End of 2016

I carried on teaching Runbo up until Christmas and then the week after. For one of the lessons he came running out to tell me he had set up a picnic for us in his garden all by himself. It was complete with picnic rugs, umbrellas and jelly crocodiles. The lesson after Christmas, Runbo was eager to tell me Father Christmas had come after all. When I said had he fitted down the chimney Runbo just shook his head and waved his hands and said he just didn't know.

Picnic with Runbo, the Tyranosaurus rex

I am house sitting again and looking after a friend's cats. The one cat Missy keeps bringing me still alive baby shrews and they keep scuttling off behind furniture. I don't know if they are still alive and still there. Hoping they're not dead and going to pong. A mother shrew came in looking for her offspring the other night and I was perched on the couch asking my Mum on the phone for advice on what to do. Eventually the mother ran out the backdoor - phew.

Ginger and Missy looking like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.

For New Year I was supposed to be having friends over for board games. Unfortunately two of my friends had a car accident on the way due to a drunk driver coming hurtling across an intersection where the lights weren't working. He stopped initially but then drove off before the police came (well the police had to be fetched as they had no transport - typical). The car that hit my friends' did come back but with a different person driving (probably a more sober driver). Not the best start to 2017 for my friends. I feel bad as it was because of my games night they were venturing out.

Rich in Time

With the approach to Christmas I am down to just one student, Runbo my 4 year old who I am taking every day. This suits me as it means I still get paid over Christmas and it gives me something to get up for everyday. Runbo continues to be obsessed with dinosaurs and his dinosaurus rex. I have been lent some dinosaur biscuit cutters to make biscuits with Runbo (see below) and I discovered a whole two shelves of books on dinosaurs at the library. I think I'm going to learn a lot about dinosaurs in the coming weeks.

I read Runbo a story about Father Christmas yesterday and I discovered he is a very astute four year old. I've never really thought of it this way but Runbo seemed very perturbed that a stranger was going to come into his house, even if he is bearing presents. He also looked at me very skeptically and said how was Father Christmas going to fit down his chimney. I replied well maybe with a bit of magic. Runbo retorted well why didn't Father Christmas just use the front door? Yes I suppose it would be much easier. To squash all further tales of Sant Claus Runbo announced that his daddy had said it was just a story. Well then, that was the end of that. Today we read Guiji Guiji about a crocodile who thinks he's a duck instead.

Have been trying to be supportive to three friends who are battling with severe depression at the moment. Realizing it is hard to know what to do and what to say at times and whether you're imposing too much. I do know what they're going through though and try think of what helped me but it is tricky. My depression support group meets for a year end get together on Saturday. It has grown since I first started it and people are beginning to share more.

Tomorrow I'm picking up a friend who is coming through from Bulawayo and we're going to brave Linquenda House, the immigration office, in town. The government has just changed how you get your permanent residency renewed. Up until now you could just waltz into immigration and present your passport and they would happily stamp it for the next year free of charge. Not so any longer, you now have to present your life story in the form of certificates and medical letters etc. to prove you have lived here all your life. You also have to cough up $100 and no, you can't pay in bond notes, you have to pay in US dollars cash or supposedly by bank card but conveniently the machines have been down the last week apparently. True this means you don't have to go into town every year - but it was free and much less hassle! OK rant over. We will see what tomorrow brings. I'm armed with a copy of The Girl on the Train to read in the queue.

If I survive till tomorrow evening, I'm going to a bring and share Christmas dinner with a friend's bible study group. I have just finished preparing roasted butternut and red peppers. Will hopefully enter into the Christmas spirit after a day at Linquenda House.

Asylum

Arriving at midnight to cold linoleum floors.

Long corridors of bolted doors

holding people, prisoners of their own minds

numb to everything or else incredibly raw inside.

Medication doled out to soothe internal pain

but the scars that are there will always remain.

Desperate cases with one last resort.

Can they be fixed or left to fall apart?

Dinosaurus Rex and Tea with the Nuns

This morning some of us on the Convent Old Girls committee took Christmas tea to the nuns at the House of Adoration in Emerald Hill. We arrived and set out tea but were waiting for the seniour school madrigals choir to arrive. When 10 o'clock came and went I phoned the school secretary Mrs Gatsi and she said no bus had been booked for the choir. She said she would follow up for me. In the meantime we went ahead and had tea and we sat at different tables with the sisters. There were some from my time at the convent who have now retired. One nun, Sr Loyola taught piano at Convent and she is now 103!

Tea over, the nuns started to disperse but suddenly a Convent bus came roaring into the car park and the madrigals came and sang four pieces. We were just thanking and saying goodbye to them when another Convent bus came into the grounds. Turns out the juniour school choir were coming too. One after another they came in and then got everyone into the festive spirit with Christmas carols. The nuns loved all of it and we got two choirs worth of entertainment for one morning when we had pretty much given up on having any.

Taught my four year old Runbo again this afternoon and we looked at a book on dinosaurs. He then proceeded to announce he was a dinosaurus rex and was going to eat me up. He is a bit torn though as to whether he would rather be a dinosaurus rex or a pterodactyl. I don't know that I knew what those were when I was four!

Oh, and on a different note, finally had a paper I worked on with Rosemary Groom and Craig Jackson on wild dogs and lions accepted for publication in Animal Conservation.

The 10 Commitments and Bond Notes

We have entered into an uncertain period in Zimbabwe (well I guess life is always uncertain here, but now a little bit more so) with the introduction of bond notes on Monday. Already there is a disparity in price for fuel, with the supposed 1:1 exchange with the US dollar not valid. Some people are saying one should stock up on essentials as the shops may not be able to continue importing things. The danger in this is if everyone does it, panic will set in and there will be shortages. The queues at the bank are horrific today as people try to get some cash out. It feels like one is living in a bubble that is about to burst any moment.

My library job came to an end last week but I have a new student, an Israeli IT specialist. He doesn't seem terribly interested in learning grammar but rather concentrating on pronunciation of English. A bit of a challenge but thank goodness for the internet and its resources. On Monday he referred to the 10 Commitments - I think he was joking. I continue with 4 year old Runbo who pretended he was going "out to the space" in a rocket made out of an upturned chair.

I was supposed to go help with painting with patients in the psychiatric unit at Parirenyatwa last week but we were told we had to get clearance from the head matron and sign forms saying we wouldn't press charges if we were attacked by the patients. I hadn't quite thought of that. We will try for the beginning of next year.

Fired by a four year old

Have now finished filling in as the librarian at Convent after 3 weeks. Went smoothly and I managed to get the hang of it alright. Will now need to fill my mornings but there is a possibility of some conservation work. Won't be paid but will be something to occupy me and will be nice to be using my educational background a bit.

Bond notes come out Monday. Been trying to suss out who will accept them. Take aways will but for my lithium and other medication which are all imports, only US dollars in cash will be taken. This is going to be a serious problem if my students' parents can't pay me in US. Not sure what we can expect with all of this but a bit apprehensive.

So about being fired by my four year old student Runbo last Friday. I went round as usual to give Runbo his English lesson. Half way through he decided he wanted to cut up one of his pictures from play school. When I said no, he looked at me and then just screamed blue murder. He went to his granny in the kitchen to tell her in Chinese what I had done and then not getting much sympathy from her picked up the phone and told me he was phoning his daddy to fire me. I tried not to laugh and was impressed he could say this in English (although I haven't taught him that). At the end of the lesson when I said would I see him on Monday, he replied, "Maybe not". I did go on Monday though and when I asked if I was still fired he just gave a wicked laugh - cheeky monkey!

I did a city tour for two visiting French travel agents on Sunday afternoon and evening. I had been looking up some vocab and trying to brush up on my French but I did slightly over esteem my level of fluency and it was a little embarrassing trying to scrounge around in my mind for words. They seemed nice people though and if I can maybe go to Alliance Franaiseçaise and practice a bit more it could be fun. We first drove through the city centre, then went up the Kopje and went to Mbare market (which incidentally doesn't really have curios as I thought, more traditional medicine). We went on to Avondale Flea Market and then as they fancied a traditional Zimbabwean meal I took them to Gava's.

We had  a trial run of having my depression support group on a Saturday morning and it got a bigger turn out. People said they preferred to keep it informal rather than having topics or speakers. I went and had tea with a teacher from my high school who had come and sat with me when I was in sick bay and listened when I first started experiencing depression in Form 3. She said she can see I've come a long way since then. Was interesting to hear that from someone who had known me back then and is only reconnecting with me now.

I went

So I did go in the end to my sister's wedding. It was not easy and the week's before I was in a lot of anguish. I did a lot of work on it with my therapist and decided not going would be worse. I had a few dips when I first got to England and felt excluded. I also had to psyche myself up to see some people. My sister then made an effort to include me and I think our relationship has improved. I can also now tell I had not previously been at all well mentally.

This week I've started working as the Convent seniour librarian for three weeks. I went in to be briefed on Monday and it seemed like a lot but thankfully today was quite quiet and I could find my way slowly. My instructions even include what to do should there be a riot or bomb scares, with the riot including to close all the windows if there's tear gas. If bond notes come out this might be something I need to know, who knows.

As a committee member of the Convent Old Girls Association I am helping with the annual old girls lunch on Saturday at Alo Alo. On Sunday another friend is getting married at Wild Geese and next month I'm organizing a friend's baby shower. There's a meeting on the water crisis in Harare and the wetlands tonight at 5.30 but unfortunately I'm teaching.