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My Zimbabwe diary
Norah Spie, New Zimbabwe
January 23, 2008

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/norahspie14.17448.html

Like most of you reading this, I had not been home in over five years. I had last set foot in my homeland in September 2002 and yet not a day went by without me thinking of Zimbabwe.

I had been trying over the years to go home at least for a short holiday but there was always something stopping me and before you know it, years have passed.

Anyway, it is early November in Birmingham, England, and the whole Christmas thing has started to be over-blown by the continuous adverts on British television. That thought of having another cold, wet Christmas makes me want to get up and go.to Zimbabwe.

Of course I have my reservations with all the talk about the supermarket shelves being empty and no fuel, no this and that.'no everything' as Mzekezeke would say! But hadn't I spent the last five festive seasons with too much food and drink and yet with no satisfaction?

To cut the chase, I landed at Harare International Airport on the morning of December 2, 2007. My whole Zimbabwean experience had started when I booked my ticket with our very own Air Zimbabwe. I have flown to many destinations but never been with Air Zimbabwe.

This was exciting for me; I felt I was supporting my national airline. My smile was quickly wiped off when I could not get the promised e-ticket. I had to phone a friend who had a friend who worked for Air Zimbabwe who knew the London office manager! You would think I had not actually paid for the ticket. I needed to plead for a favour to get a ticket that I had long paid for. I was still in London and having to do things that way?

The flight was going via Malawi, which is fine, but why were we not told at the time of booking? Maybe I did not want to go to Lilongwe? As it turned out, it was not a straight forward pick and drop. There was a security scare.

Some not so wise person who had bought a London-Harare ticket decided to get off in Lilongwe instead. The person did so without informing anyone and to make matters worse, they left their luggage on board and immediately that became a security issue. Believe it or not, they made us all get off the aircraft in Lilongwe and we had to stand next to our luggage so they could pinpoint the bags left by this mysterious person.

The large aircraft was the only one at the very small airport. The hot air hit me as I stepped onto the Malawian runway. Right there, I witnessed Zimbabwean enterprising at its best. While others like me were busy stressing about the heat, the delays and generally complaining about everything, some were busy purchasing bags of rice from the locals who worked on the runway.

Right then, I had to change my attitude. I realised that to survive in Africa, one had to be forth-coming, alert, enterprising and had to stop complaining.

I gave a huge sigh a relief when we finally landed at Harare International Airport. I was home and it felt good. I did not know what to expect. The drive to my hotel in the city centre felt like I had never left. Harare is truly welcoming in that sense. Like a fool in love, I fell in love with Harare all over again. The jacarandas were still blooming and the streets seemed cleaner and wider.

Something in the city centre had changed. The type of people that filled the streets were a different kind than you would have seen in Eastgate or 1st Street eight or so years ago. A new type of street dealers has been born. They move in groups, both men and women, all crowded and busy with something but I wondered what?

They were the people that controlled the city. They could get you anything and everything and yet they seemed like they had nothing. It was the same at Westgate. However, Avondale did not let me down because it was still as vibrant as I remembered it. Looking at the car parks and the revelers drinking in the bars, one would wonder if they were still in Zimbabwe. It gets worse in places like Arundel Park, Greystone Park Shopping Centre.

Just like the new breed of people in the city centre, these affluent areas had a new breed of cash-loaded teenagers. They made me feel my teenage days were deprived. They were all dressed to kill and it looked like a scene from Laguna Beach. Who were they? How did they escape the economic hardships that people as far as UK are feeling?

They were simply and fabulously black teenagers living large in a country that is hard hit by poverty. They were the kids of a few people that ran Harare. The kids of the top businessmen, the government ministers and so on. But there were so many of them. Was something else going on here? Or maybe I just did not want to accept that someone ten years my junior is living large, while I didn't? What made it worse was they didn't have to leave Zimbabwe to have it all. Lucky for some I thought!

Downtown Harare was most impressive to me. The part of town that you would have thought could collapse given the harsh economic climate. But interestingly enough, Chinhoyi street, the whole of Kopje area, Mbuya Nehanda, etc, these streets were vibrant. They are full of new stores that are run by indigenous business people. Then there are rows of none-ending stores that sell vehicle 'spare parts'. The word on the street is that most of them are run by Nigerians. Then of course you have the 'cheap' Chinese stores. That fusion has made downtown Harare the most promising and most improved business hub.

It is very difficult for me to explain simply what I think of Zimbabwe now. It was confusing, exciting, crazy, frustrating, heart-breaking, impressive all rolled in one. Homes go for days without water and or electricity. You get excited about seeing bread in a supermarket! And a Coca-Cola has never tasted so good, especially if you have moved mountains to find it!

The most amazing thing is how fast one can adjust to all this madness. Life has to go on. People from the northern suburbs now go for food shopping in Mbare. People from Mufakose, Highfields, etc are the ones who run Westgate, Eastgate, 4th Street bus stop, Road Port, etc. People from Hatcliffe have taken over Borrowdale and Pomona shops.

What I found most unbearable is the unavailability of basic commodities like bread, drinks, meat, (especially beef) fuel and of course cash. It was so frustrating having money in the bank and yet not being able to get it out. Or having a fuel coupon and having to queue for hours to get fuel.

And yet on the other hand, people are getting stronger and wiser. There is no sense of panic. I also visited Mutare, Chinhoyi, Marondera, Norton, Masvingo and they are still intact. Zimbabwe is in so many ways still beautiful, full of fun, welcoming, friendly, safe but not as comfortable as it should be.

Believe it or not, all the holiday spots were fully booked over the Christmas period. I had planned to go to Victoria Falls but could not get a flight from Harare and all the hotels and lodges were fully booked. It gets better; these holiday resorts were mostly occupied by locals.

It was good to see that more and more Zimbabweans are starting to take time to enjoy Zimbabwe's wonderful resorts. With the fuel on low, driving to Victoria Falls was not an option. We decided to go east but Nyanga, Vumba and Mutare were also fully booked. We ended up in Mozambique!

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