Life in Harare is nice. This might be one of the most relaxed, laid back capital’s I’ve ever been to and lived in. Traffic, if you want to call it that, can be bad at certain times of the day, but bad is a relative term considering most of the arteries into and out of town are two lane roads. So you might have to sit at a robot (traffic light) for 5-10 minutes. Big deal!The people here are so friendly, even the police and others you have been told you should fear upon arriving here. Yes, you do want to be careful, but if you are simply nice and understanding they will be the same. While life is still restarting itself in this shell shocked country/capital, there are quite a few restaurants and pubs to keep us busy. On top of that, there appears to be an NGO party every weekend…we are just trying to get on the mailing list. And then there’s the weather. Quite possibly the best weather of anywhere in the world I have lived or traveled to to date. I won’t even try to describe, but trust me that you should come and experience it for yourself.
So Christy and I are happy here. While nothing is guaranteed for either of us work-wise, things are getting better. For instance, we finally have a place of our own, just north of a shopping center known as Sam Levy’s Village. 3 different grocery stores (one entirely dedicated to fresh fruit and vegetables), a pub, a couple of cafe’s and other shops, and a Sunday flea market every week. We couldn’t have asked for a better location. Our flat is great and a perfect size for our first digs as a married couple (if you want to see pictures, visit Christy’s blog by following the link to the right). We are slowly putting the house together and once we return from our trip to South Africa in April, we should be nearly there. Our social life has improved dramatically as well. We both have finally managed to find a couple of expats that we like and see fairly regularly. On top of that, we finally found some Ultimate Frisbee players and played our first game this past Saturday. How wonderful!
So, we continue to get settled in and make new friends; both Zimbabwean and expatriate. We head south next weekend for most of the month of April. I’ve got a workshop to co-facilitate and a water conference to present a paper at. We will also collect the rest of our stuff and try to consolidate it either in Pretoria or here in Harare. We’ll see how far we get. As I enjoy the cool breeze blowing in on the outdoor cafe I’m sitting at, I remember why we have chosen this life away from our close friends and family…to experience life and wring the most out of it as possible.
Go Blue Devils!
Sounds good to me! I was in Zim in January after being away for almost 12 years! It felt good to be there and I was happy to take my youngkids who had never been to anywhere in Africa. I will be returning in May to do some groundwork concerning the viability of me living there and running a business. Thank You for showing Zimbabwe in a positive light as people still think Zimbabweans are paying millions of Zim dollars for a loaf of bread! Thank God those days are gone and there is much needed hope.