The Wedding Weekend

This weekend has been one of, if not the best, since I arrived here in Zim. We went up to Harare on Friday at lunchtime and got back yesterday around five. It ended up being only Maria, John and I who went up and then we left Maria there to go on a houseboat on Kariba with some of the others for nearly a week. When we arrived at Tom (Maria's cousin) and Wendy's house we were not the only ones there and it filled up as the evening went on. Quite a few Swedish speaking people (all old). After dark sometime we were guided to Tom's office where we three were staying, on matresses on the floor. Huge big house. Before saying goodnight we watched the second Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. Sooooooooo funny. We laughed and laughed and laughed so hard. There was one part were Sherlock rides a little pony and we actually rewinded like three times because it was so funny!

Next day we took a short trip to the fleemarket, where Maria bought nailvarnish and we met some of the Aussies who had come back from the roadtrip and were getting ready for the wedding as well. After a pizza each with Maria stressed out about it taking so long time we were going to be late, we got back home showered and so on and ended up with me doing a french braid on Maria while John painted her nails... But we got to the meeting point in time anyway. We jumped onto a bus they had to take us out to the wedding spot, about 45 minutes out of town, up on a big hill. The way the bus and cars drove up to it, over fields and big rocks was amazing, though at one point we thought we were really going to tip over.

The wedding ceremony was so lovely and pretty and nice. The whole village below the hill where there and watched as well. After photoshoots we headed back through the African sunset to a café that Dean's (the groom, Tom's son) sister and mother owned which was beautifully decorated. Everybody under a huge tent with a band playing as well. So many of the Australians were really good musicians, since Sophie (the bride) plays cello superwell. The reception was full of speeches, food, chatting, drinking and music.

I decided quite late that since Dean had a little bit of Swedish blood in him I would play him a Swedish polska. But there were no violins there, so I asked one of the girls who had played viola at the ceremony if I could try to play it on her viola. She said yes, but that it was a really bad one she had borrowed from somewhere here. It was bad, but I managed to get it to sound all right anyway. Then the other viola player said I should borrow hers instead, because it was better, so I said thank you and did. After playing the polska once the whole African band joined in and it sounded really amazing, such fun! When I then went to pack up the viola the owners boyfriend (an amazing cellist) came and told me that yes, that viola was a real bargain, they got it for 20 000 dollars, when it really was worth 40 000 ...!!! And the bow as well was worth 6000 ... Ahhh!!!! Nearly had a heartattack. Apparently it was a 210 year old Engligh antique viola that I had been bashing around out there!!!! Oh boy, I still can't get my head around it...

After that we danced 'til we were dripping. The Australians really were so so so nice, I loved them! Slowly but surely people dropped off and Maria took the car home. John and I got back half past four after a truly wonderful night. In the morning we dropped off Maria and then headed straight for Pizza Inn. No hangover can be really cured without pizza and a coke. The drive home was easy and nice with blasting music and only one road block which we were waved through.

As soon as I got home I then phoned Jill and asked if I could fetch the car, which I could and I now have a not so bright yellow Nissan Sunny again!! Yey!! Amazing, it is so nice to have a car...

Right, this novel should be finished by now. Filled up with new photos now, so should be arriving at nellieinafrica.tumblr.com soon enough.


Tjoho!!

Heading for Harare

I am now desperately trying to remember what I am going to forget in my packing for going to Harare tomorrow... I always forget something, just trying to minimise the forgetfullness-damage. We are leaving tomorrow lunchtime and Dean and Sophie's wedding is about the same time on Saturday. Then we head back home on Sunday, except Maria who gets to spend a few days on a houseboat on Kariba... Lucky fish. I told you the wrong thing before about who was who. Tom is Maria's cousin and Dean is his son.

So, I've borrowed a dress from Heather, I've tried to patch up one of the bags Molly tried to eat and I've at long last found a make up shop so I have some of that as well. Now I just need to do my one lesson tomorrow and then we should be good to go. But you know me, I'll be running around last minute anyway, At least I packed the night before this time! Packing while skypeing friends as well. Lovely to see your faces again!

On Sunday/Monday I am at laaaaaaast getting a car. I can't tell you how happy I will be. Materalistic as it may be, it will make my life so so so much easier.

No, now it is time for bed, I have to get up early tomorrow... 07.30. yew, can you imagine?!? I'll have to put the alarm on quarter to seven, so I have a really long time to snooze it. The earlier I wake up, the longer I have to snooze. True story. Anyways, night night, see you next week. I've started a food series on my tumblr, so have a look there if you want. Bye!!

Halfway through!!

Today is the seventh, a Saturday, the second weekend of July. I came here on the seventh of January, a Saturday, the second weekend of the month. This means that I have been here exactly six months!! I have only half a year left here. It's weird, because time has gone so fast at the same time as I feel like I've been here such a long time. So much has happened, I have experienced so much and yet sometimes (not that often though) it feels like I just left Sweden. Every week here I learn something new.

Yesterday Olle and Karin came here, Maria's uncle and his wife. They are here for Dean and Sophie's wedding in Harare, which we are also going to. They are a lovely old couple. So they are visiting us this weekend, which is nice, but a little too much Swedish for my taste. Today we did a bit of a tourist shopping tour and it was lovely seeing all the lovely African stuff, but my right shin was sore so it spoiled it a bit. Tomorrow we might go to Matopos, we'll see. They are soon heading off with Maria and Joe to some event, while we youngsters have a braii here. Nice!

Happy Halfways!

Happy Birthday Ella!!

Phew, I am tired. Jeanette's daughter Talita had her 22nd birthday yesterday and we went out to celebrate her, so I got home rather late. This morning then wasn't the best. First of all zesa had gone, so no internet to see if my present to Ella had arrived, no toast and worst of all no hot water in the baths, only a slow drizzle in the shower... AND to top it off I had aready eaten up my weeks worth of yoghurt. Not to mention banging my head into the bathtub while having a blonde moment (stupidly thinking I would whip my wet hair into the bathtub...). So all in all not the best of mornings, but it got better when Jeanette and Talita picked me up and we on the way to GC stopped off at a bookshop. Haven't been into one in six months! Though at home I have found some of the Harry Potter books, so I do have some mindnumbing stuff.

But none of my problems really matter today, because today is Ella's 18th birthday!!! I so wish I could be there. It sounds like it's going to be a good party with lots of friends and family. One of the first things I realised with horror when I thought of coming here was that I'd miss her birthday, not a happy thought. But time is sort of unstoppable and I will have many more of her birthdays to celebrate. So anyway, today my thoughts will go repeatedly to my little-sister. Love you lots and Happy Birthday Ella!!

Just have to tell you as well how friendly people are here, so nice. On Wednesday's morning walk I met an elderly/older man who also was a walker and we started talking and said we should maybe keep each other company sometime for a walk in Hillsaide Dams, where I can't walk alone for safety reasons. Though he did mention that the day before he had walked 30 km, so I was slightly intimidated. But just meeting somebody on the road and chatting like that; it doesn't happen the same way in Sweden. I like it.

So, now I am supposed to meet to guys who might want me to play at a fashion show, fun!
Tjingeling!

I have Internet!!

Yeah, it's amazing; we've got it at last!! And for a little while now we have unlimitited internet as well. Jippie yo!! We are downloading heaps now. Hehe. Anyway, if you feel like skypeing me, please just contact me and we'll make a plan. I want to skype you! Right bedtime. Nighty-nighty!

Australians for breakfast

Another week is coming to an end, but not in a dull way. Apparently we have internet at home now!! Can't wait to go home and check it out. At the moment I'm at Girl's College waiting for Jeanette to come back from the academy.

Phew I am tired. I don't hink I have fully recovered from getting up just after six yesterday to be able to go to immigrations with Maria. Everything ok. Last night Tom (foget how he is related to my zim-family now) came down from Harare and spent the night at us. Very nice evening with lots of jokes from John and Ian (friend), who were looking up fun trivia on their phones. Tom is down here because of a load of Australians who are coming up for a wedding, Dean and Sophie's. (I think Dean is a cousin of Maria. He is quite young anyway.) The couple are lovely people, and all their friends,  are also really nice. This morning we had breakfast with the gang, including some friends who had already arrived, at the National Arts Gallery. It's a lovely old building with very nice breakfasts. Thankfully the breakfast was after nine...Then Heather and I went back to GC, where Vuzi, Ben, William and another guy were playing at break time for the girls, who absolutely loved it! Fun! (I gave my camera to Heather to get some pictures and then realised afterwards that I had forgotten to put in the memory card...)

Anyway, I feel like I can hardly put together a sentence properly, so I better phone Jeanette and see where she is. Ah, she just came! Perfect! Have a nice weekend!

Glad midsommar i efterskott Sverige!

After nearly a week of internetlessness I am going back to the academy and am ready for business as usual. The weekend that we just left was exeat weekend, which here is half term and means that schools close early on Thursday and open again on Tuesday. And since all the kids were off I didn’t have any lessons then either. Instead I went to a braai at Thembi’s on Saturday, which was nice, and then spent the night and half next day there as well. I slept on the sofa, which for once was way too short for me, but I managed without any problems thank goodness. It was quite funny when Ben, Vuzi and William were supposed to get the fire started, they were all sure it would be really easy and then none of them managed to get it started, so I had to do it! Haha, I had a good laugh about that one. Thanks for all the braai-training dad!  

Another interesting thing that evening was that I got a lesson in how to make sadsa. It’s like a really really thick porridge made out of mealiemeal (majsmjöl), and you eat it with your meat and vegetables, like rice or potatoes. But it is actually quite a skill to get it good. I wasn’t fast enough with the whisking, so Thembi had to take over. But I did get a souvenir from the sadsa-making; a nice boil from where the superduper hot boiling sadsa splashed onto my hand…

Then yesterday Vuzi, Sam ( a very musical student) and I got together and played around with lots of different instruments to make some interesting music. We were all interested in stuff like Sigur Ros, Mogwai and other post rock/alternative music, so that’s mostly what we did. It was such great fun, I absolutely loved it! The two top instruments that morning were both Sam’s doing; playing with a violin bow on a saw or electric guitar. Amazing. We are now looking into getting a looping station, but they’re all so expensive and far away, so we’ll see when that happens. It would be so cool if we had one.

Yesterday evening Vuzi and I also played at like a couple’s evening, which was sort of a marriage course I think. We had fun though, playing for a while and then getting dinner (and a looovely apple pie for dessert (really, people should always pay me in desserts)), so it was a successful evening. We even improvised a bit at the end, which I never ever do, but it went well and was fun.

Now I should head off to the academy. (I’m at home, writing in word again.) So toodles everyone, pictures should be tripping off to tumblr soon soon.