Road Blocks & Electricity

On Thursday we had no power all day... save for about 20 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening. We spent most of the day out so it wasn't a big deal until the evening. We all sat around a gas lamp for a few hours as I began to go, just a bit, stir crazy. The ladies here cooked all of our meals over a fire, and all of the things in the fridge were warm by the afternoon, since it was definitely one of the hottest days thus far. Jonnah explained that this is basically what it had been like for months, power only from 4-6am and occasionally from 7-8 pm. He told us we were lucky, because since we have been here, we have only had a few hours each day without power.

On Friday we went on a day trip to 'Great Zimbabwe" national park, where Zim actually got its name after its independence. The 3 hour trip took about 4 because we were stopped 8 times at police barricades. Our tour guides Tendai (Jonnah's son) and James (an employee of the church) were able to get us through all of them without any searches or payments, but just their presence was frightening enough. They told us that the police have decided to construct barricades along the roadways to raise money, as they are not being paid much and cannot usually eat. So, without any reason really, they stop motorists and then search some, some they ask for money, some they demand a tax or a customs fee, and others (somehow, thank god, us) they let go by. Tendai said he was just explaining to them each time that he was also a civil servant (a teacher) who was also not getting paid. He is luckily very good with words.

Along the way we also stopped at a few grocery stores, just to check out what they look like. One was absolutely bare. There were 4 rows blocked off because they were empty, 1 with only a few boxes of condoms scattered throughout, 1 with bars of soap all the way down, and some freezers with 4 or 5 bottles inside. James explained that this was a grocery store that waited for the corporation to send products. The other store we stopped at was privately owned, meaning they could go to South Africa to buy things to "stock" their shelves. Even though this was the better store, half of the aisles were still blocked, and most of the foods we consider essentials were non-existent. There was some mealy-meal (the staple food here in Zim, is just ground up maize that makes a paste- think really dense mashed potatoes) some flour and oil, a little rice, one kind of cereal, no milk, and some juice concentrate.

Great Zimbabwe was very pretty, though no one warned me we would be hiking up a mountain so about half way up, in my skirt and paper-thin flip flops, I decided to chill with Ab and wait for the boys to go up and come back down. This was by far the hottest place, James told us it was always that hot in that area, ughhh. Bad news. After recovering, we saw a dam and then drove back home. It was a long rainy drive with just as many police stops.

We did get some fun pictures of the rural areas, though. Lots of monkeys, donkeys and cows crossing the street in their herds, a rainbow after the storm, and traditional rural homes (think grass huts). In the end it was a good but very long day.

So here we are, on our second to last day here. We will be doing some shopping this morning and then visiting people's homes to get an idea about what the various accommodations are like here in Zim. Then tomorrow we will be doing two church services, meeting with the staff who has helped us out here, and packing. We leave Monday morning at 6am which will be 11pm back in the states. We fly from here (at 8 20) to South Africa where we hang out for 9 hours before flying to Dakar, Senegal and then home to JFK. We are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday morning around 7 am.

I will hope to write at least once more before leaving. When we get back we have tons of videos and pictures, and many more stories to share. See you very soon!!

kaitlyn