Arrived in Chinhoyi

We left Harare for Chinhoyi at 9am. After a pleasant two-hour drive, we arrived at the hotel associated with the university. One of the university’s programs is in hospitality and the hotel, along with its restaurant and bar, are part of the training program. It is fully-functional three-star hotel. 

The room was very small, just enough space for a bed, some closet space, a TV, and a laptop-sized table. But, it was very comfortable. The university paid for room and board for about a month while they arranged for a house in faculty quarters. It is common in Zimbabwe for compensation to be paid in a combination of cash, housing, transportation, healthcare, and social security.

After lunch I was introduced to the department chair, Ms. Mary Muhonde. She took me on a whirlwind tour of the campus and I met a large number of people. The next day I was assigned an office. Thank God it was one of the few air-conditioned offices

For someone from a cool climate, the heat here during the summer is brutal. Although I have been to Zimbabwe before, it was never during their summer, and never outside Harare, a mile high in the mountains. Chinhoyi is about half-way down the mountain, and in a valley. So, it is hotter here in any case. The lowlands are hotter still.

There was little in the way of formal in-processing. After a couple of weeks I mentioned to the department chair about a few friendly encounters with security people. She was surprised at it all and then realized I had not yet been issued an identification card. We got that taken care of. But, everyone on this campus seems to know of me. As I said in another post, everything is the opposite here, even my skin color.  :)  That apparently served as my “ID card”, and still does. Nobody ever asks me for it but I always show it when appropriate.

Arrived in Harare

Arrival during the business day is standard for me. It is safer than at night and one can talk to terminal personnel about selecting a cab. Of course, now I use the same driver. I just call him and he comes. He is very reliable and cost-effective. One can also go straight to the in-terminal Econet booth to arrange for air time and to check that one’s phone number is still active. For newcomers, a phone can be purchased, a line inserted, and air time arranged. This process is very quick and the Econet's agents are very knowledgeable and capable. If you have an existing phone, a line can be purchased and inserted.

Something interesting happened during luggage inspection. The inspector saw my personal card on top of my things after opening the first bag. He said with some excitement, “This is you?” After I said yes he asked if he could keep the card. The inspection went very smoothly. I was quite grateful. Things still took two hours from the time I got off the plane to the time I left the customs area for the general terminal.

After arrival in Harare during my trips to Zimbabwe, I always stay awake as long as possible. This allows my body to begin adjusting to the time difference. Generally, when it is daylight in Dayton, it is night time in Zimbabwe. In fact, everything is the opposite in Zimbabwe, compared to Dayton. In this particular case, after 48 hours of travel and little sleep, I did not make it past 5:30pm. Then I slept for about 16 hours.

After having some lunch the next day, I visited the Zimbabwean Office of Immigration. It was necessary to present the letter they had sent me approving my residency visa and work permit. With that letter, my passport could be appropriately stamped. That took two business days, with an intervening weekend. Thankfully, I had followed the US Embassy’s advice to always carry a photocopy of my passport. Zimbabwe is very strict about such things and it is easy to find one’s self arrested and deported for violating even the smallest rule.

While waiting for the Immigration Office to finish their work, I visited the Roman Catholic Cathedral for Mass and attended a workshop given by various entrepreneur centers in Zimbabwe and other African countries. Employment is very low in Zimbabwe so there is a great effort to get people involved in personal enterprises. Of course, there was also the National Art Museum right next to my hotel. Made sure to visit the local office of my sponsor. There are two of us here in Zimbabwe for the next ten months. The other one teaches at the Women’s College in Harare.

On the day I received my passport back, fully stamped, I called the human resources department at the Chinhoyi University of Technology. We made arrangements for them to pick me up the next morning.

Getting There

48 grueling hours after I left my home in Dayton Ohio, I arrived at the hotel in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe Africa. My sponsor insisted on arranging for tickets and that US-flagged carriers be used. There are no US-flagged carriers that fly into Zimbabwe. So, they lease seats on foreign carriers in order to make the claim of flying into places they physically do not go. The trip went from Dayton to Chicago on United, to Frankfurt Germany on Lufthansa, to Johannesburg South Africa on South African Airlines, and finally to Harare on South African Airlines. There was a lot of time spent sitting in airports. Luckily, one could find a quite corner to curl up in to grab some sleep. (I don’t sleep well on airplanes for some reason.)

On my own money and arrangements, it is possible to make the trip in less than half the time at less than half the cost. What I have done in the past is fly from Dayton to DC on United, then to Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) on Ethiopian Airlines, then to Harare on Ethiopian Airlines. There is no difference at all in level of service and comfort, and there is very little time spent hanging around terminals. In both cases, one can arrive during the business day, which is better all around.

A Personal Opinion

A personal opinion:

Originally, I had wanted to post to this blog right after I arrived here at the Chinhoyi University of Technology. However, the blog provider did not like my attempt to log in from Zimbabwe. They asked all manner of questions to which only they knew the answer. They also assumed that my original phone number worked here as well as in the States. Took forever to get the matter straightened out. Not sure what they are trying to accomplish with their very odd security arrangements, so different are they from the standard approach. Looking through various forums, I found some rather arrogant responses to similar issues, even when responding to soldiers on deployment.

Historically, there appears to be a direct relationship between arrogancy and growth toward monopolistic size. The provider does seem to have started down that route. It is too bad, given their fine beginning. It is interesting to notice other large arrogant companies and their decrease in market value as they become increasingly arrogant toward their customers. They struggle for relevancy as customers turn elsewhere. Hopefully, this blog provider will learn their lesson before it is too late to turn from a wrong path.