Immigration, The Lounge, Artisan

Another day where 24hrs seems too short a time to have fitted in everything that has taken place! Lots to update on, since last posting...

Firstly, The Lounge: Launched Friday 13th February at the National Gallery in Bulawayo. This was immense! Pretty much exceeded our most wildly optimistic expectations :-) For those who haven't read earlier posts, "The Lounge" is a monthly open mic night, primarily for members of the creative community in Bulawayo to come together and have a platform. The vibe was awesome and attendence was really good. At one point during the evening I was standing on the door and saw more than one person leave only to return a little later with 2 or 3 mates in tow. Great feeling of shared ownership with people claiming this event as their own, not to mention the buzz that comes from watching incrediably talented artists performing. It was a great range of styles and acts too. From rap to reggae to performance poetry and drumming... it was raw and real ans skillful. People are very complimentary on the professionalism of the evening and we are very grateful to those who gave us all our PA equiptment and venue free of charge. I'll write more details when I post pics of the night but for now I want you all to share in how awesome and successful last Friday night was. Already we can see just how it's opening doors left, right & centre to do new things in new areas.

Tonight a small group, including Oria and I, met together as Artisan Zimbabwe. Precious time of dreaming together and praying and I was left feeling overwhelmingly excited about all that this year will hold - already plenty has taken place that is exciting - and it's only February! There is so much potential here in the arts community and I, for one, am so excited about being around to see it and share in it!

Another breakthrough today was finding favour at the immigration office with regards to my visa. Some members of the power regime currently in control of this country are, shall we say, not prehaps the hugest fans of the United Kingdom (!) and one way this gets manifested is the fairly extortionate prices that UK citizens are required to pay at regular intervals for their visas... I had heard that a multiple entry visa existed, however that it is very hard to come by and will only be issued in Harare and at a cost of 14 days wait. Somehow, I have managed not only to have been issued with one, (itself amazing and unusual) but I collected it today from the Bulawayo office (!) having submitted the application only yesterday! Amazing! Proof that all the random conversation and befriending of the guys at the immigration office has actually paid off ;-)

Now I can come and go as I please for the next 6 months without having to pay through the nose whenever I cross a boarder. brilliant. On that subject, I'm actually due to get up in a couple of hours to set out to drive to the boarder with South Africa and got to Polokuane in order to do a grocery shop - epic in scale and designed to last us as a household 3 months or so. So stoked that I don't have to worry about my visa now! There is more, but I will have to wait til another time to write about that! xx