Africa Weekend

The supposed long weekend from Africa Day has come and gone. I was teaching Thursday, Friday and Saturday so it wasn't a long weekend for me. However I did have a fairly social one. I went with a friend to the Convent school production of Chicago on Friday evening. Noise control of the audience was definitely not like it was in our time at Convent. We were pleasantly surprised though by the talent shown, although the choice of musical for a Convent production was slightly questionable. One elderly nun coming out at interval looked slightly traumatised and I noticed she didn't come back for the second half. Apparently the costumes had been lengthened several times at the request of Sr Kudzai, the head.

After teaching on Saturday morning I headed out to Hatfield so see my friend Nina and her family. We went for a 3.2 km walk with Nina's baby. I raced back from Hatfield to go with a friend to Evening of Words at Reps Theatre and from there we went to Borrowdale to watch the Guy Ritchie film King Arthur. The film wasn't that King Arthur-y but was different. It was the first time I'd been to a film in the Prestige cinema. The reclining arm chair seats do put you in danger of falling asleep - it was a long movie.

Today I did lesson prep before heading out to the airport to pick up my friend Xenoula who is out from England to run dance outreach workshops in Epworth with Brian Geza. On the way I saw a man hobbling along the road with his leg in a cast. His thigh was exposed and was all raw and bloody. I felt I should have stopped to help him but didn't know what I would do. I wondered if he had been a victim of political violence. Our car mechanic said last week that there have been a number of bodies found in his area recently and they are thought to be political murders.

Back to the bank and trying to get fit

Well yesterday was Africa Day, but my students (or rather their parents) decided they all still wanted lessons. I had my four year old and grade 2 in the morning, then my Chinese student and form 3 in the afternoon. For my form 3 I have been trying to read more of the book Spies, but it turned out he was back to Macbeth at school, so we worked on questions on Act 3 Scene 1.

At lunch time I had my first ever session with a personal trainer in the garden of the flats where I'm house sitting. The trainer has been and still is trying to put a class together (anyone in Harare interested?) but for yesterday she gave me my own slot for $5! I only got home 5 minutes before she came and was literally pulling on my leggings as she rang the gate intercom. I am a little tender today but it felt good. To my dismay though I discovered I can't hold my foot up to my butt to stretch - that used to be so easy, sigh.

Last night I went to a braai and a farewell for one of the US marines who is base here for the embassy. Originally we were going to go to a Vietnamese dinner at Jam Tree with Gemma Griffiths playing, but unfortunately our booking was lost. The braai was nice and chilled though.

After teaching this morning I ventured once again to Barclays Bank to see if my payment had gone through to South Africa. When I first walked toward the bank I saw a dreaded queue snaking out the door and along the pavement down the street. I decided to ask what it was for and it turned out it was for drawing cash. I don't know how long those people had stood there. I went to the shorter queue. Several elderly white men were in the line behind me and one of them said they should be allowed to go to the front based on age. This happened as I got to the front. I let an 80 year old go ahead but next thing a whole lot of other younger people started pushing forward and saying they should also be allowed to go based on age. I began to feel a bit fed up as I had already waited in line for almost an hour. They eventually let me go ahead but it turns out my transaction hasn't gone through. I've been given a number to phone to enquire about foreign payments. Wish I could simply do this via the internet but I am lucky to not be one of the people who were queueing outside in the hope of elusive cash.

Of banking and Ecocash in Zimbabwe

Like most people in Zim many of my students' parents are struggling to find cash. As a result I am being paid by some by bank transfer and then others by Ecocash. I was happily accepting Ecocash until a few weeks ago when I needed to pay for much needed new glasses lenses and the optician didn't have the facility for Ecocash payments. I tried numerous outlets for Ecocash to try cash out but there is no cash to be had. (Ecocash is a mobile phone banking system where you can make payments on your phone to other people's accounts. Theoretically people deposit cash at an outlet and other people can then draw from this. I was told apparently the army was being paid by Ecocash, hence the severe shortage of cash. Everyday on the way to school we pass people queueing hopefully for cash in Arundel Village). I did finally find a solution to my glasses and now have better vision - I can actually see things clearly!

Today I needed to make a payment to South Africa and ventured into the bank for the first time in months. I was surprised that the queue was much shorter than what I have seen previously - where it is often snaking out the door. I joined what I thought was the right queue and got behind a man making a deposit of gazillions of dirty tattered one US dollar bills. This was going to take a while as he peeled the grubby notes apart. It turned out this was the queue if you were going to make a cash deposit. I went and joined a different line of people and had to try squish my irritation when people jumped ahead. Long story short I eventually submitted everything but have to check on Friday if it has gone through. Apparently online transfers invariably fail and it is better to go into the bank in person.

Am pretty busy with teaching as I take my four year old and his sister in grade 2 in the mornings and then have various students in the afternoon. Preparing my Chinese pupil for his grade 1 entrance test and trying to get him to remember nursery rhymes as this is one of the requirements. Realizing how random so many of them are, but he is picking up a few. We have been looking at power points of Barnaby Bear visiting different countries. In a huge oversight I forgot to get Barnaby Bear visiting China. I have rectified this, and we have also been to Zimbabwe and South Africa.