Untukmu Para Pengunjung

I was talking with a friend the other day. He was mentioning how the cost of public transport has gone up again (it is four times what it was in December). The amount he pays to get to and from work is far more than his monthly salary. He was mentioning that he has to borrow money from neighbours to pay for transport. He also has 4 kids, and he was telling me that despite his whole budget going to transport, he feels that he needs to keep on feeding them (I agreed). He told me that the other day one of his daughters came home from school telling her dad that she needs a new pen because her other one has run out. He said he almost had a breakdown because he wondered how he would ever find the money to buy a pen. That's depressing. I can't imagine the agony of truly wondering if you are going to be able to feed your kids and buy them basics like pens. And this is a man who works a 40 hour week. Please pray.

In San Francisco, Mini Cooper have used radio frequency identification to communicate with their drivers. A billboard on one of San Francisco busiest roads picks up when a Mini is in the area by their Mobile Phone unique identification and delivers a personalized message to the consumer on their billboard ‘Hi Kate, nice day for a convertible’. This is a great medium to use but a weak creative idea. Just saying hello to the consumer is pretty inadventrous especially from the daring Mini Cooper marketing team. Here is an article with more information.http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/16573032.htm /

Gold-Nationwide Rollin VIP


Great to see that Kfed can laugh at himself


Silver- Sierra Mist 'Comb Over'


I didn't expect to see this type of humour in ads during the Superbowl timeslot



Bronze- New Steak Grilled Taquitos

Probably the most effective in terms of getting a lasting message across.

Last night I went to youth choir at our church. I had an interesting conversation with one of the guys afterwards. He was saying that on Sunday all of the youth were asked by the corps officer (pastor) to stay behind after church (we weren't there - we were at Howard). The youth were then lectured on various things, but one was about dress. The corps officer was saying that he never wants to see one of the girls wearing trousers inside of the church building (i.e. for youth group or youth choir), because "it's not our culture." In fact, he said if he catches one of the girls even coming past the gate wearing trousers, the following Sunday he will call them up in front of the whole church and publicly humiliate them. He also mentioned that "John and Rochelle McAlister have a different culture, and a different way of doing things." He told the girls that I don't know any better, so it is ok for me to wear trousers, but others shouldn't be influenced by me. Well, I feel like a complete rebel! There are not too many times in my life where I have been mentioned in front of a whole crowd of people as being a bad influence!! Majoring in the minors...

By the way... congratulations to Billie-Marie and Curtis on the birth of Addison. She is such an adorable baby. Check out: abchunter.blogspot.com for pics.

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.

There are people selling things on almost every corner of Harare. Yesterday we saw a guy selling a single, used shower cap. Random!

We went to buy some bananas at a corner near where we work. John said (in Shona) "I would like 3 bananas please!" The man smiled and told us the cost was $1500. So, John pulled out $2,000. I said, "C'mon John - let's just buy 4!" so that the man didn't have to search for change. Later John explained, "I only know how to say I want 3 bananas, so I always just buy 3!" :)

In other strange news... the media here really likes news from China. The other day the paper carried a story about a Chinese thief who stole a cell phone from a teacher. The teacher started text-messaging her phone, and after 21 "moving" messages, the thief returned the phone - saying he was sorry, admiring her tolerance and telling her he wanted to be a better person.

I also read the story of a Bosnian hospital patient who went to have an operation to remove his kidney stone. When he got to the hospital he was told that the machine was broken, so he asked for a toolbox. He spent 7 hours fixing the machine and then had his surgery. How bizarre - how painful!