The car saga continues. Thursday 1pm arrived, but no car and no driver, Thursday 1:30pm no car and no driver, so I called my driver. You might ask yourself why I didn’t call Lazarus sooner and waited the 30 minutes, because in Africa, time is not like it is at home, there is a saying “This is Africa”, which means it’s another world over here and things happen when they happen or don’t. Anyways I called Lazarus and it turns out he went to get a part for the car and it died in the middle of the street. He had to have my car towed. I asked for a new timing belt on the car, it didn’t need it but I didn’t know when it had last been changed and if your timing belt goes while your driving the party is over, so I thought if I had a new one I would have a record of it. Anyways Lazarus showed up at 2 in a different car. We headed off to ZimRA to pick up my certificate of ownership, the lineup was HUGE and what should have only take a few minutes with each person ended up much longer. We had to get to the Post Office before 3:30 to get the plates, license and registration. We barely got there before it closed and I found out that I didn’t have the necessary documentation required to pick up these things. Lazarus had forgotten to tell me what I needed so we couldn’t get the final bits. So I went home disappointed that I would have to wait another day. Friday morning I dropped off the necessary bits that Lazarus needed to take to the Post Office, and discovered that they needed to call in a specialist for the car, the problem was electrical and Lazarus couldn’t fix it. So I would have to wait another day. I was thinking that I was never going to get the car and thinking it would be another week. Luckily for me Saturday was AIDS Clinic day in Mabvuku. This is a program that has been running for the last 12 years by the Anglican Church, which I attend in Avondale. They help 50 families with food, school fees and medical problems. I always find that when I go, it puts things into perspective, that no matter what’s going on for me that someone else has it harder but that they are so excited to be there and get the help. I was asked to take pictures to send along with the newsletter but Murphy’s Law the battery had died and the local store didn’t have any batteries. So it’ll have to wait until next month. While I was in Mabvuku I got a message, my car has been fixed and I can pick it up as soon as I like. HURRAH!!! I’m going tomorrow morning (Sunday) to pick up my new (to me) car!!! Well I picked up my car!!! It was really exciting, all the paperwork has MY name on it. The first thing I did when I got home was clean it! My mum would be so proud, I vacuumed the whole car and washed the inside down with Lysol wipes (the greatest invention EVER). I felt quite proud. There is a “baby on board” sticker from a previous owner so at least people will drive cautiously near the car, even though there isn’t a baby. There is also an angry bull dog sticker, which is coming off that I’m trying to remove.

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.