Comments for Zahra Langford

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, Part 1 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 11 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, part 11 | Zahra Langford — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:28:14 +0000

[...] You can read more about my motivation for the journey and why I’m revisiting it now in the original post. I was 21 at the time I wrote this. Part 11 7/8/97, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe I left the theatre [...]

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 10 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 9 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, part 9 | Zahra Langford — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:20:13 +0000

[...] This is the ninth in an ongoing series of posts that capture journal entries from my incredible trip to Zimbabwe in 1997. You can read more about my motivation for the journey and why I’m revisiting it now in the original post. I was 21 at the time I wrote this. Part 9 7/3/97, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe On my way to the CHIYSAP OfficesToday was a good day although it started with some guys harassing me on the bus this morning. They were saying something about the color of my skin, but I couldn’t understand them so I turned away. They continued talking and pointing at me and Francis even talked to them which I thought was rather rude. I’ll just assume he was defending me. Every morning we walk across a field to a main intersection and get a ‘lift’ to the St. Mary’s Area which is closest to CHIYSAP. Then we walk across another field of dry grass to get to the office. The lift can be provided by several different types of transportation. There are large buses that look like American school buses which are owned by many different companies; there are mini buses of every sort, some are owned my companies, others by individuals; there are “emergency taxies” which are about the size of a station wagon; there are also just random people who will give you a ride. Buses cost $2.80 and private rides are $4.00 I think. I am getting more accustomed to the layout of this place and basic ways to get around. I’ll test that this weekend when I go into town by myself. I’ll have to figure out how to get home. I wrote my address down so I can ask if I get lost, but I fear that people here generally don’t have much good will towards me, a light-skinned foreigner. It is definitely a new place for me, but somehow it reminds me of my college experience at Santa Clara University. However, I could get along on my own there an at least it was safe. Here everything is unfamiliar and uncertain, but maybe someday soon I’ll be able to feel at home. I spent the whole day (9am-5pm) at the office today, with two breaks for snacks and food which is becoming more palatable. We usually have bread with margarine and mazoe for snacks and a plate of sadza with greens and beef for lunch. Mazoe is like Hawaiian Punch, it comes concentrated and then you add water (four parts water to one part mazoe). It only contains ten percent juice, but it is better than water. Today’s meeting was the Council of Youths. It took place outsize under the tree and was actually pretty interesting. CHIYSAP is an extremely complex organization which allows everyone their input so things take a while, but I think that is a good thing. By the time I come home I’ll be used to their mode and everyone at home will be impatient with my new ‘developing country’ attitude towards time! Continued in Part 10 [...]

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 9 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 8 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, part 8 | Zahra Langford — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:19:20 +0000

[...] This is the eighth in an ongoing series of posts that capture journal entries from my incredible trip to Zimbabwe in 1997. You can read more about my motivation for the journey and why I’m revisiting it now in the original post. I was 21 at the time I wrote this. Part 8 7/2/97, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe OK, feeling a little better today. I had a small breakdown in Talita’s office today and was told basically to get over it. So I have to be strong and endure the amazingly slow pace of life in a developing country, as well as the poverty and inconvenience. It took me two hours this morning to produce two letters at work, because I did not have all the information and had to wait on others , all of whom are incredibly slow and extremely irritating. I finally got all the information and got the letters printed out and then went into town with Lovemore, my partner in crime (at work anyway). We had several errands to run at the Embassy and at Speciss College. Lovemore had to make a delivery to a lawyer and I finally bought some postcards. Lovemare is a very interesting young man, he actually works for CHIYSAP as a Project Officer and unlike most people his age, he lives alone and has some logical plans to make money outside of CHIYSAP because they don’t pay very much. Harare during the week is much more bustling than on the weekend, but I still didn’t see very many white or ‘colored’ people. The buses from the outlying areas all come to one place and to go anywhere else you have to take a taxi, which is expensive, by CHIYSAP standards anyway. So we walked to the embassy. This is the second time I’ve been there and I guess I was expecting to be treated differently there because I’m an American citizen. This has not been the case. Most of the people who work there aren’t American anyway so they could give a shit. When I registered there the other day I got a flier for a 4th of July celebration taking place at some park in Harare on Saturday (July 5). I’m going to try to go and I hope it will be a positive experience. Anyway, we went to the embassy because they fund the dressmaking training unit and we have some questions about the practical application of those funds. They guy wasn’t there and we were told to wait outside or come back later. So we walked all the way back to the bus station area and got a ride to Speciss College to register the three secretarial trainees for their placement tests. This was a complete fiasco. First we were given the wrong form, that fact was only discovered after we filled out all three. Next we found the real form and were told that we had to fill out 9 of them (one for each person and each subject that they were taking the test in)! I was extremely frustrated, that college is worse than CHIYSAP! So after we finally got all the forms done, we had to wait for this guy to manually create a receipt for each and every one of those forms. In the end I felt sorry for him because I wasn’t very nice to him at first. I should learn to be more patient I suppose. Next we took a bus back to town and walked back to the embassy but the guy still wasn’t there so we walked back to the bus area and stood in line (the queue as they call it here). We got back to CHIYSAP before everyone went home. It has been sprinkling/raining since the afternoon. Everyone says it is very cold but I don’t think so. I’ll probably say something different tomorrow morning in my ice cold shower. Last night I was awakened by shouting, a thief was stealing something from next door I guess. The neighbors discovered him and he jumped over the fence into our area and ran around the back of the house and jumped the fence again. Apparently they caught him and beat him (that was the report from Francis). This afternoon when we came home we found that he had left his shoe in the front yard. This is the second incident in the week that I have been here. I guess that’s the reason for all the bars and locks. I hope my stuff doesn’t get stolen while I am here. Continued in Part 9 [...]

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 6 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 5 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, part 5 | Zahra Langford — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:18:12 +0000

[...] Some people and things here are odd parodies of things at home. The style of dress that I see among the young people is that of the mid to late 80’s, the stuff I was wearing from 6th grade to 9th: bright colors, sweaters with designs woven into them and decorative patches attached. Most of the people wear Ked-like sneakers. A lot of the men wear cheap and often ill-fitting suits. Hats are common: berets, newsboy caps, baseball hats and knit ski caps. Hardly anyone has brand name clothing and if they do it is worn proudly and often. Some of the younger, cooler, guys wear baggy pants and big logo t-shirts. Nike and Addidas are popular status symbol brands. I’m not sure if the style of dress has been influenced by the older American sitcoms that are shown on TV, or if this is simply the clothing that is available. I stand out no matter what and I’m discovering that it doesn’t really matter what I wear. The current plan is to dress as I normally would. I feel most comfortable in my jeans and flannel shirts. Continued in Part 6 [...]

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 5 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, Part 4 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, Part 4 | Zahra Langford — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:17:09 +0000

[...] In the living room where we eat our meals. Florence, one of my hosts is third from the right. The other women are from CHIYSAPWhen I first arrived at the house where I would be living for the next 6 months, it was in the company of about 10 people. The house is actually pretty big, but it is surrounded by a tall fence and all the windows and doors have bars and locks. For my first meal, we all sat in the living room with the television on. Clair, the youngest woman, went around on her knees and poured warm water over everyone’s hands (mine and the men’s, that is), all the women were in the kitchen helping to prepare the food. I guess that I am deferred to as a man because I am a foreigner. I have not been asked to prepare food yet or wash anyone’s hands, I hope it will stay that way. I prefer more manly conversations since most of the women want to ask me silly things about America and tell me that they want to be a movie star or a musician. Last night at Joseph and Talita’s house, I talked with one of Joseph’s relatives about the place of women, religion and the Bible. It was actually more of a friendly argument since he is a very traditional Zimbabwean male. He thinks women do women’s work in the kitchen and with the children. Some women do wear pants here so I’ve been wearing my jeans. A lot of the women and girls who are involved in CHIYSAP are very progressive it seems, but some of the things I tell them about America still shock them. So after the hand washing, my first meal in Zimbabwe proceeded. It was alright except for the chicken feet floating in a reddish sauce that was meant to go over rice and some extremely unattractive looking pieces of chicken. I haven’t had sudsa yet (the “staple food” of Zimbabwe, it is something like corn grits), I think I’m still getting the special treatment. After dinner I got to see my bedroom which is actually about the size of my room at home, with the same sized bed, except that I am sharing it with Anna, the ‘maid.’ I don’t think she is too happy with the situation. She moved her clothes out of the closet to make room for mine and now she has to share a bed with a snoring foreigner, oh well. She does most of the housework: laundry, cleaning and cooking, as well as taking care of Kuda the baby. I think she is also related to Francis. Additional food/drink notes: Bread and butter with jam is served for lunch, snacks and appetizers. It is just plain white bread, like Wonderbread at home. I do enjoy the beer. Castle Lager is like Budweiser here. Everyone drinks it and drinks a lot of it. Continued in Part 5 [...]

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, Part 4 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 3 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, part 3 | Zahra Langford — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:15:31 +0000

[...] The bus left Johannesburg at 6:00am and arrived in Harare at almost 7:00pm. I sat in the hotel for a while waiting, it took Joseph a while to find me. I realized later that his vision is not very good. He also has some interesting teeth, and I thought European teeth were bad! They brought two cars and I met everyone outside in the dark. Joseph and Talita, who run CHIYSAP, their daughter Claire (I thought her name was Cle for a while, but it was just the accent), Francis and his wife Florence, who I’ll be staying with, and their small son Kuda. We drove the 25 kms south to Chitungwiza. It is an all black town, like the townships of Sowetto and Alexandria in South Africa. I was told later that it was originally built to house 30,000 people, it now holds 1.5 million. Needless to say, the people that live here are very poor. This place is huge and right now it all looks the same to me, hopefully I’ll be able to find my way around soon. I’ve already talked to one of the guys in charge of motor mechanics to try and find a cheap motorcycle for me so I can get around on my own. Right now I am dependent on Francis’ failing car (it has questionable brakes), my own two feet or taxi/bus, very frustrating. I need to go into town (Harare) but won’t be able to go until Monday. I wrote some email though, so people wouldn’t be worried about me. Continued in Part 4 [...]

Comment on 1997 in Zimbabwe, part 3 by 1997 in Zimbabwe, Part 2 | Zahra Langford

1997 in Zimbabwe, Part 2 | Zahra Langford — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:02:10 +0000

[...] Flying over Malaysia and Africa, looking down at a very different landscape. I mostly could see the areas around the airports; housing tracts, vegetation, dirt roads, mines or other manufacturing close by too. All sort of spread out, some paved through-ways to and from the airport. In Malaysia, there were vast tracts of what looked like palm trees from above, growing fairly neatly. From above it looked like a carpet made of green stars squeezed out of a frosting tube, a very dark green. Maybe they just grow that way. On both the South African and Malaysian coasts, there didn’t seem to be much transition between the sea and the land, there were no waves and no beaches (no surfing?). The flat blue of the sea met the flat green of marsh, only extending shiny tendrils of water into it. Once above the ocean it was flat and only slightly textured with tiny ridges. I thought it would be choppier I guess. The sun was dazzling and the small puffs of clouds cast shadows on the blue water. Continued in Part 3 [...]

Comment on Working from the Dining Room Table by Zahra

Zahra — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:41:43 +0000

Thanks Mary Ann! I’ll be back in the office next week, how’s my plant doing?

Comment on Working from the Dining Room Table by Mary Ann Sprague

Mary Ann Sprague — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:26:49 +0000

Sounds like you’ve been busy despite your network issues. I’m working from home a bit as well, and last week spent mornings at Starry Nites. That time was very productive (except for the occasional crash). Enjoy the atmosphere while you can!

Comment on Working Virtually from Northern California by Working from the Dining Room Table | Zahra Langford

Working from the Dining Room Table | Zahra Langford — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:10:59 +0000

[...] relatively comfortable here. I think the back and neck problems mentioned in my earlier post were caused by my attempt to replicate the way I work in my office in Webster. There I often sit [...]