Neil in Zim: April holiday

The month of April somehow flew by even though school was not in session. I’ll give you a brief recap of what I did during the April holiday.

In the first week of, I stayed on campus mostly (translation: I watched a lot of Netflix – Beef, Night Action, Do Revenge, Wednesday, old romcoms, etc.). It was honestly a great way to let my brain decay, absorb a bit of media that I could use to converse with other young people, and not think about the responsibilities of teaching.

During the second week of April, a fellow teacher invited me to his home out in Chegutu, Zimbabwe (about 2 hours west of the capital, 3 hours away from where I live). It was a small town and we were able to do just about everything: we went to the one Chicken Inn on the corner of the main street, to the bank three times, visited his primary school, and spent a lot of time sleeping as a result of heat exhaustion. We spent a considerable amount of time working on some projects (fixing leg rattles for traditional dance, buying materials to install solar, and playing some mbira until the sun went down). It was lovely to see what a traditional Zimbabwean house looks like and how it functions: the hospitality was off the charts (they slaughtered a chicken for me, which means a lot … they don’t do that for every guest), the food was served so properly, and overall the stay was relaxing.

I don’t understand how people can have children, though. Specifically, toddlers. There was a three-year-old baby boy who was very shy when I first met him, but by days three, four, and five, he was jumping on me, playing, and tickling me. I spent a considerable amount of time playing with his puzzle pieces, helping him take inventory of all the toys he has in his toy bin, and learning Shona children’s hand games. I found it particularly difficult to understand, however, how we could park all of the vehicles he had in Paw Patrol Town, but then witness one of his planes crash in a field just nearby with no remorse from any of the other toys.

We watched movies at night, including The Addams Family, Jason Bourne, and Planet of the Apes, and on Easter, we went to the family farm. It is a relatively new farm (that the family was able to get from the government [the govt can give out land … complicated history with decolonization]) and they are in the process of building, still, but it was vast. We ate road runner chicken (which tastes more game-y than broiler chicken), played with the well water, and slept in the hut. I was able to meet the goats and chickens (one chicken who, yes, did end up on our plate – refer to above slaughterification).

On the way out of Chegutu, we visited an arts center and a flower nursery/café where I bought some plants for my own veranda! Overall, I am very lucky that I was able to go with a fellow teacher and spend time with his family during the holiday. It made me miss my own family, but I fortunately was able to see them literally days after in South Africa.

Yes, my family (mom, dad, and sister) visited the continent for two weeks! We met up in South Africa and had an amazing time. We did everything touristy imaginable, and I’m going to try to sum it up with enough description to do the trip justice.

We landed in Skukuza, South Africa, which is in Kruger National Park, the eastern part of SA in a place called Mpumalanga. It was a gorgeous, tiny private airport, and we drove to a very nice lodge just outside the gate of the park. On our first day, we went on a morning safari and spotted a few animals (nearly all of the big five – see below). The giraffes are insane to me – evolutionarily, why do they exist? (Lamarck would have some things to say about this …). Our guide, Piet, was so funny and extremely energetic. The next day, we went on a drive called Panoramic Routh where we saw some waterfalls, forests, and gorgeous views. There was a stop called God’s Window where we saw an insane view out into the valley, which I guess is what people think God’s view from Heaven looks like? Or maybe it was God’s view into Hell.

On the way up to the top, there is a small rainforest. When leaving the rainforest to catch the view, a monkey came to say hello. Then it started chasing me. After nearly tripping and telling the monkey to take my belongings, it left to go bother other tourists. The monkey chase incident convinced me that I was in Hell.

The next day, we did another morning safari with Piet and it was a good one. We saw lions up close (on their honeymoon, doing honeymoon activities…), more giraffes, zebras, elephants, impala, wild dogs, rhinos, bulls, and more. It was a great way to end our time in Kruger … except at the end of our safari, a monkey stole half of my dad’s sandwich. Wary family = 0. Monkeys = 2.

We left Kruger National Park and flew to Cape Town for the next week. Unfortunately my bag didn’t arrive, so I felt like Cam from White Lotus Season 2 (the part where he went shopping for new clothes because his bag didn’t arrive, not the part where he screamed at the airline company on the phone). In brief, over the week we: went to the Oranjezicht Farmer’s Market, visited a temple and a gorgeous botanical garden called Kirstenbosch, went up Table Mountain (I did not climb it this time for reasons that I hope are obvious, reference my last Cape Town post), visited Boulders Beach (to see the penguins [there was a limping penguin :( ]), went out for lunch at a vineyard (the vibes were eerily too similar to The Menu), caught up with Elbetel (PiAf Fellow at Equal Education in Cape Town), visited Zeitz MOCAA, V+A Waterfront, and then the most Southwestern point on the African continent (Cape of Good Hope – where The Flying Dutchman is allegedly said to be there, cursed). On the way back from Cape of Good Hope, we had really great Korean food (annyeong). And of course, no good travel story of mine is not without me feeling nauseous – this time it was in a revolving door at a mall.

It was so nice to see family, who I missed extremely, and be able to spend quality time with them. It was a good reminder that I only have a few months left of this fellowship, but that I think I am ready to return to the states after finishing things up here.

I am currently back at school where I’ve started Term 2 with the students (my last term here) and I feel optimistic. This is my no BS term, but also the term that I am going to really make the most of – through travelling a bit more, being available for students to develop stronger connections, and ultimately setting up the next fellow for success. We just finished interviewing the candidates for the fellow who will replace me, and it really feels like a weight is being lifted off my shoulders (not only because this is ending, but because of what’s coming next for me). I have a lot of reflection I need to do with next steps in life, but am feeling decently at peace at this moment. Hoping you all can feel it, too.