First Impressions

It’s hard to know where to begin this blog post, and I’m sure I will be guilty of jumping from subject to subject. There’s just so much to share, and I’ve been putting this “first Zimbabwe” post off for three nights now. Can’t really blame me, though – I am jet-lagged, after all.

I suppose the best news of all is that I am here safe and sound, as are my cats. They arrived this afternoon after a 3-day journey via Montreal, Amsterdam, and Johannesburg. I’ve been worried about them non-stop since I left Canada, so you can imagine how wonderful it is to have them sleeping beside me in my bed, joyfully purring at our reunion. Now I can survive here, no matter what.

I’ve been here for about 60 hours or so, which is not at all a long time. And yet, I feel that so much has happened in this short amount of time. I’ve met more people than I can count (or whose names I can remember), I’ve seen more of the Zimbabwean landscape than I thought I would have by now, and my brain is seeding through loads of information about culture, politics, and way of life. I’ll have to piece these things together more before I decide to blog on those topics.

However, I can speak of first impressions as well as the things I’ve done so far. I was greeted at the airport by Amanda and her two children, Christoph (5, and my student), and Ilaria (2). Christoph immediately launched into lengthy monologues about his favorite anime characters, their physical descriptions, and their strengths and weeknesses. He seemed genuinely excited to see me. I gather that I’ve been talked about at length and that he thinks (at least to a degree) that I have come here to be his play-thing. That’s fine for now, as we build our rapport, but once school starts on Monday, I become MS. Brittany.

I thought that after a 30-hour journey which included 3 flights, a 2.5 hour drive, and missing two nights of sleep that I would be whisked away to the farm for some R&R. Alas, Amanda doesn’t get to Harare often and consequently had much on the agenda. First was a luncheon at her mother’s place, followed by a birthday party at her brother’s. First impressions: 1) the white people are obviously in charge around here, with the blacks as maids, cooks, nannies, drivers and guards. Slightly more uncomfortable than in Thailand or Nepal (where there were also maids, etc.) probably because of the obvious race issue; 2) the food available to me here is vastly more varied than I initially thought. For lunch, I had pasta, cheese, avocado, salad, and water with fresh mint, and at the birthday party, there were grilled cheese toasts, roasted red pepper toasts, cupcakes, chips, and cake. I’m especially happy about the avocado and salads (which I have eaten with almost every meal); 3) The wealth here is different than expressions of the wealth that I am used to. The people I am associated with are indeed incredibly wealthy, and yet this is still Africa, complete with its power failures, shoddy internet and phone connections, and run-down, overrun buildings. Even the farm house, which I expected to be gorgeous, has old furniture, worn floors, and poor wall paint jobs. Despite this, in the past two days, I’ve come to see their home as more and more beautiful, as I compare it to other homes I’ve seen since.

Yesterday I was given a tour of the farm. The landscape wasn’t exactly as I had pictured, but it is incredibly beautiful. The land is very dry now, having not rained since April, so the colors are muted, pale yellows, reds, and browns. It’s so dry, in fact, that bush fires are a huge problem, and I saw the sad remnants of a huge bush fire on the road from Harare to the farm. The ground was scorched black and nothing was left for miles and miles. It’s fall (the season BEFORE summer, in Zimbabwe) and the leaves are changing colors, so the most striking thing is the lack of lush green. I’m told in two short months the entire look of the lanscape will change. The farm is HUGE (55,000 acres), and it’s a vast area with rocky hills jutting out here and there.
I’ll have to post pictures soon.

My cottage is on the top of a hill, in the compound with one of the managing families. It’s gated, with flowers and grass everywhere, a swimming pool, and a large veggie garden that I can use. My own cottage is quite rustic, and though I’m not thrilled about the bathroom/bedroom situation (no shower, basic bathroom amenities, uncomfortable single bed, no second bedroom as promised), the rest of the cottage is a lovely, wide open space with loads of windows facing into my own private backyard. Amanda has given me a budget to decorate a bit with a couch, a few rugs, etc. so I am hoping that in a week or two the place is looking presentable enough for me to post pictures. I’m not actually living there at the moment, as it’s not really habitable yet, so am in a cottage on Heinrich and Amanda’s property in the interim.

Tomorrow, I will see my classroom and I will begin to set up that space. I will spend a bit of time with Christoph evaluating his literacy and numeracy skills, and then spend the weekend prepping for his first day of school as well as organizing my cottage (which will probably involve a trip or two into Harare). I have loads more to share, but I suppose I have to leave SOME for another blog entry! Suffice to say, so far so good. Haven’t truly realized I’m back in Africa because the lifestyle is for the most part so un-African-seeming. I’m sure, though, that once school starts and I fall into a routine, I will begin to realize what African farm life truly means.