Day in the Life

5:30 get up and start getting everyone dressed, fed, brushed and combed and off to work and school with their bags, laptops, permissions slips, etc.
7:30 take Eliza to her school. The drop off was inexplicably difficult (was it because we were a few minutes late? Or the attention we were giving the strange sores on her cheek from the "mango milk"?) E was all a tremble, clinging, crying, Mommy don't leave! I want to go to the car with you! And then that awful last vision of the teacher’s firm grip on her arm as I run out the door…
8:00 receive call and respond to husband’s request: bank machine, then office to give cash to operations team who are registering my car. Tom, the mechanic, checks the fuel tank for leaks...where does it all go? This ancient Camry we bought from the wife of the previous director is looking more and more like a lemon and a black hole for money, sigh.
9:30 meet new friend / real estate agent at house in Avondale where owner is willing to move out for a price (no thanks)
10:30 Fabulous Friday field day for kindergarteners and preschoolers at the HIS...parents gathered on the margins, little kids lined up... I was really looking forward to seeing Miles race since he enjoys running and feels confident and competitive. But he was sidelined! – learning a hard lesson on keeping up with his hat. (Is that a lump in my throat? I should have double-checked his school bag this morning. Off to the lost and found: BINGO!) School rule demands that all children have to wear hats outside... sigh. At least he got to do the long jump and relay race. And I could tell he thought it was special having me there :)
12:00 rush to pick up Eliza…didn’t realize I was supposed to take Miles home after the mid-morning activity and got totally off track…last parent to pick up my kid on a Friday (12:08 yikes)
12:30 lunch at home, drawing and painting with the kids, phone calls and arrangements to see more houses
2:30 tea at Jan’s house… a friend of a friend from Amman (Hillary)…meeting her for the first time, she was so sweet, and there is nothing as valuable as local knowledge and connections.
4:30 hair appointment…running through a downpour with my raincoat held over my head. I need an umbrella!
5:30 hot bath
6:30 set off for the “dinner-dance” fundraiser, wearing the dress and shoes I bought in 1999 for E&W’s rehearsal dinner. We headed to the once Sheraton now down-graded to Rainbow Towers, and downtown traffic came to a total standstill in the pouring rain.
7:30 made use of the Mercy Corps 4x4 and had the pleasure of cresting the median. Sweet freedom! Tried a new route and not really knowing anything about the area, ended up stuck again, this time with stranded unhappy pedestrians crowded into the streets and against the cars. Was feeling like an idiot in my dress and our big empty car while all around us smaller cars were packed like sardines. A guy banged on my window. We were totally blocked in like this for a very long half an hour. That was the low point in the evening.
8:30 abandoning our efforts to get closer, we head in the opposite direction as soon as possible. Impressively, David does not give up and is going for a third attempt, looping around to approach from the opposite side of town… as if a dinner-dance was high on his list of ways to spend an evening.
9:00 we make it! ... a strange scene…like we’re arriving in the middle of the night in the middle of a storm to a tower in the middle of nowhere to be with a hundred other overdressed frazzled people from around the world who have been sitting in their cars for the last 2-3 hours. We roam zombie-like around the buffet. A magician goes from table to table to make watches and rings disappear from our bodies then reappear in his wallet or mouth. There is a live auction, then a ballroom dancing demo by sequined high school kids, then a band plays 80s songs with an African twist. Lucky for us, we’re at a table with some heavy drinking Serbs and Australians. And strangely but mercifully, when the lights are dimmed, everyone gets out on the dance floor and dances.

Lucky

Looking for a house is one of my major projects these days. I'm learning about Harare real estate: the neighborhoods ("the golden triangle"), the peculiarities of architectural choices (toilets in closets), the MUSTS (a borehole), and the perks ("staff"). I've moved beyond the wow stage and have started wanting the quintessential Zimbabwean family home: an artsyAfrican tiled house with more than enough room for family, guests and entertaining and a big ol' yard with loads of beautiful indigenous plants and trees. Mainly I am going with my gut instinct: is this a place I can raise my family? So far, every place has been...mmmm....not exactly. Sometimes I feel like a spoiled crazy woman. The things I turn down! However, we're renting and not buying, so we can't really invest much in making these places ours. It has to be pretty darn ready for us...and since we have until June (I've been told), we have time (I hope!) to be picky.

The place where we're staying now is gorgeous if a wee bit run down on the inside. There are lots of little broken, chipped, smelly and non-functioning spots that I would love to attend to, but alas, it's not ours to improve. I'm extremely grateful though that we have this amazing house, if only temporarily.

Here's a review of what I've learned about home life in Harare:

Domestic help: most houses come with a housekeeper and gradener. This is Tari.

Kitichens have an additional "washing up" area where domestic help do the dishes and laundry.

You can see from the last picture and this close up the style of tile that is made locally and featured in lots of houses.

...as well as teak wood furniture, like this dining room table and chairs with leather strap seats (this is at a friend's house)

Most houses also have a bar. People take their entertaining seriously here.

Enough parking for guests (that's the garage and guest cottage where Tari, her son and her cousin/helper live...Yes, even help have help.)

The "gardens" are amazing, mainly due to the master work of the gardeners. This is Stanford in the herb garden.

In addition to the green house full of veggies, we have corn growing in a corner of the garden. You see corn growing all over the city since it's a staple of the diet here.

This is a typical "domestics quarters" and where Stanford lives next to our house.

You also find all swing sets in this general style: metal, painted bright colors, unique.The in-ground trampoline is pretty standard here.

Do you see just how big this tree is? That little purple thing is a kiddie swing, and man, do the kids get high when we swing them in that!

These are called "Wendy houses" and are just playhouses for the kids. You see examples of these and the swing sets at intersections around the city where craftsmen are advertising their various styles.Electric fences atop high security walls are also a part of life here, as are alarm systems, remote access automatic gates and security guards. There's not a lot of crime here...as a result? This is the view of the garden from our bedroom balcony. It isn't exactly typical, I realize now as I search in vain for another bit of paradise. Let's hope the luck in having this place carries over to our seach for the next place. Looking forward to sharing with visitors!