my room and took a nice, long nap. I awoke in time to go downstairs for dinner where I proceeded to eat well, but spent entirely too much money. I then watched TV the rest of the night. I got hooked on two movies that kept me up entirely too late. The first was about this guy who invented the Gong Show, the Newlywed Game, and the Dating Game who also was a hit man for the CIA. Very weird show, but quite entertaining. I then watched Warm Springs, the movie about Roosevelt’s battle with polio which was filmed in Georgia. Having been to the real Warm Springs and the Little White House, it was fun to watch the film. Polio really almost defeated him, but it’s a good thing it didn’t, because I can’t imagine what would have happened during the depression and WWII without FDR to lead us through it.
Considering I went to bed around 3am, it shouldn’t be a shock that I slept until nearly 2pm. I called Eddie to make sure he’d pick me up at 8pm for the party. I then went to a little cybercafe that I had noticed on Friday just below the Meikles’ gardens. The price was really good (less than $1 US/hr) and I was able to do email, post my journal on MySpace, and make plans for a vacation in Miami.
I haven’t been to a beach for years, and neither has my mom, and so I had looked into a beach vacation over the week of July 4. The question was where to go. Mom doesn’t have a passport, that restricts us to the USA. One place I haven’t been on the East Coast is Miami. So I managed to book a trip to Miami, South Beach for July 1-7. Staying at a nice Marriott, which will help me knock out the nights I need to keep my silver status with them. The Marriott is on the beach itself in the heart of trendy South Beach. I wanted to use my SkyMiles to get my mom down to Miami, but the website wouldn’t let me. I had to get Daniel to impersonate me with Delta to finalize the deal, but I believe it was done. Mom had to call me to get my Delta pin number and she was talking to me and Daniel at the same time. It was kind of funny. At the end of the call, she thanked me for doing this because she hadn’t had anything to look forward to until now. I’m not sure what she meant by that, but it was a creepy depressive comment. I know she cycles up and down quite a bit…I just wish she could be consistently happy. Most of all, I hope she never kills herself like my dad did.
The party was pretty low key. I forgot how nice the suburbs are where all the diplomatic corps lives. The margaritas were great, and when those ran out, I switched to tequila sunrises. The finger food was great too. We had pixie sticks, sweet tarts, pop rocks, and other 80s candy. The music was classic 80s too. I got to hang out with the diplomatic community which is always nice. I talked politics with a Swede who had a creepy resemblance to Bill Clinton. Also met this guy who’s obviously from a wealthy family because even though he’s French and Swiss, he had a British nanny and talks like he was raised in the House of Windsor. Very hot looking guy, but also quite aware of that fact and seems a bit full of himself. I’m not sure what he’s doing with the International Committee of the Red Cross, but that’s his job. There was also a Norwegian couple who are here teaching on a cultural exchange. They probably had the best 80s outfit, and it was perfectly matched. The husband was hot, but alas, he was straight and married. Ran into folks I’ve met before from various embassies. Many of them are getting ready to leave over the next several months. It’s that time for people to go on to new assignments, as it’s been about 2 years since I first came to Zimbabwe. My Canadian friend is going to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Swedish Bill Clinton guy is moving to Berlin to take a university position and be with his fiancé. I am sure the new people will be just as lovely, but it’s sad that just about everyone I know will be gone should I return in November for the TFI report preparations.
Eddie came back at 11:30pm, which was fine by me. I came back to the hotel and went straight to bed, waking around 10am to read the paper for a bit before dozing off again. One strange thing happened when I was reading the paper. I heard chanting outside, which is never a good sign in Africa. I looked out my window toward Africa Unity square, and saw a small march taking place. I couldn’t tell what it was for, and it was pretty brief. It was odd though. Turns out it was part of an international “March for Hungry Kids” that was taking place across the world yesterday. The Harare turnout was pitiful though, especially considering how many hungry children there are in the country. I got up at 1pm, got some lunch, and went up to the pool. I was going to go by the internet café again, but it was closed because it was Sunday.
I went up to the roof where the pool is. I put on some sunscreen, got some water, and read my book by the pool. The pool water was a bit cold to swim in, and the breeze was enough to keep me from getting too hot. There was an interesting group of men waiting for someone to come by to pick them up and take them somewhere. Two were Albanian, and they were talking about the languages the knew, etc. One guy bragged that he’s involved with Cirque du Soleil somehow. The men were all beat with the ugly stick, and the way they went back and forth between 5 different languages was obnoxious. It was like they were showing off for my benefit.
I stayed there until 4:30pm when I came back down, took a bath, and relaxed a bit. I tried to do some work, but the plug by the desk is different from the plug adapter I have. I cannot seem to find my other adapters, and I went through everything. There’s no telling how I lost them. It kind of pisses me off, though. Now I’ll have to do double time at the office, because working from bed sucks, which is the only way I can use my computer and have it plugged in. The battery doesn’t last long enough to do serious work. I am now watching Ocean’s 12 which is interesting. I will go to bed after the movie is over. Another week begins.
I had to come back and write an addendum after a strange occurrence around midnight. I was trying to go to sleep in my too-warm room when I felt the building shake. It sounded like I was right next to the train tracks as a train was coming by. Neither is the case with the Meikles. My bed definitely shook for about 10 seconds before it abruptly stopped. A few minutes later, the power briefly went off. I wonder if we had an earthquake?
Friday, May 19, 2006
Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part E
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Very interesting day today. I have some clarity as to what I’m supposed to do with these Measles Partnership numbers. Basically, I can pick the number I like best, which means to me sticking as close to published numbers as possible. However, this report is not supposed to see the light of day outside of WHO. Good thing too, because the information they are seeking does nothing than expose shoddy record keeping and somewhat shady financial practices, at least when you consider the controls that are placed on how we spend money at CDC. Maybe the Defense Department comes close to what I see at WHO. We are getting results, which is what ultimately matters, but you need an army of people to keep track of this money properly. To have only one person doing the work of 10 is ridiculous. It also allows WHO to play its shell game with the money it’s given. Things get covered, but you never know whose money is covering it half the time.
I found out that the overturning of the gay marriage amendment has created a firestorm in Georgia. Just as I predicted, Sonny decided he’d call a special session if the decision wasn’t quickly overturned by the GA Supremes. Just so happens that 4 of the 7 justices are up for election this year…think that will weigh on their decision? We’ll see if they’re politicians or jurists. The fact remains that amendment was illegally drawn, and everyone knew it. But they wanted that precious part B in there to really send the message that gays need to leave Georgia and never return because they will always be second class citizens. What galls me is that the Democrats are all rah-rah about this move to call a special session! Dubose Porter, the leader in the House, thinks it’s grand. So does Cathy Cox and Mark Taylor. Cathy’s campaign went out of its way to say that she fully supported the amendment, and only thought in 2004 that it was drawn poorly legislatively. That’s not quite how I remember it, but Cathy’s leading the “Down with Fags!” cheers from the Democratic side. Mark Taylor stopped short of saying we need a special session, but said to wait for the GA Supreme Court to decide, adding he hoped they upheld the amendment.
This is exactly the kind of shit that people bring up to show that Democrats really don’t care about gays at all. The thing is, I know the party is very supportive. We’re at all levels of the party power structure, and no one cares we’re gay. Most of the time, they think it’s pretty cool. But when 76% of Georgia voted yes on the marriage amendment in 2004, that told politicians that gays were nuclear material in Georgia politics. We are lepers to be shunned in public, no matter what our conscience or our hearts tell us is right. Certainly, you shouldn’t lead on an issue such as gay rights in any form…the best thing to do is what Democrats did until blacks were forcibly given the vote in the 1960s…pander to the basest instincts of the public. And this means to sound the alarm bells, call a special session, and make sure no time passes where those damn queers don’t know their place…at the bottom of Sadie Field’s stiletto heel to be scrapped off on the curb like dog shit.
Well, I’m not letting this one go quietly. I was angry enough that I fired off a letter to the Editor in the AJC, and I also wrote Cathy Cox’s campaign a note which I copied to every YD leader I know and some others too. My friend Mike called her campaign from England and demanded his contribution (which I had urged him to make months ago) back. I frankly don’t blame him. I don’t know if she’ll even see this letter, but you can be assured that I will deliver the message in person should I get the opportunity:
Dear Cathy -
I find myself filled with profound disappoint and disgust at your decision yesterday to release a statement of support for Gov. Perdue's cynical call for a SPECIAL legislative session to make sure that both parts of the gay marriage amendment struck down for violating the single subject rule will be on November's ballot. I have met you several times, and I have even supported your bid for Governor. I have also heard you speak on LGBT issues, and I know you are more fair minded than your actions have shown. Yet, when it comes down to it, actions speak louder than words.
The AJC today (http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/stories/0518metgaymarriage.html) stated, "On Wednesday, Cox issued a statement supporting the governor's plan for a special session. So did her Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. Cox's opponents from both parties pointed out that in 2004, Cox said the amendment was "unnecessary." Peter Jackson, her campaign spokesman, said in response, "Yesterday showed the circumstances have changed" since 2004."
I would like to know exactly what circumstances have changed? In 2004, you had it right when you said the amendment was unnecessary and a cynical political ploy. It can be argued that passing that amendment directly led to the loss of Democratic control of the House. The people who care most about putting LGBT Georgians in "our place" are never going to vote for you or any Democrat. The only way that would change is if some Democrat pulled a Zell Miller and became essentially a right wing Republican in his/her views. You gain nothing by supporting Perdue in this scheme to call a special session. Even if you are the nominee, this amendment will guarantee that the troops of Sadie Field and her ilk will turn out in droves to reward Sonny for acting swiftly to put the "queers" in our place.
I am a gay Georgian, one of many you already know. You know personally how hateful and painful that amendment fight was in 2004. That you are now supporting actions that would not only hurt Democrats, your own bid for Governor, along with delivering a double fisted bitch slap to every LGBT Georgian is disgusting. As a Christian, you know better than to think this is the right thing to do. I know this is a tricky issue to deal with, but wouldn't it have been better to allow the judicial process to play out in the GA Supreme Court and then decide to move forward later? What's the rush? The amendment would easily pass in January 2007 when the new legislature is in session, and everyone knows it. There is no emergency to warrant spending taxpayer dollars on a special session just to be sure that LGBT Georgians like myself can be reassured that yes, indeed, our state HATES us, considers us less than equal citizens, and wants to be sure I never enjoy anything approaching equality with straight Georgia.
I get that this state is light years from being gay friendly when you go outside of 285. By your actions yesterday, you have given sanction to creating an atmosphere of hate and hysteria around gay rights. LGBT teens are already 30% more likely to commit to suicide than their straight peers. My community is already rife with self-destructive behaviors whose origins lie in just the kind of hate campaign Sadie Fields led against us in 2004 and are promising to do again in 2006. I expected much more out of you than that. This is not leadership; it is pandering. To see you sink so low as to kick some of your most ardent supporters in the teeth for political gain breaks my heart. Yet I know that Mark Taylor and Sonny Perdue are no better.
I will no longer actively support your campaign. I may or may not vote for you in the Primary and General election. I feel betrayed by you, and I know I am not the only LGBT supporter of yours that feels this way this morning. I think we deserve and explanation and apology for being so hasty to play into the political tricks of the GOP. In the meantime, my time and treasure will no longer support someone who obviously no longer supports me.
Yours truly,
Jason A. Cecil
Am I being too harsh? No, I don’t think so. I’m not going to work against Cathy, and it’s likely I’ll vote for. When you think of Mark vs Cathy in the Democratic primary, I think Cathy has the best chance of unseating Sonny Perdue. I also love the idea of a smart woman governor. But that doesn’t mean I smile meekly, bend over, grab my ankles and say, “Do what you want. I’ll be the good little soldier. You’ll see no consequences from me.” For LGBT people to make real gains, we must demand respect, especially from our friends. We don’t have to abandon them (because they truly are light years better than Republicans) but we do need to let them know when they’ve done wrong. And Cathy fucked up big time on this. She may not think so now, but I hope I’m just the tip of the iceberg of LGBT supporters who will let their displeasure be known. That’s the only way we can be sure that she won’t pull this kind of shit again, and will be more sensitive to the people who have supported her most.
I came back to the hotel and relaxed a while until Eddie came by to pick me up at 6:45pm. Casey hosted a Mexican dinner at her place in honor of her birthday which is this Saturday. Yinka’s birthday is the end of next week, and Amy’s birthday is right after that. We had wine, appetizers, and soft tacos. The dessert was chocolate cake and ice cream. Very good stuff!
A funny thing happened during dinner. First, Amy told me the name of her baby, which is a Zimbabwean name in Shona. I listened to how she said it and repeated it. Amy was shocked I got it right the first time. Apparently, I’m the first American who has done so. Of course, right now, I couldn’t repeat the name because I don’t remember it. I do know they call her Chi for short, or Marie which is one of her middle names. Cute, cute baby, though. Later, at dessert, Amy’s husband (another name that escapes me…but he’s also Zimbabwean) had me attempt to pronounce the Shona name for the Operation Throw out the Trash that Mugabe did last year to clear impoverished supporters of the opposition out of the Harare. After listening to him pronounce it, I tried and he said there was no way that I was just a visitor to Zimbabwe if I could pronounce Shona words correctly on the first try. He asked how long I’d been in Zimbabwe, and I told him a total of 4 months by the time this trip was over. He then asked if I was a language specialist, and I responded “Not that I’m aware of.” LOL Anyway, I don’t know how I managed to pronounce these Shona words correctly, but when something foreign is being repeated to me, I tend to break it down into its consonant sounds which helps me repeat it. *shrug* It was kind of neat though to get those words right when apparently no one else does.
Yinka, Debra, Casey, Michelle (the Zimbabwean), Amy, her baby, her husband, Mathew from the embassy and his wife, and a girl from Canada. I should remember her name, but I don’t at the moment. She works for an agency called Je T’aime which deals with HIV. We had a nice time. It was cool to hang out with Americans, play with Amy’s baby, and get out of the hotel. It reminded me what I like about Zimbabwe. The social atmosphere around the embassy and the people you meet there are quite nice. They vacation together, party together, and have a real sense of camaraderie. When you’re just visiting for a short time, you kind of miss that. But Mathew and his wife are hosting an 80s party this weekend, and I’ll be going to it. It should be lots of fun.
I’m now stuffed and ready for bed. Thank goodness, the day tomorrow is short at WHO, and I should be home pretty early to start my weekend. I have no real plans other than to sit by the pool and tan. That and the party, of course.
Very interesting day today. I have some clarity as to what I’m supposed to do with these Measles Partnership numbers. Basically, I can pick the number I like best, which means to me sticking as close to published numbers as possible. However, this report is not supposed to see the light of day outside of WHO. Good thing too, because the information they are seeking does nothing than expose shoddy record keeping and somewhat shady financial practices, at least when you consider the controls that are placed on how we spend money at CDC. Maybe the Defense Department comes close to what I see at WHO. We are getting results, which is what ultimately matters, but you need an army of people to keep track of this money properly. To have only one person doing the work of 10 is ridiculous. It also allows WHO to play its shell game with the money it’s given. Things get covered, but you never know whose money is covering it half the time.
I found out that the overturning of the gay marriage amendment has created a firestorm in Georgia. Just as I predicted, Sonny decided he’d call a special session if the decision wasn’t quickly overturned by the GA Supremes. Just so happens that 4 of the 7 justices are up for election this year…think that will weigh on their decision? We’ll see if they’re politicians or jurists. The fact remains that amendment was illegally drawn, and everyone knew it. But they wanted that precious part B in there to really send the message that gays need to leave Georgia and never return because they will always be second class citizens. What galls me is that the Democrats are all rah-rah about this move to call a special session! Dubose Porter, the leader in the House, thinks it’s grand. So does Cathy Cox and Mark Taylor. Cathy’s campaign went out of its way to say that she fully supported the amendment, and only thought in 2004 that it was drawn poorly legislatively. That’s not quite how I remember it, but Cathy’s leading the “Down with Fags!” cheers from the Democratic side. Mark Taylor stopped short of saying we need a special session, but said to wait for the GA Supreme Court to decide, adding he hoped they upheld the amendment.
This is exactly the kind of shit that people bring up to show that Democrats really don’t care about gays at all. The thing is, I know the party is very supportive. We’re at all levels of the party power structure, and no one cares we’re gay. Most of the time, they think it’s pretty cool. But when 76% of Georgia voted yes on the marriage amendment in 2004, that told politicians that gays were nuclear material in Georgia politics. We are lepers to be shunned in public, no matter what our conscience or our hearts tell us is right. Certainly, you shouldn’t lead on an issue such as gay rights in any form…the best thing to do is what Democrats did until blacks were forcibly given the vote in the 1960s…pander to the basest instincts of the public. And this means to sound the alarm bells, call a special session, and make sure no time passes where those damn queers don’t know their place…at the bottom of Sadie Field’s stiletto heel to be scrapped off on the curb like dog shit.
Well, I’m not letting this one go quietly. I was angry enough that I fired off a letter to the Editor in the AJC, and I also wrote Cathy Cox’s campaign a note which I copied to every YD leader I know and some others too. My friend Mike called her campaign from England and demanded his contribution (which I had urged him to make months ago) back. I frankly don’t blame him. I don’t know if she’ll even see this letter, but you can be assured that I will deliver the message in person should I get the opportunity:
Dear Cathy -
I find myself filled with profound disappoint and disgust at your decision yesterday to release a statement of support for Gov. Perdue's cynical call for a SPECIAL legislative session to make sure that both parts of the gay marriage amendment struck down for violating the single subject rule will be on November's ballot. I have met you several times, and I have even supported your bid for Governor. I have also heard you speak on LGBT issues, and I know you are more fair minded than your actions have shown. Yet, when it comes down to it, actions speak louder than words.
The AJC today (http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/stories/0518metgaymarriage.html) stated, "On Wednesday, Cox issued a statement supporting the governor's plan for a special session. So did her Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. Cox's opponents from both parties pointed out that in 2004, Cox said the amendment was "unnecessary." Peter Jackson, her campaign spokesman, said in response, "Yesterday showed the circumstances have changed" since 2004."
I would like to know exactly what circumstances have changed? In 2004, you had it right when you said the amendment was unnecessary and a cynical political ploy. It can be argued that passing that amendment directly led to the loss of Democratic control of the House. The people who care most about putting LGBT Georgians in "our place" are never going to vote for you or any Democrat. The only way that would change is if some Democrat pulled a Zell Miller and became essentially a right wing Republican in his/her views. You gain nothing by supporting Perdue in this scheme to call a special session. Even if you are the nominee, this amendment will guarantee that the troops of Sadie Field and her ilk will turn out in droves to reward Sonny for acting swiftly to put the "queers" in our place.
I am a gay Georgian, one of many you already know. You know personally how hateful and painful that amendment fight was in 2004. That you are now supporting actions that would not only hurt Democrats, your own bid for Governor, along with delivering a double fisted bitch slap to every LGBT Georgian is disgusting. As a Christian, you know better than to think this is the right thing to do. I know this is a tricky issue to deal with, but wouldn't it have been better to allow the judicial process to play out in the GA Supreme Court and then decide to move forward later? What's the rush? The amendment would easily pass in January 2007 when the new legislature is in session, and everyone knows it. There is no emergency to warrant spending taxpayer dollars on a special session just to be sure that LGBT Georgians like myself can be reassured that yes, indeed, our state HATES us, considers us less than equal citizens, and wants to be sure I never enjoy anything approaching equality with straight Georgia.
I get that this state is light years from being gay friendly when you go outside of 285. By your actions yesterday, you have given sanction to creating an atmosphere of hate and hysteria around gay rights. LGBT teens are already 30% more likely to commit to suicide than their straight peers. My community is already rife with self-destructive behaviors whose origins lie in just the kind of hate campaign Sadie Fields led against us in 2004 and are promising to do again in 2006. I expected much more out of you than that. This is not leadership; it is pandering. To see you sink so low as to kick some of your most ardent supporters in the teeth for political gain breaks my heart. Yet I know that Mark Taylor and Sonny Perdue are no better.
I will no longer actively support your campaign. I may or may not vote for you in the Primary and General election. I feel betrayed by you, and I know I am not the only LGBT supporter of yours that feels this way this morning. I think we deserve and explanation and apology for being so hasty to play into the political tricks of the GOP. In the meantime, my time and treasure will no longer support someone who obviously no longer supports me.
Yours truly,
Jason A. Cecil
Am I being too harsh? No, I don’t think so. I’m not going to work against Cathy, and it’s likely I’ll vote for. When you think of Mark vs Cathy in the Democratic primary, I think Cathy has the best chance of unseating Sonny Perdue. I also love the idea of a smart woman governor. But that doesn’t mean I smile meekly, bend over, grab my ankles and say, “Do what you want. I’ll be the good little soldier. You’ll see no consequences from me.” For LGBT people to make real gains, we must demand respect, especially from our friends. We don’t have to abandon them (because they truly are light years better than Republicans) but we do need to let them know when they’ve done wrong. And Cathy fucked up big time on this. She may not think so now, but I hope I’m just the tip of the iceberg of LGBT supporters who will let their displeasure be known. That’s the only way we can be sure that she won’t pull this kind of shit again, and will be more sensitive to the people who have supported her most.
I came back to the hotel and relaxed a while until Eddie came by to pick me up at 6:45pm. Casey hosted a Mexican dinner at her place in honor of her birthday which is this Saturday. Yinka’s birthday is the end of next week, and Amy’s birthday is right after that. We had wine, appetizers, and soft tacos. The dessert was chocolate cake and ice cream. Very good stuff!
A funny thing happened during dinner. First, Amy told me the name of her baby, which is a Zimbabwean name in Shona. I listened to how she said it and repeated it. Amy was shocked I got it right the first time. Apparently, I’m the first American who has done so. Of course, right now, I couldn’t repeat the name because I don’t remember it. I do know they call her Chi for short, or Marie which is one of her middle names. Cute, cute baby, though. Later, at dessert, Amy’s husband (another name that escapes me…but he’s also Zimbabwean) had me attempt to pronounce the Shona name for the Operation Throw out the Trash that Mugabe did last year to clear impoverished supporters of the opposition out of the Harare. After listening to him pronounce it, I tried and he said there was no way that I was just a visitor to Zimbabwe if I could pronounce Shona words correctly on the first try. He asked how long I’d been in Zimbabwe, and I told him a total of 4 months by the time this trip was over. He then asked if I was a language specialist, and I responded “Not that I’m aware of.” LOL Anyway, I don’t know how I managed to pronounce these Shona words correctly, but when something foreign is being repeated to me, I tend to break it down into its consonant sounds which helps me repeat it. *shrug* It was kind of neat though to get those words right when apparently no one else does.
Yinka, Debra, Casey, Michelle (the Zimbabwean), Amy, her baby, her husband, Mathew from the embassy and his wife, and a girl from Canada. I should remember her name, but I don’t at the moment. She works for an agency called Je T’aime which deals with HIV. We had a nice time. It was cool to hang out with Americans, play with Amy’s baby, and get out of the hotel. It reminded me what I like about Zimbabwe. The social atmosphere around the embassy and the people you meet there are quite nice. They vacation together, party together, and have a real sense of camaraderie. When you’re just visiting for a short time, you kind of miss that. But Mathew and his wife are hosting an 80s party this weekend, and I’ll be going to it. It should be lots of fun.
I’m now stuffed and ready for bed. Thank goodness, the day tomorrow is short at WHO, and I should be home pretty early to start my weekend. I have no real plans other than to sit by the pool and tan. That and the party, of course.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part D
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
I did crash last night! I slept from just before 8pm until the alarm went off at 6:30pm. I didn’t order breakfast, so I read a bit of the paper, and then showered. My hair actually did much better today having washed it in the morning. The only drawback is that my driver showed up early and called my room. I had to skip the tie today, which was fine. I was more comfortable, and no one said anything to me.
I was the first in the office once again. Being picked up at 7:30am usually results in me being at the office at 7:45am. Another drawback of not having your own transportation! I didn’t get much done today. The problems of conflicting numbers and poor labeling have pretty much stymied my progress. I’ll have to talk to Casey about that tomorrow to find out which of these figures she wants me to use. I could randomly choose, but that wouldn’t be defensible if anyone asked questions. When it comes down to it, this task is tedious and boring. No wonder Casey pawned it off on me. She does have enough to do without having to go through this noxious exercise. Yet, here I am…stuck doing it for another two weeks.
I’ve noticed something strange since I got here. White people seem to be popping up everywhere! When I’ve been in Zimbabwe before, I rarely saw white people except in unusual circumstances. This time, I see them all over the place. Waiting for a bus downtown, at lunch, all over the Meikles, and anywhere else I might go. It’s bizarre. Debra thought I was crazy, because she find that anywhere she’s gone in Africa is about 50/50 white/black except for Nigeria where she really didn’t see any white people. This is her first time in Zimbabwe, so I can’t speak to her experiences in other countries. Whenever I go to Africa, I take it for granted that I’ll see maybe a handful of white people while out and about. I wonder what’s behind this resurgence of white folks in Harare…
I heard some good news from home today. The Fulton county judge who heard the case against the gay marriage amendment in Georgia threw it out for violating the single topic rule. It was brilliant. In their haste to ram through a prohibition on gay marriage and gay relationships in general, they violated the rule that you can vote on only one question at a time. To make it even more obvious, the ballot question on the amendment asked only the first half of the amendment, the definition of marriage. The second part banned anything arising out of a same sex relationship that even remotely resembled heterosexual marriage rights. This could potentially mean that documents gay couples now use to protect one another like powers of attorney and the like could be null and void in Georgia. The celebration may be brief. I’m relatively confident that if asked, the Georgia Supreme Court will uphold the Fulton judge. I think the next thing will be for Sonny to call an “emergency” session of the General Assembly for the sole purpose of repassing the amendment as two separate questions in time to get it on the ballot for 2006 and secure GOP dominance of the legislature while re-electing Sonny Perdue. But for the moment, we are vindicated and Sadie is exposed as the hateful cunt she is.
Email tends to be pretty quiet when you’re 6 hours ahead of your friends. I get into work and it’s approaching 2am at home. By the time folks wake up and get to work and can email me back, it’s almost time for me to go home! I have to be ready to go by 4:30pm for the WHO bus, which is 10:30am at home. Oh well, it makes me focus on the task at hand rather than waste the day away on the internet, which I’m very tempted to do, especially when I have as unpleasant a task as I have here. Well, unpleasant may be too harsh…let’s just say boring.
I’ve become obsessed with BBC Food this week. The cooking shows are fascinating, and I wish I could cook like that. I wish I had a reason to cook like that. When you live alone, cooking for just yourself is underwhelming. Of course, there is that accent. LOL It’s funny what I’m a sucker for. Men in a US military uniform. Charming accents. It’s also funny who I end up having crushes on, especially when I’m pretty sure there’s no chance of anything really happening with that person. Some of my friends would know exactly whom I am referencing. Hint: He’s gay, and he’s not someone you’d automatically think I’d be interested in. Look at me; almost 31 years old and crushing like a high schooler.
Beth called this evening after I got back to the hotel from work. She wanted to know if I’d go next door to the shopping center to look for food and souvenirs for her family. Unfortunately, everything here closes at 5pm it seems. All the souvenir shops were closed, as were the restaurants. One restaurant that was open was a “steak house” that was set up like a cheesy Mexican joint. Beth had the “fillet” which should NOT be mistaken for filet mignon. She also ordered it rare and it came out well done. I had a cheeseburger which was good, even though the bun was half gone. The meal was pretty inexpensive at $1.6 M for cheeseburger, fries, and two mineral waters. It’s funny how $1.6 MILLION is considered cheap. Well, once you realize it’s less than $10 at a sit down restaurant, it isn’t bad! Beth is headed back tomorrow to Atlanta. I wish it was me, but oh well. I’m sure the rest of the trip will be fine. Casey is hosting a party tomorrow night at her house. Well, more of a dinner. But it will be Mexican fare, which should be nice. Hopefully, I’ll get to see Amy and her new baby. She’s the only friend from my first days in 2004 who is still here. I wish the Marines I knew were still around, along with Annie. But they aren’t and such is life. It’s fun to travel overseas to places you’d normally not go… but I don’t like the solitude. Some solitude is good, but this gets to be a bit much. I miss interacting and talking with people. I miss people who get my sense of humor. When you are not a native English speaker, it’s difficult to understand my humor which can use a lot of double entendres. I tried a little joke I read online today with Beth, and she didn’t really get it or think it was that funny. The joke went like this: “The correct answer to, ‘Is it in yet?’ is to say, ‘I think so because I just got pulled over for being in the HOV lane.’” Yes, it’s a gay joke about someone with a loose ass, but it could easily work for a well-used vagina too. Beth’s an American, but she’s also an Alpharetta mom, so maybe that was the problem.
Well, it’s getting late here, so I will sign off and go to bed.
I did crash last night! I slept from just before 8pm until the alarm went off at 6:30pm. I didn’t order breakfast, so I read a bit of the paper, and then showered. My hair actually did much better today having washed it in the morning. The only drawback is that my driver showed up early and called my room. I had to skip the tie today, which was fine. I was more comfortable, and no one said anything to me.
I was the first in the office once again. Being picked up at 7:30am usually results in me being at the office at 7:45am. Another drawback of not having your own transportation! I didn’t get much done today. The problems of conflicting numbers and poor labeling have pretty much stymied my progress. I’ll have to talk to Casey about that tomorrow to find out which of these figures she wants me to use. I could randomly choose, but that wouldn’t be defensible if anyone asked questions. When it comes down to it, this task is tedious and boring. No wonder Casey pawned it off on me. She does have enough to do without having to go through this noxious exercise. Yet, here I am…stuck doing it for another two weeks.
I’ve noticed something strange since I got here. White people seem to be popping up everywhere! When I’ve been in Zimbabwe before, I rarely saw white people except in unusual circumstances. This time, I see them all over the place. Waiting for a bus downtown, at lunch, all over the Meikles, and anywhere else I might go. It’s bizarre. Debra thought I was crazy, because she find that anywhere she’s gone in Africa is about 50/50 white/black except for Nigeria where she really didn’t see any white people. This is her first time in Zimbabwe, so I can’t speak to her experiences in other countries. Whenever I go to Africa, I take it for granted that I’ll see maybe a handful of white people while out and about. I wonder what’s behind this resurgence of white folks in Harare…
I heard some good news from home today. The Fulton county judge who heard the case against the gay marriage amendment in Georgia threw it out for violating the single topic rule. It was brilliant. In their haste to ram through a prohibition on gay marriage and gay relationships in general, they violated the rule that you can vote on only one question at a time. To make it even more obvious, the ballot question on the amendment asked only the first half of the amendment, the definition of marriage. The second part banned anything arising out of a same sex relationship that even remotely resembled heterosexual marriage rights. This could potentially mean that documents gay couples now use to protect one another like powers of attorney and the like could be null and void in Georgia. The celebration may be brief. I’m relatively confident that if asked, the Georgia Supreme Court will uphold the Fulton judge. I think the next thing will be for Sonny to call an “emergency” session of the General Assembly for the sole purpose of repassing the amendment as two separate questions in time to get it on the ballot for 2006 and secure GOP dominance of the legislature while re-electing Sonny Perdue. But for the moment, we are vindicated and Sadie is exposed as the hateful cunt she is.
Email tends to be pretty quiet when you’re 6 hours ahead of your friends. I get into work and it’s approaching 2am at home. By the time folks wake up and get to work and can email me back, it’s almost time for me to go home! I have to be ready to go by 4:30pm for the WHO bus, which is 10:30am at home. Oh well, it makes me focus on the task at hand rather than waste the day away on the internet, which I’m very tempted to do, especially when I have as unpleasant a task as I have here. Well, unpleasant may be too harsh…let’s just say boring.
I’ve become obsessed with BBC Food this week. The cooking shows are fascinating, and I wish I could cook like that. I wish I had a reason to cook like that. When you live alone, cooking for just yourself is underwhelming. Of course, there is that accent. LOL It’s funny what I’m a sucker for. Men in a US military uniform. Charming accents. It’s also funny who I end up having crushes on, especially when I’m pretty sure there’s no chance of anything really happening with that person. Some of my friends would know exactly whom I am referencing. Hint: He’s gay, and he’s not someone you’d automatically think I’d be interested in. Look at me; almost 31 years old and crushing like a high schooler.
Beth called this evening after I got back to the hotel from work. She wanted to know if I’d go next door to the shopping center to look for food and souvenirs for her family. Unfortunately, everything here closes at 5pm it seems. All the souvenir shops were closed, as were the restaurants. One restaurant that was open was a “steak house” that was set up like a cheesy Mexican joint. Beth had the “fillet” which should NOT be mistaken for filet mignon. She also ordered it rare and it came out well done. I had a cheeseburger which was good, even though the bun was half gone. The meal was pretty inexpensive at $1.6 M for cheeseburger, fries, and two mineral waters. It’s funny how $1.6 MILLION is considered cheap. Well, once you realize it’s less than $10 at a sit down restaurant, it isn’t bad! Beth is headed back tomorrow to Atlanta. I wish it was me, but oh well. I’m sure the rest of the trip will be fine. Casey is hosting a party tomorrow night at her house. Well, more of a dinner. But it will be Mexican fare, which should be nice. Hopefully, I’ll get to see Amy and her new baby. She’s the only friend from my first days in 2004 who is still here. I wish the Marines I knew were still around, along with Annie. But they aren’t and such is life. It’s fun to travel overseas to places you’d normally not go… but I don’t like the solitude. Some solitude is good, but this gets to be a bit much. I miss interacting and talking with people. I miss people who get my sense of humor. When you are not a native English speaker, it’s difficult to understand my humor which can use a lot of double entendres. I tried a little joke I read online today with Beth, and she didn’t really get it or think it was that funny. The joke went like this: “The correct answer to, ‘Is it in yet?’ is to say, ‘I think so because I just got pulled over for being in the HOV lane.’” Yes, it’s a gay joke about someone with a loose ass, but it could easily work for a well-used vagina too. Beth’s an American, but she’s also an Alpharetta mom, so maybe that was the problem.
Well, it’s getting late here, so I will sign off and go to bed.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part C
Tuesday - May 16, 2006More insomnia last night. At some point (probably tonight), my body is going to crash. It will be better than these nights of 5 hours of sleep, let me tell you. Work was OK today. I'm already bored with this "assignment" and am not sure at all what it is I'm supposed to be doing. Well, it's not that I don't know...but I don't know how to proceed. I have all these files, some with contradictory information. Not all of them are labeled so that you can make sense of it. And I get the feeling that they want more detail than the chart that Casey has put together to be filled out. For instance, while all money is funnelled through UNICEF and WHO, that money doesn't all come from those organizations. The Measles Partership has donors like CDC, American Red Cross, Gates, UNF that all funnel money into the UNICEF and WHO. There is no way I'll be able to untangle those financial relationships in the time I'm here. I'll be lucky to find out what WHO/UNICEF spent in each country for measles...b/c the amount alloted does NOT equal the amount spent most of the time. You can't just look at the accounts to see how much was alloted in them...you have to check to see what was SPENT. It's a mess. And I'm frankly not that interested in it. Oh well...it's what I'm being paid to do.
Got on the correct bus this time and was dropped off at the Meikles with no problem. I went upstairs, relaxed a bit, and then got some food from the lounge. I wish they had an in between restaurant from the uber-relaxed lounge (which is really set up as a tea/cake operation) to the very fancy La Fontane. I'd like a place to go, sit, and eat without a lot of fuss. But that's not available. I ended up having a chicken sandwich and tea for dinner. Another $3M Zim down the drain :) Anyway, I left the receipt and took the copy with me. Not 30 minutes later I get a call from some woman demanding I return the copy. I guess I don't get a copy. It was weird. It also kind of pissed me off, but I let it go. I did finally get a room service menu, so maybe I can get my more casual options for eating now. The sad thing is that there's nothing close to the hotel to walk to. Not that walking is safe around Harare, at least at night. And the sun is going down by 5:30-6pm. No way I'm going to be caught walking the streets of Harare after dark.
I figured out that the air conditioning must be centally controlled somehow,and since it's winter, they're keeping it slightly warm. TOO warm for me, though! The hallway is much cooler than my room, and I wish it was just the opposite. I figured out that I could open the window in my room and let in the cooler air from outside and make my room tolerable. So I slept with the windows open. Hopefully that won't pose a problem.
I have gotten sleepy pretty early..it's only 7:30pm and my eyes are heavy. Maybe I will get a good night's sleep tonight after all.
Got on the correct bus this time and was dropped off at the Meikles with no problem. I went upstairs, relaxed a bit, and then got some food from the lounge. I wish they had an in between restaurant from the uber-relaxed lounge (which is really set up as a tea/cake operation) to the very fancy La Fontane. I'd like a place to go, sit, and eat without a lot of fuss. But that's not available. I ended up having a chicken sandwich and tea for dinner. Another $3M Zim down the drain :) Anyway, I left the receipt and took the copy with me. Not 30 minutes later I get a call from some woman demanding I return the copy. I guess I don't get a copy. It was weird. It also kind of pissed me off, but I let it go. I did finally get a room service menu, so maybe I can get my more casual options for eating now. The sad thing is that there's nothing close to the hotel to walk to. Not that walking is safe around Harare, at least at night. And the sun is going down by 5:30-6pm. No way I'm going to be caught walking the streets of Harare after dark.
I figured out that the air conditioning must be centally controlled somehow,and since it's winter, they're keeping it slightly warm. TOO warm for me, though! The hallway is much cooler than my room, and I wish it was just the opposite. I figured out that I could open the window in my room and let in the cooler air from outside and make my room tolerable. So I slept with the windows open. Hopefully that won't pose a problem.
I have gotten sleepy pretty early..it's only 7:30pm and my eyes are heavy. Maybe I will get a good night's sleep tonight after all.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part B
Monday, May 15, 2006
And fascinating it was! I got up at 6:30am with the alarm, even though I couldn’t get to sleep until well past 1am last night. I got dressed, and then breakfast came. The paper had a headline talking about how the southern Africa countries were reaching an agreement to stop their citizens from fleeing to better countries with good pay if they are in the medical profession. That’s a great way to make sure that your citizens don’t stay in southern Africa, if doing so means they are forced to come back to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia or wherever. Apparently, the pay is much better in Botswana and South Africa, and Zimbabwe loses many medical personnel to these countries. They also lose a lot to Great Britain and Australia which are not part of the pact. Zimbabwe thinks this will bring back medical personnel to a failing country, but it won’t. All it will do is make sure that doctors from poor southern Africa countries will flee to countries outside of the region. Even the Bush Administration hasn’t suggested something so stupid. That all these countries in southern Africa have agreed to this pact shows how stupid they are, except perhaps South Africa and Botswana who don’t want a glut of foreign doctors bringing in competition to their native grown medical personnel.
I ran into Beth Luman in the lobby waiting for our rides. Beth is working on an HIV project with the CDC-GAP office. She went on safari this weekend about an hour outside of Harare, and managed to do work while there! For her, this was the perfect weekend. Considering she’s an epidemiologist, I just don’t get that kind of “fun”. Maybe that’s why I’m not an epidemiologist Anyway, she likes to do quirky things while in a country, which is fine. Without having a car, I don’t feel the wanderlust I would if I could just hop in a car and drive anywhere. I’d love to see the Great Zimbabwe for which the country is named. But I have no way to get there without paying out the nose. It’s also more than a day trip, and there’s not much around the structure in the way of accommodation.
I will be sitting in the office next to Casey’s this time, which is nice. Not quite as isolating as being down the hall like the last two times I’ve come down for TFI preparations. I’m sharing the office with Debra Townes, whom we selected to be Yinka’s replacement. She seems to be doing well, and there will be a big meeting with Deo on Wednesday to determine if everyone wants to go ahead with her appointment. I’m pretty sure it will go well. Debra is very funny, and I’m afraid I bring out the naughty in her by pointing out the obvious in certain situations, especially when it comes to the sexual peccadilloes you see in an African workplace, not to mention the diplomatic community.
I found out that Yinka’s wedding has been called off. Apparently, she and Everard broke up in March. She’s not taking it too well, either, but she’s soldiering on. I don’t know any of the details, but I’m guessing she caught him lying and/or cheating. Even when they first got together, some of the ladies at the Embassy reported that Everard would make sexual comments to them. Sadly, that’s an African trait. African men are raised to believe they are entitled to have as much sex with as many women as they want. It’s a key battle in the fight against AIDS. Women get HIV from their husbands even though they never cheat. The problem is, their husbands are. African men think nothing of having a wife at home, but several “pieces” on the side. I also wonder if he stole from her, but if Yinka wants to tell me, she will. I just feel bad for her, but I thank God she found out whatever it was before she married him. I also found out that Amy had her baby about 10 weeks ago, and she secretly married the baby’s father in December. Her next assignment will be in Brazil, but she’ll first go back to DC for language training and other training to prepare her for the assignment. It would be nice if CDC provided that kind of cultural training for assignees, but we generally tend to throw people into the pool and see if they can swim. It’s part of the reason why we like to have had people go on missions for us to see how they are in the field. Technical competency is relatively easy to come by, but it’s that intangible factor of a personality that will make or break you in a developing country.
I got my email turned back on relatively easily. I was surprised to find that I couldn’t post my journal outside of LiveJournal. I had wanted to cross post on MySpace, but it’s blocked at WHO on the grounds that it’s a “personals, dating” website. That’s a bit simplistic, but whatever.
I look at the files Casey has gathered for me. This will be an interesting task. The early years of the Measles Partnership did not have the best record keeping. They were trying to keep afloat, so they weren’t thinking of detailed records. So there will be some forensics involved. A bit out of my training, but I’m sure I can muster through somehow. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to accomplish, but hopefully my efforts will be of some use.
I managed to get on the wrong bus going home from WHO. Of course, they didn’t ask me where I was going, they only pointed to me and said I was a “hotel person”. Turns out, the driver thought that meant the former Sheraton. Whoops. So they had to back-track to let me off.
I noticed some interesting things at the Meikles. The number of items available for food is diminished from my last visit. There simply aren’t that many items available, which is interesting. Also sad.
I’m having trouble with my Ipod recharging via my laptop despite having done it in Atlanta before I left. I’m not sure what the problem is, but if it doesn’t start charging, my Ipod will lose all its juice in a day or two.
I’ve found myself watching BBC Food more than the other channels. Granted, I only get CNN International, BBC World, two movie channels, sports channels that show cricket and soccer, and BBC Food. It’s actually pretty interesting. Not to mention the men with British accents are pretty damn hot. :)
And fascinating it was! I got up at 6:30am with the alarm, even though I couldn’t get to sleep until well past 1am last night. I got dressed, and then breakfast came. The paper had a headline talking about how the southern Africa countries were reaching an agreement to stop their citizens from fleeing to better countries with good pay if they are in the medical profession. That’s a great way to make sure that your citizens don’t stay in southern Africa, if doing so means they are forced to come back to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia or wherever. Apparently, the pay is much better in Botswana and South Africa, and Zimbabwe loses many medical personnel to these countries. They also lose a lot to Great Britain and Australia which are not part of the pact. Zimbabwe thinks this will bring back medical personnel to a failing country, but it won’t. All it will do is make sure that doctors from poor southern Africa countries will flee to countries outside of the region. Even the Bush Administration hasn’t suggested something so stupid. That all these countries in southern Africa have agreed to this pact shows how stupid they are, except perhaps South Africa and Botswana who don’t want a glut of foreign doctors bringing in competition to their native grown medical personnel.
I ran into Beth Luman in the lobby waiting for our rides. Beth is working on an HIV project with the CDC-GAP office. She went on safari this weekend about an hour outside of Harare, and managed to do work while there! For her, this was the perfect weekend. Considering she’s an epidemiologist, I just don’t get that kind of “fun”. Maybe that’s why I’m not an epidemiologist Anyway, she likes to do quirky things while in a country, which is fine. Without having a car, I don’t feel the wanderlust I would if I could just hop in a car and drive anywhere. I’d love to see the Great Zimbabwe for which the country is named. But I have no way to get there without paying out the nose. It’s also more than a day trip, and there’s not much around the structure in the way of accommodation.
I will be sitting in the office next to Casey’s this time, which is nice. Not quite as isolating as being down the hall like the last two times I’ve come down for TFI preparations. I’m sharing the office with Debra Townes, whom we selected to be Yinka’s replacement. She seems to be doing well, and there will be a big meeting with Deo on Wednesday to determine if everyone wants to go ahead with her appointment. I’m pretty sure it will go well. Debra is very funny, and I’m afraid I bring out the naughty in her by pointing out the obvious in certain situations, especially when it comes to the sexual peccadilloes you see in an African workplace, not to mention the diplomatic community.
I found out that Yinka’s wedding has been called off. Apparently, she and Everard broke up in March. She’s not taking it too well, either, but she’s soldiering on. I don’t know any of the details, but I’m guessing she caught him lying and/or cheating. Even when they first got together, some of the ladies at the Embassy reported that Everard would make sexual comments to them. Sadly, that’s an African trait. African men are raised to believe they are entitled to have as much sex with as many women as they want. It’s a key battle in the fight against AIDS. Women get HIV from their husbands even though they never cheat. The problem is, their husbands are. African men think nothing of having a wife at home, but several “pieces” on the side. I also wonder if he stole from her, but if Yinka wants to tell me, she will. I just feel bad for her, but I thank God she found out whatever it was before she married him. I also found out that Amy had her baby about 10 weeks ago, and she secretly married the baby’s father in December. Her next assignment will be in Brazil, but she’ll first go back to DC for language training and other training to prepare her for the assignment. It would be nice if CDC provided that kind of cultural training for assignees, but we generally tend to throw people into the pool and see if they can swim. It’s part of the reason why we like to have had people go on missions for us to see how they are in the field. Technical competency is relatively easy to come by, but it’s that intangible factor of a personality that will make or break you in a developing country.
I got my email turned back on relatively easily. I was surprised to find that I couldn’t post my journal outside of LiveJournal. I had wanted to cross post on MySpace, but it’s blocked at WHO on the grounds that it’s a “personals, dating” website. That’s a bit simplistic, but whatever.
I look at the files Casey has gathered for me. This will be an interesting task. The early years of the Measles Partnership did not have the best record keeping. They were trying to keep afloat, so they weren’t thinking of detailed records. So there will be some forensics involved. A bit out of my training, but I’m sure I can muster through somehow. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to accomplish, but hopefully my efforts will be of some use.
I managed to get on the wrong bus going home from WHO. Of course, they didn’t ask me where I was going, they only pointed to me and said I was a “hotel person”. Turns out, the driver thought that meant the former Sheraton. Whoops. So they had to back-track to let me off.
I noticed some interesting things at the Meikles. The number of items available for food is diminished from my last visit. There simply aren’t that many items available, which is interesting. Also sad.
I’m having trouble with my Ipod recharging via my laptop despite having done it in Atlanta before I left. I’m not sure what the problem is, but if it doesn’t start charging, my Ipod will lose all its juice in a day or two.
I’ve found myself watching BBC Food more than the other channels. Granted, I only get CNN International, BBC World, two movie channels, sports channels that show cricket and soccer, and BBC Food. It’s actually pretty interesting. Not to mention the men with British accents are pretty damn hot. :)
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