Wednesday, April 22, 1998

Culture Vulture

Lots of interesting things have taken place this week and I will share some of them with you. Well that's if you are up to it.

Read on if you want to hear true life stories from the Land of the Insane!! Sometimes the best made plans can go astray and instead of lolling on a houseboat on Lake Kariba this weekend, drinking margaritas in the company of fun loving Paul ( rendered a helpless bachelor after Aunty Liz ran off with the farmer up the road) as intended. Pat and I ended up rather unexpectedly in Harare. It was most fortunate as it coincided with the Harare International Festival of Arts. We stayed with the lovely Van Leenhoffs in their enormous baronial home. I got lost on more than one occasion but it was fun trying to find everyone again and then trying out the different bathrooms. 

Harare had a carnival atmosphere and you can only take your hats off to the organizers of HIFA as it was an amazing affair and they pulled it off under these very trying times. I am absolutely amazed that they managed to get the artists here let alone perform with our Government's penchant for locking up foreign visitors. 

We arrived at the National Art Museum which was fascinating, after a wander around trying to look seriously arty chic but not quite achieving it, we moved out into the park to watch a Mozambique Jazz ensemble. We filed in to an enclosure after a short delay and were eventually seated. Our band appeared in high spirits and they introduced themselves with much bonhomie obviously no fear of arrests here. Mind you I did see a man with a camera looking slightly nervous, he kept on looking over his shoulder, he had obviously heard about our Government's hatred of people carrying cameras assuming you all fall in to that disgusting category of foreign journalist.

I was intrigued at the selection of musical instruments our band performed with, some resembled cow bells which were hit with a paint brush handle, there were plastic rattles, bits of simbi and a guitarist who had Jimi Hendrix moves perfected but he didn't play with his teeth which was disappointing. The singer was a gorgeous young black girl with a beautiful voice and boundless energy. She weaved and stamped across the stage and ended her dances in a crescendo of stomping feet. The audience was a good mix of black and white all sitting together enjoying the vibes. It could have been a festival in Europe. It was an absolutely fantastic feeling and the goodwill extended to everyone watching the band. We yelled for more even Pat, who was lost in the ambience of the whole thing and totally in the groove.

I was sad when it finished but there was a chill in the air and we moved on to do other things. On Sunday returning to Mutare we were horrified to see a crowd of people on the road waving at cars to slow down and then to our absolute dismay we recognized one of the cars. The car belonged to Keith Christie Smith. We came to a shuddering halt and I felt my legs turn to jelly. Fortunately for us nobody was seriously hurt other than the cars of course. Keith's guardian angel was taking very good care of him and two friends that morning. Its every mother's worst nightmare and when Keith ambled towards us still smiling but unbelievably shocked I just shook with relief. A big thank you to all the wonderful people who stopped to help it seemed the whole of Mutare turned up and the love and support of so many was just tremendous. Special mention must be made of John Heyns who managed to get a tow truck on a Sunday morning in record time and Del Shand for providing us with cokes. Well done to everyone. The only damper was the attitude of one of the policemen but we won't dwell on that. It was so wonderful to return a unscathed Keith to his very anxious and loving parents. Dropping the Gorgeous Kate off at school this morning I gave her a hug and a squeeze. Have a good day Darling I called and blew her a kiss. Not long after my cell phone rang. It was the Gorgeous Kate. Mum she said in panic, Can you come and pick me up immediately, the police have arrived at the school and closed it. We have been told if we are not collected at 9.30am they will arrest the teachers. 

Thank God not the pupils. Speeding up the Christmas Pass on the way to Hillcrest School I had to shake my head in incredulous wonder. Would anybody really believe 38 Private schools have been closed this morning because Government claims they have not been informed of an increases in fees. Funny that, with inflation running at 600 per cent or more. How incredible that a posse of policeman should be sent to the school to close it down. I had to burst out laughing, it could only happen in Africa!!! As I say its interesting times but not for the faint hearted. So pass me another tranquilizer please!

Mandy Retzlaff
Bvumba
Zimbabwe