A whole lotta stuff in a sentence or two...

Hello. It's been a while, so a few words. Got back on Friday from 2 weeks holiday in Cape Town. Lovely! I always seem to have a great time in that place - something about the sea, mountains & eneral vibe I guess! It was a girls' holiday with Hattie 'HotPants' Cohen and Oria 'SweetCheeks' Dale. We decided to make a road-trip of it and so we drove in Hattie's Landrover from Zimbabwe all the way south to Cape Town (a round-trip of 5,600km in total!) More to follow, with some pics, on that at a later date. Including how with the final 150km to go, part of the landrover's engine literally 'fell off' leaving us stranded on the road after dark and without any phone reception! I'll keep you guessing at that one... It was a great break, and timely for me, as I feel that over the last month I've seen more of Zimbabwe's dark side than in previous months and seem to have had slightly more than my usual dose of eventful things, such as contact with the police and their apparent interest in me in one way or another...together with adventures that have shown me something more of the difficulties and sadnessness of life in Zimbabwe. I'm glad to report that things do remain good, and I wouldn't be anywhere else, but it was lovely to have some time away. Tomorrow I set off for Harare, to travel to the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA). 2009 marks HIFA's 10th anniversary and the theme is 'EnlighTENment'. It's been a quick turnaround, however for my poor housemate Hattie a simple tea-party of strawberries & cream turned into a trip to a government hospital & a broken foot. As with many things here, matters of daily life can become eye-opening experiences that reveal the underlying level of chaos and breakdown prevailing in this country at the moment. Yesterday I had an eye-opening couple of hours in the casualty department of a state hospital. Minimal resources, low capacity and the lingering smell of dead bodies from the mortuary, of course does nothing to stem the flow of patients in desparate need of healthcare. It was very sobering to see. From talking to the radiographer (we were in my car - I'd had to go and collect him from his home in order to get an Xray done!) I got a sense of the scale of needs. He said his job is now all but voluntary and pay day is the worst day of the month. He graduated last year from university in Bulawayo and seemed very cynical and I suppose it must be very soul destroying. Well, more after HIFA I guess, which looks set to be another adventure altogether!