Crossing the $1,000,000,000 mark (yup, that's $1billion!!!!)

By the end of this month I will finally be considered a billionaire!! What more could I want out of life, right?! Wrong!

Apparently the Zim government has just released last year's inflation figures -- 66,000%!!! Incredible. Absolutely incredible! What I'm referring to as incredible is not necessarily the inflation figures -- those are completely understandable given the level of corruption and mismanagement rife in Zim at the moment. What is incredible is that this figure can be released in the national media and not elicit even a murmur of dissent from the general population. Perhaps we have learnt our lessons well.

So with these figures in mind, and with bakers pushing for bread to be $5,000,000/loaf, I am relieved my salary has crossed the billion dollar line. I just hope by the time I receive the money I can still afford what is in the shops! Now I will be walking around, like everyone else here, with a brick of our new (and already out-inflated) $10,000,000 notes!

In Zim we used to joke that everyone's a millionaire. I'm guessing that joke needs to be updated, upgraded perhaps, like inflation!

The party continues...!

And now to portray a slightly different side of Zim. For a few days our power situation was "dodgy" (as we say here) and electricity, at best, intermittent. (i.e. 24 hours off; 11 hours on; another 24 hours off, and so on) And then, for one blissful week I had uninterrupted electricity for 7 full days!! During this time we had a birthday celebration for two dear friends -- Wadzi and Chiyedza, both in the picture below. For a while I thought that perhaps Zesa had forgotten to turn us off, until Saturday evening when I was again plunged into darkness for a few hours.

It's a funny thing here in Zim: we have so little, and yet we have so much. The party we had at my place last Friday reminded me of why I'm here. Sounds like a silly thing, but a group of people -- many of whom didn't know each other -- and are from varying racial and social backgrounds, came together to celebrate. Music pumped; braais (barbecues!) were made; meat was cooked...and all in a torrential downpour!! Did the Zimbos let the pouring rain and imminent floods deter them? Hell, no!! The party continued.

And that is what never fails to amaze me. No matter what dire situation is thrown at Zimbabweans -- no money in the banks; no water in the taps; no teachers in the schools -- the party somehow continues. People smile; people help each other; life goes ON! Perhaps there's a lesson to be learnt here...?!