July 24, 2009 - First full week in Africa

July 24, 2009

Yesterday marked our first full week in Africa. The kids and I have
been slowly making our way around the city. Tues we had our first
glimpse of the Embassy, as with most Embassy's it is small and
rabbit warren like. Checked into the commissary, quite small but
very welcome, the medical unit and the RSO. They have a few
computers set up as an internet cafe so I will try to get in next
week to check email. It will likely be a couple more weeks before we
have any internet at home.

This week we made our way out to the school, Harare International
School (HIS). Preparations are in full swing for the start of school
on 4 Aug. We checked out the playgrounds, peeked into the classrooms
and chased a few guinea fowl and peacocks around. We also met the
very nice Elementary Principal who scheduled the kids for their
entrance/placement tests. We returned to the school for some the
testing and a little more playground time. There will be just one
5th grade class for Charlotte with 17 kids right now, there may be
more new enrollments before the start of school. 9 of those 17 are
girls which made Charlotte very happy. 1st grade will have two
classes, we won't know which class Lucas will have until the 3rd when
the class lists are posted. The school itself is quite beautiful,
very lush with amazing landscaping, sports fields a mix of colonial
and african style buildings. The layout is very familiar to me,
blocks of building with doors that open to the outdoors, much like
the elementary schools I attended in California. Everything here is
outdoors oriented. Charlotte, who has only attended large indoor
oriented school buildings was fascinated by all the outside space and
access. As it is quite boring here at home, both Charlotte and
Lucas can't wait for school to start!

The rest of our exploring has mainly revolved around shopping,
locating and trying out different shopping areas. The main
supermarkets here are Spar and Bonne Marche with Spar being far
nicer. Each shop I go into I am thrilled with the variety and
quality of the items available. Apparently this is a new phenomenon
as the shops were bare as recently as last Feb. I will be happy to
receive our consumables but am equally pleased that so much is
available locally. Prices are about the same as U.S. prices
(Virginia prices) with the exception of paper goods which seem to be
quite high. Good thing I brought loads of toilet paper and paper
towels. It is pretty much dead of winter here so while the produce
seems quite nice, I keep hearing that it only gets better as more and
more comes into season.

I am getting used to the right hand drive thing... it is still a bit
weird and requires a bit of concentration, but I think in a few weeks
it will feel almost normal! The little car I am driving, a 97 Toyota
Rav4, is great for zipping around town. The roads are pretty rough,
pot holes are everywhere, which while a nuisance, slows everyone
down. Accidents are still plentiful and horrific. I am doing my
best to learn the secondary streets and cut throughs so as to avoid
the higher speed main roads (which are actually little more than cow
paths themselves). Gas is doled out from the Embassy warehouse, it
seems to be available on the open market, but the price is about .30
cents higher per litre.

I cannot say enough about the amazing weather. It is winter here and
everyday has been clear blue and sunny with temps in the mid 70's. It
is quite chilly at night dipping down to 45-50 degrees. The night
skies are amazing, you can see the milky way just standing on our
driveway. Like California, the seasons here are subtle, but we are
looking forward to "spring" and then summer as much for the warmer
temps as for the greening up of the place.

Sat we are going to a Cheetah conservatory talk and display. With
any luck we will get a chance to pet a cheetah!

Love,
Shannon