Taking Time Off

This Christmas holiday I decided to take a bus from Chinhoyi to Harare. Stayed at the Bronte Hotel, a nice homey bed-and-breakfast at a reasonable price that is surrounded by a large garden with paths.

Returning to Chinhoyi, I attended Mass on Christmas day. The manger in the Church is really a work of African art.

Something you may find interesting is the “fast food” scene. For a cheese burger, one goes to the local grocery store and asks the cook to make one for you.

All, in all, it is a restful period. Things start cranking up again on 5 January. Lectures start in March.

Moved from Hotel to House

After about a month living in the university’s hotel, I was moved to a house on campus. It is a very nice abode. On-campus housing is not at all uncommon for senior faculty and staff. My own home is only a brief walk to the Canteen, where I eat all my meals for $US2.50 per day. A further few minutes walking takes me to my office and the various lecture halls.

Faculty housing is located right near student housing and also near the gym and sports fields. Given the amount of energy students have, you can imagine the 24/7 activity that abounds when school is in session. There are 6,000 students. About half live on campus.

Here are pictures of my home’s outside and living room. I do not use cable TV because the two channels I want are only available in the most costly package, $US77/month. What I do is go over to the hotel bar to socialize, watch soccer, and listen to music. Enjoying science fiction, I download novels from Smashwords to my Nook.

Getting to Church

Getting to the nearest Roman Catholic Church is an hour walk. I don’t drive yet because everything is opposite here, including where the driver sits and where the controls are. A friend is teaching me to drive but, after the last lesson, he has not been at work for a few days. Maybe he had to rest for awhile. :)

Although I normally attend the Western-style Mass in English, the Mass in Shona is not to be missed. The liturgical music is something to hear since the people are very enthusiastic about their faith in God and their practice of his way. Overall, the people of Zimbabwe are very friendly and welcoming, although one does run into a few who still have emotions derived from colonial days. Given the violence of their separation from colonial domination only 30 years ago, one can not blame people for that. What one needs to do is become a valued member of a trusted network. Then trust builds.

Here are some pictures of the Church itself. Mary’s grotto is to the left of the main Church, as you face it. Her grotto gets a lot of use as people come for private prayer. The rectory is to the right of the main Church.