Untukmu Para Pengunjung

Friday night we splurged and went to Meikles hotel - the finest hotel in all of Zimbabwe. And oh, it was fine! We both had really nice meals, and shared an enormous slice of chocolate cake. This is going to sound ghetto, but the thing that impressed me most about the hotel is that they had 2 ply toilet paper in the washroom. I always think the place is great if there is any form of toilet paper in the washrooms, but Meikles exceeded my expectations. 2 ply is so nice (what a luxury!) It was a lovely date. One thing I find strange about living here is that we're viewed as rich. Like, we just walked into this fancy hotel and people didn't look twice. Whenever we're walking on the street, we'll be targetted as people to beg from. It's just strange...

Saturday John went for his usual "light" run of 30km. Then we went to a children's home with our friends Alice and Mac. Alice's grand-daughter lives there. Actually, Alice had to tell the 8 year old that her mother had died (her late son's girlfriend). She was understandably very nervous about it. 67 kids live at this orphanage. The youngest child they've had there was 4 hours old (just left at their gate) and the oldest would be about 10. Adoption is not part of the culture here, and so it's really discouraged. The hope for these kids is that they can get an education and learn to be independent. Of course, you just want to bring all of them home and hug them a lot. The kids kept fighting over who would get to hold our hands. We'll be back there.

Yesterday we spent the day at Howard high school. A new administrator was being installed, and so they wanted John to take photos. We were at an assembly of 600 kids, and wow - can they sing! John introduced ourselves in Shona and the place was roaring with cheers and clapping. We got to see Brilliant, and some other young friends who attend there. On the way home, we had to stop in at a Salvation Army church to pick up some sound equipment. Well, their church service was still going on, so the officer asked us to come and greet them. So, we went up to the platform, and John did his introduction again. People LOVED that he spoke in Shona (and that we announced our totems). It felt like we were rockstars in this remote little church! John offered to take a photo of the congregation, and this made him even more of a hit! It was a good weekend.