Well I am officially a car owner! But the system here to buy a car is unbelievable! When you buy a car, you first take it to the central police station in Southerton, which is just outside the city limits and is at the edge of one of the high-density areas. Your car waits in line where the engine number and license plate is checked. You then take the paper you are given to an office where a man signs the paper. You then go to another office where the numbers are run through the computer to check that the car and engine aren’t stolen. Luckily for me ZESA was working and I was able to have this done. From there you go to another office, where they check your paper work for the “Agreement of Sale”. They make sure that you in fact bought the car and that the person who sold it to you agreed to it. I bought my car from a company called Origin. They are an agriculture firm. Since the owner didn’t want to come with us, he signed an Avadavat. This allows me to buy the car and do the paper work without him being present. The officer at the office thought he could make a few dollars off of me and wanted to see the ID of the man who signed the paper. I told him that he didn’t need to since the Avadavat means that his presence isn’t necessary. He shrugged and moved on. I had to give him my thumbprint, which was messy, God bless hand sanitizer and I managed to get most of the dye off. From there you head to another office, where a man stamps your paper stating that you have been cleared. We then had to go to ZimRA, which are the tax people. Your car is evaluated and then charged 5% tax. When you go to the office, someone reads over your paper work, makes sure all the right things are there and all the right papers have been signed. He then writes out a receipt with the amount you owe. You take it downstairs to the cashiers floor and pay, where you get another receipt. You head back upstairs to the first office you went to and hand in the receipt. They then take all your original copies plus a second photocopied set (which you bring with you) and they give you a reference number and a date and time to collect them. Now I was very fortunate and had someone with me to show me what to do and who to see. He works for the man who sold me my car. He’s a driver and a mechanic, Lazarus. Without Lazarus, I would’ve torn out all my hair and cried. At ZimRA, the woman behind the desk asked if I worked with Lazarus and knew who he was because there are people who wait outside ZimRA for people like me and offer to help them out for a fee and end up taking them for a ride. I thought she was very sweet to check up on me and make sure I was all right. So Thursday at 1pm I can go and pick up my certificate and paper work from ZimRA and head off for the next set of appointments, which include: registration, licensing and number plates. Every time the car is renewed or re-sold the plates get changed. The only reason for this is because there is 1 woman in town that can do this and she wants to make money. I was fortunate in that I didn’t wait in line all that long, some people wait days at ZimRA, and the police line is around the block. I started at 10:30 and finished at 12:30 both places. I then went to a garage and picked up an emergency car kit, which included: jumper cables, motor oil, brake fluid, electrical tape and spare spark plugs. So until Thursday…

The paper read today that 11% of maize crops have suffered. I thought that that didn’t sound too bad, but I was told that the paper changes numbers so it doesn’t sound so bad. A farmer here told me that it’s between 25-33% of maize crops have failed. I don’t see the point in lying. People aren’t being fed and the government needs to do something about it. Funny story, I was walking home from taking a combie and an army officer came up to me and asked me for money to get a ride home, I wanted to tell him “Ask your boss, Mr. Mugabe”. I would think that the army are one of the few jobs around here that actually get paid decently, he probably was just trying me on and seeing if I would give him the funds. I recently met a white woman in her 80’s who is still working full time in order to survive. She’s a dietician and makes $42/month. And has learned how to survive on that. Her family from Holland sends her some money every month to help out but I thought “why would you stay here and when you can go home and retire”. Well obviously in Holland she couldn’t live on $42/month but then she’d also get assistance from the government. Last night I went to the theatre. A local production called “Hay Fever” by Noah Coward. The theatre that was used is a small one, with about 40-50 seats. The play is about an over-the-top family and their guests that they invite up to the country for the weekend. It was quick witted, funny and well acted. Today I pick up my car! It’s my first car it’s a ’98 Astra, Opal, station wagon. It’s a German car, purple and today I sign the papers and pick it up! I had always thought my first car would be a Hybrid or a ’67 Shelby Mustang but this will do me just fine. This car is the one you tell your kids about when you look back when they ask you to buy them a car and you tell them about yours.

I went to my first live Cricket match this weekend. I have watched a few minutes on tv here and there, but it’s not a Canadian sport and not something I ever took and interest in. So when I was invited to watch the final games of a week of tournament, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. I was told that a Cricket game could last days, so I was a bit worried. The stadium was packed! I couldn’t believe it, and parking was impossible. When got to our seats and the first match was between 3^rd and 4^th place. I had to ask a lot of questions to find out the rules and such of the game. Like any live sport in any place in the world, the fans were cheering, doing “the wave” and had their team chants. The first game lasted about 3 hours. It was more of a learning experience. The second game was for 1^st and 2^nd place. This game was much more exciting. The friend that I went with had family playing on one of the teams. This is the game that people had come for. This game was much more exciting. The general gist of the game is to get as many points in 10 wickets as possible. A wicket is like an inning in baseball. The first team hit 105 points in 10 wickets; the second team (the one I was cheering for) hit 107 points in 1 wicket! This game lasted about 4 hours. The weather was temperamental, it would pour with rain for about 10 minutes then it would be boiling hot and sunny and then it would rain again. However, we had hotdogs and ice cream and enjoyed the day. It took us about 30 minutes to finally get out of the parking lot and then home to bed! I hadn’t noticed since we were under a tent and there had been rain, but somehow I managed to get some sun. The church that I go to here is trying something different for Lent. They have house groups here, which are study groups made up of people in your area, they are like a support network. Anyways, during Lent, each house group takes turns leading evensong on Sunday evenings.

Well I’ve been here almost a week and it’s like I never left. ZESA is still scattered, candy is still given as change, and 20 people get on a 15 passenger combie. There is one big change and it was almost a reason not to come back….IB coffee shop closed. Now this may sound ridiculous but they made the best cappuccinos EVER! It was my one vice and now I’ll have to find somewhere else. Also unlike at home a regular size cappuccino here is $1! The weather is hot and there hasn’t been any rain to cool things down. The glasses, medical supplies and school supplies were a HUGE hit as I knew they would be. I’m in Harare at the moment getting things sorted like a car and supplies before I head east. It’s been nice to catch up with people and find out what I missed while I was home. You might have read in the paper that the Zimbabwean Government passed a law which is in effect March 1^st that stipulates that all companies with a net worth over $500,000 have to have a 51% Shona ownership. The companies have 5 years to put this into practice or they will be arrested and shut down. There are mixed reviews about this, some are worried that this will prevent foreign investment, others are worried that it means that Shona people who aren’t qualified will take over because it’s deemed necessary. General consensus is that it will take a generation to put this into practice not 5 years. Maize is in full bloom, however with the lack of rain, the crops aren’t what they should be and food programs have already started. Some farmers have a second crop but that seems unlikely. ZESA has been particularly bad these last few weeks, some say it’s the worst it’s ever been. Power will come on only for a few hours each day if that. More people have invested in a generator but the cost of fuel makes it expensive and people are only using when absolutely necessary. It turns out there are 4 turbines that generate power, only 1 is working. Coal is unavailable and the train system doesn’t work anyhow to transport the fuel. Where the majority of the power comes from is a dam in Kariba. This dam was created in the 60’s and is on the Zambia boarder. There is a tower on the north side for Zambia and a tower on the south side for Zimbabwe. It’s a deep dam, which was originally a canyon but since the rain has been limited there are concerns that it won’t last.

I am officially back in Zim and it wasn’t as easy this time, I really had to work for it. It all started on Friday before I left. My passport hadn’t come back from Ottawa where it was at the Zimbabwean Embassy being assessed for a visa. I had paid to have it sent overnight. Recent experience had taught me that it wouldn’t take long, Murphy’s Law would prove otherwise. Friday morning it still hadn’t arrived, so I decided to track it online, well the number wasn’t in the system so I called the 800 number and after 15 minutes on hold I was told that it had just left Ottawa and would arrive Monday morning before noon. This would make things tight but not impossible. I was suppose to spend the weekend with nana before I left and mum said that her and dad would wait for my passport and I could still go to nana’s. Nana’s was as always a good time and I enjoyed some quality time with her. Monday morning came around and I called home at 9 to check and big surprise it wasn’t there yet. I called every 30 minutes to get an update. The fantastic things about mothers are that when it comes to their children they don’t take any nonsense from everyone. In true mummy fashion, my mum called everyone from the post office to dispatch to the man in the truck to tell them that her daughter was leaving for Africa that night and needed her passport to go. She ended sending my dad to get it from the dispatch office and in true dad fashion he went. It was about 1pm when I got a call saying that she had the passport and they were going to try to catch the 3pm ferry. They arrived at nana’s just after 5 where we had a fantastic roast dinner followed by a mad dash for the door and airport. We made it and I said my goodbyes and got on my first flight. I had never flown KLM before, I would highly recommend it, it was one of the nicest planes and the service was brilliant. The plane was empty so many of us had a whole row to ourselves. I had asked for the ER exit row as they have more room, thinking that it would be nice if there was a full flight. I got the row but the arm rests don’t go up since your tray is in the arm so I couldn’t spread out. Amsterdam has a nice airport, I had about 6 hours to kill before my next flight, I had a brilliant idea that I would go online, send some emails maybe watch a movie….. Well that didn’t happen, I had put my computer on sleep and the battery was in the red zone, I thought I would just plug it in and everything would be gravy but I couldn’t find an outlet anywhere. I went to the internet café and there were no outlets everyone was just using their computer battery. So I walked around, drank coffee and relaxed. My flight to Nairobi was packed! I was able to get some sleep and watch a movie. My ticket gave me a 50 minute window to get from one gate to the next. I was a little nervous, and was happy when the flight attendant read out a list of flights and gates while we still were on the plane. My flight was leaving from gate 14. I landed and I was able to get off the plane pretty quickly, and went to gate 14, well my flight wasn’t leaving from there, I started to panic, so I ran around looking for a screen with a list of departures, my flight was infact leaving from gate 8. I walked to the gate and people were already boarding and I checked in. I also found out that it was making a stop on the way to Harare in the Congo. So I have spent 50 minutes in Kenya and 50 minutes in the Congo. I made it to Harare still intact. Bev met me at the other end and we drove to her place. It’s like I never left, we got to her place and surprise, surprise there was no ZESA. She had to go back to work and I passed out on her bed until about 7. I woke up to chicken and fries. We had a visit and I called home and reported that I had made it and that I would email as soon as I could. So that’s the last few days in a nut shell, it’s hard to believe it’s already Thursday, I feel like I’ve lost the week.

I know it’s been a while since I lasted updated my blog so here’s what’s happened in the last 2 months.

I was staying with a couple who have 2 dogs, a rooster and a hen. Nonnie is a small terrier who is a firecracker, she’s small but feisty like Tiger. Axe is a black lab and is like a little old man. He’s quiet and reminds me of Eyore. In Nonnie’s life she has killed 22 chickens and this week made 23. The rooster was standing n the doorway to the house, Nonnie believes this is not acceptable and attacked. Feathers went flying, however everyone survived (or so we thought). The rooster spent the next few days perched in the fence (never moving) and yesterday he fell off and died. Many would see this as sad, however on Tuesday we went to a National Park and took him with us. This park is a drive in the wild where you see Africa’s finest wildlife. We saw rhinos, impala, zebras, ostrich, warthog, giraffe, baboons and various other animals I have never heard of. We chucked the rooster out of the car and wished him well. I was also able to see cave paintings which were interesting. I learned that there are NO natural lakes/rivers in Zimbabwe. The Victoria Falls of course are natural. Zebras can kill a lion with a kick of its legs and the reason a zebra always looks a little on the chubby side is their body has a weight balance. If that balance is off, they die. This isn’t a starvation thing either. When I left Zimbabwe this morning, customs checked my passport with my travel visa, which she decided was invalid. My visa runs out Jan 22, 2010 and I left December 9^th. I was told that my visa had to be stamped once a month for my entire stay and this was not done. I had the letter from the Zimbabwe Consulate in Canada with me and pulled it out, it said nothing of this rule. Anyways I was told to pay $150 or be arrested. I really just wanted to get on the plane and come home. Luckily for me I had $153 with me and so I handed over the money and traveled 45 hours home on $3. Now you may be asking yourself “Why just not use a credit card in Jo’burg or London?” The answer is that our house was robbed in Harare and I didn’t have a visa. So I called the bank of mum and told her my situation, God bless wire transfers! She was able to send money to Heathrow airport that I would pick up at a money exchange. Although this was sadly not to happen as when I got there, I didn’t have the merchant number, I was told that I only needed my passport, the woman behind the desk said “I have the money right here but I can’t give it to you.” Needless to say I survived and arrived home in one piece.

Christmas was spent at Meghann and Richards. I was able to see their new home AND my new niece and nephew (2 puppies). I spent a few extra days with them and was asked to babysit while mum and dad were at work. After 3 days of new puppies I have realized that dogs and children are not in my near future!

New Years day we drove to Vancouver and spent a few days with my mum’s family. My uncle celebrated his 60^th birthday and we had a party for him at the Sheraton in Richmond. It was fantastic to see all my family together and while I was home.

So the new plan is to go back at the end of January. I still have work to finish over there and my time just isn’t up. Even though the first few months were hard, I know that I can survive anything and I’ll be ok. I’ll be spending my time in more rural areas when I go back, which I am looking forward to.

I’ll post another update as soon as I have all my ducks in a row.

The weather here reminds me of Prince Rupert, the driving rain. The days are blistering hot and the afternoons and evenings pour with rain to cool everything down. I spent the weekend in the Eastern Highlands. It's a beautiful part of the country, the scenery is unlike anywhere else. I came back on Sunday in a bus that looks like it should've been sent to the garbage dump years ago. It was pouring rain and the roof was leaking so we were all getting soaked. As a true West Coast girl I bring my rain coat with me EVERYWHERE and was the only one able to stay dry. I drove up on the Friday with a friend of a friend who is now a friend (that was a confusing sentence). It's a newly married couple who spend 2 weeks in the city and 2 weeks in Bonda (a mission village). The husband's family owns a plot of land that he and his wife are turning into an orphan camp. As we were talking he asked me if I knew how to shoot a rifle. I was a bit concerned at the question and said that I had been to a range once with Richard and had shot a few rounds. He said that baboons had become a HUGE problem in the fields. That someone had to stay on guard 24/7 to make sure they didn't eat the plants and dig up the field. I thought this was interesting as in Canada it's deer that eat people's gardens and other animals that eat in the fields. I also thought monkeys or baboons were cute animals you saw at the zoo, apparently not! In Penhalonga there are monkeys that run around the mission, the sisters even have their own who has taken up residence near them. When we got to their house, the floor had flooded and it reminded me of our house in Rupert where the basement flooded on a regular basis. Although people here don't have pumps or wet vacs, it all has to be mopped and dried by hand! The roofs here are metal sheets and lots of times there is nothing between the metal and the ceiling (if there is a ceiling!) Tomorrow I am going to an animal park for a picnic. This will be my second one. The parks here are different, it's the people that are in a closed off area and the animals are wild and free on the otherside of the fence. I like this idea much better and now I know what it feels like to be the one in a cage!!!!