Zimbabwe, Land of Contradictions
Oh Zimbabwe, land of Contradictions. How do I put into words what it's like to be back here after 6 weeks in America?
Let me tell you what I was expecting: no food; no electricity; no water; no petrol and all the etceteras. This was pretty much how the country was when I left, and every news report I read while away was just like that.
But Zim has a way of surprising you. Lifting your spirits when you least expect it and turning your head and heart in a completely different direction.
I flew from Boston to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Then took a lengthy bus-trip from Johannesburg to Harare (don't ask me why....economics! But 20 hours on the bus was not the greatest thing in the world....not to mention the 4+hours at the border!) The South African border town, Musina, was depressing, even at 3 a.m. (or whatever ungodly hour we got there). Desperate Zimbabweans were anxiously buying loaves of bread and 2litre bottles of Coke. Then jumping into overloaded cars, full of food, electronics and everything else you can procure in South Africa but not in Zim! So I was a bit alarmed about what the state of things would be like heading back into Zim. The lengthy wait at the border did nothing to alleviate my fears!
Neither did the first "petrol station" we stopper at. I use the term "petrol station" liberally -- in fact, there was no petrol at all. And the "food shop" had nothing but bottled water in their fridge. The water was price-tagged at $150,000/bottle. But when I got to the cashier he wanted $250,000. Since I only had $500,000 on me I thought better of spending half my cash on a bottle of water, so went without!
But my arrival into Harare was great. A friend was waiting for me at the bus station. All my luggage arrived in one piece. When I arrived home my dear landlady had left a cake and flowers on my kitchen table. And I opened my fridge to find milk, bread, eggs...oh, and not to mention that the fridge was actually on -- we had electricity too!! Now, these things sound so simple, but at the moment Zimbabwe has no flour, so there is a severe shortage of bread...and everything. So to find these basics in my fridge was nothing short of a miracle. And that is the miracle of Zimbabwe. My domestic worker, Maria, had spent 3 hours in a queue that morning to make sure she got me milk and bread so that I had something to eat after arriving!! Amazing. In fact, almost made me weep. Here, these people who I've become accustomed to helping out and thinking of as reliant on me, had gone so far out of their way to make sure I had bread when I got back from America.
So yes, Zim...oh Land of Contradictions. How you move me. How we love to complain about you, but oh how we love you! It's good to be home...:-)
Let me tell you what I was expecting: no food; no electricity; no water; no petrol and all the etceteras. This was pretty much how the country was when I left, and every news report I read while away was just like that.
But Zim has a way of surprising you. Lifting your spirits when you least expect it and turning your head and heart in a completely different direction.
I flew from Boston to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Then took a lengthy bus-trip from Johannesburg to Harare (don't ask me why....economics! But 20 hours on the bus was not the greatest thing in the world....not to mention the 4+hours at the border!) The South African border town, Musina, was depressing, even at 3 a.m. (or whatever ungodly hour we got there). Desperate Zimbabweans were anxiously buying loaves of bread and 2litre bottles of Coke. Then jumping into overloaded cars, full of food, electronics and everything else you can procure in South Africa but not in Zim! So I was a bit alarmed about what the state of things would be like heading back into Zim. The lengthy wait at the border did nothing to alleviate my fears!
Neither did the first "petrol station" we stopper at. I use the term "petrol station" liberally -- in fact, there was no petrol at all. And the "food shop" had nothing but bottled water in their fridge. The water was price-tagged at $150,000/bottle. But when I got to the cashier he wanted $250,000. Since I only had $500,000 on me I thought better of spending half my cash on a bottle of water, so went without!
But my arrival into Harare was great. A friend was waiting for me at the bus station. All my luggage arrived in one piece. When I arrived home my dear landlady had left a cake and flowers on my kitchen table. And I opened my fridge to find milk, bread, eggs...oh, and not to mention that the fridge was actually on -- we had electricity too!! Now, these things sound so simple, but at the moment Zimbabwe has no flour, so there is a severe shortage of bread...and everything. So to find these basics in my fridge was nothing short of a miracle. And that is the miracle of Zimbabwe. My domestic worker, Maria, had spent 3 hours in a queue that morning to make sure she got me milk and bread so that I had something to eat after arriving!! Amazing. In fact, almost made me weep. Here, these people who I've become accustomed to helping out and thinking of as reliant on me, had gone so far out of their way to make sure I had bread when I got back from America.
So yes, Zim...oh Land of Contradictions. How you move me. How we love to complain about you, but oh how we love you! It's good to be home...:-)
posted by VN at 12:45 AM
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