ONE STEP AT A TIME

We’re coming up on two months of calling Zimbabwe our new home.  Of course, we spent most of that time living in a hotel since our house was not yet ready.  Fortunately, we bought a car (two, actually) from departing colleagues as soon as we got here, so within a week of arriving, we had wheels.  We took every opportunity to get out of our hotel room and start figuring out our way around. 

Step one… Learn to drive a right-hand side car on the left-hand side of the road.  Old hat for Andrew, but I was a bit more skeptical.  But I’ve got to say, after a week or so of turning my windshield wipers on instead of my blinkers, I’ve got it figured out and it seems pretty natural now.  

 

Day 1 driving on the right-hand side.  Wondering what sheer terror looks like?  That's it.

Step two… Find some cool spots to go in Harare.  Andrew had to head back to the States for work a few weeks after we arrived.  Alone on a weekend and starting to feel stir-crazy in the hotel, I figured I’d check out a nature park about 15 minutes away called Mukuvisi Woodlands.  It did not disappoint.  It ended up being a 300+ acre park that had an open grassland area with some resident wildlife, as well as a whole network of well-marked walking trails through open woodlands.  I spent several hours walking around there, and it felt great to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather here.  (It has been sunny and in the 70s during the day since we’ve been here.  It cools off to the 40s at night.  No humidity.  No rain.  Hardly a cloud.  AMAZING.)

 

Giraffes, and zebras, and antelopes... oh my.

Everyone loves a good watering hole.

Along the hiking trail.  

Step three… Venture further afield.  I’m on a work schedule that has me working longer hours Monday-Thursday and then alternating Fridays off, which means I get a 3-day weekend every other week.  Handy.  We turned one of those 3-day weekends into an out-of-town getaway to the Vumba Mountains on the eastern border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique.  We were up at a higher elevation (even higher than Harare, which is about 5,000ft), so the vegetation was different, the views were lovely, and the weather was cooler (i.e., COLD at night).  We stayed in a fairly rustic cabin with no electricity and made a fire in the fireplace each night, played cards, and read. 

 

View from our Vumba cabin,

That's Mozambique over yonder.

The first morning, we went on a guided bird walk.  I’m sure we were our guide's favorite customers ever because every bird was a new bird for us.  We also stopped for coffee and cake at a little place called Tony’s, and then visited a botanic garden for another stroll through the great outdoors. 

You knew you'd have to look at some bird pics, right?  Livingstone's turaco.

Variable sunbird.

 

Not a bird.  Can't escape monkeys - or, in this case, baboons - no matter where I go.

A lovely stroll through the botanic gardens.

All that bird watching and strolling works up quite an appetite.  Coffee and cake at Tony's.

 Post-coffee and cake lazing around.

The second day, we checked out an annual arts and crafts fair that just happened to be scheduled while we were there.  Perfect timing.  The drive to Vumba took about four hours, but the scenery was incredible – open savannah punctuated by kopjes (huge, stacked granite boulders… just in the middle of nowhere) and kraals (little settlements of a few round mud huts with thatch roofs).  Somehow I ended up without photos of any of that… but we’ve got 22 months to go, so plenty more opportunities.  Stay tuned.

Step four...  Settle in.  Last weekend, we finally got to move into our house, and some of our stuff that was shipped here has arrived.  That means we’ve spent this week living among boxes and trying to settle in. 

 

The new homestead, complete with front-yard pool.  That tree is a plumeria.  Looking forward to seeing it in bloom.

That big green box in the background is our generator.  More on this below.

Step five… Expect the unexpected.  So far we’ve had a mix of pleasant surprises… and unpleasant ones too.  The fact that our Vumba cabin had no electricity was not a surprise.  NOTHING has electricity in Zimbabwe right now.  A political and economic crisis has left the country in total chaos.  Power is only on for a few hours a day in the wee hours of the night.  We have a generator that is running almost constantly so we don’t feel the effects too much, but the locals certainly have a very different experience.  Of course, away from the house it's a different story since no electricity means no traffic lights and no street lights, so driving - especially at night - is not for the timid.  

There are also fuel shortages.  I’d guess that about one in every five gas stations is actually open at any given time, and those that are often have “queues” of 50+ cars waiting to fill up.  

Currency is also a complete snafu here.  When we arrived, U.S. dollars were accepted, as well as local currency consisting of paper “bond notes” as well as an electronic currency called “RTGS (real time gross settlement)” that transfers money via a phone app or debit card.  However, about two weeks after we got here, the government announced overnight that U.S. dollars were no longer legal tender and that only local currency would be accepted.  Problem is that local bond notes are in incredibly short supply, and the highest domination is $5 (or about 50 U.S. cents).  And RTGS transfers through the app or debit cards rely on card readers or cell data... both of which need electricity… which is off most of the time.  As a result, several places have started quietly accepting U.S. dollars again - although the transactions have to take place in a back office or, literally, under the table.

Today's surprise is that phone lines - land lines and cell service - are out of service across the city.  Who knows what surprises will await us tomorrow and what the next step will be?  

FAREWELL PORTLAND, HELLO ZIMBABWE!

As the end of May neared, so did our time in Portland.  The weather remained pretty spectacular right to the end, meaning that I was able to get in a few last strolls through some parks around town.  The spring flowers put on quite a show while we were there – starting with the tulips that were in full glory when we arrived in April, to the dogwoods and lilacs and rhododendrons that flowered in sequence through May.  

A hundred shades of green along the trails in Washington Park.

The Rhododendron Garden in full bloom made a lovely backdrop for a photo of my parents.

In addition to all the outdoor activities, we also enjoyed lots of indoor visits with friends, meals at some of our favorite restaurants, and shopping - lots of shopping - for clothes, pantry items, appliances… everything we thought we could possibly need while we’re in Zimbabwe. 

We had to get a storage locker to hold all the stuff we were shipping out.

We spent our last week in Portland staying at my parents’ house, and they were kind enough to host an open house for us to have a chance to say farewell-for-now to our friends.  See you in two years, Portland!

We took a red eye from Portland to New York, and then New York to London, where we spent a few days.  We had a fairly full itinerary planned, including an overnight trip west of London to Bath, including a visit with Andrew’s stepsister Sophie and her family who live in Bristol. 

A selfie on the streets of Castle Coombe en route to Bath.

Castle Coombe:  the quintessential British village. 

The cathedral in Bath - and blue sky in England!

Bath is such a beautiful town - even if it did try to kill Andrew (keep reading).

The return trip to London was to include a drive through the Cotswolds and then a day of sightseeing in London before seeing the musical Hamilton on our last night in London.  Alas, our itinerary was modified after our day in Bath to include a trip to the emergency room.  Andrew came down with a nasty stomach bug of some sort that drained him (literally) and required meds and rehydration at the hospital in Bristol.  Sophie was a miracle worker – helping me to return the rental car and then driving us back to London.  After some overnight rest, Andrew was much improved but not up for activity, so I left him to rest and did some sightseeing on my own for the day. 

A quick stop at Kensington Palace to say hi to William and Kate...

...then a stroll through Hyde Park...

...and a quick pop in at Buckingham Palace to pat the Queen's corgis.

Look kids - Parliament!  Big Ben!

Can't have a series of London photos without a pic of Tower Bridge.

Thankfully, by that evening, Andrew rallied and we were able to both see Hamilton.  I’d gotten the tickets a couple months back when we found out we’d be in London for a few days.  It was definitely the highlight of my London visit… although, considering stomach flu and an IV drip were the alternatives, I guess that’s not saying all that much.  But I really mean it – the show was AMAZING!

YES!!!

The Victoria Palace Theatre had just been renovated and was in full glory.

And so, with the glitz and glamour of London and emergency rooms behind us, we headed out on another red eye to Johannesburg and then on to Harare.  We arrived mid-day, and a new work colleague of mine met us at the airport.  We loaded up the van with three of our four giant suitcases (the fourth went astray somewhere en route, but we were reunited the next day) and made our way to a hotel that will be our temporary accommodation for a few weeks until our house is ready.  The hotel is lovely with lush grounds and a pool (although with temps getting down to the 40s at night, the pool is only lovely to look at right now), so I think we’ll make due just fine here for awhile.  We don’t have a car just yet, although we’ve bought one from a departing colleague and we’ll have wheels very soon.  In the interim, the embassy’s motor pool is driving me to and from the brand-spanking-new embassy compound every day, and a work colleague took us around town yesterday to start getting the lay of the land.  The variety of shops and the well-stocked grocery stores certainly has us rethinking all that stuff that we had shipped here.  I think we'll get along just fine here with what's on hand.  

The grounds at our hotel. 

Now THIS is a grocery store!

A movie theater!  With six screens!  Wha....????

The shopping mall we visited yesterday has everything we could possibly need.

Our first impression is that we’re very impressed!  Hello Zimbabwe!  We look forward to getting to know you for the next couple years.

PORTLAND REDISCOVERED

Almost three years to the day after I left Portland to begin this Foreign Service gig, I returned home to spend a bit over a month rediscovering this place I call home – and, most importantly, reconnecting with all the family and friends here who make this place home. 

Yep - this feels like home

You’ve all heard of the principle that if you wash your car, it will rain the next day?  Well, I have discovered the reverse principle:  If you buy a new raincoat, the sun will come out for the next month.  After a few cloudy, drizzly days at the start of our visit (and my purchase of a new raincoat), the skies cleared, and we have been treated to one of the most beautiful springs I can remember.  I knew that a visit to Portland in the spring would at least treat us to blooming bulbs and flowering trees, but the warm, dry days were an unexpected gift.  I wasted no time getting in some hikes around town and walks through lots of different neighborhoods to take it all in.  

Tulips make me happy.

Trillium was in full bloom on my first hike back in Portland.

There is a lot that hasn’t changed – the mountains are still spectacular, everything is still green, our favorite restaurants are still delicious, there are still food cart pods, and Portland is still as weird as ever.  But I see lots of changes from how I left things three years ago.  New buildings are going up, a lot of them, everywhere.  Traffic is constant.  Everything seems busier.  I don’t want to sound like the grumpy old “in my day” codger, but it’s tough not to reminisce about how things used to be. 

In the category of things that haven't changed: waterfalls...

...ice cream at Salt & Straw...

...and Portland keeping it weird.

In the category of things that are new, a ping pong bar.  I actually think the beer improves my game.

Part of the trick of planning “home leave” (as the State Department calls it), is figuring out where to stay and how to get around without a house or car during “homeless leave” (as I call it).  Fortunately, we have amazing family and friends who came to our rescue and offered us refuge during our time here.  Bonus #1: We got to stay in and explore lots of different neighborhoods.  Bonus #2: We got to dog-sit!

Our "brunch club" reunion.

Dog sittee #1: Gali.

Dog sittee #2: Maverick.

Spending several weeks here afforded us the opportunity to catch up with almost all of our family and friends here at one point or another.  We got to celebrate my mom's birthday and Mother's Day with her in person.  We were also able to visit with out-of-town friends who ventured up to Portland to see us.  We are so lucky to have found so many amazing and generous friends.  You all know who you are.

Happy birthday, MM!

The whole crew I used to work with at the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

Our visitors from Santa Cruz enjoying a cart pod dinner...

...and a hike at Mt. Tabor.

Andrew and Joe, keeping it weird AND hipster.

Of course, we didn’t spend all our time in Portland enjoying artisanal pour-over coffee, admiring the latest hipster beard styles, and perusing the shelves at indie book stores.  We also had lots to do to get ready for our upcoming move.  And Andrew was still working full-time at his job.  We had to rent a storage unit to hold all our accumulated stuff.  Except for the two suitcases we will carry with us, all that stuff will be packed up and shipped off in a couple days.  After that, we’ll have a final week to get in our last visits with all our favorite Portland people and places. 

Did I mention that we've eaten our way through Portland?  Exhibit A: Voodoo Donuts.

Exhibit B: Por Que No, because por que no?

Exhibit C:  Ruby Jewel.  That smile is courtesy of fluffernutter ice cream.

As I write this, it is raining here for the first time since the second or third day we were here.  The weather reports make it look like it will continue raining for the rest of our time here.  Not going to lie – I am kind of happy to see the clouds return and to know that they will be here when we head off to our next destination.  I know that as much as Portland may change, the clouds will always be here, and the rain will always keep things green.  I’ll look forward to rediscovering it all again next time.